Philippines will make history this year on April 27, Sunday of Divine Mercy, becoming the first nation of the world to devote Jesus entirely through the divine mercy.
In 2016, during the Pan -African congress on the divine mercy in Rwanda, the bishops of Africa consecrated the entire continent to the divine mercy. However, Philippines will be the first individual country to do so.
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“This is extraordinary; it really is not precedents. Never before had something like this had done in the history of the world: a country consecrating to the divine mercy,” said Father James Cervantes, of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception (MIC), a congregation dedicated to spreading the message of the divine mercy.
“I think the bishops are being inspired by the Holy Spirit to guide our country towards holiness,” he said.
This bold initiative began with a single spark: a felt letter from Cervantes aimed at bishops from all over the country, calling them to perform a national consecration to the divine mercy. The dioceses responded with enthusiasm, and soon the idea extended as a gunpowder.
The Permanent Council of the Catholic Episcopal Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) gave its official approval, stating that the National Consecration to the Divine Mercy will take place during all the masses of April 27, as part of the celebrations of the Jubilee of 2025.
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, president of the CBCP, issued a statement calling all dioceses, parishes, religious communities and Catholic institutions to participate in this historic spiritual initiative.
“This national consecration will be a deep expression of our confidence in divine mercy, a confidence that remains our last refuge in these times of uncertainty and proof. As our Lord Jesus said to Saint Faustina: ‘I wish that my mercy is worshiped, and I offer to humanity the last hope of salvation: to go to my mercy,” he said.
He described the national act of consecration as a “collective response of faith and hope” in the face of the serious challenges facing the country and the global community today, such as the threat of world war, generalized corruption, the erosion of truth and the persistent opposition to the teachings of the Church over life and family.
The consecration will take place during all the masses of the country on the second Easter Sunday, also known as Domingo de la Divina Mercy. The prayer of consecration to the divine mercy will be recited instead of the prayers of the faithful.
“It’s not just about reciting a prayer,” said Fr. Cervantes A CNA – Ewtn News agency. “It is about being properly arranged, what really means consecrating us as a nation to the divine mercy. In the Diario de Santa Faustina, Jesus says: ‘It gathers all the sinners of the whole world and immerse them in the abyss of my mercy.”
“Consecrating means offering yourself completely and totally to God. It is an act of delivery – a total surrender – to God already his will. It is very radical, very transformative. It means renouncing our own selfish plans, selfish wills and selfish desires to be able to totally surrender to God,” he explained.
“And we are doing this as a nation. A national consecration. A national delivery of ourselves completely and totally to God,” he added.
The heart of consecration lies in a radical confidence: the trust that Jesus repeatedly asked Santa Faustina in his revelations.
“What we are saying is that we, as a nation, trust you. We, as a nation, put ourselves in your hands. We, as a nation, are at your disposal,” said Fr. Cervantes.
He continued: “We are doing this because it is what Jesus wants of us. In the ‘Diario de Santa Faustina’, Jesus says: ‘I desire confidence of my creatures. The souls who trustworthy are a great comfort to me, because all the treasures of my graces are seen in them.’
To help prepare the Filipinos for this sacred moment, Cervantes launched a series of 14 videos on the Marian Helpers Philippines Facebook page, with the intention of “training the entire nation in preparation for the national consecration to the divine mercy.” He stressed the importance of adequate preparation to prevent consecration being just a superficial gesture.
“Sadly, many Catholics no longer receive the sacraments. Many have not confessed in years,” he lamented. “But if we think of the first words of the novena to the divine mercy, Jesus says: ‘Today bring me to all humanity, especially to all sinners, and subt them in the ocean of my mercy.’ as a country ”.
“Do you imagine a country that trusts entirely in the mercy of God? Can you imagine that God will spill on a country that completely trusts his mercy? If our nation totally trusts God, it will be abundantly blessed with thank you very much of his infinite mercy,” said Father Cervantes.
The message and devotion to divine mercy have been qualified as the greatest popular movement in the history of the Catholic Church, and is especially popular in the Philippines.
The island country houses the greatest celebration of the divine mercy in the world, gathering more than 57,000 pilgrims from all over Asia in the Archdiocesan sanctuary of divine mercy in Eastern Misamis, Philippines.
In comparison, the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy in Krakow, Poland, receives 25,000 pilgrims from all over the world, while the National Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where the Marian Fathers are host, welcomes between 20,000 and 25,000 pilgrims on Sunday of the Divine Mercy.
While the Philippines prepare for this historical act of consecration, it does so with extraordinary faith in which devotion to divine mercy is much more than a popular piety: it is, as St. John Paul II always said, “the response to the problems of the world.”
Translated and adapted by ACI Press. Originally published in CNA.
VALERIE ESCALONA