What is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy?

6 min

Awaiting theological review

The simple answer

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a short prayer said on ordinary rosary beads. It takes about seven minutes. In it, we offer God the Father the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, that is, his whole self and his sacrifice on the Cross, and ask for mercy for ourselves and for the whole world. It comes from Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who died in 1938. Many people pray it at three in the afternoon, the hour Jesus died. It is a devotion the Church approves, not an obligation.

In the Bible

Scripture

Jesus dies at the ninth hour, about three in the afternoon, commending his spirit into the Father's hands.

Luke 23:44–46

Scripture

John writes that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. The chaplet echoes these words.

1 John 2:2

Scripture

Paul calls God rich in mercy, and Jesus asks his disciples to be merciful as their Father is merciful.

Ephesians 2:4 · Luke 6:36

Scripture

The Letter to the Hebrews invites us to approach the throne of grace with confidence, to obtain mercy.

Hebrews 4:16

Scripture

The closing prayer, Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, is an ancient Christian hymn. It echoes the angels' cry of holy, holy, holy in Isaiah, and the Roman liturgy still sings it on Good Friday.

Isaiah 6:3

Where it comes from

Private revelation

In 1935, in Vilnius, Sister Faustina wrote in her diary that Jesus had taught her this prayer. Her diary is private revelation: the Church judged it free of error and fit for devotion, but no Catholic is obliged to believe it.

Diary of Saint Faustina, 474-476 (numbers awaiting verification)(awaiting verification)

Historical context

In 1934 the painter Eugeniusz Kazimirowski made the first image of Divine Mercy in Vilnius, under Faustina's direction, with the words Jesus, I trust in you.

Historical context

In 1959 the Holy See restricted the spread of the devotion, because faulty translations of the diary were circulating. After a new study, begun in Kraków under Archbishop Karol Wojtyła, the restriction was lifted in 1978.

Church teaching

On 30 April 2000, John Paul II canonised Faustina and established that the Second Sunday of Easter would be called Divine Mercy Sunday throughout the Church.

Congregation for Divine Worship, decree of 5 May 2000 (awaiting verification)(awaiting verification)

What the Church teaches

Catechism

Jesus describes conversion in the parable of the prodigal son, where the father runs to welcome his son home: the heart of God's mercy.

Luke 15:11–32 CCC 1439

Church teaching

The Gospel is the revelation, in Jesus Christ, of God's mercy to sinners.

Catechism 1846 (number awaiting verification)(awaiting verification)

Church teaching

Private revelations do not add to the faith or complete Christ's Revelation; they can help people live it more fully at a certain time.

Catechism 67 (number awaiting verification)(awaiting verification) Norms for proceeding in the discernment of alleged supernatural phenomena

How to pray it

1
Begin
Make the Sign of the Cross. Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary and the Apostles' Creed.
2
On each large bead
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.
Diary of Saint Faustina, 476 (wording varies by translation; awaiting verification)
3
On each of the ten small beads
For the sake of his sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
4
Five times
Repeat the large bead and the ten small beads for each of the five decades of the rosary.
5
To end, three times
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Finish with the Sign of the Cross.
6
When to pray it
At any time. Many pray it at three in the afternoon, the Hour of Mercy, when Jesus died; at the bedside of someone who is dying; and as a novena from Good Friday to Divine Mercy Sunday.

A common misunderstanding

Praying the chaplet guarantees salvation automatically, whatever you do, and can replace confession.

In fact

The promises in Faustina's diary are private revelation and always presuppose trust and conversion. No devotion replaces the sacraments: Divine Mercy Sunday itself invites people to confession and Communion.

Why it matters today

Set a quiet reminder for three in the afternoon and pray the chaplet, or just a single decade, for someone who is ill or dying. It is short enough for a lunch break or a bus ride.

Bible passages

Luke 23:44–46 · 1 John 2:2 · Ephesians 2:4 · Luke 6:36 · Hebrews 4:16 · Isaiah 6:3 · Luke 15:11–32

Catechism

CCC 1439 ↗