On April 30, 2000, His Holiness John Paul II, in response to the wishes of the Christian faithful, declared that "the Second Sunday of Easter henceforth throughout the Church will also be called Divine Mercy Sunday" (cf. Homily: 30 April 2000 and Decree: Congregation for Worship). The desire for this celebration was expressed by Our Lord to St. Faustina, and can be found recorded in her Diary.

For some years now part of my Easterobservance has come to include the Novena to The Divine Mercy which our Lord gave to Saint Faustina and is to be said on the nine days before theFeast of Mercy.As part ofthe special novena* I recite the Chaplet of Mercy and in addition try tomake Confession within a reasonable time before the Sunday Feast.This is an exciting way to bridge Lent (a timeof abstinence, fasting and spiritual reflection) and Easter (a time of celebration and thanksgiving). The novena begins in "Holy Week" on Good Friday and carries through all of "Easter Week."

*A Novena is typically nine days of prayer in preparation of a celebration of a feast day. In the case of the Novena to The Divine Mercy, we pray the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy each day for a specific intention.

...Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy (Diary 699).