National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, Stockbridge, MA — Attraction in Stockbridge

This is a truly holy place. The architecture is amazing! The Marian Priests and Brothers are very caring to all pilgrims who go to visit. Do not miss this place and don't miss the book shop! Do not miss the Grotto which is very like the one in Lourdes, (it is a bit of a hike but totally worth it!) Also, there are the life size stations of the cross, which should not be missed. The schedule is generally the same except for special days like Divine Mercy Sunday, Encuentro Latino, Polish Day, Philipino Day and I'm sure some other days. Generally there is a 9 am and 2pm mass with confessions at 1pm and of course Adoration then after the afternoon Mass, the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy begins at 3pm. Just go spend a day you won't regret it and neither will your soul.

Also, they have a very large parking lot with bathrooms. If you go to the indoor mass, the actual Mass is on the top floor. The bathrooms inside are on the very bottom floor. They even have some snack machines and a place to nosh on a lunch or snack downstairs if it is too hot or too cold or you'd just rather be inside. If it is a Saturday, (check the schedule), he is often giving one of his "Explaining the Faith", talks, where he speaks about various aspects of the faith.

The music here is brilliant, and Br. Ken often leads the music with his spectacular voice. And when you listen to the music, especially at the end, in the Church, turn around. You will see an amazing instrument and two large depictions of Mama Mary: Our Lady of Chęstahova and Our Lady Gate of the Dawn (i believe these are the correct names).

Facing thr Alter, if you look to the left and right of the alter, you will find two other alter spaces as well as some relics.. to the right,, you can venerate St. Faustina as a relic of her is present, there. You can also see one if St. John Paul II's Zucchetto. To the left of the alter, there are multiple relics and information about Blessed George and Blessed Anthony. As well as an area with a Statue of St. Stanislaus Papçinsky of Mary and Jesus. This is the Saint who founded the MIC's (Marians of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.) These are the Priests and Brothers who have been given the task - the honor of disseminating the Message of the Divine Mercy. It would be a challenge to find a more dedicated group of people outside the Marians. The administrative assistants are very kind and patient with everyone there. They will happily explain the route to various areas. Between 9am and 5 pm, they can help you get Holy Water or...

As a Catholic who loves my brothers and sisters in Christ and prays daily for them, it is very sad that it got to this point that I am here leaving a lower review. I have reached out and reached out, and reached out again, and still the issue has not been bare minimally acknowledged, still has not been bare minimally appropriately addressed. I had been ordering from them multiple times, for maybe about a year and a half at least. My order of about $900 came in a box and it was crushed, although I am not sure how the box got crushed. The material of the box is not by any means the strongest, and inside were canvases meant as gifts to be given away which I paid a great deal for. I reached out to them, and made a claim through the mailing service. I did not get an apology from Karen if it was their fault. I was instructed to unwrap the canvas images and check if each one was damaged. Mind you, these are gifts. I tried to resolve this with Karen, without the expectation of getting them replaced. However, with the way she did not apologize if it was their fault, and I didn’t get the sense that they regret this outcome and want to improve, i Reached out to Kevin Dougherty, and have been trying to reach him for months, and he still hasn’t got back with me, either by phone or by email. Additionally, I also received at least one damaged printer paper size image and pamphlet from the way they packed them, and they replace those (the value of what they sent me was like less than 3 dollars by the way), BUT AFTER me calling and leaving a message, calling to follow up and leaving another message, calling again…this is not how you treat someone..who had something like this happen. Eventually I was told the messages were getting to him, he just wasn’t reaching back out to me to resolve the issue which I tried to resolve with the manager/supervisor(?) Karen. Sad to say that no matter how hard I tried to get the issue resolved, they did not seem to be empathetic to somebody who spent all this money and got the damaged box, damaged items, maybe etc (this has been over the course of MONTHS and im trying to remember). I am sad to say that I am considering changing to a different provider. Please resolve issues with customers instead of leaving them hanging for months/maybe even a year or over a year at this point! And still not even bare minimum resolved, let...

A fantastic place. The grounds are spacious and peaceful. The Stations of the Cross are one of the best elements here. I was impressed and very happy the the sculptor included Simon in the stations beyond the fifth (it's not often he is seen after his station). The chapel is gorgeous and quite cozy. We were there a few days before Divine Mercy Sunday and it was "crowded," although I'm sure it's nothing compared to what they were expecting - but they seemed well prepared. After Mass the Novena begins (with Exposition). There was a reflection given during this time which was beautiful, but felt long (but it was particularly warm when we were there, in a packed space which makes everything feel longer), but it was a beautiful time spent with the Lord and the Universal Church in praying the Novena. Once the Novena ended, the space cleared out pretty quickly (as the Shrine itself was closing not much later). It was then when you could really admire and appreciate the beauty of the space, take in the windows, and venerate some of the relics. It is definitely worth visiting and spending some time in prayer. If you're looking for Catholic gifts, their shop is great, perhaps rivaled only by the...