Chaplet of Mercy
The Story:
On September 13, 1935, St. Faustina saw an angel who was about to strike
the earth, and especially a particular city, with Divine punishment. "I began
to implore the Angel to hold off for a few moments," St. Faustina wrote,
"...but my plea was nothing in the face of the Divine anger." Then she received
a vision of the Holy Trinity and began to "plead to God for the world with
words heard interiorly." As Sister Faustina prayed, the angel could not carry
out the punishment, and the city was spared. She wrote, "Never before had
I prayed with such inner power as then." Later, Jesus taught her how to say
the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, based on the prayer she had been inspired to
say.
(Quotations from the Diary of Sister Faustina, #474)
How to say the Chaplet of Mercy:
This chaplet only takes a few minutes to say, and the prayers are short and
easy to memorize. (You can say it on ordinary rosary beads.) It can especially
be said at 3:00, if possible, to commemorate Jesus' death.
In fact, Jesus asked Sister Faustina, "At three o'clock, implore My mercy,
especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerce yourself
in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This
is the hour of great mercy. . .In this hour I will refuse nothing to the
soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion!" (Diary of Sister
Faustina, #1320)
First, say one "Our Father," one "Hail Mary," and one "Apostles' Creed."
Then, on the large beads of the rosary, say the prayer:
Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Body
and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of Your most beloved Son and our Divine Redeemer,
Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On each of the ten small beads, pray:
For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
After reciting all five decades this way, end by repeating, three times:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
And a few more notes...
A chaplet is a series of prayers repeated several times, like the rosary.
The Chaplet of Mercy is a powerful prayer to say in atonement for sins.
(Atonement, or reparation means saying a prayer or making a sacrifice in
order to "make up" or apologize for our own sins or the sins of the world.)