by Val Conlon
The following is the passage from the Diary where Jesus explains to St. Faustina how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. It is important to remember that this is a truly special prayer as it was created by Jesus for us as a special element of the new Devotion to Divine Mercy. Jesus spoke these words to her in September 1935 while St. Faustina was living in her convent in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Jesus told St. Faustina, “This prayer will serve to appease My wrath. You will recite it for nine days, on the beads of the rosary, in the following manner: First of all, you will say one ‘Our Father’ and ‘Hail Mary’ and the ‘I Believe in God’. Then on the Our Father beads 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 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 476)
Begin with:
one 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.
one 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.
THE APOSTLE’S 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 life everlasting. Amen.
On the Our Father Beads 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 say the following words:
“For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world”.
In conclusion, after the five decades say three times:
“Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world”.
The Chaplet Of Divine Mercy As A Novena
Sister Faustina wrote in her Diary: “The Lord told me to recite this chaplet for the nine days before the Feast of Mercy. It is to begin on Good Friday. Then he told me, “By this novena I will grant every possible grace to souls (Diary 796) From this and other passages in the Diary it appears that the Lord wants us to make novenas of the Chaplet for whatever need. In preparation for the Feast of Mercy many people devoted to the Divine Mercy say the novena given to Saint Faustina for Our Lord’s intentions without saying a novena of Chaplets. It is important to realise that it is the novena of Chaplets that Our Lord attached such importance too, and the promise, therefore a novena of Chaplets must be said in preparation for the Feast of Mercy.
