Divine Mercy
Mary is the one who has the deepest knowledge of the mystery of God’s mercy. She knows its price, she knows how great it is. In this sense, we call her the Mother of mercy: our Lady of mercy, or Mother of divine mercy.
St. John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, No. 9
Throughout the 1930s, St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, received visions of Jesus in which he revealed to her the depths of His mercy. She continually received these revelations and diligently wrote down what He told her in her diary. St. Faustina was canonized by St. John Paul II on April 30, 2000. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy comes directly from what Jesus told her to have people pray, particularly “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.” (The Diary of St. Faustina)
How to Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
The Chaplet is prayed on a standard Rosary, or on your 10 fingers. It is traditionally prayed at 3:00 p.m., the traditional hour of Christ’s death, but also as a Novena leading up to the Second Sunday of Easter, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.
The Prayers of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
The Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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.
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; 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.
Eternal Father
in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On Each of the Small Beads
have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Concluding Prayer
Say three times:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy with us from the Crypt Church of the National Shrine
The Holy Rosary
To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother.
– St. John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae No. 25
Join us in praying the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary: in-person Monday – Saturday at 11:35 a.m. in the Crypt Church, at 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays in the Great Upper Church, and anytime online.