The Chaplet of Divine Mercy

What It Is

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a prayer that is near and dear to my heart.  It transformed my life!  And today is the 77th anniversary of the prayer!

"This Chaplet was dictated to Saint Faustina by the Lord Jesus Himself in Vilnius on September 13-14, 1935, as a prayer of atonement and for the appeasement of God's wrath." ~ Introduction to the Diary of Saint Faustina

How to Pray It

The Chaplet can be prayed on rosary beads because it follows the same format as the rosary.  The following quote is taken from the book, "Divine Mercy in My Soul: Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska".  These are the words of Jesus when He gave the prayer to Saint Faustina:

"...First of all, you will say one OUR FATHER and HAIL MARY and the [APOSTLE'S CREED].  Then on the OUR FATHER beads [on the rosary] you will say the following words: 'Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.' On the HAIL MARY beads [on the rosary] you will say the following words: 'For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.' In conclusion, three times you will recite these words: 'Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.'" ~ Diary 474-476

(Just to be safe, I listed the prayer in another format at the bottom of this post.)


Why to Pray It

This is an especially powerful prayer.  The introduction to Saint Faustina's Diary goes on to say:

"By means of this prayer, the petitioners request 'mercy on us and on the whole world,' and by so doing, they perform a work of mercy.  If the faithful add to this the foundation of trust and fulfill the conditions regarding every good prayer (humility, perseverance, matters in conformity with God's will), they can expect the fulfillment of Christ's promises which are particularly related to the hour of death: the grace of conversion and a peaceful death.

Not only will the people who say the Chaplet receive these graces, but also the dying at whose side others will recite this prayer.  The Lord said: 'When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person, God's anger is placated, unfathomable mercy envelops the soul' (Diary, 811).  The general promise says: 'It pleases Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet' (Diary, 1541) '...if what you ask is compatible with My will.' (Diary, 1731)"

It is good to pray this prayer any time / all the time.  However, this prayer is especially powerful at the three o'clock hour, the hour of our Lord's death on the cross.  In the diary it says the following:

"At three o'clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment for the whole world.  I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow.  In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of my Passion..." ~ Diary, 1320

Personal Experience

I can attest to the power of this prayer in my own personal experience.  This prayer has transformed my life.  Once my wife taught me this prayer, it was just too powerful and too easy (10 minutes) to not say at 3 pm every day.  (Normally we'll pray along with Relevant Radio when they say it at 3 pm.)  And the results have been staggering...my prayer life has improved, people have been healed, friends have been converted...heck I have a friend who made it rain during a drought (no joke).

So I pass this prayer along to you.  It is a gift straight from Jesus Himself.  Please try using it for a week at 3 pm...see if it doesn't change your life.

[Divine Mercy Image]

Keep Pursuing

Additional Material

Just in case it wasn't clear, this is how you pray the chaplet on rosary beads:

• The Opening 
• (pray each of these once to start the chaplet) 
• Start by making the sign of the cross 
• Say one Our Father 
• Say one Hail Mary 
• Say one Apostle's Creed
• The Five Decades 
• (pray this prayer once at the beginning of each decade) 
• Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, the Soul and Divinity, of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. 
• (pray this prayer ten times in each decade) 
• For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world 
• (repeat the above set of prayers five times for a total of 55 prayers) 
• The Closing 
• (repeat the below prayer three times) 
• Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world 

Lastly, here is a website with loads of materials and information on the Divine Mercy Chaplet:
www.thedivinemercy.org