The Divine Mercy devotion was given by Jesus Christ in an apparition/vision to Sister Faustina, a nun in Poland during the 1930s. She was later canonized as a Saint by Pope St. John Paul II in 2000. Simplicity is the main idea of this devotion. It’s considerably less complicated than the traditional Rosary and a lot quicker.
The basic idea of the devotion is to contemplate and trust in the mercy of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The devotion contains many parts, including special days and times of devotions, numerous prayers, a special icon (or image) of Jesus Christ (featured above), and the diary of Saint Faustina herself, which includes some prophetic messages. However, one aspect of this devotion is the Divine Mercy Chaplet. It has become very popular in the Catholic Church over the last three decades, and is starting to be used by other Christians as well. Some Evangelicals might be inclined to change only one prayer in this entire chaplet devotion. The Divine Worship Chaplet is prayed on regular Rosary Beads, so any Rosary beads will do. The Rosary is a strand of beads consisting of five sections. Each section is called a “decade” because there are ten beads separated by a single separated beat on each side.
Some Evangelicals may object to the practice of repetitive prayer as they mistakenly believe Jesus prohibited this in Matthew 6:7…
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. — Matthew 6:7, KJV
This, however, is not what the actual Greek says. For some inexplicable reason, the translators of the 1611 King James Version (KJV) decided to translate the Greek word battalogeo (Greek: βατταλογέω) as “vain repetitions.” However, the actual word is a contraction of two Greek words: battos (Greek: Βάττος) which means to stutter, stammer or babble, and logeo (Greek: λογέω) which is the plural for “words.” So transliterated directly from Greek into English, battalogeo (Greek: βατταλογέω) should read a “babbling words” or “stuttering words.” Now, let’s have a look at this passage in some other Bible translations…
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. — Matthew 6:7, NIV
And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. — Matthew 6:7, ESV
When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. — Matthew 6:7 GNT
When you pray, don’t talk on and on as people do who don’t know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. — Matthew 6:7, CEV
And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. — Matthew 6:7, RSV
When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. — Matthew 6:7, NLT
The gist of what Jesus said in this passage is to let your prayers be something simple and meaningful. In other words, don’t drone on-and-on in long and endless prayers, in ways that are meaningless and empty. Jesus then immediately followed by teaching his disciples the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father…) in Matthew 6:9-13 to show them how to pray the way God likes. Keep your prayers short, sweet and to the point. Make sure that what you say is meaningful too, especially if you need to use longer prayers for whatever reason.
As for repeating the same short and meaningful prayer many times, Jesus himself demonstrated there was nothing wrong with that when he did it himself in Matthew 26:44 and he praised somebody else for doing the same in Luke 18:13. Later, St. Paul told the Thessalonians to do the same in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. We see the same thing in Revelation 4:8 where the spiritual beings in heaven pray the same prayers over and over again, without ceasing, forever. The bottom line is that it’s okay to pray a prayer, multiple times in repetition, so long as the prayer is short, meaningful and to the point.
As for praying to Saints, that’s another matter entirely. If you want to learn more about that, read more here. That is irrelevant as far as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy is concerned, because the devotion only recommends one Angelic Salutation (Hail Mary...) prayer, and that can be replaced with the Jesus Prayer commonly used by Eastern Christians. The devotion goes as follows…
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy
1.) On the Cross: Make the sign of the cross, praying…
“In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit). Amen.”
2.) On the first Red Bead above the Cross pray the following…
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 Thyself out upon us.
(Repeat three times)
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in Thee!
3.) On the first Blue Antiphon Bead pray the OUR FATHER prayer…
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.)
Here you may optionally add the doxology, if so inclined…
“For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever and ever. Amen.”
4.) On the second Blue Antiphon Bead pray the HAIL MARY prayer…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among 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.
NOTE: Learn more about this prayer here. Some Evangelicals may choose to substitute this prayer with the JESUS PRAYER….
Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
5.) On the third Blue Antiphon Bead recite the APOSTLES CREED…
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost: The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins: The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.
6.) On the Red Decade Bead pray the following…
Eternal Father, I offer thee the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of thy Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
7.) On the Blue Decade Beads pray the following…
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
8.) Repeat this process for each decade (steps 6 & 7). You may go around the loop once for a short devotion, or twice for a longer devotion, or three times for a really long devotion.
9.) When you decide you’re done, after one, two or three times around the loop, exit the Rosary using the Antiphon Beads again, this time praying the following on each one of the Blue Antiphon Beads…
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us, and on the whole world.
10.) On the last Red Bead above the Cross, pray the following…
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Thy mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Thy holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.
11.) On the Cross: Make the sign of the cross again, as above.
End.
Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and he is an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com
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