Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

76 Divine Mercy: The Heart Of The Gospel involves an offering up o f His “Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity” to the eternal Father so that graces of mercy may be poured out upon the whole world.48 Nothing could be more appropriate than to recite these prayers in the very presence of the Eucharistic Jesus in the Sacred Host. Moreover, the prayers in Bl. Faustina’s “Novena of Divine Mercy” are also appropriate for the Holy Hour, since most o f them are offered to “console” the Heart of Jesus, and to bring all sinners into “the abode of Your most compassionate Heart” - the very same things that Jesus asked St. Margaret Mary to do in her Holy Hours!49 At the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for exam­ ple, the custom is to keep a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament exposed at three o ’clock every day, and during that Holy Hour to recite the Chaplet, and carry on a perpetual Novena to The Divine Mercy. It is a beautiful and natural synthesis o f the Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy traditions. Our Lord also asked St. Margaret Mary to communicate on the first Friday of every month, and He promised extraordinary graces to those who would do so with the proper dispositions. As we know from her own writings, and the writings o f one o f her spiritual directors, Fr. Jean Croiset, S.J., these dispositions were to be fostered on the day by prayer­ ful acts of reparation and consecration to the loving Heart o f Jesus.50 Again, the Chaplet is entirely appropriate in this context. After all, on the First Fridays devout souls are not supposed to be making reparation just for their own sins, but also for the sins o f the whole world, and that is precisely what the Chaplet was intended for as well: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins, and those o f the whole world.51 (d) Daily Devotions Once again, it is not difficult to keep up the daily practice o f both the Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy devotions at once. In fact, they eas­ ily blend together, and they fit quite easily with the basic daily Marian devotions as well. For example, the traditional “Morning Offering” to the Sacred Heart is an excellent way to start each day, offering up all our prayers, works, joys and sufferings, in union with the Heart o f Jesus in the Holy