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FOOTNOTE
89 I do not
know. How long will it last? I do not know. [89]
(Diary 378) 351-400
[89] The
vision concerns Father Sopocko, who was to suffer greatly because of the
destruction of the devotion to The Divine Mercy. The prediction was almost
literally fulfilled. Decree No. 65/52 of the Sacred Congregation of The Holy
Office, dated November 28, 1958, and a notification of March 6, 1959,
prohibited the spreading of the devotion to The Divine Mercy in the form given
by Sister Faustina. As a result, the images which had been hung in many
churches were removed. Priests stopped preaching about The Divine Mercy. Father
Sopocko himself was severely admonished by the Holy See and suffered many other
troubles in connection with the spreading of the devotion to The Divine Mercy.
The Congregation
of Our Lady of Mercy was also forbidden to spread the devotion; in consequence,
the images, the chaplet, the novena and all other things that might suggest
that the devotion was being propagated were withdrawn. It appeared that the
work of mercy, so much recommended by Sister Faustina, had been destroyed and
would never rise again.
Until the
notification, the image of The Divine Mercy received much honor in the
Congregation's home in Cracow, where Sister Faustina died, and it was covered
with votive offerings. A solemn Mass was held on the third Sunday of each
month, and priests preached sermons about The Divine Mercy. The first Sunday
after Easter was celebrated as the Feast of The Divine Mercy, which Cardinal
Adam Sapieha in 1951 invested with a plenary
indulgence for seven years.
In view of the
Holy See's ban, the Sisters addressed the Ordinary of the Archdiocese of
Cracow, Archbishop Baziak, to inquire what should be
done with the image which hung in the side altar, covered with many votive
offerings, and what attitude should be taken towards the celebrations in praise
of The Divine Mercy. In answer, Archbishop Baziak
ordered the image to be left in its place and the faithful not to be forbidden
to pray before the image for needed graces. He also ordered the existing
celebrations to be maintained.
In this way the
devotion to The Divine Mercy survived the test in the small center of the
Congregation in Cracow, at 3/9 Wronia Street, where
the body of the Servant of God is buried. At present, the devotion is again
gathering force, renewing and attracting the interest of theologians.
Since the first
part of her prophecy was fulfilled almost literally, it can be supposed that
the remainder of it will also be fulfilled. The following facts attest to the
genuineness of the Servant of God's prophecy:
On June 30, 1978,
The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (A.A.S. page 350)
published a "Notification" signed April 15, 1978, by His Eminence Franjo Cardinal Seper, Prefect,
and Archbishop Jerome Hamer, O.P., Secretary. It is
as follows:
From various
places, especially from Poland, even proceeding from competent authority, it
has been asked whether the prohibitions contained in the
"Notification" of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office,
published in the Acts of the Apostolic See, in the year 1959, p. 271, regarding
the devotion to The Divine Mercy in the forms proposed by Sister Faustina
Kowalska, must be regarded as still in force.
This Sacred Congregation,
having now in possession the many original documents, unknown in 1959; having
taken into consideration the profoundly changed circumstances, and having taken
into account the opinion of many Polish Ordinaries, declares no longer binding
the prohibitions contained in the quoted "Notification." On July 12,
1979, in response to the Superior General of the Congregation of Marians of the
Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.,
who in the name of the Provincial Superior of the American Province of St. Stanislaus
Kostka, of said Congregation, had asked for an authoritative explanation of the
scope of the text in the "Notification" of 1978, rescinding the
prohibitions to spread the devotion to The Divine Mercy proposed by Sister
Faustina Kowalska, the Prefect of The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith ascertained:
In reference to
that matter (raised in the letter of Father General) I have the honor of
informing you that with the new "Notification" (A.A.S., 30 June 1978,
p. 350), arrived at in the light of original documentation examined also by the
careful informative intervention of the then Archbishop of Cracow, Card. Karol Wojtyla, it was the intention of the Holy See to revoke the
prohibition contained in the preceding "Notification" of 1959
(A.A.S., 1959, p. 271), in virtue of which it is understood that there no
longer exists, on the part of this S. Congregation, any impediment to the
spreading of the devotion to The Divine Mercy in the authentic forms proposed
by the Religious Sister mentioned above [The Servant of God Sister Faustina
Kowalska].
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