Advent & The Divine Mercy Message

Advent is a season of waiting and preparing within the Catholic faith for Christmas Day. It is a time to pray, reflect, and meditate in order to focus your mind, heart, and soul on the second coming of Jesus at the end of the world.

The core message of Advent has a strong correlation to The Divine Mercy message that Our Lord provided to Saint Faustina. The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy reflects upon the sacrifice that Jesus made in His Passion for our salvation and that of the whole world. Jesus instructed Saint Faustina to spread the Divine Mercy message as the most powerful prayer that one can say at the bedside of the dying and at the hour of our own death.

This past spring, I had the distinct honor and blessing to take a pilgrimage with my wife to the National Shrine to Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on Divine Mercy Sunday. It was an incredibly powerful spiritual experience to attend Mass and to pray The Chaplet at 3 o’clock with thousands of other faithful Catholics. It provided so much hope to me at that time in my life.

The next day, Monday, my wife and I returned to The Shrine and the grounds because it was a lot less crowded. I likened it to a city the day after they host a Super Bowl game. We could walk the grounds and truly experience the holy relics and statues as well as attend Mass in the chapel there which EWTN has made famous with the broadcast of The Chaplet from that site.

We prayed the Chaplet at 3 o’clock again that Monday in the chapel with about fifty other people who had attended Mass at 2 PM with us. It was a unique and profound experience, I felt like I was in an altered state, it was amazing. The priest who lead us in the prayer that day announced the intention for the day as part of The Perpetual Novena to Divine Mercy.

I had looked through the red brochure at my home several times in the years that I have been devoted to praying The Chaplet daily. My wife and I talked later that day while driving, and she suggested that I pray and follow the Perpetual Novena in my daily observance of The Chaplet.

I have followed that advice every day since that visit to Stockbridge, and it has been an amazing faith journey for me. The intention for each of the nine days in the cycle became similar to a theme for my prayers for the whole day. It helped me to focus my prayers on particular people or groups of people, some of which I had maybe forgotten to pray for as often because of the busy nature of life.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet calls upon the incredible and unfathomable mercy of God to forgive us, those that we love, and the whole world for our sinfulness. It is used as a prayer devotion to prepare us for the end of our lives. This is an important link to the season of Advent and the focus on preparing for the end of the world or on the end of our time in this world.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a powerful prayer to integrate into your routine during the Advent season. The celebration of the Birth of Jesus on Christmas is also a reminder of the end of His mission: Jesus came into this world in human form to die for us in order for our sin debt to be paid.

The Chaplet serves as a reminder of the incredible, undeniable love and mercy that Jesus has for us. It is a way to prepare ourselves for Christmas, to remember His Passion and Death so that we may be free from the shackles of sin.

The Perpetual Novena to The Divine Mercy has nine days, each with a special intention as follows. I would suggest, if you start the devotion to this Perpetual Novena and follow the nine days on a loop, that you initially begin it on a Sunday:

Day One – All mankind especially sinners

Day Two – All priests and religious

Day Three – All devout souls

Day Four – All atheists who do not know God

Day Five – All separated from the Church

Day Six – All souls of children

Day Seven – All those dedicated to Mercy of Jesus

Day Eight – All souls in purgatory

Day Nine – All lukewarm souls

These daily intentions have prayers associated with them for each day of the Perpetual Novena. In my own prayer experience, I have found my faith strengthened and deepened by following the intentions for that particular day.

However, I must admit I was a little apprehensive when my wife first suggested it in the car leaving Stockbridge. I was not sure if I could focus my prayers for the entire Chaplet on one group of people. I thought about praying for fifty different people that are separated from the Church, and I felt a bit overwhelmed.

In the practice of actually following the nine days in a cycle, I have found that some days it is easy to think of that many people within a given daily intention. It is enlightening to think of so many people who may be struggling in your own daily interactions, whether it be an old friend, a co-worker, someone from a volunteer service group, or a relative you may not have spoken with for a while.

In this Advent season, as we prepare ourselves for the coming of Our Lord and Savior on Christmas, I invite you to recall His Unimaginable Mercy by praying the Perpetual Novena to The Divine Mercy. Your faith will grow, and your prayers will bless so many other people during this important season of preparation.

May God Bless you and your families during this Advent season. May the coming of Our Savior guide you and strengthen you with His Grace and Mercy.