Divine Mercy Chaplet

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a beautiful devotion give by Jesus to St. Faustina in the early years of the 20th century. The Sacred Heart Parish community gathers for this devotion on first Sunday of each month and especially on the Sunday after Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday). This devotion is prayed with the standard 5 decade rosary and begins with the Our Father, Hail Mary and the Apostles Creed.

The prayer on the Our Father bead is as follows: 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 (476).

The next prayer is said on each of the Hail Mary beads: For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

The concluding doxology is: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

The words of this devotion are from the "Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska"

Preaching the Gospel through the Rosary

This year at the Easter Vigil I will celebrate my seventh year in the Catholic Church. Many converts to the Faith say that of all Catholic beliefs that were the most difficult to come to grips with was Mary. For me, Mary was among the first to open my heart to the Faith. She says, "Do whatever My Son tells you!" Jesus came into the world through Mary. Truly our understanding of Mary comes about through our understanding of Jesus Christ. 

There are two other individuals recorded in Scripture that are without original sin; Adam and Eve. They fell and with them all humanity. With "the Fall" came a prophecy of our redemption through a woman. "I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Gen. 3:15) The RSV-Catholic Edition gives an explanation of this verse:

. . . the seed of the woman, that is, mankind descended from Eve, will eventually gain the victory over the powers of evil. This victory will, of course, be gained through the work of the Messiah who is par excellence the seed of the woman. (Explanatory notes)

Jesus took on human flesh through Mary. He is the Son of God and the Son of Mary. Indeed, her soul magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior. When Mary stood at the foot of the cross, she saw her flesh and blood suffering and dying. She was a created human being. By the merits of her Son, she was preserved from original sin. Why? Because we have a perfect, sinless Savior!

The Rosary, from the the Annunciation to Mary's Assumption into heaven and being crowned as Queen of Angels and Saints, magnifies how the Church understands her Savior. Over the past few years in posting these reflections on the Rosary Board, I can see how my own understanding of Jesus Christ has grown. The old arguments of "vain repetition" fall flat in light of what the prayer of the Rosary truly means.

I hope this Lent has been one of great spiritual growth for everyone.

Ave Maria!

Praised Be Jesus Christ!

Jesus and Mary, protect and save the unborn!

The following video is a very good presentation on the Rosary and it's background. Think of the miracles that have happened around this prayer. This ministry has done very good work in presenting the faith. Be sure to check out Quiet Waters Productions. This video is from their YouTube site Enjoy!