The Rosary Path at Marylake
Divine Mercy Devotion
God’s love is unlimited and available to each and everyone of us. God is merciful and forgiving.
No matter how great our sins, if we call upon Him with complete trust He will pour his mercy onto us in such a way that not only we will be forgiven but we will also become an instrument of His love.
May we seek the Lord’s mercy with confident trust and may we know how to extend his love and forgiveness to others.
The Divine Mercy Devotion originated in the 1930s and it is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska. She was a Polish nun of humble origins, in the convent she was assigned to the tending to the vegetable garden and the kitchen. Despite the fact that she received only few years of elementary education - inspired by the Lord - she wrote a diary containing the revelations she received about God’s Mercy.
She wrote: In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy.
After a while Jesus said to me, “Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous; the red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My agonizing Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross... Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him.”
During the course of Jesus' revelations to Saint Faustina on the Divine Mercy He asked on numerous occasions that a feast day be dedicated to the Divine Mercy and that this feast be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter.
Jesus asked that the Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday. He gave St. Faustina an intention to pray for on each day of the Novena, saving for the last day the most difficult intention of all, the lukewarm and indifferent of whom He said, "These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives.”
It was on their account that I said: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy."
In her diary, St. Faustina wrote that Jesus told her: “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.”
The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy can be recited at any time but in particular during the Novena of the Divine Mercy. The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy should be offered each day for the day's intention.