Divine Mercy Sunday

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday.  According to the Catholic site at About.com:

The Feast of Divine Mercy, celebrated on the Octave of Easter (the Sunday after Easter Sunday), is a relatively new addition to the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar.[...]

A plenary indulgence (the forgiveness of all temporal punishment resulting from sins that have already been confessed) is granted on the Feast of Divine Mercy if to all the faithful who go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, and "in any church of chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affectation for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. 'Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!')."

A partial indulgence (the remission of some temporal punishment from sin) is granted to the faithful "who, at least with a contrite heart, pray to the merciful Lord Jesus a legitimately approved invocation."

At Mass this morning, we recited the Divine Mercy chaplet prior to the procession.  It's quite easy, and can be prayed on a traditional Rosary, so I'd like to share it with you, as well.

You begin by making the Sign of the Cross, praying the Our Father, saying a Hail Mary, and reciting the Apostle's Creed.

On the first decade, you begin with the Our Father bead and pray the following:

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 of the whole world.

On each of the Hail Mary beads, you pray:

For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

This pattern is repeated for each decade.  To conclude, you pray the following three times:

Holy God, Holy mighty One, Holy immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

You may also include this optional concluding prayer:

O Blood and Water that gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in You.

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion--inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

End with the Sign of the Cross.