DIVINE MERCY

1. What is Divine Mercy

“Mankind will never have peace until it turns with trust to My Mercy” (Diary, 300)

a. GOD is LOVE
- Omnipotent= all powerful
- Omniscient= all knowing
b. Greatest Mode of LOVE is MERCY
- Mercy is the highest form of the highest virtue. If you want to get to Heaven, the
surest and best way is to be merciful as the heavenly Father is merciful. (Lk. 6:36).
 OF ALL the VIRTUES, THE GREATEST IS LOVE and OF ALL THE MODES OF
LOVE, THE HIGHEST IS MERCY.

“Mercy is having pain in your heart for the pain of another and taking pains to
do something about their pain.”

(1) HOW CAN WE EXERCISE MERCY?

a. in WORDS
b. in DEEDS
c. in PRAYER

(2) WHAT IS DIVINE MERCY?

 If MERCY is a love encountering suffering and taking action to do something
about it and when this mercy applies to God, then it is DIVINE MERCY. God
loving the unlovable and forgiving the unforgivable.

(3) MESSAGE OF DIVINE MERCY

a. Ask for God’s mercy.
- God wants us to approach Him, to repent of our sins, and to ask Him to pour His
mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.
b. Be merciful to each other.
- God wants us to receive His mercy and, in turn, be merciful to others through our
actions, words, and prayers. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others
just as He extends love and forgiveness to us. It is not just “want” rather He
“demands.” (Corporal Works of Mercy and Spiritual Works of Mercy)
c. Completely trust in God’s mercy.
- The need for trust is the very essence of the message of Divine Mercy. It entails
surrendering our will to God, dedicating our lives to Him and entrusting ourselves
to His care in good times and bad.

2. Feast
A. What is Divine Mercy Sunday?
Our Lord called for a special feast day to be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter.

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 My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I
desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls,
and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My
tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those
souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to
Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete
forgiveness of sins and punishment. The Feast of Mercy emerged from
My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly
celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have
peace until it turns to the Fount of My mercy.

B. What graces are available and how do we receive them?

a. I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and
receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy (1109).
b. Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete
forgiveness of sins and punishment (300).
c. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will obtain
complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (699).

To receive these graces, the only condition is to receive Holy Communion worthily on
Divine Mercy Sunday by making a good confession beforehand and staying in the state of
grace and trusting in His Divine Mercy. In addition, our Lord says through St. Faustina
that we are to perform acts of mercy.

3. Image
In 1931, our Lord appeared to St. Faustina in a vision. She saw Jesus clothed in a
white garment with His right hand raised in blessing. His left hand was touching His
garment in the area of the Heart, from where two large rays came forth, one red and the
other pale. She gazed intently at the Lord in silence, her soul filled with awe, but also with
great joy. Jesus said to her:
Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature:
Jesus, I trust in You. I promise that the soul that will venerate this
image will not perish. I also promise victory over its enemies already
here on earth, especially at the hour of death…

The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which
makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls.

Many different versions of this image have been painted, but our Lord made it clear
that the painting itself is not what is important. When St. Faustina first saw the original
image that was being painted under her direction, she wept in disappointment and
complained to Jesus: "Who will paint You as beautiful as You are?" (313). In answer, she
heard these words: "Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness
of this image, but in My grace" (313). So, no matter which version of the image we
prefer, we can be assured that it is a vehicle of God’s grace if it is revered with trust in His
mercy.

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 4. Novena
From Good Friday and finished nine days later, on Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday.
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is also offered every day as part of the Novena.
DAY 1
“Today, bring to Me all mankind, especially all sinners.”
(Jesus told Faustina that praying for sinners consoled Him from the grief He felt at losing.)
DAY 2
“Today bring to Me the souls of priests and religious.”
(These souls gave Jesus strength to endure His Passion.)
DAY 3
“Today bring to Me all devout and faithful souls.
(These souls consoled Jesus on the Way of the Cross.)
DAY 4
“Today bring to Me the pagans and those who do not yet know Me.”
(Jesus was thinking of these souls during His Passion.)
DAY 5
“Today bring to Me the souls of heretics and schismatics.”
(When these souls are reunited with the Church, the wounds of Jesus’ Passion are
lessened.)
DAY 6
“Today bring to Me he meek and humble souls and the souls of little children
(These souls most closely correspond to Jesus’ Heart.)
DAY 7
“Today bring to Me the souls who especially venerate and glorify My mercy.”
(None of these souls will go to hell, and Jesus will defend them when they die.)
DAY 8
“Today bring to Me the souls who are in the prison of Purgatory.”
(Jesus says it is in our power to relieve these souls.)
DAY 9
“Today bring to Me souls who have become Luke-warm.”
(These souls wound Jesus’ Heart very painfully.)

5. Chaplet
THE DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET
(The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is recited using ordinary rosary beads of five decades. The
Chaplet is preceded by two opening prayers from the Diary of Saint Faustina and followed by
a closing prayer.)

How to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy:

1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. 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

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 whole word and empty Yourself out upon us. O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from
the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You!
3. Our Father
4. Hail Mary
5. 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;
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 there 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.
6. The Eternal Father
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.
7. On the 10 Small Beads of Each Decade
“For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
8. Repeat for the remaining decades
Saying the “Eternal Father” on the “Our Father bead and then 10 “For the Sake of His
Sorrowful Passion” on the following “Hail Mary” beads.
9. Conclude with Holy God (Repeat three times)
“Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole
world.”
10. 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 You holy
will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

6. Hour
Our Lord asked for a special prayer and meditation on His Passion each afternoon at the
three o’clock hour, the hour that recalls His death on the cross. Our Lord wants us to turn our
attention to His Passion at the three o’clock hour to whatever degree our duties allow, and He
wants us to ask for His mercy.
We may not all be able to make the Stations or adore Him in the Blessed Sacrament, but
we can all mentally pause for a "brief instant," think of His total abandonment at the hour of
agony, and say a short prayer such as "Jesus, Mercy," or "Jesus, for the sake of Your
Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." Or prayer the 3 o’clock
prayer.
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls and the ocean of mercy
opened up for the whole world. O Fountain of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, cover
the whole world and empty yourself out upon us. O Blood and Water, which gushed forth
from the heart of Jesus as a Fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You! Holy God,
/Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world./ (3 times)
Jesus, King of Mercy, we trust in You!

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