Psychological Healing
in the Roman Catholic Mystic Tradition

The Chaplet of
The Divine Mercy

español

 
Introduction | Introductory Prayer | Preliminary Prayers | The Circlet of Beads | Concluding Prayer | The Three O’Clock Hour

Introduction

On the evening of Friday, September 13, 1935, Saint Faustina had a vision of an Angel, “the executor of divine wrath.” Seeing this sign of divine wrath that was about to strike the earth, the saint implored the Angel to stay his hand, and she began to plead with God for mercy on the world. The words with which she entreated God were restated more perfectly the next day in another interior vision in which the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy was fully defined (Diary, 474–476).

In her diary, Saint Faustina provides a profound description of the role of self-sacrifice and suffering in Christian life. Now, it is true that Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque has, through her writings and her life example, left us a definitive explanation of the meaning of Christian suffering in general, but the modern world, defiled as it is by all the diabolical terrors of modernism beginning with World War I, has its own particularly urgent need for repentance and mercy. And Saint Faustina’s Diary expresses this urgency in poignant clarity. 

The difference between the Sacred Heart revelations and the Divine Mercy revelations

 
The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy has full approval of the Church,^[1] and so it is fitting that we pray it constantly, that God might mitigate His wrath on a world growing increasingly sinful and corrupt. As natural disasters today become more severe and destructive, our prayers must become more intense.

Introductory Prayer

The Sign of the Cross. The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy is prayed on traditional Rosary beads. So, to begin, hold the crucifix of the Rosary in your right hand and make the Sign of the Cross, touching the crucifix to your forehead, chest, and left and right shoulders. Make the sign deliberately, and with reverence, for, when you do make the Sign of the Cross, you are mystically accepting the crucifixion of your own identity. That thought should give you pause.

	(Forehead)	IN the Name of the Father
	(Mid-chest)	and of the Son
	(Left Shoulder)	and of the Holy
	(Right Shoulder)	Spirit.
		Amen.

Preliminary Prayers

 
The Our Father.

By the way, be careful not to slur together the seven petitions of the Our Father (Matthew 6:9–13) like the “elemeno P” of the grammar school alphabet. Say this prayer slowly, carefully, and distinctly. Read an excerpt from a letter by Saint Augustine about the Lord’s Prayer
OUR Father, Who art in Heaven,
(1)	hallowed be Thy Name,
(2)	Thy Kingdom come,
(3)	Thy will be done,
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.
(4)	Give us this day our daily bread;
(5)	and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
(6)	And lead us not into temptation,
(7)	but deliver us from evil.
	Amen.

 
The Hail Mary.

HAIL, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among 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 Apostles’ Creed. While still holding the crucifix, pray 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 to the dead; on 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 will 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.

The Circlet of Beads

On the single bead before each decade: 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 ten beads of each decade: FOR the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Concluding Prayer

HOLY God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (Three times)

The 3 O’Clock Hour

Jesus told Saint Faustina, “I remind you, My daughter, that 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. . . . try your best to make the Stations of the Cross in this hour” (Diary, 1572).

Step-by-step instructions for praying The 3 O’Clock Prayer

 
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1. This, in itself, is the cause of some pernicious argument today. Some traditional Catholics claim that Church approval of Saint Faustina’s writing came about because of liberal Vatican II ideology. Now, the truth is, many liberals today are so theologically ignorant that they have lost respect for traditional ceremony and discipline. But it is just as true that many traditionalists are so conceptually arrogant that they have cast humility from their lives. Therefore, it would do everyone well to keep in mind that real Christianity demands a humble, chaste lifestyle of constant prayer and on-going sacrifices and acts of mercy towards others. The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy is one way to fulfill that obligation in the midst of a battle that, far from being between yourself and others around you, is really between you and the devil.