The Chaplet of Divine Mercy
Today - 85th Anniversary that Jesus, through Saint Faustina, gave us the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. This prayer, incredibly full of grace and power, was given to us from heaven on the Solemnity of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: September 13 and 14, 1935.
“You must be completely imbued with My mercy”
Christ was systematically preparing Sister Faustina to discover, understand and fulfill her life mission - he gradually formed her into an apostle of Divine Mercy. In carrying out his plan, in the first place, he revealed to her the mystery of God's Mercy, and then conveyed his desire that she herself would be permeated with it: "My daughter, I desire that your heart be formed after the model of My merciful Heart. You must be completely imbued with My mercy"(Diary 167).
"O my God, I am conscious of my mission in the Holy Church"
Saint Faustina led an intense inner life, expressed in openness to God's Mercy and active involvement in giving mercy to others, especially through prayers of a satisfying and imploring nature. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, from the time of her stay in Vilnius, plays an important role in this work. While in her cell (September 13, 1935), the mystic saw the Angel, the wrath of God, who was to punish the earth. When she tried to stop him, she saw the Holy Trinity and, overwhelmed by grace, began to pray to God for the world with words heard interiorly (Diary 474). The next day(September 14, 1935), in the chapel she heard: "This prayer will serve to appease My wrath" (Diary 476), she also learned how to pray it: “The next morning, when I entered the chapel, I heard these words interiorly: Every time you enter the chapel, immediately recite the prayer which I taught you yesterday. When I had said the prayer, in my soul I heard these words: 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)
Intensive prayer for mercy for the world with the help of a Chaplet convinced Saint Faustina, the Apostle of Divine Mercy of the effectiveness of using this prayer formula and helped her discover her place in the Church more fully: " O my God, I am conscious of my mission in the Holy Church. It is my constant endeavor to plead for mercy for the world. "(Diary 482)." I know and understand that this is my task, here and in eternity "(Diary 483). This discovery, as her words indicate, was a very important event for her. It defined her mission in the Church - now and in eternity. The mystic realized that she was to be a witness of God's Mercy for all eternity.
“Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ”
The introductory formula that begins with the words "Eternal Father" shows that the prayer is addressed to God - the Father of mercy through Christ, the only Mediator between God and people. Christ's sacrifice on the cross, to which is referred, is a revelation of the fullness of God's Mercy and at the same time "atonement" to God for the sins of the whole world (cf. 1 Jn 4:10).
" I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ"
Those words: should be read and understood in two contexts: Eucharistic and Christological. The invocation "Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity" refers to the theological definition expressed by the Council of Trent in reference to the real and substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist. These words indicate the presence of Jesus, the true Son of God, the Second Divine Person, who assumed a human body, becoming a unity of the divine and human nature.
In the Tridentine Profession of Faith, we read: "I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really and substantially, the Body and Blood, together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ"(...). The expression" Divinity " the Lord Jesus used in this prayer formula indicates not only the presence of the Son of God in the Eucharist, but also refers to the Christological tradition formulated at the Council of Chalcedon, according to which the Son of God is the true God equal in the Godhead of the Father. The expression "Divinity" of Christ used in this formula means His Divine Person. In this act, the person praying, uniting himself with Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, refers to the love of God the Father for the suffering Son, and indirectly also to merciful love for all people.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ”
This triple title of Jesus, frequently used by St. Paul (e.g. 2 Cor 1:3) in his letters, is a summary of the Gospel, and a key to who Jesus is. When we say Lord, we mean that Jesus is the Lord God who reigns at the right hand of the Father and who “will come again to judge the living and the dead” (Apostles Creed). When we say Jesus, we mean Savior. It is He who has saved us by the passion and death He suffered in His human body. And when we say Christ, we mean anointed. He was the one anointed by the Holy Spirit to do the works of the Father, was raised from the dead by that Spirit, and is the source of that same Spirit for us.
“In atonement for our sins and those of the whole world "
The call " in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world " emphasizes that union with Christ's Sacrifice is joining in the work of atoning God for the sins of the person who prays and for all whom he/she includes in his/her prayer.
A similar reference to the Father's love takes place in the formula "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion ", where the emphasis is not so much on the atonement that Jesus offered for us, but on invoking God's Father's mercy for us, referring to this love, which was expressed in the Passion of Christ.
