The Chaplet Of Divine Mercy

Prayer

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening Prayers (optional)

(Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska, 1319)

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 yourself out upon us.

Repeat three times:

(Diary, 84)

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in you!

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.

Hail Mary

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.

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 was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will 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 sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.

For each of the five decades

On each "Our Father" bead of the rosary, pray:
V. Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
R. in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

On each of the 10 "Hail Mary" beads, pray:
V. For the sake of his sorrowful Passion,
R. have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Conclusion

Repeat three times:

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Closing Prayer (optional)

(Diary, 950)

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.

Or:

(Roman Missal, Votive Mass of the Mercy of God)

O God, whose mercies are without number and whose treasure of goodness is infinite, graciously increase the faith of the people consecrated to you, that all may grasp and rightly understand by whose love they have been created, through whose Blood they have been redeemed, and by whose Spirit they have been reborn. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

About the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is not merely a recitation of words. It is a spiritual exercise of trust, intercession, and surrender to God's overwhelming mercy — drawn from the Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska and anchored in Scripture and the living Tradition of the Church.

Jesus appeared to St. Faustina in a series of visions beginning in 1931 and asked her to record what He revealed about His mercy. The Chaplet was given as a prayer of intercession — one that could be prayed for the dying, for sinners, for the whole world. Its genius is that it offers to the Father not our own merit, which is nothing, but the Body, Blood, soul, and divinity of Christ — an offering of infinite worth made on behalf of those who have nothing to offer themselves.

The prayer's foundation is the word that recurs throughout the Diary: trust. "Jesus, I trust in You" is not a feeling but a posture — the stance of a soul that has stopped relying on its own resources and placed everything in the hands of a God whose mercy, as the Diary repeatedly insists, is greater than any sin. Trust is not something we manufacture. It is something we practice, and the Chaplet is one of the primary ways the Church practices it.

The central petition of each decade — For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world — is an act of intercession that extends beyond the one praying to every soul in the world. This is not an accident. The Chaplet is designed to form intercessors — people who stand in the gap for those who cannot or will not pray for themselves, who are dying without knowing God, who are furthest from the mercy being offered.

Ultimately, the Chaplet is an encounter with the heart of the Gospel. Christ's Passion poured out infinite mercy. The Chaplet asks that mercy to reach the whole world — beginning with the one praying it.