How do you pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy?

On ordinary rosary beads. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed. On each large bead pray 'Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son…'. On each of the ten small beads pray 'For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.' Repeat for five decades, then conclude by praying three times 'Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.'

What beads do you use for the Divine Mercy Chaplet?

An ordinary set of rosary beads. The chaplet follows the same five-decade structure: the large 'Our Father' beads carry the 'Eternal Father' offering, and the ten small beads carry 'For the sake of His sorrowful Passion.'

When should you pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy?

It may be prayed at any time, but it is especially associated with 3:00 p.m. — the Hour of Great Mercy, the hour of Christ's death on the Cross — and with the Novena to the Divine Mercy that begins on Good Friday and ends on Divine Mercy Sunday (the Second Sunday of Easter).

Where did the Chaplet of Divine Mercy come from?

It comes from the private revelations recorded by St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish religious sister, in her Diary — the chaplet itself in entries 474–476, given at Vilnius in September 1935. St. Faustina was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II on April 30, 2000, the same day he instituted Divine Mercy Sunday for the universal Church.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Prayed on ordinary rosary beads. Every word below — and where it came from.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is one of the most-prayed devotions in the Catholic world, and one of the shortest to learn — about eight minutes on a set of beads most Catholics already own. It is a prayer of offering: you place the sacrifice of Christ before the Father, and ask mercy on the whole world. What follows is the complete chaplet, every word, with nothing left to guess at.

Pray the Rosary →

How to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

It is prayed on an ordinary five-decade rosary. Begin at the crucifix and move through the beads exactly as you would the Rosary — only the words change.

1. Begin

Make the Sign of the Cross. Then, on the opening beads, pray:

One Our Father
One Hail Mary
The Apostles' Creed

2. On each large (Our Father) bead

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.

3. On each of the ten small (Hail Mary) beads

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

4. Repeat for all five decades

One large-bead offering, then the ten small-bead petitions — five times through, just as the Rosary has five decades.

5. Conclude (three times)

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

This concluding prayer — the ancient Trisagion, "Thrice Holy" — is said three times. Many close with the Sign of the Cross.

The optional opening and closing prayers

Two further prayers, drawn from the Diary of St. Faustina, are traditionally added by those who pray the chaplet devoutly. They are optional — the chaplet above is complete without them.

Optional opening (three times)

You expired, O Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and an 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.

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You.

Optional closing prayer

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.

When to pray it — the Hour of Great Mercy

The chaplet may be prayed at any hour. But it carries a particular weight at 3:00 p.m. — the hour of Christ's death on the Cross, which the devotion calls the Hour of Great Mercy. It is also prayed as a novena beginning on Good Friday and ending on the Second Sunday of Easter — Divine Mercy Sunday.

Where the Chaplet of Divine Mercy came from

The chaplet was given through the private revelations of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938), a Polish religious sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She recorded the words of the chaplet in her Diary — entries 474–476 — at Vilnius, in September 1935.

The devotion was examined and approved by the Church, and St. Faustina was beatified on April 18, 1993 and canonized on April 30, 2000, by Pope St. John Paul II — who, on the very day of her canonization, instituted Divine Mercy Sunday for the universal Church. As a private revelation, the chaplet is not an article of the Creed; it is a devotion the Church commends, resting on the public, unchanging truths it expresses — the saving Passion of Christ and the boundless mercy of God (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church §§1846–1848).