The day I found Mercy

Ten years ago this day, I found Mercy. Let me rephrase that, ten years ago today, I found Divine Mercy. More specifically, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

If you’ve read my book, “I knew His Voice” (available on Amazon if you haven’t read it), then you know the story of what happened to me while my daughter was laying in an ICU bed.

Early that morning, she had had a seizure. The nursing staff coded her and after the doctors got her stabilized, they moved her to the ICU. She had spent the day in a sedated sleep, her breathing was short and fast. The doctor said she had probably aspirated fluids into her lungs during the seizure. That evening I fought with my faith, my trust in God hit bottom. I was overcome with fear of what would happen to my little girl. She had only just turned 19 the weekend before, I was so afraid to lose her.

Very early that Saturday morning, shortly after 2AM, the doctor woke me to tell me that she was going into respiratory failure and he was going to intubate her. It took a few minutes for that to sink in as I fought from sleep. I looked around the ICU waiting room, wondering what was going on. Everything seemed to be spinning out of control. Things weren’t supposed to happen this way, after all, I had prayed for her healing.

I gave it a few minutes to wake but mostly so the doctor could do what needed to be done, then I went through the ICU doors. I can still vividly see the hallway as the doors opened, the image of my daughter laying in the bed with a ventilator breathing for her is forever etched in my mind’s eye. Trying to stay calm, I asked the do doctor what had happened. He said that during the evening her breathing steadily became more erratic and before she went into full respiratory failure, he needed to put her on a ventilator. The ventilator was doing 100% of her breathing now to give her time to heal. After asking how she was, meaning, “is she going to be ok?”, the doctor responded that he couldn’t be sure at this point, he “wasn’t sure she’d make it through the night.” He directed me into her room as he finished marking comments on her chart.

It was so surreal. There was my baby girl laying helplessly in the bed, with a big tube coming from her mouth leading to a machine that was audibly breathing for her. Taking her hand in mine, I knelt beside her. I tried to say a prayer but my mind was spinning. I sat for a while trying to figure out what to say or do. I can still feel the sense of dread that enveloped me. But, mostly, the strongest feeling was one of total loneliness. Kneeling on that hard tile floor, I felt completely alone. I looked up at the clock over the door, it was 2:58 AM, and I thought, “I am scared and alone.” None of the family was there with me, and at this hour, I thought I couldn’t call them.

My eyes settled again on my daughter. I knew I had to pray but still didn’t know what to say. The words of a desperate prayer came from deep within. “Father God, you told me to trust You with Your daughter, she needs you now. Father, for the sake of Your Son’s passion, please pour Your Mercy upon Your daughter…Father, for the sake of Your Son’s passion, please pour Your Mercy upon Your daughter…”

This was the first time I had ever prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I’m sure many are reading this and thinking, “umm, Ed, that isn’t the Chaplet.” You’re correct, but, remember, I had never prayed, nor even heard of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at this time. At 3 AM (the hour of mercy), Jesus Christ gave this prayer to me. In my deepest despair, He came into that little room and taught me how to pray. I also have no doubt that night Jesus introduced me to my future patroness, St. Faustina.

It took a few months and a lot of ‘strange coincidences” for my to buy and start reading St. Faustina’s diary and realize the prayer I had prayed that night was the Chaplet. God, Himself, gave me the words to this prayer that night. It wasn’t articulated to write it down as He did with St. Faustina, it was to a place of despair that He inserted the words. No mistake though, this prayer was ‘recited’ to my soul direct from the mouth of Jesus.

After realizing this prayer, I prayed that night, the Chaplet has become my top go to prayer. Every time I pray it, it seems to flow directly from the Father’s heart through mine. I have prayed it every day since and hope I’m able to pray it every day ahead, right until the moment I go to meet Jesus.

Pray the Chaplet today. And, pray it every day forward.