Combining two prayers into one powerful resource

CBB Review – Marrying the Rosary to the Divine Mercy Chaplet: A Fusion of Meditation and Intercession

Two of the most well-known prayers in the Catholic Church are the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. On their own, each is a powerful tool for spiritual growth and a solid foundation to any prayer life. What if you combined the two? Shane Kapler has done exactly that in his new book Marrying the Rosary to the Divine Mercy Chaplet: A Fusion of Meditation and Intercession. If you thought each of these prayers was powerful on its own, wait until you see what Shane has done.

The book follows the flow of the Rosary. The daily meditations on the mysteries are in their familiar sequence. When we pray the Rosary, we contemplate the life of Jesus through the eyes of his mother, Mary. We journey with him and her through the major events of his thirty-three-year life. Deeply rooted in Scripture, the Rosary is a mini-bible study in the palm of your hands. Just as Mary and the Apostles spent time following the life Christ immediately after the crucifixion, we too are offered the same source of spiritual nourishment when we pray the rosary. We praise God throughout the Rosary by invoking the words of Scripture given to us in the Our Father, the Glory Be and the Hail Mary.

In the Divine Mercy Chaplet, we are offered an intercessory tool like no other. Deeply immersed in the Passion of our Lord and Savior, the Chaplet allows us to come to Jesus during his most difficult time and remember the price he paid for each of us. We praise Jesus and ask for his intercession and mercy to flow out to our broken world.

Each of these prayers, the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, are beautiful and sufficient on their own. What Shane has done is united the two into a prayer and resource like none I have experienced before. Shane describes it well:

“When I combined my praying of the Rosary with the Chaplet, my rosary meditation was led in unexpected directions. In the Joyful and Luminous Mysteries, I discovered anew a truth articulated by Ven. Fulton Sheen: The Cross cast its shadow backwards over our Lord’s entire life. In the Sorrowful Mysteries, I found my awareness of Jesus’ pain deepened; and in the Glorious, I found our Catholic conviction that the Cross is the precondition of Glory – both in Christ’s earthly journey and in our own – personally affirmed.”

He continues with an eye-opening thought that struck me as well. He points out that “when I brought the Chaplet into the Rosary, I invited Mary to pray the Chaplet with me. We stood together at the foot of the Cross.”

How does this work? At the beginning of each reflection is the title of the mystery and reference a relative passage from scripture. If you are not familiar or want a deeper experience reading the selected verses is an excellent practice to begin. This allows you to soak in deeply the passages of scripture as you pray. Next is a page or so long reflection on the mystery at hand. Upon reading the reflection, you proceed to pray the decade of the Rosary. Next is a short prayer which leads you into a Chaplet intercession followed by praying a decade of the Chaplet.

By intertwining these two resources into one, Shane has provided a prayer resource that allows us to enter more deeply into the lives of Jesus and Mary. This single resource combines two powerful means of contemplation and intercession, allowing us to more fully realize these prayers’ immeasurable value. Highly recommended, pick up your rosary beads and experience them in a whole new way.

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