Divine Mercy Chaplet

According to St. Faustina's Diary, Jesus taught her this chaplet in 1935.
It is prayed on ordinary rosary beads.
Many Catholics pray it at 3:00 in the afternoon, the hour Jesus died.
Its heart is five words: "Jesus, I trust in You."

The Chaplet at a Glance

On the short strand
Crucifix: Sign of the Cross, then the opening prayers (optional)
Then: Our Father, Hail Mary, Apostles' Creed

Around the loop, five times (each time is one "decade")
Large bead: "Eternal Father…"
Ten small beads: "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion…"

At the end
"Holy God…" three times
Closing prayer (optional)
Sign of the Cross

What You Need

A rosary.

No rosary? Count on your fingers. That works just fine.

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Find a few quiet minutes. Any time of day works.

How to Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet

Five decades.
Two short prayers, over and over.

If you can pray a decade of the Rosary, you can pray this.

1. Make the Sign of the Cross

Holding the crucifix.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. Pray the Opening Prayers (Optional)

Still on the crucifix.

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 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! (three times)

3. Pray the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Apostles' Creed

On the short strand, before the medal.

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed.

St. Faustina's Diary gives the order of these three prayers, not specific beads.
So don't worry about which bead you're on. Just pray them in this order.

4. Pray the "Eternal Father"

On the large bead before each decade.

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.

5. Pray "For the Sake of His Sorrowful Passion" Ten Times

On the ten small beads of each decade.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

6. Repeat for All Five Decades

Around the loop of the rosary.

"Eternal Father" on each large bead.
"For the sake of His sorrowful Passion" on each of the ten small beads.

7. Pray the Concluding Prayer Three Times

After the fifth decade, back at the medal.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

8. Pray the Closing Prayer (Optional)

At the medal.

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 Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.

9. End With the Sign of the Cross

Holding the crucifix.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A Prayer for Divine Mercy From the Diary of St. Faustina

O Greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to Your mercy, to Your compassion, O God; and it is with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out: Gracious God, do not reject the prayer of this earth's exiles! O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding, who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our own power we cannot ascend to You, we implore You: anticipate us with Your grace and keep on increasing Your mercy in us, that we may faithfully do Your holy will all through our life and at death's hour. Let the omnipotence of Your mercy shield us from the darts of our salvation's enemies, that we may with confidence, as Your children, await Your final coming, that day known to You alone. And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite of all our wretchedness. For Jesus is our Hope: through His merciful Heart, as through an open gate, we pass through to heaven.

Pray it along with us, with every prayer on screen:

Where Does This Prayer Come From?

Vilnius.
Friday, September 13, 1935.

Sister Faustina is alone in her cell.

According to her Diary, she sees an angel, sent to strike a city for its sins.

She begs him to wait.
Then she starts praying words she hears in her soul.

And the angel can't carry out the punishment.

The next day, as she enters the chapel, she hears the voice again.
This time Jesus teaches her how to pray it on beads.
One Our Father, one Hail Mary, the Creed.
Then the decades.
(Diary 474–476.)

Wait a second.

"Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One"?

Those words are far older than 1935.
They're the Trisagion, a hymn from the 400s.
The Church still sings it on Good Friday, at the Adoration of the Cross.

And 3 o'clock?
In the Diary, Jesus asks her to implore His mercy at three o'clock, the hour He died.
(Diary 1320.)

The devotion's road wasn't smooth.

In 1959, the Holy Office restricted spreading the devotion in the forms Sister Faustina proposed.

In 1978, after examining original documents "unknown in 1959," Rome declared those restrictions "no longer binding."

On April 30, 2000, Pope St. John Paul II canonized her.
That same day, he said the Second Sunday of Easter would be called "Divine Mercy Sunday" throughout the Church.

So the Church approves this devotion.
But the Diary is private revelation.
It doesn't add anything to the faith (CCC 67).

The chaplet asks you to believe nothing new, only to trust what the Gospel already told you.

But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water.
— John 19:34

Blood and water.
Poured out once.
Offered for the whole world.

Read her story: St. Faustina Kowalska.

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