Book Reviews and More: Marrying the Rosary to the Divine Mercy Chaplet

Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Marrying the Rosary to the Divine Mercy Chaplet - Shane Kapler

Marrying the Rosary to the Divine Mercy Chaplet
Shane Kapler
Proving Press
En Route Books and Media
ISBN 9781633371491
eISBN 9781633371514
ASIN B01MYEIEMB

I have been a fan of Shane Kapler's writings for a number of years now. Since I heard that this book was forthcoming I have been eagerly anticipating reading it, for a number of reasons. First I have greatly enjoyed all that I have read by Shane and have his other books in my 'to be read pile'. Second I was greatly interested in the topic. I only really discovered the Divine Mercy Chaplet a few years ago and have been praying it daily for over a year now. And the idea of paring these two devotions together just sounded incredible.

In fact Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, STL in the forward concludes with: "The method of prayer presented by Shane Kapler in this book has the potential to produce an abundance of fruit in the spiritual lives of those who use it. After all, all marriages are called to fruitfulness. By using this method of prayer, people will be able to meditate on the saving mysteries of Jesus and, at the same time, make an urgent appeal to God's mercy for ourselves and the whole world. What better union could there be? What incredible fruit will come from this form of devotion!" basically saying how awesome this idea and new devotion is!

Shane in the introduction states: "I cannot think of two more popular devotions than the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. That isn't surprising, though, given the way that Heaven has intervened so dramatically to bring them to our attention. In 1917, the Blessed Mother came to Fatima, Portugal to request the daily praying of the Rosary; and in 1935, our Lord revealed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to St. Faustina Kowalska and requested that she make it known. In this small booklet you will discover how uniting these two devotions - how interspersing the decades of the Rosary with the Chaplet - is a powerful way to deepen the meditation and intercession proper to both." And having read the book and prayed through the ideas taught I completely agree. Shane also says: "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 J. Sheen: The Cross cast its shadow backward 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 -powerfully affirmed." I have only prayed through this devotion twice now. But I can say it will become a mainstay in my spiritual disciplines.

The structure of this book is the forward and introduction, the introduction explains the method of merging these two devotions. Then there are chapters for each of the 20 Mysteries of the Rosary. Each Specific Mystery has a painting from classical art depicting that mystery. Then there is a meditation for that mystery, including instructions for praying the rosary and then the chaplet. This is followed by another piece of art. The art is great for focusing on while meditating on the mysteries, and praying the prayers.

But one of the greatest features of this book is that on the title page of the book is a url so that you can download audio versions of the different mysteries. These audio meditations vary between 32 and 37 minutes. And using the audio version and praying along with Shane. It is so easy to listen to Shane and pray along with him through the different meditations. The book is more than worth it just for the audio files and to be able to pray this devotion as you want, while walking, on the commute to work, just putting in your earbuds and separate into quiet prayer for a short time.

Shane in the conclusion says: "The Rosary and Chaplet are simple devotions to practice, but they take us into incredibly deep, life-giving spiritual waters. I believe that everyone has time in his or her schedule to heed the Blessed Mother's call to pray the Rosary daily - and I dare say, time to (at last occasionally) marry the Rosary to the Chaplet. Pray them in the car during your commute to work or school. Pray these prayers as you walk. (Download the audio files for this book, pop in your earbuds, and I will join you.) Let Mary ponder God's mysterious ways with you as she did on her way to visit Elizabeth. Allow Jesus to open the Scriptures for you as he did for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And call out, with the whole communion of saints, through Christ our high priest, for the mercy that we and our world so desperately need." And I know that I will be using the book, and audio version frequently.

I believe that if you give this devotion a try it will become a personal favorite. It has the power to transform your prayer and meditations on the mysteries. This was an incredible book. And I strongly encourage you to give it a try!

Update 2018-04-08 Divine Mercy Sunday: I have been now praying this every day for over a year and love praying it. My son who is ten loves to pray along with Shane on the audio version as well.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2017 Catholic Reading Plan!

(You can use this square image in iTunes as cover art of the audio files if you download them.)