In this post I will be sharing the Divine Mercy Chaplet and how to pray it as a family with kids. Be sure to grab your free printable Guide to the Divine Mercy for kids.
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What is the Divine Mercy Chaplet?
The Divine Mercy Chaplet, also known as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, is a prayer given to St Faustina by Jesus and prayed on ordinary rosary beads.
Who was St Faustina?
Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, commonly known as St Faustina, was a Polish sister in the convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Saint Faustina was born in Poland on August 25, 1905 and given the name Helena. Jesus appeared to her and asked her to write down His messages. Her feast day is October 5th. Kids can learn more about St Faustina in this book written about her for children.
What is the Diary of St Faustina?
Diary: Divine Mercy In My Soul was written by Sister Faustina. Jesus instructed Sr. Faustina to record her visions and to spread the devotion to His Divine Mercy.
What is the Divine Mercy Devotion?
There are seven main forms of the devotion to the Divine Mercy:
- The Divine Mercy image with the specific inscription Jesus, I trust in You.
- The commemoration of the Feast of the Divine Mercy Sunday which takes place the Sunday after Easter Sunday every year.
- The recitation of the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, as shown below.
- The recitation of the Divine Mercy novena, which is traditionally said beginning on Good Friday and ending on Divine Mercy Sunday.
- The designation of the Hour of Mercy at 3:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. This is an appropriate time to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet or say a short prayer, such as “Jesus, I trust in You.”
- Spreading mercy by word, deed, or prayer (see the Works of Mercy)
- The spreading of works of mercy to the whole of humanity, in preparation for the return of Jesus Christ to Earth
The Divine Mercy Novena
What is the Divine Mercy Novena?
The Divine Mercy Novena is a 9-day prayer.
When do you pray the Divine Mercy Novena?
The Divine Mercy Novena is prayed beginning on Good Friday and ending on Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus asked for each day to be dedicated to a different group of souls. In Faustina’s Diary, it says, “On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy … On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls.”
Here are each of the days of the novena and who we are to pray for:
Day 1 (Good Friday) – All mankind, especially sinners
Day 2 (Holy Saturday) – The souls of priests and religious
Day 3 (Easter Sunday) – All devout and faithful souls
Day 4 (Easter Monday) – Those who do not believe in Jesus & those who do not know Him
Day 5 (Easter Tuesday) – The souls of separated brethren
Day 6 (Easter Wednesday) – The meek and humble souls and the souls of children
Day 7 (Easter Thursday) – The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus’ mercy
Day 8 (Easter Friday) – The souls who are detained in purgatory
Day 9 (Easter Saturday) – The souls who have become lukewarm.
How do you Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet?
The Chaplet of Mercy is prayed with normal Rosary beads. The Chaplet begins with two optional opening prayers from the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and it is ends with a closing prayer.
1. Make the Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. Optional Opening Prayers
St. Faustina’s Prayer for Sinners
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equalled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God’s mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 72).
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 fount of mercy for us, I trust in You! Repeat three times.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The Apostles’ 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 Beads of Each Decade
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Repeat ten times.
8. Repeat for the remaining decades
Saying the Eternal Father prayer on the Our Father bead and then 10 For the sake of His sorrowful Passion prayers on the subsequent Hail Mary beads.
9. Concluding Prayer
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Repeat three times.
10. Optional Closing Prayers
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.
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 [Son’s] 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 (Diary, 1570).
Amen.
Celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday
Divine Mercy Sunday is the Sunday after Easter. It was established by then-Pope John Paul II in 2000 with the canonization of St Faustina.
Liturgical Living Ideas for Divine Mercy Sunday
Many of the ideas for liturgical living for Divine Mercy are related to the image of Jesus with the rays extending from His heart. In St Faustina’s Diary, it says, “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” (Diary, 299).
Here are some fun and interesting ideas to add extra celebration to your Divine Mercy Sunday as a family:
- Make Divine Mercy Sundaes with vanilla ice cream and strawberry and blueberry sauces.
- Wear red, white, and blue
- Make Polish food like pierogis
- Make heart-shaped sugar cookies with rays of frosting.
How to Set Up a Divine Mercy Altar
It is a good idea to set up the Divine Mercy image in your family altar area to be venerated, especially in the days of the Divine Mercy novena (Good Friday to Divine Mercy Sunday). If your family covers all holy images and statues for the final weeks of Lent, (read about this practice here) you would have the Divine Mercy image covered in purple cloth until the Vigil of Easter.
Here are some things to include:
- The Divine Mercy Image: There is one included in the freebie below if you don’t have one or you can buy one.
- Rosary beads to pray on. There are even ones with the Divine Mercy image on them if you love this devotion.
- The Diary of St Faustina if you have a copy
- A copy of the Novena prayers (available here)
- You could use white, light blue or red cloth to cover the altar
- Your free printable colouring pages (download available below)
Divine Mercy Chaplet Printable for Kids
Introducing new prayers to kids can be challenging! I often find that my kids do better with some kind of printable guide to reference, or even a colouring page to help them follow along. That’s why I made a How to Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet Guide for Kids. This would be great to use at home, or even at Sunday School or Catholic School!
This printable contains:
- colouring and copy work pages
- all the prayers you need to know
- how to use the rosary beads as you pray
How to Access the Free Printable
- Drop your email in the box below.
- Check your inbox and click through to the PDF.
- Save it to your computer or phone.
- Print it off at home or at your local printer.
- For personal use only, thanks! Email me if you’d like added permissions.
- Watermark free version available on my Etsy shop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about the Divine Mercy Chaplet:
A simple explanation of the Divine Mercy message is that Jesus loves all of us so much and His mercy is much greater than all our sin.
Yes! This devotion is approved by the Church and can be prayed anytime.
Fun fact: the Divine Mercy devotion was banned by the Holy See from 1959 to 1978 due to a faulty translations from Polish. Interestingly, the Cardinal responsible was elected pope that same year (John Paul II).
There are many ways to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Novena online. Check out the Hallow App for an audio version. Youtube has several as well. Here’s one by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
Loved praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet?
You might want to check out these posts on Catholic devotions for kids and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!
- How to Pray the Rosary for Kids
- I prayed a Rosary for You Card – Free Printable
- How to pray the St Andrew Christmas Novena
- How to take kids to Adoration
- Coming soon: How to make the Sacrifice Beads of St Therese
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