This offering of the Chaplet prayer is expiation for everyone, for all our sins. It is a beautiful echo of the word of St. John. “He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.” (1 Jn 2:2).
It is worth paying attention to the fact that the recitation of the chaplet should always be in the plural because it expresses the request for God's Mercy "for us and for the whole world" (Diary 476). "Us" in this formula means the reciter and all for whom he is obliged and wants to pray; the term "whole world" includes all living and dead in Purgatory.
"For the sake of His sorrowful Passion "
We implore the Feather to look at the passion of His Son-the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the ridicule and insults, the bitter pain of His crucifixion and, above all, the anguish of His Heart. The Passion of Jesus Christ is the perfect act of obedience and trust, offered “through the eternal Spirit.”
“Have mercy on us and on the whole world”
Here, we implore the Father for mercy, because mercy is the great plan of God for all mankind. St. Paul describes God’s desire: For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all (Rom 11:32)- He then breaks out into a hymn to describe this plan: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! (Rom 11:33). The passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the source of mercy, of atonement, and of eternal life for all who trust and believe.
The formula " Have mercy on us and on the whole world " has one more dimension. It teaches us to free ourselves from selfishness in prayer and to see the need to care for the good of others; it teaches our personal good to unite with the good of the community. It does by praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy an act of sacrifice - merciful Christian love, which ultimately encompassing all humanity (cf. Diary 929).
“Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One“
The chaplet concludes with the repetition of the great doxology of the Byzantine Church, honoring the Most Holy Trinity: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is the Holy God and Father of all. The Son is the Mighty One who saved us and did the works of the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the Immortal one, is the Everliving Lord God, “the giver of life” (Nicene Creed)
This concluding part of the chaplet also echoes Sacred Scripture in the prophet Isaiah: “Holy, holy, holy* is the LORD of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” (Is 6:3); and again, “For thus says the high and lofty One, the One who dwells forever, whose name is holy: I dwell in a high and holy place” (Is 57:15); and in the prophet Habakkuk, “Are you not from of old, O LORD, my holy God, immortal? (Hab 1:12)
"Oh, what great favors I will grant to souls who will recite this chaplet"
Reciting the chaplet is a way of opening a person to the experience of Divine Mercy and is an important element of showing mercy to others, the more so that Christ's promises are connected with this prayer: " It pleases Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet." (Diary 1541). Jesus explains, however, that “through the chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will” (Diary 1731). In the above context, the term "everything" means both spiritual goods - salvific and temporal, both for entire communities, as well as for individuals. The Lord Jesus repeatedly encouraged or even ordered the "continuous" recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. During the prayer, the mystic's reach was to cover all mankind: sinners, in danger of sin, dying, threatened with condemnation, as well as people who do not know God or loves Him little (cf. Diary 929).
Christ assured her that he would give the grace of conversion and good death to the dying when the Chaplet of Divine Mercy would be recited with them (Diary 811). He also assured about his presence with those people: " Write that when they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the merciful Savior" (Diary 1541). The Lord Jesus let her know that in this chaplet there is a great help for the dying (cf. Diary 834-835). Praying the chaplet is not only a way of giving mercy to other people, but also the promises of Christ to people who practice this prayer (cf. Diary 848). They concern in a special way the hour of death: " Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. (...), I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy " (Diary 687). This great promise is certainly about conversion and death in a state of grace. Christ assured Saint Faustina that all those who spread the veneration of Divine Mercy and say the chaplet " All those souls who will glorify My mercy and spread its worship, encouraging others to trust in My mercy, will not experience terror at the hour of death. My mercy will shield them in that final battle "(Diary 1540). The above promise shows the threefold dimension of grace granted to the dying - lack of fear, peace of soul and peaceful death.
"My daughter, encourage souls to recite this chaplet"
In the apparitions, Christ encouraged the apostle of Divine Mercy to constantly recite the chaplet and to spread the knowledge of this prayer formula among the largest possible number of believers. He also presented the basic conditions that should be met when reciting the chaplet: trust and perseverance in prayer and performing works of mercy through deed, word and prayer. The recitation of the chaplet should therefore result from trust in God's Mercy and be its external expression because God grants His graces only to those who trust in His mercy and to the measure of this trust.
“Once, as I was going down the hall to the kitchen, I heard these words in my soul: Say unceasingly the chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. 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. I desire that the whole world know My infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy.” (Diary 687).
Until Tomorrow
fr. george