Candles donated by Roman Catholics throughout Southern California will light the sanctuary of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Sunday during special Divine Mercy Masses.

The candles will be lit for the 7 a.m. Spanish-language Mass and will remain lit as an expression of hope in God and a visual sign of trust in His mercy, especially during this time of the coronavirus outbreak, according to Doris Benavides, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ associate director of media relations.

A 10 a.m. English-language Divine Mercy Mass at the cathedral will be televised by KCOP-TV Channel 13 and streamed on the LA Catholics Facebook page, facebook.com/lacatholics. It will be celebrated by Archbishop Jose H. Gomez.

The Spanish-language Mass will be televised by KFTR-TV Channel 46. It will be celebrated by the Rev. Paul Velazquez, the cathedral’s associate pastor.

The observance of Divine Mercy Sunday was inspired in the 1930s diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun and mystic, which records 14 occasions when Jesus requested that a Feast of Mercy be observed.

The Vatican decreed on May 5, 2000, five days after the canonization of St. Faustina, that the Second Sunday of Easter would be known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

A Chaplet of the Divine Mercy and a novena was also revealed to St. Faustina, which are prayed by Catholics around the world starting on Good Friday and ending the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday.

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