The Divine Mercy Chaplet
Two indispensable prayers.
For me, two indispensible prayers that I recite daily happen to be the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy and the Rosary of Our Lady. Why? Aside from the fact that the prayers are so efficacious in obtaining grace, both were requested by Heaven. Most Catholics know that at Fatima, Our Lady asked everyone to pray the Rosary every day. Yet Our Lord also requested that the Chaplet of Divine Mercy be recited as well, attaching many promises to those who recite it. He asked St. Faustina to recite it incessantly. (When I am gardening, I pray it as one would pray the Jesus prayer.)
Today at Adoration, a really nice “Church lady” came over to me with a little pamphlet on the devotion to the Divine Mercy with prayers for the sick and the dying. I told her I pray the chaplet everyday, but she explained the efficacy of praying for the sick and the dying during Adoration, and encouraged me to read about it and recite the prayers. It was such a grace for me that she came over with the pamphlet.
Dorothy (that is the lady’s name) had no idea how providential her “interference” into my prayer was. (She apologized for interfering and I assured her she had not.) I’m very familiar with St. Faustina’s Diary and the message of Divine Mercy, yet it was so beneficial for me to again read this excerpt from Faustina’s writings regarding Our Lord’s request that we pray the chaplet for the sick and the dying.
The Divine Chaplet is such an important prayer - and not just another devotion. It unites us immediately and intimately with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being celebrated throughout the world, becoming for us a continuous Spiritual Communion, an aqueduct of Divine Love and Mercy, transforming our hearts and those we pray for. Like St. Faustina, I too have had many signal graces associated with this prayer, especially when prayed for the dying.
From The Diary of St. Faustina:
Saint Faustina was often given the grace to know when a certain dying person desired or needed prayer; she would be alerted to the moment, by her Guardian Angel or by Our Lord Himself. At those times she would pray until she no longer felt the need to pray, or a sense of peace came upon her, or she learned that the person had died, or heard the soul say, “Thank You!” She wrote: “Oh, dying souls are in such great need of prayer! O Jesus, inspire souls to pray often for the dying” (Diary, 1015).
July 25th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Father Corapi, ex-Special Forces soldier and proven Grizzly Ba’r hunter, loves to tell the story of St Padre Pio and how he used to cry out for his “weapon.” His fellow monks would remonstrate with him that he didn’t own a “weapon.” And he insisted that he did, his Rosary.
The Rosary is a wonderful weapon.
There is another “weapon” for the devout. When I was in the Army, I trained on the M14 rifle; most soldiers since my time have qualified on the M16.
Everybody should be using the M17!
The “M17″ is the number of “The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion” booklet, available at your favorite Catholic bookstore that contains the story of the St Faustina Kowalska and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, dictated to her by Our Lord in the 1930s.
It is available for just a few dollars and fits handily in purse, pocket, glove box, the inside of your Biretta or Galero or what container have you.
It also contains the Divine Mercy Novena and numerous other prayers that use the Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers as their inspiration.
Two important devotions in particular are reported by St Faustina to have come directly from Our Lord:
1. “Whoever will recite it [the Chaplet] will receive great mercy at the hour of death. When they say this chaplet in the presence off the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the Just Judge, but as the Merciful Savior. Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from my infinite mercy . . . .” (pp. 56-7)
2. The Hour of Great Mercy. “In this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion. As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in my mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world - mercy triumphed over justice. . . . [The three o'clock hour was the hour of Jesus' death].”
I have been told by one of the lay volunteers who works and travels for the Divine Mercy Shrine in Massachusetts that the Mercy of the three o’clock hour also applies to those in Purgatory.
And you don’t have to start at 3 o’clock sharp. Just say it during that hour.
So start remaking your prayer lists and adding all your friends, relatives and aquaintances who haven’t been canonized yet. (p. 72)
July 25th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
I’m sure I’ve asked this before…what does one meditate on while praying the chaplet. And I need a refresher on signal graces. Thanks!
July 26th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Thanks Ray - That is good to know.
Angela - It is good to meditate upon the passion of Jesus during the chapet, or ponder the image of Divine Mercy - especially Our Lord’s wounds.
Again, I think signal graces are “signs” from God: A Divine touch, or even as St. Faustina mentioned, hearing an interior “thank you” or experiencing a profound peace and conviction that one’s prayer has been efficasious. Some people may experience a higher mystical grace, such as the prayer of quiet- a suspension of one’s faculties. It seems to me it is a sign from God and the effects would be spiritually consoling, providing an increase in charity - love for God and our neighbor. I think it depends upon what the soul needs, and of course, God can do what he wills. Very imperfect souls can sometimes receive spectacular graces. Teresa of Avila might call these “proofs of his love”.
Anyway - that is what I think signal graces are.
July 26th, 2007 at 10:31 am
On the subject of “what to meditate upon” during the DM chaplet: I place myself in spirit before a Tabernacle that I have memory of and offer the body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord in the Eucharist to the Father. I also implore Jesus present in the Sacrament with my requests and ask the angels who are there adoring to pray with me and for me.
It is VERY important to pray for the sick, the dying, but this is a very efficacious prayer for the souls suffering in purgatory - they too are sick and need our help!
July 26th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Sanctus - I do that too - I unite myself to Our Lord’s silent loving action in the Eucharist in a spiritual Communion and pray in the same way.
I especially like to pray for the dying who have little or no hope of salvation - those most in need of His mercy and who have no one to pray for them.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Angela:
When I say the Chaplet, which I intend to do every day, I meditate upon the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
I break each of the Mysteries into component parts. For example, for the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery, I use the Seven Last Words of Christ; For others, I use scenes from The Passion of the Christ or from things that I have read or heard to help keep myself focused.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I just wanted to warn people of an e-bay purchase I made re: Divine Mercy. I wanted an image to pray the chaplet in front of, and so I chose one on e-bay that seemed gentle on the eyes. It was like the one pictured above, with slight differences, the main ones being in the raised hand (Jesus has 2 fingers raised, as if in peace) and a background of clouds. I always felt compelled to study the picture, not sure why. Then, after praying the prayer of St. Michael for The Protection From Evil Spirits in front of the image, I felt compelled to once again study this picture. To my horror, I found that on Jesus’ right shoulder, right next to his hair, there was a little head, which looked like a demon! I am 100% positive it was there and don’t know why I never saw it before. I retraced my purchase steps and found the person I purchased from — “Great Stuff Priced Right” and her e-bay name, which said it all for me, as far as I was concerned, was “gypsyjanluise”. Please — please — please warn all that this is not a safe image and should not be purchased!!!
February 15th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I am writing to tell you that the seller on e-bay I said sold me that abomination may not actually be the correct one. The image is the same, though the one I purchased was framed and this one wasn’t. Please, still, be aware! Any Divine Mercy images painted in pastels, showing Jesus’ right arm raised and two fingers on that hand raised with a background of clouds should DEFINITELY be carefully studied!