![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Photo-8-Fr-Povilas-at-the-Vilnius-Divine-Mercy-Shrine-CR-Vilnius-Gailestingumas-1024x624.jpg\")
That \u201cmiracle,\u201d he says, draws people toward reconciliation. \u201cEvery day, morning, afternoon and evening,\u201d he says, \u201cthere are people coming for confession.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether the message of Divine Mercy has been fully received in the world, he refuses to draw a neat conclusion. \u201cNot enough, it can still be received more strongly,\u201d he says. In his view, mercy does not reach a finish line; it must be received repeatedly, so mercy becomes a practiced interior and exterior reflex, not a rare spiritual highlight alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chaplet and the crisis of the world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fr. Povilas is careful to affirm the breadth of Catholic prayer. \u201cAll the prayers are inspired, and all the prayers are good,\u201d he notes. Nevertheless, he insists the Divine Mercy Chaplet holds a distinctive place because of how it was given. \u201cIt was dictated to St. Faustina the same way Christ dictated the \u2018Our Father\u2019 to his disciples\u201d he explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That claim leads to a practical conclusion about priorities. \u201cBefore we focused on the \u2018Our Father\u2019 and all other prayers,\u201d he elaborates. \u201cNow it must be our father, then the chaplet of Divine Mercy and then all other prayers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He describes the chaplet as a kind of spiritual \u201cmedicine\u201d and urges people to stop bargaining with it. His advice is blunt yet impactful. \u201cTake this prayer and pray it without hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He then connects the devotion to the wider world. \u201cWhen we look at a world at war, where so many terrible things are happening, why is this so? Is this because there is no God? or is this because there is not enough mercy?\" he ponders. \"If we want more mercy, we first need to call upon God for that mercy. We cannot give mercy to others, if we do not first have enough mercy within us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That final line is a theological claim and a psychological one. Mercy is not simply a social virtue to be cultivated; it is grace to be received. In Fr. Povilas\u2019 framing, the chaplet is not a slogan for the world\u2019s problems but a daily posture of dependence: a way of admitting need, asking for mercy, and letting Christ reshape what a person can give to others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For pilgrims tempted to treat the congress as the beginning of their journey towards mercy, he presses the point: \u201cStart now. Not tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow, now.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sister Marcelina illustrates the practical aspects of mercy, with an example from her community\u2019s daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each day at three o\u2019clock, the nuns gather for prayer in their convent. Yet it is often interrupted by pilgrims ringing the convent doorbell, hoping to pray in the same chapel where St. Faustina once prayed. The interruption matters. It breaks silence, disrupts recollection and asks the sisters to choose between protecting their own personal prayer and responding to another\u2019s longing. Mercy, then, becomes a decision that costs something. \u201cWhat is more important,\u201d she asks, \u201cto stay with Jesus or to be merciful to this person who rings the bell?\u201d. The nuns always respond to the bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her point is not that prayer should be abandoned, but that prayer should produce a heart capable of being merciful by the unpredictability of life. Mercy, she explained, is often practiced in choosing gentle patience and quiet kindness over irritation and rudeness. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy, but very important\u201d, she said, because these choices happen \u201cduring the whole day\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She clarified that such mercy is not the result of personal effort alone. \u201cWe are able to do this by praying, \u2018Jesus, I trust in you,\u2019\u201d she explained, pointing to the central prayer of the devotion as the source of grace. She encourages others to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sister Marcelina also speaks about modern conditions that can make mercy harder, namely distractions from the world that make it hard to hear God\u2019s voice. Her congregation actively takes care of the Divine Mercy Sanctuary. There, she explains, silence is constant. \u201cSilence in this time is very important,\u201d she says, because \u201cour heart and soul needs time to hear God.\u201d Both voices keep bringing the focus of Divine Mercy back to a formation that cannot be outsourced to any event. Fr. Povilas wants the devotion to become a routine of daily prayer and a part of sacramental life; Sister Marcelina wants mercy to influence our daily decisions and how we treat others. She tells pilgrims to \u201copen their heart\u201d and come ready to receive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If those habits take root, the congress will not be remembered only for what happened in Vilnius, but for what happened afterwards: whether people returned home more capable of staying with Christ and more willing to meet their neighbor with the mercy they have received freely.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" En una estrecha calle empedrada del casco antiguo de Vilna, peregrinos y lugare\u00f1os se adentran en un santuario que rara vez cierra sus puertas. Muchos se arrodillan ante el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento expuesto; otros se quedan boquiabiertos ante la pintura original de Jes\u00fas de la Divina Misericordia que se conserva en el santuario. En junio de […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2425,"featured_media":57066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[36,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad","category-mundo"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Photo-7-Sister-Marcelina-and-Bryan-beside-a-statue-of-St-Faustina-CR-Elma-Maciulyte-1-1024x683.jpg\")
The mercy of interruptions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Silence that makes mercy possible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Her observation has practical implications for the congress. A pilgrim can attend every talk and still leave unchanged if they never learn to listen to God\u2019s voice. In Sister Marcelina\u2019s view, mercy begins before the doorbell rings and before difficult conversation happens; it begins when a person allows God to speak and allows that voice to soften their hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter the Pilgrims leave<\/h2>\n\n\n\n