www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Divine Mercy Chaplet

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church there appears to be a growing devotion to St. Faustina's Divine Mercy Chaplet. Is this utilized by Eastern Catholics in their private or public devotions, or is it even recognized? The short nature of the the lines of the prayer I believe share some similarities to the Jesus Prayer. I'm not implying that this is necessarily a substitute, only that the brevity and message I find are similar. Inquisitive to responses.

I have prayed this chaplet before, but not regularly. I wouldn't replace the Jesus prayer with it.

It is a beautiful prayer, and I have heard it sung on EWTN--it brought me to tears by its beauty and its profound message. I remember my Greek Orthodox grandmother, of blessed memory, who was not very religious in her younger days, heard it a few years before she died and was absolutely moved by the words.

That, and the Ava Maria, are absolutely beautiful prayers put to absolutely beautiful music.

Alice

I'd love for someone to explain to me the prayer said on the larger beads of the rosary. When I've asked before (not here), I probably gave the impression I was baiting, but I really would like to read something about it. Maybe with more prayer and patience something will "click", but for now I am lost.

Having said that, I incorporated the small prayer "For the sake of Your sorrowful passion..." into my personal prayer life.

DoxRox,

This is a powerful prayer of repentance which recalls the Father's sacrifice of His Son, the Lamb, for our salvation. It was interiorly inspired to St Faustina Kowalksa in 1935 "when she receive a vision of an angel sent by God to chastise a certain city. Her other prayers failed to stop the angel but when she prayed these words the angel became helpless and could not carry out the deserved punishment."

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

In her diary it states that this prayer is extrememly powerful when said by (or for) a soul near the time of death; that God will not allow that soul to be damned.
It became a popular prayer during the suffering of the imminent World War II and then the Communist persecution.

It has a very Eastern "flavor", coming from a Slav culture.

JW:
The Jesus Prayer/Way of the Pilgrim thread in this forum has much good advice and it can also be applicable for the Divine Mercy Chaplet or the chanting of the 40 "Lord have Mercies" form the Hours.

As we have various gifts of the Holy Spirit, each person has a "prayer vocation." Some may offer prayers for his own conversion, some may pray for reparation for the sins of an individual, government or nation; others may pray for the dead or for friends or family. Many prayed for the conversion of the Soviet Union; now many pray for the conversion of the USA.

Contemplative prayer will guide you in your vocation; should you experience the "Gift of Tears" during a particular reading or prayer this should be a sign to you that this is the following to which God calls you.

Fr Deacon Paul

Thank you, Paul. You have given me a lot to consider in my spare time.


I noticed, which didn't take me too much by surprise. Was St. Faustina a Slavic Catholic?

She was Polish, I believe. And having a Polish pope did not hurt the chances for the spread of that devotion in the slightest.

Слава Ісусу Христу!

It would be interesting to know the origins of the prayers and the music. There was a lot of crossovers in Poland and vicinity, the Greco Catholic Benediction for example. Is the Roman Trisagion of Good Friday different from our Byzantine form? Does uniatism only involve public prayer leaving private devotions exempt?

DoxRox,


Ethnic Poles are Slavic; of course St Faustina was very much Roman Catholic. She was a native of Glogowiec, Poland, almost midway between Lviv and Krackow, just north of the Carpathian Mountains.

Many blessed years.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is adapted from the Byzantine Prayers of the Divine Liturgy. This prayer is called the Trisagion Prayer:

Holy God
Holy Mighty
Holy Immortal
Have mercy on us.

The only remnant of the Trisagion hymn used to be found in the Holy Friday Service of the Roman Catholic Church before Vatican II.

There the Trisagion Hymn was sung in Greek and in Latin.

Thanks for steering me tho that thread. That is an excellent post. The Jesus Prayer is a wonderful prayer.

Is the Divine Mercy Chaplet considered to be a public or private prayer? The Divine Liturgy is public and has many references to the mercy of God. What about the Western rosary-public or private prayer? I think Roman Catholics use many prayers that should be private in a public setting because of lack of these items in their liturgies.

Dr. Henry,

It's been my understanding that they are an equivalent to eastern Akathists: they can be private, but are paraliturgical as well.

The Roman Catholics that have worshiped in the old way should have have been able to ask for God's mercy in the Mass. I have experienced the Liturgy of St. Gregory in the AMWRV, where a little litany of God's mercy is prayed.

To the good members of the Byzantine Forum!

There is a beautiful Akathist in honor of Jesus the Merciful Lover of Mankind which is a bit similar to the devotion to the Divine Mercy. The Divine Mercy is very powerful and it is my sound belief that it will save the world from the wrath of the evil one.

There is a beautiful book available in English that is entitled "The Gospel of Lagiewniki" which has many beautiful pictures of the Shrine of the Divine Mercy at Lagiewniki (Cracow) Poland and many pictures of Saint Faustina. There are many English books available about her and the Divine Mercy message which I would encourage anyone to read and to obtain.

May the Merciful Jesus bless us all!

John Doucette

I have nothing against the chaplet of mercy. There are so many devotions out there, just how many can any one person actually practice? This is why I stick with mostly eastern devotions. It's sad that the Liturgy of the Hours - Divine Office - or what ever the title may be, has fallen into disuse in the western church. I don't think they know what they are missing.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet and Rosary are both used as Public and Private prayer. Our parish recently did the Divine Mercy Chaplet in a prayer for world peace. However, I believe the Divine Mercy Chaplet lends itself best to a private devotion. As I had indicated in my earler post I think the Divine Mercy Chaplet has similarities to the Jesus Prayer and I have used it in my own prayer life in the same manner. I feel both in their simplicity lend themselves to a very contemplative state. I don't see it as a substitute, but as lending some variety. They both have been very important to me. The Rosary for me feels more comfortable in a Public setting. My wife uses the Rosary in her private prayer life on on regular basis.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet also has several beautiful versions that have been put to song. If you haven't seen or heard them I would suggest you check it out on YouTube.

JW,

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.
________

This prayer is such a gift to us! Jesus gave these very words to us, three decades before Vatican II. It is so different that Rome couldn't accept it at first and it remained unauthorized, even condemned for a time. But Vatican II (along with Eastern theosis) put it in a new light; a truer light that we can grasp as adopted children of God.

In this prayer we cherish with immense gratefulness the Gift of Sacrifice that He gave us; the sacrifice of His Only-Begotten Son that we may share His Kingdom. The prayer not only calls to mind this Sacrifice, BUT RAISES US TO OFFER, IN A UNIQUE WAY, THIS SACRIFICE IN REPARATION FOR OUR SINS AND THOSE OF THE WHOLE WORLD. It says, "Yes, Heavenly Father, your love is so immense for us, that you gave us Yourself. May I humbly beg that you do not forget this eternal sacrifice. Remember that we are weak and plead that You hold back your just punishment that we deserve.

We must be careful to understand that we are not offering this Sacrifice as a priest does; but that we are REMINDING ourselves and Almighty God of this omnipotent Gift, and in some mystical way we are permitted to "remind" our Father of His love for us.

It is almost impossible to believe that God loves us so much that He allows, no, teaches, us to offer this prayer.

Humbly in Christ,
Fr. Deacon Paul

Thanks for these thoughts...

As I said, I have nothing against the Divine Mercy chaplet. I have even prayed it myself. However, we in the east are not so desperate for, and deprived of, valid devotions that we have to automatically adopt western ones. If it works for you, pray it. If it doesn't, pray something else.