![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Divine-Mercy-Sunday-2026-Photo-1-300x225.jpg\")
Hundreds of people filled Divine Mercy Parish in Scranton on April 12 in celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday. (Photos\/Dan Piazza)<\/p>\nSCRANTON \u2013 All of the pews were filled at Divine Mercy Parish on April 12, 2026, as hundreds of faithful gathered to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday through prayer and devotion.<\/p>\n
The annual celebration \u2013 held on the Second Sunday of Easter \u2013 has grown in recent years, drawing people from across Lackawanna and Luzerne counties and beyond for an afternoon centered on God\u2019s forgiveness and grace.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people filled Divine Mercy Parish in Scranton on April 12 in celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday. (Photos\/Dan Piazza)<\/p>\n
The annual observance included the Sacrament of Confession, Mass, the praying of the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet, Eucharistic Adoration, a procession with the Blessed Sacrament and the veneration of a first-class relic of Saint Faustina.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very honored, proud and grateful here at Divine Mercy Parish to host everyone for this beautiful spiritual celebration,\u201d Father Paul McDonnell, O.S.J., Pastor of Divine Mercy Parish, said. \u201cHow beautiful it was to see our church filled to capacity \u2013 and everyone praying and celebrating that great gift that the world needs \u2013 the gift of God\u2019s love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Six priests were available for Confession for more than two hours, offering what Father McDonnell described as \u201ca grace and a blessing\u201d to those in attendance.<\/p>\n
For the faithful, the experience was deeply moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you the feeling that I am leaving with,\u201d Erin Thornton of Corpus Christi Parish, said. \u201cIt brought tears to my eyes. It was so moving. More people need to see something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many said the Eucharistic procession was especially powerful.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt leaves me speechless when he walks around with the Blessed Sacrament,\u201d Thornton added.<\/p>\n
Mary Ann Lahaszow of Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Duryea said the day was filled with a profound sense of peace and unity.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could feel God\u2019s presence,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were so many people from so many different walks of life. It\u2019s wonderful to feel this peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
For parishioner Pat Rodney, the devotion to Divine Mercy \u2013 though discovered later in life \u2013 has become deeply meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe devotion is something that is new to me,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I love the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the promises of Jesus \u2026 It was a beautiful part of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Father McDonnell hopes that the faithful left not only with a sense of the Lord\u2019s mercy personally, but a desire to share it with others.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully everyone will be energized enough to embrace the merciful spirit of Christ,\u201d he said, \u201cand live it in their homes, families and lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2013 All of the pews were filled at Divine Mercy Parish on April 12, 2026, as hundreds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-167583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}