Divine Mercy devotion is 'God’s work.'

BY CHRISTINA GALEONE 

CFP CORRESPONDENT 

When Sue Belfield suddenly awakens in the middle of the night, she does something unusual. She doesn’t check the time and groan. Nor does she toss and turn, restlessly trying to get back to sleep.  

“If I wake up in the middle of the night, I might as well pray the chaplet,” Mrs. Belfield said, referring to the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. 

The Divine Mercy Coordinator at Saint John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish at Saint John the Evangelist Church in Clinton, Mrs. Belfield believes in the chaplet’s power to bring mercy, peace and conversion to those in need.  

In the church’s Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe, an adoration chapel that’s one of more than 400 chapels worldwide on the International Registry of the Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy, people can receive another gift: an apostolic blessing. And that’s just one way that Divine Mercy devotion has flourished at the parish. 

The website thedivinemercy.org states, “Moreover, on the occasion of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, Pope John Paul II imparted a special apostolic blessing ‘to all the faithful, who during adoration of our most merciful Savior in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar will be praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the sick and for those throughout the world who will be dying in that hour.’”  

Mrs. Belfield said that since parishioners had already been praying the chaplet aloud during adoration at 3 p.m. since 1996, in the early days of the chapel, they decided to devote the holy hour chaplet to praying for the sick and dying. They also encouraged others to pray it silently for them during other adoration hours. 

“For our 10th anniversary, we contacted Bryan Thatcher of the Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy to get the parchment with the apostolic blessing of Pope John Paul II, for adoration chapels who pray for the sick and the dying, which now hangs outside our chapel,” Mrs. Belfield recalled. “Once we applied, we were listed with the International Registry.” 

Then, in 2012, Mrs. Belfield started the parish’s Divine Mercy Cenacle. The weekly prayer group – which generally has 20-25 members – studies Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Saint Faustina’s Diary. It prays the chaplet, which is believed to have been given to St. Faustina by God, for those in need. 

“A year later, we were installed as Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy and are affiliated with the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge,” Mrs. Belfield said. “We also have a prayer line that can be contacted by phone or email...” 

While Mrs. Belfield said she has seen parishioners get excited about receiving an apostolic blessing, she noted that there’s a lot more that she and the other parishioners love about the devotion as well. She and others, including her husband, Bill Belfield, pray for intentions related to the sick, the dying, the pro-life movement, world peace and more. She said that people have told her about loved ones who, before they passed on, seemed to have much more peace after a chaplet was prayed for them. There have been miracles reported as well, she said. 

She’s struck by the opportunity “to know the responsibility and the privilege to pray for someone in their last hours.” She added, “It’s a real treasure for both the people who come into the chapel to pray and for the chapel.” 

Mrs. Belfield said the chaplet is a Eucharistic prayer.  

“We get to offer the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus to God, through the eternal Father,” she enthused. “It’s just so awesome.” 

She organized a Divine Mercy Sunday celebration, to be held at 3 p.m. this Sunday in the upper church. It includes adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Divine Mercy Chaplet with St. John Paul II’s Act of Entrustment of the World to Divine Mercy, a talk, first-class relics of St. Faustina and a procession with a seven-foot Divine Mercy image. She said she’s grateful that the pastor, Father James S. Mazzone, has been enthusiastic, supportive and active in the Divine Mercy devotion at the parish. 

“It’s God’s work,” Mrs. Belfield said. “All of this stuff unfolded slowly. Thank You, God!” 

Editor’s note: The chapel is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Requests for the Divine Mercy Cenacle Prayer Line can be made at 978-733-0090 or dmcpray@gmail.com.