The Divine Mercy Chaplet: A Deep Meditation (Paperback or Softback)

From the late 1920's to 1938 a young Polish nun had visions of Jesus. Jesus asked her to write down the conversations they had over this period of years until she died of tuberculosis in 1938. A Polish priest, Fr. Sopocko, her friend, Confessor, and Spiritual Director, was her strong supporter and worked hard to get her notes composed into the book, "THE DIARY of ST. FAUSTINA. KOWALSKA." In that diary Jesus tells her that the greatest attribute of God is His Mercy. He taught her the Divine Mercy Chaplet prayer. After editing her notes Fr. Sopocko introduced Faustina's Dairy to a Polish Cardinal named Karol Wojktila (known today as Pope John Paul II). Years later as pope, he canonized Faustina a saint and he named the Sunday after Easter "Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus told her to commission a painting of Him as Divine Mercy just like He appeared to her in their numerous encounters. This painting is found in great a many churches throughout the world today.

This book is an adaptation of the Divine Mercy Prayer. When I read the Diary, Jesus tells St. Faustina that it is very important to Him and to us that we meditate on His Sorrowful Passion. When I saw that comment of His, I began to try to figure out how to incorporate His Passion into the original prayer. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the help of friends, We devised what came to be a suitable format for this prayer...

It begins with Jesus entering into the Garden of Gethsemane just after The Last Supper and follows Jesus as He encounters Satan, His arrest and trial, Pilate reluctantly condemning Him to death, the scourging, and finally the carrying of the cross to Calvary and His Crucifixion and death. This all with the hope of the Resurrection on the Third Day. It does describe Jesus' suffering rather graphically, backed by the Old and New Testament scriptures and science.

My name is James Mark. I am the author of the "Divine Mercy Chaplet - a Deep Meditations." I am 75 years old. My wife and I have 2 children and 5 grandchildren (one by adoption and one through marriage). I now live in a small rural town about 20 miles south of Joliet, Illinois. I attended high school and first year college in the Chicago Diocese's minor seminary. I left the seminary and graduated from College in Rural Southern Illinois. After graduation I spent 2 years in the Peace Corps in Malaysia on the Island of Borneo. My Peace Corps training was in Hawaii for three months. There I learned the Malay language, customs and about tuberculosis, a very common and deadly disease in Malaysia at that time. When I finally arrived in Malaysia I worked in hospitals and clinics. I worked in the lab identifying samples that may contain the tuberculosis germ or not. Later I went out into the field and helped vaccinate children against the disease. The cure for tuberculosis at that time required taking 3 medications for two years. Many times, people would not come to the clinic to get their monthly supply of meds, so I would drive on my motorcycle to the kampongs to make sure they had their meds. One time at the local school the science teacher had to leave so I filled in for about a month as well as doing my duties in the clinic when I returned to America, I attended Illinois State University where I earned a master's degree in Special Education. It was also where I met my wife, Donna. I taught in Sp.Ed. classrooms for 27 years before retiring. After retiring from teaching I started a small lawn mowing business and helped out at my local parish, Immaculate Conception. There I am a teacher of religious education, lector, Eucharistic Minister, and help with general maintenance of the parish from time to time.