By Fr. Alex Pumphrey, MIC
One of my favourite seminary professors once quipped that most people think life is a question of “this or that,” when in reality it’s more often than not a question of “both/and.”
For a while, I wasn’t too sure what he meant, until I started doing ministry. Then it all made sense.
People often approach the spiritual life as “this or that,” not as a “both/and.” I’ve encountered this particularly when it comes to the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet devotions. “I pray my Rosary every day, so there’s no need for me to do that Divine Mercy stuff,” or sometimes the opposite: “I pray my Chaplet every day, so I won’t bother with a saying a Rosary.”
However, Marian devotion and the Divine Mercy devotion aren’t mutually exclusive. The whole point of prayer is to grow in faith, hope, and love, whether or not it’s through praying the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, or saying some other kind of prayers or devotions, for that matter.
In fact, Marian devotion and the Divine Mercy devotions support each other and feed into each other.
Let me explain.
In the Rosary, we meditate on the life of the Lord through the eyes of Mary. In the Chaplet, we meditate on the Passion with Mary. The more we understand the life of Christ, the more we recognize the profundity of His Sacrifice at Calvary.
The flip side is true, too: Having meditated on the Passion, we see glimpses of foreshadowing as we meditate on the Lord’s life in the various mysteries of the Rosary.
Here in the United Kingdom, I have witnessed first-hand how Our Lady is bringing people to Jesus, the Divine Mercy.
So many people, especially young people, have found their faith in Christ through the prayers of their family and friends and have taken up the practice of prayer themselves, especially through recitation of the Rosary. The faith, made strong through the prayers and protection of Mary, leads them to Jesus, who in turn entrusts them to the maternal care of Mary.
It’s a wonderful, beautiful, holy cycle. It all fits together.
Mary brings us to her Son; she wants nothing more than for us to be with Him. Likewise, Jesus wants us to love His mother just as much as He does. Our love for Mary deepens our love for Jesus, and our love for Him prompts us to love Our Lady, too.
I pray both the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day. They have quickly become anchors in my day, stabilizing my prayer life in the midst of pastoral ministry, sacramental service, and answering emails (oh, so many emails)! Both devotions and both our Lord and Our Lady have helped me through so much. It would be foolish of me to try to figure out which one was “more helpful”; they both are helpful!
Now in Eastertide, the 50-day period to Pentecost Sunday on 24 May, we can ponder with Mary the great work of God present in the world around us. We wait with Mary as we prepare and we plead with Mary as we offer our Chaplets and Rosaries for all of those whom we hold dear.
Saint Faustina had a deep Marian devotion, and Our Lady appeared to her, too. Saint Faustina was not just visited by Jesus. In Mary’s conversations with St. Faustina, Our Blessed Mother always reminded her to listen to Jesus and to grow in the spiritual life.
If St. Faustina, the Secretary and Apostle of Divine Mercy, saw no competition between Marian piety and the Divine Mercy message and devotion, I think we’re okay if we think the same.
My friends, I pray that the graces that God pours out upon you strengthen you as you walk the pilgrim’s way through life, giving you the fortitude and courage you need to live each day for Christ!
