Thousands gather for Divine Mercy

Ireland’s 24th Divine Mercy Conference was a “full house” at the weekend, according to conference organiser Don Devaney. As expected, 3,500 attended on Saturday, with 3,000 coming along on Sunday.

Mr Devaney said “having an all-Irish line-up made a difference” and he received a lot of positive feedback on the speakers, with people praising how the various talks all “flowed into each other”. Saturday evening’s homily by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was emphasised as a real highlight.

The stallholders noticed a “big improvement in the numbers of people visiting them”, Mr Devaney added, saying that overall he was delighted too with how the running of the conference had gone, this being only the second year with a new conference committee.

This year’s talks will be posted on the conference website, along with a form parishes can fill out if they would like the conference to send them a Divine Mercy image. The aim, Mr Devaney said, is “to encourage devotion to the Divine Mercy, and to make it easy for people to celebrate Divine Mercy and publicly venerate the image even if there’s no formal Divine Mercy celebration in their parishes”.

www.divinemercyconference.com

What they said

Eilish Butler, Innishannon, Co. Cork:

“I’ve never been before, but came along to help deepen my spirituality. I was interested in the speakers too, but have really enjoyed mingling here – it’s nice meeting new people and seeing familiar faces from other youth events over the year.”

“I’ve been at least 15 times – it’s a chance for a time out, to concentrate on getting my life in focus. It’s an opportunity too to witness to Catholicism, and to think of the mercy and forgiveness of God, which is so needed in the world today.”

“I’ve been a good few times – it’s a great day out with everyone on the same wavelength. It’s like a family, really. Everyone is happy to see each other as you spot the same faces from previous years and recognise faces from prayer meetings around the country.”

“I love the talks, and find it very uplifting. It’s great too how you meet so many people here of all ages – it’s a good way to network! In a way it’s similar to Youth 2000, with its focus on sacraments – especially Confession – and healing.”

“I was here before, about five years ago, and it has changed – there seems to be much more ‘oomph’ to it now – it’s more uplifting, and has definitely grown, but then, there’s a bigger need for it now.”

“It’s been lovely – an inspiring and very spiritual day. Fr Joe McDonald’s testimony was great to hear – it’s good to hear people from the Church telling things as it is.”

“This is the third time I’ve been and I’d say this has been the best so far. The talks have been very good – all the speakers spoke from the heart, and gave testimonies that were relevant.”