ROYAL PALM BEACH | “Souls who spread the honor of My mercy, I shield through their entire lives as a tender mother her infant; and at the hour of death, I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior.” (“Divine Mercy in My Soul,” 1075).
This was the promise of Jesus in a revelation given to a humble nun in Poland, canonized by Pope John Paul II April 30, 2000, as St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, the “apostle of Divine Mercy.” According to her diary, in a series of revelations in the 1930s, “Our Lord called for a special feast day to be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter,” named Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope St. John Paul II at her canonization.
On April 12, 2026, many parishes celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday, including at Our Lady Queen of the Apostles Parish in Royal Palm Beach. Matthew Otero, a former Mr. Universe bodybuilder and personal trainer, brought two of his children — Blaise and Mia — to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday at the parish.
“This is beautiful, and we love it,” he said. “Today is actually Blaise’s first confession that he is to make because he won’t be able to be here with his class, and he is going to make his first Communion in a couple of weeks here (April 25).”
Parishioners John and Jennifer Ryan attended the Divine Mercy Sunday celebration. “Divine mercy is important for the world,” John said. Jennifer added, “I think it is important to keep focused after Easter and to keep going the rest of the year with the realization that Jesus has risen.”
Father Andy Rudnicki, pastor, presided at the 11:30 a.m. Mass, and adoration began at noon. Deacon Rodney Brimlow led the faithful in the rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at the “hour of mercy,” 3 p.m. There was opportunity for the faithful to venerate an image of Divine Mercy.
The Divine Mercy image shows Jesus with pale and red rays streaming from his side. The rays symbolize the blood and water that flowed from his side while he was on the cross, representing his mercy, a gift from God for all humanity.
During the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the faithful pray, “O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in You.” The Divine Mercy image always bears the words “Jesus, I Trust in You.”
Transitional Deacon Sean Lee, a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Atlanta who is studying at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, read the second reading for Divine Mercy Sunday from the first letter of Peter (1:3-9), because as he explained, “this Scripture is hope in its entirety; but in this letter of St. Peter, we hear what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.”
“Living as a disciple of Christ doesn’t mean it will be easy,” he said, but “‘in this you rejoice; although, now for a little while, you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, … may prove to be for praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ’” (1 Peter 1:6-9).
“The Lord’s mercy is love. It’s not saying he is going to remove our suffering or remove our pain or our rejection,” Deacon Lee said. “No, instead, a life lived for our Lord is a life lived for his glory, lived for his grace.”
Deacon Brimlow prayed a prayer of protection over the faithful and their families. He explained that, to overcome spiritual battles, “divine mercy conquers it; the divine mercy gives us a pathway to be able to overcome all the evil influences in our lives.”
To win a spiritual battle, he said, “The rosary is our sword, our spiritual sword to protect us,” and, when we pray the rosary, “it is our sword to defeat the evil in our lives.” He continued, “I would encourage you to make the other edge of that sword the Divine Mercy chaplet.”
Joan DeSantis, wearing a “Jesus, I Trust in You” T-shirt, said, while looking down at those words, “We are so blessed to have this image. It’s a treasure.”
For more information on Our Lady Queen of the Apostles Divine Mercy ministry, call Joan at 561-798-5661, Ext. 102. To reach the parish, visit www.olqa.cc, call 561-798-5661.
