We prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the original language

Every time the Lord Jesus leads me to hospital is always a new adventure of hope and peace. That is why for me, going to hospital to visit our patients is truly a transformative experience.

In one of my visits I happened to see her. She caught my eye because I could tell that she was not Maltese. In the Bible we Maltese are portrayed for the gift of hospitality. This is important because the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, black on white: Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Heb 13:1-2).

To cut a long story short I started visiting her. She was so happy that I could spend some time with her. She immediately asked me the time of the daily Mass and also was happy to start receving Holy Communion. In one occasion when a priest from her country, whom I met in Medjugorje, came to visit me in Malta I took him to visit her. She was so elated that a priest, and one from her own native soil, came by and said hello. I could see that she was in the seventh heaven with the joy she had.

As time went on her health started deteriorating. Hence, I felt the need to see if she could get the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. It was a Saturday morning, towards midday, when I was paged. The nurse asked if I could go up and administer the sacrament of the anointing of the sick to a foreigner. From her message I could see that the foreigner was this lady I have been visiting in these few weeks. At that moment I felt Jesus showing me to take an image of him, portayed as the Merciful Saviour, and put it next to this lady, something which I did from the bottom of my heart.

When I went near her bed I saw a friend of hers who was holding her hand. Then, after introducing myself to her friend and told her what I was going to do, I immediately administered the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. When I had the grace of administering this sacrament the words of St Faustina from her Diary came directly into my mind and heart.

Oh, may God keep every soul from delaying confession until the last hour! I understood the great power of the priest’s words when they are poured out upon the sick person’s soul. When I asked my spiritual father whether I was ready to stand before the Lord and whether I could be at peace, I received the reply, “You can be completely at peace, not only right now but after each weekly confession.” Great is the divine grace that accompanies these words of the priest. The soul feels power and courage for battle.

O my Congregation, my mother, how sweet it is to live in you, but it is even better to die in you! After I received the last sacraments, there was a definite improvement. I remained alone. This lasted for half an hour and then came another attack; but this one was not so strong, as the doctor intervened. I united my sufferings with the sufferings of Jesus and offered them for myself and for the conversion of souls who do not trust in the goodness of God. Suddenly, my cell was filled with black figures full of anger and hatred for me. One of them said, “Be damned, you and He who is within you, for you are beginning to torment us even in hell.” As soon as I said, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,” the figures vanished in a sudden whir (no.321-323).

From these three beautiful paragraphs I simple say that the Lord gives the person so much power to combat all temptations and fears that will eventually crop up and will prevail upon them by the great power as well as consolation which that person receives from the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

Naturally, as I finished administering this sacrament I felt Jesus’ call within me to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Hence, I invited her friend to join in with me in praying this powerful prayer. We prayed the prayer in Polish, the original language by which Jesus gave this prayer to St Faustina. Since I do  not know it by heart I searched for it on google and encountered the following site: https://www.faustyna.pl/zmbm/koronka-do-milosierdzia-bozego/ Its Polish name is  Koronka do Miłosierdzia Bożego.

As we started praying it other Polish friends of this Polish lady joined in and, by the time we finished it, the room was blessed with this incredible grace the Lord has blessed our hospital with thanks to the Polish praying of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. That unfathomable peace I felt near this lady helped me appreciate what we find written in the Diary of St Faustina regarding the 14 promises Jesus made to those who pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet:

• I promise that the soul that will venerate this image (of Divine Mercy) will not perish. I also promise victory over one’s enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory (Diary of Saint Faustina, 48);
• The two rays denote Blood and Water… These two rays issued from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father… I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy… whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete remission of sins and punishment. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy (Diary of Saint Faustina, 299-300);
• I desire that the Feast of Mercy… be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter… The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion (in a state of grace on this day) shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (Diary of Saint Faustina, 699);
• Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. (Diary of Saint Faustina, 687);
• Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy… I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy (Diary of Saint Faustina, 687);
• The souls that say this chaplet will be embraced by My mercy during their lifetime and especially at the hour of their death (Diary of Saint Faustina, 754);
• Souls who spread the honor of My mercy… at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1075);
• The prayer most pleasing to Me is prayer for the conversion for sinners. Know, my daughter, that this prayer is always heard and answered (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1397);
• My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1485);
• To priests who proclaim and extol My mercy, I will give wondrous power; I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they will speak (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1521);
• Through this chaplet, you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will.” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1731);
• When hardened sinners say it, I will fill their souls with peace, and the hour of their death will be a happy one (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1541);
• When they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as a just Judge but as a merciful Savior (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1541);
• At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony… I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1320).

What a grace it has been to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy near this Polish lady! What a grace it has been to give also an image of the Merciful Jesus to her friends who live in Poland and abroad so that they could venerate it in their own homes together with prayer cards to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet in their families daily!

JEZU UFAM TOBIE! JESUS I TRUST IN YOU!

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap