Sagar (CBCI News): George Cardinal Alencherry, Head of the Syro Malabar Church, blessed and inaugurated the 43 feet tall statue of Jesus, the tallest in the country, at the Divine Mercy Shrine of Sagar, called Dayasagain Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, 30 September .
Sixteen bishops from MP and other parts of India and about six thousand people of all faiths participated in the event. During the function a Hindu woman testified how her twelve year old son was miraculously cured of long years of paralysis after bringing him to the shrine and placed him at the feet of Jesus.
The statue stands along the North – South Corridor, NH 26, 15 Km west of Sagar city in the village called Khajuria Guru. It weighs 1.5 ton is placed at the height of 45 feet on a 100 feet concrete structure to protect it from storms and earthquakes. It is made in thermoset and is 16 feet wide, 3 feet depth, 3 inches thick. The rays from the heart of Jesus representing are 21 feet long.
Bishop Anthony Chirayath of Sagar said, the Divine Mercy statue of Jesus is a monument to proclaim that the Lord is ever merciful to all those who seek him. Local people call Him “Dayasagar” (Ocean of Mercy). Devotion to Divine Mercy was made popular through St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.
The idea of the monumental statue first came to the mind of, who on 5 October 2007, while on a visit to San Francisco (USA), saw in a vision a shrine of Divine Mercy. He heard an interior message ordering him to build a shrine in Sagar dedicated to Divine Mercy. In his vision he saw thousands of people of all faiths flocking to the feet of Jesus and getting manifold blessings. Though he did not take this message seriously at first, on the following days he came to know that two other persons had exactly similar visions on 5 October. These two persons were strangers to Bishop and they lived in continents apart.
The Rector of the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge (USA) hearing the intention of the Bishop gifted him a sacred image of Divine Mercy on canvass which he enshrined in the chapel of the Renewal Centre at Khajuria Guru. On 9 November 2007 in the presence of all the priests of the diocese, 40 sisters and 20 lay persons the Bishop blessed the Divine Mercy picture, consecrated his diocese to Divine Mercy and declared it a diocesan Shrine. He told the congregation that henceforth it will be called Dayasagar (Ocean of Mercy).
On 30 March 2008 the Feast of Divine Mercy was celebrated at Dayasagar for the first time. Outdoor arrangements were made to accommodate about a thousand pilgrims. There were spiritual conferences, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, healing service and solemn Mass. At least eight pilgrims testified that they had received physical healing during the healing service. That day Bishop Chirayath himself was healed miraculously from an incurable disease. There were also several non-Christians among the participants.
On 31 October 2008 the Bishop installed solemnly in the chapel of Divine Mercy the holy relic of St. Maria Faustina, which was donated to the shrine by the Superior General of the Congregation of Sisters of Merciful Jesus in Poland. On 1 May 2011 Bishop Chirayath laid the foundation stone for the new monumental shrine. The original idea was to install an eight feet statue, but the artist whom the work was entrusted proposed a statue of 40 feet which was later modified into 43 feet.
Attached to the shrine, there is a Renewal Centre which can accommodate 50 people for prayer and meditation. A community of Adoration Sisters spends their time in Adoration. People come here for spiritual nourishment. Spiritual Retreats are organized here. Monthly healing services are held.