Download the Diving Mercy Chaplet handout
In 1935, St. Maria Faustina, an uneducated Polish nun, received a vision of an angel sent by God to chastise an evil city. She began to pray for mercy, but her prayers were powerless. Suddenly she felt the power of Jesus’ grace within her. At the same time she found herself pleading with God for mercy with these words:
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. (Diary, 475)
Prayed on ordinary rosary beads, The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy is an intercessory prayer that invokes the mercy of God poured out for us on the cross. In prayer, Jesus told St. Faustina: “By this Novena, [of Chaplets] I will giant every possible grace to souls” (796).
Prayers you’ll need to know
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.
Hall Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you; blessed are you among w omen, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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 w as conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day, He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits a the right hand o f God the Father Almighty; from thence HE shall 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 sin, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
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.
For the Sake
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Holy God
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
How to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
- While holding the crucifix make the Sign of the Cross and say “In the name to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
- Recite the Our Father followed by the Hail Mary, and the Apostles Creed, on the three small beads.
- On the first large bead recite the Eternal Father.
- On each of the adjacent ten small beads (referred to as a decade) recite a For the Sake.
- After the 10 For the Sake’s are prayed move to the next large bead and recite the Eternal Father. Each succeeding decade is prayed in similar manner by praying the Eternal Father followed by 10 For the Sake.
- When the fifth decade is completed, the Chaplet is concluded with the Holy God.
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263. Used with permission.