Divine Mercy Sunday 2027: Date, Novena, and Indulgence

Divine Mercy Sunday in 2027 is April 4. It is the Second Sunday of Easter, the Sunday after Easter Sunday, which falls on March 28, 2027.

Key dates for 2027

• Good Friday: March 26. The Divine Mercy Novena begins.
• Easter Sunday: March 28.
• Saturday, April 3: the ninth and last day of the novena.
• Divine Mercy Sunday: April 4.

Pope John Paul II named this Sunday Divine Mercy Sunday when he canonized St. Faustina Kowalska on April 30, 2000. The devotion comes from the visions Faustina recorded in her diary in the 1930s.

The Divine Mercy Novena

The novena is nine days of prayer that starts on Good Friday and ends the day before Divine Mercy Sunday. Each day you pray for a different group of souls and say the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Our page for the Divine Mercy Novena has the daily intentions.

The 3 pm Hour of Mercy

Faustina wrote that Jesus asked her to honor the hour of his death, three in the afternoon. You can pray the chaplet then, say a short prayer, or simply stop for a moment. If you cannot stop at 3 pm, pray when you can.

The indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday

In a decree dated June 29, 2002, the Apostolic Penitentiary granted a plenary indulgence to the faithful on the Second Sunday of Easter. An indulgence does not forgive sins. It removes the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.

The conditions are:

1. Be free from attachment to any sin, even venial sin.
2. Go to sacramental Confession, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the intentions of the Pope. Confession may be made about 20 days before or after. Communion and the prayer for the Pope are best done on the day itself.
3. Take part in prayers or devotions in honor of Divine Mercy in a church or chapel. Or, before the Blessed Sacrament, pray the Our Father and the Creed and add a prayer to the merciful Jesus, such as “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you.”

The sick, those who care for them, and others with a serious reason for staying home may pray the Our Father and the Creed before an image of the merciful Jesus, add a short prayer to him, and intend to meet the usual conditions as soon as they can.

If you need to prepare for Confession, the Act of Contrition is a good start.

How to spend the day

Attend Mass. Pray the chaplet at 3 pm. Look for a parish that offers Confession and a Divine Mercy service. Many parishes do both.