Divine Mercy in my Soul

 

Today being the first Sunday after Easter is known as Divine Mercy Sunday as instituted by Pope St John Paul II. The aspects of this devotion are based on the diary of St Faustina Kowalska and visions she had of our Lordspeaking to her. Usually I am not a big fan of revelations and lots of devotions but this is one I have a connection to.  

 

The devotions are mainly about Jesus' Mercy, confession, praying for conversion of sinners, praying for the dying, as well as deeping your relationship with Jesus through trust in His love and mercy. 

. “Today the Lord said to me, ‘Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it.  Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul.  When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you.  I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul.  Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy.  Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust.  If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity.  The torrents of grace inundate humble souls.  The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls.’” (No. 1602)

 

One of the thing I personally love about the Divine Mercy devotion is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. It is a very simple prayer and has some similar elements of the Eastern Orthodox Jesus prayer. 

One insight I gained while praying it one day was that it emphasises the common priesthood of the faithful. In the letter of St Peter which I read when I was baptised "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1Peter 2:19 . All Christians participate in the priesthood of Christ, in the sense that we have direct access to God through Jesus, we can offer prayers and sacrifice on behalf of other people. This is the essence of priesthood. 

So when we pray the beginning of the Divine Mercy Chaplet "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" you can see that this is a priestly prayer. We are offering prayer and sacrifice to God through Jesus on behalf of the world. This prayer really helped me to understand how I can participate more deeply in the Sacrifice of the Mass. It is in a sense a Eucharistic prayer. It helped me to deepen my faith and prayer life that is authentically lay and not a clericalist imitation. 

Just as priests are chosen among the faithful ( the Church) to offer prayers and sacrifice, so are baptised Christians able to offer prayers and sacrifice on behalf of the non baptised to bring them God's Mercy.