Divine Mercy Church

It is Divine. You would never believe that a massive Church dedicated to the Divine Mercy - built to traditional European standards will be located just near Kovalam or Kelambakkam in Chennai.

The Divine Mercy Church is massive whichever way you look at it. The foundation stone for this edifice was laid on 14^th June 2015 by the Most Rev.Dr. Neethinathan, the Bishop of Chengelpet to commemorate the 175^th anniversary of the first landing of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS) in Pondicherry, India. The church was dedicated after its completion on 13-2-2021 by the same Bishop.

With that part of history out of the way, we can take a look at the grand Divine Mercy Church in ECR. From the outside, the Church looks huge - almost like the Churches in Goa. Once inside, you will gasp at the long columns made of immaculate white marbles adorning the huge altar containing the original image of the Divine Mercy of Jesus as he appeared to Saint Faustina Kowalska. You appear so small and diminutive against the gold rimmed image of the Divine Mercy of Jesus. If you visit the church during week days, you can pray peacefully as the massive Church is all yours. You have to give the credit to the Bishop of Chengelpet , the Most Rev. Dr. Neethinathan for initiating such grand churches around Chennai.

The long colonnade finished with sparkling white marbles, the tall gold gilded intricately adorned altar with the image of the Divine Mercy in the center and the Ciborium highlighting the altar – remind you of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The long flight of black granite steps leading to the Church adorns the frontage. The sides carry images of Archangel St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael . The beautiful stained glass windows complete the picture of magnificence of this church.

Location:
Madha Kovil Street, Kelambakkam, Chennai 603103

GPS information: GPSLatitudeRef - N
GPSLatitude - 12 47 12.57 (12.786825)
GPSLongitudeRef - E
GPSLongitude - 80 13 31.23 (80.225342)
GPSAltitudeRef - Sea level
GPSAltitude - 7.71 m

Devotion to Divine Mercy

Saint Faustina Kowalska shares the visitation of Jesus Christ in her diary – ‘Divine Mercy in my Soul’. The main points of the Jesus Christ apparition are the boundless mercy of the God and how our own mercy to others form the connecting conduit to the infinite generosity and limitless goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Devotees of Divine Mercy commemorate the hour of Christ’s death – 3.00 pm as the hour of Mercy.

The devotion to Divine Mercy has the following points:

1. Adoration of the Divine Mercy image (there are 2 forms – one supervised by the Saint Faustina Kowalska to Eugene Kazimierowski in Vilnius – hence known as the Vilnius image and the version of image painted by Adolf Hyla which is probably the most popular around the world).
   
2. Recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet
   
3. Recitation of the Devine Mercy Novena
   
4. Reciting prayer at the Hour of Mercy 3.00 pm
   
5. Spreading the Mercy through deed, word or prayer
   

The last point is taken clearly from Jesus when He explained to Saint Faustina that the three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by deed, the second-by word and the third-by prayer. Jesus specially chose her for the mission of bringing His message of Mercy to the world and He called Divine Mercy Sunday mankind’s “last hope of salvation”.

For the sake of completion we provide below the complete prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet below:

Divine Mercy Chaplet

Starting the Chaplet:
1^st Prayer:(Optional)
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners.

O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners.

O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood.

O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equalled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted.

Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages.

You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You! (3 times)

2: Our Father

3. Hail Mary

4. The Apostles’ Creed

5. 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.

6. For each decade : ‘For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.’

7. Complete the decade with :

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Final Prayer:
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.

O Greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to Your mercy — to Your compassion,

O God; and it is with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out. Gracious God, do not reject the prayer of this earth's exiles!

O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding, Who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our own power we cannot ascend to You, we implore You: anticipate us with Your grace and keep on increasing Your mercy in us, that we may faithfully do Your holy will all through our life and at death's hour.

Let the omnipotence of Your mercy shield us from the darts of our salvation’s enemies, that we may with confidence, as Your children, await Your [Son’s] final coming — that day known to You alone. And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite of all our wretchedness.

For Jesus is our Hope: through His merciful Heart, as through an open gate, we pass through to heaven.