Divine Mercy
Trust in Jesus, rich in mercy.
This rule lives the spiritual life as confident trust in Jesus, rich in mercy, and answers His request revealed to St. Faustina Kowalska: that the world know the depth of His mercy and surrender to it. Where the Sacred Heart devotion consoles the wounded Christ in reparation, this devotion throws itself into His wounded side, drinking from the ocean of mercy that flows from it.
Each afternoon at three o'clock — the Hour of Mercy, when Jesus breathed His last — the Chaplet is prayed for sinners and for the dying. Three acts of mercy are offered each day: one by word, one by deed, one by prayer, as Jesus asked Faustina in §742 of her Diary. The Image of Divine Mercy is venerated in the home, inscribed with the words Jesus, I trust in You. Confession is kept frequently, so that the cup of trust remains clean. Once a year, from Good Friday through Divine Mercy Sunday, the Novena Jesus Himself dictated is prayed for nine groups of souls.
For the over-scrupulous; for converts and reverts who come from far away; for the dying and those who pray for them; for anyone whose temptation is to despair of God's mercy because the idea of their own sin has grown larger than the wound of Christ's side. The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to Christ's mercy.
St. Faustina Kowalska, Diary; St. John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia
What it proposes
- Morning Offering — Divine Mercy 07:00 · Daily · Essential
St. Faustina's mercy prayer — eyes, ears, tongue, hands, feet, heart each given over so mercy may pass through to the neighbor — sealed with: Jesus, I trust in You.
- Chaplet of Divine Mercy 15:00 · Daily · Essential
The Chaplet at the Hour of Mercy — three in the afternoon, the hour Jesus breathed His last — pleading the Father by the Sorrowful Passion of His Son.
- Three O'Clock Prayer 15:00 · Daily · Ideal
A brief two-minute immersion in the Passion when the full Chaplet cannot be prayed — the bare observance Jesus explicitly asked of Faustina in Diary §1320.
- Holy Mass 12:15 · Daily · Ideal
Mass and Communion offered in trust, drinking from the Heart of Christ the mercy poured out from His side at this same hour each day.
- Confession 10:00 · Sat · Essential
Frequent confession, the cup made clean to receive — for trust without conversion is presumption, and Faustina warned against both.
- Divine Mercy Novena 15:00 · Daily · Ideal
The Novena Jesus Himself dictated, prayed from Good Friday through the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday for nine groups of souls — enabled annually as Holy Week approaches.
- Three daily acts of mercy Daily — one by word, one by deed, one by prayer · Essential
Required of every Divine Mercy practitioner in Diary §742: I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. Not yet a guided practice in Ember; carried as a daily intention until it is.
- Veneration of the Image of Divine Mercy Daily, before the Image in the home · Ideal
Jesus asked Faustina (Diary §47–48) that the Image be venerated, with the inscription Jesus, I trust in You. The rule assumes the Image is kept in the home and that the practitioner pauses before it daily.
- Divine Mercy Sunday Annually, the Octave of Easter · Essential
The feast instituted by St. John Paul II in 2000, with plenary indulgence under the usual conditions for souls who venerate the Image and receive Communion in the spirit of trust.
In the Ember app, adopt this tradition as your own plan of life, practice by practice, with times and reminders.