Why should you pray to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy?

If Jesus promises these things, then I'm in.

When I first heard of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, I thought it was ridiculous.

It was the year 2000, when St. John Paul II canonized Santa Faustina and guaranteed universal observance of the Feast of Divine Mercy every year on the Second Sunday of Easter. Until then, I had never heard of Divine Mercy, nor did I know much about chaplets in general. Therefore, I knew nothing of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

We have the rosary; why do we need something else? I thought.

I thought that a devotion linked to pearls was abundant. The Blessed Mother herself had given devotion to San Domenico (1221 m), citing 15 promises to all those who pray the Rosary. "Whatever you ask for in the Rosary will be granted," she said.

So he promised this:

Anyone who serves me faithfully with the recitation of the Rosary will receive a signal thanks.
I promise my special protection and the greatest thanks to all those who will say the Rosary.
The Rosary will be a powerful armor against hell, destroy vice, diminish sin and defeat heresies.
The Rosary will make virtue and good works flourish; he will obtain the abundant mercy of God for souls; he will withdraw the hearts of men from love for the world and its vanities and raise them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, those souls would sanctify themselves this way.
The soul who recommends me to recite the Rosary will not perish.
Anyone who devoutly recites the Rosary, applying himself to the consideration of his sacred mysteries, will never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in his righteousness, he will not perish for an unsupported death; if it is right, it will remain in the grace of God and become worthy of eternal life.
Anyone with true devotion to the Rosary will not die without the sacraments of the Church.
Those who are faithful to reciting the Rosary will have the light of God and the fullness of his graces during their life and death; at the time of death they will participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
I will free those who have been devoted to the Rosary from Purgatory.
The faithful children of the Rosary will deserve a high degree of glory in Heaven.
You will get everything you ask me by reciting the Rosary.
All those who propagate the Holy Rosary will be helped by me in their needs.
I obtained from my Divine Son that all supporters of the Rosary will have the entire heavenly court as intercessors during their life and at the hour of death.
All those who recite the Rosary are my sons and my daughters and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ.
The devotion of my rosary is a great sign of predestination.
I thought it covers almost everything.

Given these promises, I have seen such devotions as a waste of time. Until, that is, until I listened to the words of Saint John Paul II regarding Saint Faustina and devotion to Divine Mercy.

In his homily during the canonization Mass of Saint Faustina, he said:

“Today my joy is truly great in presenting the life and testimony of Sister Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time. By divine Providence, the life of this humble daughter of Poland was completely tied to the history of the 20th century, the century we have just left behind. In fact, it was between the first and second world wars that Christ entrusted her with his message of mercy. Those who remember, who witnessed and participated in the events of those years and the horrible suffering that caused millions of people, know well how much the message of mercy was necessary ".

I was courious. Who is this Polish sister who touched John Paul II's heart so much?

So, I read his diary, from cover to cover. Then, I read about the devotions linked to Divine Mercy: the promises, the novena and, yes, the Chaplet. What I discovered was like lightning that broke my heart.

I was particularly "destroyed" by what Jesus had said to Santa Faustina about the chaplet.

“Say unceasingly the Chaplet that I taught you. Whoever recites it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Priests will advise him to sinners as a last hope of salvation. Even if there was a more hardened sinner, if he recited this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy ”. (Diary, 687)

I don't consider myself a hardened sinner, but I admit that I am indeed a sinner - and I really need Divine Mercy.

On another occasion, Jesus said to Saint Faustina this:

“I am pleased to grant all that souls ask me by saying the chaplet. When hardened sinners say so, I will fill their souls with peace, and the hour of their death will be happy. Write this for the benefit of souls in need; when a soul sees and realizes the gravity of its sins, when the entire abyss of misery in which it is immersed is shown before its eyes, do not let it despair, but with confidence, let it throw itself into the arms of My Mercy, as a child in the arms of his beloved mother. Tell them that no soul who has invoked my mercy has been disappointed or shamed. I particularly delight in a soul that has placed its trust in My goodness. Write that when they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying person, I will be between my father and the dying person, not as a Just Judge but as a Merciful Savior.

It is a pleasure for Jesus to grant all that souls ask of him by saying the chaplet.

I've been sold!

If Jesus promises these things, then I'm in. From that day on, I started praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy every day - or almost as daily as I could do - at 15:00 pm

I still pray the Rosary every day, and often, several times during the day. This is a pillar of my spiritual program. But also the Chaplet of Divine Mercy has become a pillar.