Spend your Holy Saturday immersed in the glow of Divine Mercy.
The Divine Mercy Institute, in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Vilnius in Lithuania, is bringing The Divine Mercy Choir from Vilnius to the U.S. for the very first time. They embark on their very first U.S tour later this month, and will make two stops here in the Archdiocese of Denver, with a performance at St. Helena Parish in Fort Morgan on March 25 and Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Northglenn on March 30 at 2 p.m.
The St. Helena concert is $15 while the IHM concert is free, and both are open to the public. Free will offerings will be accepted. Divine Mercy religious articles and other goods will also be available for purchase.
“The Church has a great tradition of liturgical music, and [this concert] is a good way to hear the beauty of it,” said Father Ernest Bayer, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary. “God touches people through beauty, and music is beautiful. This is a musical style in the Church, too, that was suppressed for 70 years during the communist regime, and it’s been recovered. So most people have not heard this kind of music before.”
The two-hour concert will feature a multimedia presentation explaining the improbable history and unique significance of the Original Image of Divine Mercy, presented by Divine Mercy Institute founder Daniel DiSilva. Then, before a full-size, exact replica of the original masterpiece, the Divine Mercy Choir will perform a concert of the medieval sacred music that was flourishing in Eastern Europe during the days of St. Faustina prior to the destruction that came with the Communist Occupation of Poland and Lithuania.
The Divine Mercy Image is a source of much devotion within the Church and a beautiful representation of the mercy that Jesus shares with the world. As the Church prepares to celebrate the Easter season, hearing the Divine Mercy Choir perform sacred music in front of this sacred image seems a fitting way to quiet one’s heart and enter more deeply into the Easter celebration.
“It’s an all-inclusive opportunity to just come and sit. Anyone’s invited to come and hear the concert and hear the talk,” Father Bayer said.
The Divine Mercy Choir has been performing and preserving a vast repertoire of old hymns particular to Lithuania; music that has not been heard in almost a century. The Divine Mercy Choir was formed in the ancient city of Vilnius to provide liturgical music in the Shrine of Divine Mercy where the Original Image of Divine Mercy is venerated. Known for hundreds of years as The City of Mercy, Vilnius is where St. Faustina lived during the mystical portion of her short life, where the original image was painted, and where she wrote her famous diary.
For more information, visit divinemercychoir.com. Below is a flyer for the IHM performance, featuring the full program schedule.
