Here at Divine Mercy University our community life is centered upon the sacraments. By prioritizing our faith, we pray for God’s strengthening grace to pursue holiness in our work and studies. We have priests who offer daily Mass and hear confessions for our students, faculty, and staff.
Our new chapel will be located by the main entrance on the first floor of the building, open to all who seek a quiet space for prayer and reflection throughout the day.
Our Chapel will honor St. Dymphna and Other Saints
St. Dymphna
St. Dymphna lived in Ireland in the seventh century and was the daughter of a pagan King. Dymphna’s Christian mother died when she was just 14, and this loss put her father into such distress that he became mentally unstable. When he decided to replace his wife by marrying his daughter, Dymphna refused and fled to the city of Gheel in Belgium. Her father found her soon after, and in his anger he beheaded Dymphna and left her body in Gheel where she was buried.
Gheel became a place of pilgrimage for the mentally ill, and many miraculous healings have occurred through her intercession.
As a result, St. Dymphna was canonized in 1247, and named the patroness of those suffering from mental and nervous disorders, as well as victims of incest.
We pray that St. Dymphna would intercede for DMU as we strive to address the growing need for mental health services in our world today.
St. Josephine Bakhita
Josephine Bakhita had a happy childhood until she was kidnapped by Arab slave traders in 1877. Although she was only 7 or 8 at the time, she was forced to walk barefoot over 600 miles to a slave market. Over 12 years she was bought, sold, or traded more than a dozen times, and suffered from beatings, cuttings, and intentional scarring. She was eventually sold to an Italian family who treated her well and brought her to Italy. Ahead of a long overseas trip, they asked the Canossian Sisters to take her in. There, Josephine learned about Jesus.
When her master returned, she fought a legal battle for her freedom and won. She then decided to become a Canossian Sister. She was baptized by the priest who would later become Pope Pius X. St. Josephine Bakhita was known for her gentle and charismatic nature, and said that if she saw her kidnappers again she would thank them, for it was through her enslavement that she came to know Jesus Christ.
She is the patron saint of victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.
St. Faustina
In 1913, the Polish sister Maria Faustina Kowalska received a vision of Jesus dressed in a white garment, gesturing to his heart from which flowed rays of blood and water. Our Lord told St. Faustina that he desired not to punish mankind, but to heal its woundedness by pressing it to his Merciful Heart.
Jesus instructed her to write down what he would inspire in her, to bring his message of Divine Mercy to the world. We know that Jesus desires healing for suffering humanity, and he offers this healing to all of us through his Divine Mercy.
At DMU, we endeavor to imitate St. Faustina by bringing this message of hope to those who carry the heavy burden of mental illness and psychological distress.
Pope St. John Paul II
One of the greatest gifts that Pope St. John Paul II gave to the church and to the world was his beautiful and intricate articulation of Catholic anthropology. Even prior to becoming Pope, Karol Wojtyla’s work placed a unique emphasis on the dignity and value of the human person, and this focus remained throughout his pontificate.
In his writings and teachings, Pope St. John Paul II provided the Church with a detailed understanding of the centrality of the human person, and this understanding informs the mission and work of DMU.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego on the Hill of Tepeyac, Mexico City, in December 1531. Identifying herself as the Mother of God, she instructed Juan Diego to have a church built on that site.
After a beautiful image of Our Lady appeared on Juan Diego’s tilma and convinced the Archbishop of her apparition, a church was built. Over the next few years, millions of Mexican people converted to Catholicism because of her intercession.
Divine Mercy University took possession of its first campus in Crystal City, Arlington, VA on her feast day, December 12.
We also call upon Our Lady for her intercession under her title Our Lady of Lourdes as men and women in the healing professions, and Mary, Undoer of Knots, asking for her intercession for those struggling with marital or family strife, mental distress, addiction, anger, or any loss of peace.
St. John the Baptist
The Gospel according to St. Mark opens with an introduction of St. John the Baptist in which the Apostle writes,
“It is written in the prophet Isaiah: ‘Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you. A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
At Divine Mercy University, we view the role of a psychologist as analogous to that of St. John the Baptist, namely, to prepare individuals to receive the healing that ultimately comes from Jesus Christ.
In the same way that John called for men and women to ready themselves for the coming of the Savior and to make straight paths, our vocation as mental health professionals is to prepare the way of the Lord.
Also included in our patrons are
St. Mark Ji, St. Jude Thaddeus, St. Monica, St. Rita, Ss. Isidore & Maria Torribia, Ss. Louis & Zelie Martin & Family, St. Benedict Joseph Labre
There are a number of memorial opportunities available by which you can remember your family or someone special in your life:
Sacristy
(Already Memorialized)
Altar
(Already Memorialized)
Tabernacle
(Already Memorialized)
Statue of Our Lady
$50,000
Statue of St. Joseph
(Already Memorialized)
Portrait of
a Patron Saint
$25,000
Crucifix
(Already Memorialized)
Sanctuary Furnishings
$5,000
Pew
$2,500
Stations of the Cross
(Already Memorialized)
Chapel Patron
$1,000+
(memorial plaque)
Chapel Sponsor
$500+
(memorial plaque)
A donation of $500 or more will include you or a loved one on a memorial plaque in the chapel.
Ways to Give
To donate by check, please make your check payable to
Divine Mercy University
with “New Chapel” in the memo line,
and mail to:
Divine Mercy University
45154 Underwood Ln
Sterling, VA 20166
To donate over the phone, please call us at
(703) 589-9074
To donate online,
Fill out the form below
Questions?
Contact Thomas Cronquist
at (703) 518-0281
With much gratitude we thank you for your generous donation!
If you have any prayer intentions we can pray for, especially during our monthly Mass offered specifically for our benefactors and their intentions, please submit them at the following link: Click Here to Submit a Prayer Request