Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

160 Divine Mercy: The Heart Of The Gospel very strange feeling in the room. When I was just about to suggest abso­ lution I put the stole around my neck. He was unable to speak really, except to make certain grunting sounds. All o f a sudden with a tremen­ dous physical energy which I would not have deemed possible, he threw himself from the side of the bed on which I was seated over to the other side o f the bed and groped in a bedside table and pulled out from it an envelope and threw it at me. So I opened the envelope, and it was obvi­ ous that it had been written many years before. In the envelope it said only this on a small piece of paper, “If I call for a priest when I am dying, pay no attention. It will only be delirium and madness. On no account let a priest come near me.” And then he began an absolutely unearthly groan! I cannot tell you the tremendous fear that surrounded me! The nurses all came running. It is a secular hospital, so I had very little standing there and I had to leave. Now, when I was in the Seminary, we had been told that there were occasional cases of people who had made such provisions, or whose family would prevent them from a priest coming to the house. This was often the case with freemasons. But now, I experienced it! I went home, as my rectory and my church were just a block away, and I knelt down and I began to say the Chaplet. I must have said the Chaplet for an hour, by myself, in the Church. During that time I had a tremendous feel­ ing of peace that came on me at about the fifth prayer o f the Chaplet. After that, I have never worried about the person. He died within an hour of my being there. I know o f no outward change that occurred beyond that terri­ ble note, but the Chaplet, and the words of the Diary I just quoted, left me with a tremendous peace about such souls whom we can commit to God’s merciful love. Finally, there is one more thing which we should bear in mind. It is a Prayer o f Divine Mercy which is not found in the Diary. But it is the prayer o f Divine Mercy which Sister Faustina heard and which is prayed at the bedside o f all faithful Catholics who die with a priest nearby. You find it in the old Roman Ritual and somewhat modernized in the new Roman Ritual. But, I want to recite it for you as I have used it in my min­ istry. There are a few slight embellishments. I want you to hear this prayer because this is what the Church prays, not just for Saints like Faustina, nor even for religious and priests only, but for every man and every woman who dies in faith and in confidence in The Divine Mercy. The priest addresses the dying person and says this: My dear brother (My dear sister): I commend you now to