The Catholic Defender: The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy NovenaSecond Day:

Today bring to Me THE SOULS OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS, and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave Me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind.

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service,* that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard—upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

"Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious, and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind."

1. Begin with the sign of the cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. ...

2. Prepare your heart and mind. ...

3. Pray the prayer of St. Faustina. ...

4. Pray an Our Father. ...

5. Pray a Hail Mary. ...

6. Pray the Apostle's Creed. ...

7. First decade. ...

8. Repeat this pattern four times.

In the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Jesus asked that the Feast of Divine Mercy, known today as Divine Mercy Sunday, be preceded by a Novena to The Divine Mercy. A Novena is nine days of prayer in preparation for a feast. In the case of the Novena to Divine Mercy, we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy each day for a specific intention. Those intentions are: all mankind, especially sinners; the souls of priests and religious; all devout and faithful souls; those who do not believe in God and those who do not yet know Jesus; the souls who have separated themselves from the Church; the meek and humble souls and the souls of little children; the souls who especially venerate and glorify His mercy; the souls detained in purgatory; and souls who have become lukewarm.

Our Lord told St. Faustina, "I desire that during these nine days you bring souls to the fountain of My mercy, that they may draw ... strength and refreshment and whatever grace they need in the hardships of life, and especially at the hour of death" (Diary, 1209).

At the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, the livestreamed Chaplet of Divine Mercy Novena is recited perpetually at the Hour of Great Mercy — the 3 o'clock hour.

In the case of the Novena to Divine Mercy, we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy each day, beginning on Good Friday, Apr. 7, for a specific intention. Those intentions are:

+ all mankind, especially sinners; + the souls of priests and religious; + all devout and faithful souls; + those who do not believe in God and those who do not yet know Jesus; + the souls who have separated themselves from the Church; + the meek and humble souls and the souls of little children; + the souls who especially venerate and glorify His mercy; + the souls detained in purgatory; + the souls who have become lukewarm.

Reading 1 Acts 4:23-31 After their release Peter and John went back to their own people and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them. And when they heard it, they raised their voices to God with one accord and said, "Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, you said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David, your servant: Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples entertain folly? The kings of the earth took their stand and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. Indeed they gathered in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do what your hand and your will had long ago planned to take place. And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus." As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 2:1-3, 4-7a, 7b-9 R. (see 11d) Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord. or: R. Alleluia. Why do the nations rage and the peoples utter folly? The kings of the earth rise up, and the princes conspire together against the LORD and against his anointed: "Let us break their fetters and cast their bonds from us!" R. Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord. or: R. Alleluia. He who is throned in heaven laughs; the LORD derides them. Then in anger he speaks to them; he terrifies them in his wrath: "I myself have set up my king on Zion, my holy mountain." I will proclaim the decree of the LORD. R. Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord. or: R. Alleluia. The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; this day I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for an inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall rule them with an iron rod; you shall shatter them like an earthen dish." R. Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord. or: R. Alleluia.

Alleluia Col 3:1 R. Alleluia, alleluia. If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Jn 3:1-8 There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Saint of the Day: Benedict Joseph Labre

25 March 1748 – 16 April 1783)

Labre had an uncle, a parish priest, living some distance from his family home; this uncle gladly received him, and undertook his early education for the priesthood. At the age of sixteen, he approached his uncle about becoming a Trappist monk, but his parents told him he would have to wait until he grew older.

When Benedict was about eighteen, an epidemic struck the city, and uncle and nephew busied themselves in the service of the sick. While the uncle took care of the souls and bodies of the people, Benedict went to and fro caring for the cattle. Among the last victims of the epidemic was Labre's uncle.

Benedict Joseph Labre was truly eccentric, one of God’s special little ones. Born in France and the eldest of 18 children, he studied under his uncle, a parish priest. Because of poor health and a lack of suitable academic preparation he was unsuccessful in his attempts to enter the religious life. Then, at age 16, a profound change took place. Benedict lost his desire to study and gave up all thoughts of the priesthood, much to the consternation of his relatives.

He became a pilgrim, traveling from one great shrine to another, living off alms. He wore the rags of a beggar and shared his food with the poor. Filled with the love of God and neighbor, Benedict had special devotion to the Blessed Mother and to the Blessed Sacrament. In Rome, where he lived in the Colosseum for a time, he was called “the poor man of the Forty Hours devotion” and “the beggar of Rome.” The people accepted his ragged appearance better than he did. His excuse to himself was that “our comfort is not in this world.”

St Benedict's food was composed of the leavings that fell from the tables of others. Alms that had been given to him he gave to the poor. The rags of this beggar of the Lord covered a heart that glowed with love of God and neighbor, and the tenderest devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Mother of God. At Assisi he was received into the Confraternity of the Cord of St. Francis. He has been the pride of that pious society ever since.

Labre joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and settled on a life of poverty and pilgrimage. He first traveled to Rome on foot, subsisting on what he could get by begging. He then traveled to most of the major shrines of Europe, often several times each.

On April 16, 1783, the last day of his life, Benedict dragged himself to a church in Rome and prayed there for two hours before he collapsed, dying peacefully in a nearby house. Immediately after his death, the people proclaimed him a saint.

Benedict Joseph Labre's confessor, Marconi, wrote his biography and attributed 136 separate cures to his intercession within three months of his death. Those miracles were instrumental in the conversion of the Reverend John Thayer, the first American Protestant clergyman to convert to Catholicism, who was resident in Rome at the time of St. Benedict's death. Soon after his death; he was declared Blessed by Blessed Pius IX in 1860, and canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881. Benedict is patron saint of the homeless.

is feast day is observed on April 16.