The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a beautiful prayer composed by our Lord Himself to help foster devotion to His Divine Mercy! He taught it to a Polish nun, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska (pictured at left) in 1935, in one of His many private revelations to her.
Jesus conveyed to her our need to ask for His mercy, to be merciful ourselves, and to trust in Him completely. Mercy is a key part of the love that He has for us and wants us to show each other. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is simpler to memorize than it looks at first glance! (The opening and closing prayers, while desirable, are optional.) You can pray it using rosary beads as follows:
First, make the sign of the cross. Then you can pray either, or both, of these two optional opening prayers:
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
Or:
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!
Then, on the first three beads: say the Our Father
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.
the Hail Mary,
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
and the Apostles Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead; I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Then you pray the rest of the Divine Mercy Chaplet as follows: for each of the five decades on the large bead (the one you’d say the Our Father on in the rosary) say:
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.
Then on the ten small beads (the ones you’d say the Hail Mary on in the rosary) for each of the five decades, say:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Then, after having completed the prayer’s five decades, you recite the following, three times:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
You can then conclude the Divine Mercy Chaplet with the following optional closing prayer:
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.
For further information on excellent “Divine Mercy” resources, please check out the following websites:
Canadian Divine Mercy Centre & Apostolate
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