THE DIVINE MERCY
HISTORY OF THE CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY
Sister Faustina was born in the village of Glogowiec, Poland on August 25, 1905. She was the third of ten children. When she was almost twenty, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, whose members devote themselves to the care and education of troubled young women.
In the 1930s, Sister Faustina received a vision of JESUS during which she was given a message of mercy to spread throughout the world. She was asked to become the apostle and secretary of GOD's mercy, a model of how to be merciful to others, and an instrument for reemphasizing GOD's plan of mercy for the world.
Her diary, DIVINE MERCY IN MY SOUL, has become the handbook for devotion to THE DIVINE MERCY. Through Saint Faustina, JESUS also revealed special way to live out the response to HIS mercy - one of which in the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, as both a novena and a prayer for the three o'clock hour - the hour of HIS death.
According to Saint Faustina's vision of JESUS, the chaplet's prayers for mercy are threefold: to obtain mercy, to trust in CHRIST's mercy, and to show mercy to others. JESUS also told 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. I, MYSELF WILL DEFEND IT AS MY OWN GLORY...I AM OFFERING PEOPLE A VESSEL WITH WHICH THEY ARE TO KEEP COMING FOR GRACE TO THE FOUNTAIN OF MERCY. THE VESSEL IS THIS IMAGE WITH THE SIGNATURE JESUS I TRUST IN YOU."
An explanation of the colors of the rays was given to Sister Faustina by JESUS Himself:
"THE TWO RAYS REPRESENT BLOOD AND WATER."
JESUS later said to Sister Faustina:
"SAY UNCEASINGLY THIS CHAPLET THAT I HAVE TAUGHT YOU. ANYONE WHO SAYS IT WILL RECEIVE GREAT MERCY AT THE HOUR OF DEATH. PRIESTS WILL RECOMMEND IT TO SINNERS AS THE LAST HOPE. EVEN THE MOST HARDENED SINNERS, IF HE RECITES THIS CHAPLET EVEN ONCE, WILL RECEIVE GRACE FROM MY INFINITE MERCY. I WANT THE WHOLE WORLD TO KNOW MY INFINITE MERCY. I WANT TO GIVE UNIMAGINABLE GRACES TO THOSE WHO TRUST IN MY MERCY..."
JESUS made it very clear that we are to trust in HIS Mercy, and this mercy is available at any time in the Sacrament of Penance. All we need to do is ask for it, then trust that GOD desires to have mercy on us, and on the whole world.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Come Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
V. Send forth Your spirit, and they shall be renewed.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray.
O god, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
THE SACRED HEART
"HE Should be honored under the figure of the Heart of flesh, and its image should be exposed...HE promised me that wherever this image should be exposed with a view to showing it special honor, HE would pour forth HIS blessings and graces. This devotion was the last effort of HIS love that HE would grant to men in these latter ages, in order to withdraw them from the empire of Satan which HE desired to destroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of HIS love, which HE wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion." ... "This devotion is so pleasing to HIM that HE can refuse nothing to those who practice it."
from Revelations of Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoue
THE BLESSED MOTHER
"And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from GOD into the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women."
Luke 1:26-28
