Where to Turn

Terry, a member of our Divine Mercy prayer group, has this story to share:

I was first introduced to the Divine Mercy devotions by Fr. Eugene Frank (now deceased). It was around 1990. I then subscribed to Marian Helper magazine.

Eventually, I introduced the devotions to members of the small faith group I belonged to. One couple, Maynard and Anne Entringer, took to them like ducks to water. At the time, they were in their 70s. Maynard once confided to me that he and his wife prayed the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy every afternoon at the 3 o'clock hour, known as the Hour of Great Mercy. He and his wife had a degree of faith such as I had never seen.

Maynard confided to me two stories. The first concerned his wife. She had become inflicted with Alzheimer's. As her condition worsened, he made the decision to care for her at home; he would not put her into a nursing home. They had been married for more than 60 years. Eventually, Anne was bedridden. Maynard took care of all her needs. I would go over to visit occasionally. Toward the end, she could only communicate with her eyes. Still, Maynard was able to understand what she wanted and needed.

Maynard told me that one night he woke up and called two of his boys into the room. They got out their rosaries and prayed the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. Maynard told me that Anne was looking right at him as they prayed. After they said the last prayer, she died.

This gives me Holy Spirit bumps (not goose bumps) even now after all these years when I tell this story. Maynard cried when he first shared this story with me. He thanked me time and time again for telling him about Divine Mercy. I told him it was not my doing, but that of Fr. Eugene Frank. Maynard was a true believer of this devotion, and so am I. He was comforted in knowing Jesus' promises regarding the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy and that Anne met Jesus after she died.

Jesus told St. Faustina: "Tell them that no soul that has called upon My mercy has been disappointed or brought to shame. I delight particularly in a soul which has placed its trust in My goodness" (Diary of St. Faustina, 1541).

Now, one more story. Maynard had a brother that had left the Catholic Church, along with his family, years ago because of a small disagreement over a pencil, of all things (another story that I will not go into.) Anyway, this brother was in the hospital dying.

One day, Maynard went over to visit him. His brother was in a coma. Maynard told me that he said two Divine Mercy Chaplets. He then got up and left. That night, his brother died. At the funeral, Maynard's nephew (son of Maynard's deceased brother) came up to Maynard and told him how the "strangest thing" happened at the hospital the day his father died. He said that even though his father was in a coma, that evening before he died, all of a sudden his dad sat up and cried out, "God, forgive me." Then his dad laid back down, still in a coma. Maynard believed to his dying day that his brother asked for and received mercy and forgiveness from Jesus before he died.

In one entry in her Diary, St. Faustina writes: "This evening, Jesus said to me, My daughter, do you need anything? I answered, "O my Love, when I have You I have everything." And the Lord answered, If souls would put themselves completely in My care, I Myself would undertake the task of sanctifying them, and I would lavish even greater graces on them. There are souls who thwart My efforts, but I have not given up on them; as often as they turn to Me, I hurry to their aid, shielding them with My mercy, and I give them the first place in My compassionate Heart (1682).

Maynard died in February this year. I had stopped at the hospital that afternoon to visit, and he was in a coma. One of his sons and his wife were there, and together we prayed the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. No, I wasn't there when Maynard died, but I believe Jesus was there waiting for Maynard when he died.

I prayed for the grace to be by my father's bedside when he died. He died in February of 2003. The day he died, I was in his room at the hospital and said about three chaplets. He died that night. I wasn't by his bedside, but my mom, one of my sisters and one of my brothers were there with him. Looking back on this, I believe the ones who were supposed to be there were there when he died.

Tomorrow, I go out of town to an aunt's funeral. Yes, I stopped to see her about a month ago and shared the Divine Mercy story with some of her children. I also prayed the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. I hope her children kept this practice up.

Terry realizes that Divine Mercy is a way of life for all generations. We learn to be faithful because our Father in heaven is faithful.

Trust is the key.

Jesus said to St. Faustina: "Entrust everything to Me and do nothing on your own, and you will always have great freedom of spirit. No circumstances of events will be able to upset you" (Diary,1685).

Jay Hastings, of Bartlett, Tenn., is the founder of a growing group of Divine Mercy devotees who ensures that the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy is being prayed every hour of the day. The 24-Hour Chaplet members now consist of more than 500 people from across the United States, as well as from Mexico, Belize (Central America), Costa Rica, Canada, Philippines, Bolivia, India, Iraq, Australia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Japan, and Tanzania, who are assigned an hour each day in which to pray. They pray for three things: the promotion of the Divine Mercy devotion; the sick and dying in the hour that you pray; and people about to commit mortal sin. To join the 24-Hour Chaplet, contact Jay via e-mail, pj7772@msn.com or via phone, 901-438-7772.