Re-post from now five years ago:
Filthy liberal priests hate Divine Mercy Sunday. They won’t have anything to do with it, rebelling against Holy Hours, devotions, Confessions. “Why do that?” they ask. “There’s no such thing as sin anyway so mercy is useless,” they say. “Sunday afternoon is our time off, and if you start this Divine Mercy thing this year, we’ll have to keep it going forever.” I have personally witnessed this around the world.
But then, unexpectedly (though opposites attract), ultra-tradition-al-ism-ists get into the attack mercy game as they want to be “tough” and “heroes” over against all that wimpy and way too saccharine and sugary mercy rubbish, which, because it is mercy, it must necessarily manipulate and reject justice, which is what they stand for, you know, the justice of being “tough” in their own eyes and “heroes” to themselves. And gullible multitudes follow them.
This latter crowd, with condescending snootiness, with aloof sophistication, attack canonized saints and particular devotions. Surely you’ve heard, for instance, of the rejection of the saccharine Divine Mercy Chaplet with all of its sugary prayers. Ever sooo sweet and therefore ever sooo to be rejected by those who are SERIOUS in their spiritual lives.
But let’s just look at that for a moment. Let’s see just how fluffy it all is:
The Sign of the Cross: Let’s see: the Most Holy Trinity; the ultra violent instrument of torture and death, the cross. Bad and evil for being way too sugary and saccharine, I guess. I don’t get it.
The Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles Creed: All of these, bad and evil for being way too sugary and saccharine, I guess. I don’t get it.
Decade prayer: 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. — So, this description of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, of sin and redemption, of our Lord’s obedience to the Father unto being tortured to death, is to be damned as bad and evil for being way too sugary and saccharine? I don’t get it.
On the 10 Small Beads: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. “For the sake of” is an explication of… wait for it… JUSTICE. The same for the Decade prayer above. The Divine Mercy chaplet teaches us that true mercy is founded on justice. So, all this talk of justice is bad and evil for being way too sugary and saccharine? These people damn you to hell for being in humble reverence before the wounds of Jesus? I don’t get it.
Conclusion: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. For those who don’t know, this concluding prayer recalls a part of the ferocious Reproaches (the Improperia) on Good Friday during the Veneration of the Cross. That part of the frightening Reproaches reaches back to time immemorial and is called the Trisagion:
- Holy is God! Holy and strong! Holy immortal One, have mercy on us!
- Sanctus Deus, Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.
- Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς.
All these prayers go to the very heart of all that is Catholic, all that is Christian, all that is of Sacred Tradition. It all slams us to our knees in the reality that we are sinners directly on our way to hell if not for Christ Jesus, the Son of the Living God.
But that’s all bad and evil for being way too sugary and saccharine? I don’t understand. Oh, maybe I do. Let’s see. Both sides, ultra-filthy liberal and the ultra-tradition-al-ism-ists are so very afraid of the justice part of mercy that they condemn it and run away as fast as they can. Well, we pray for them too. I mean, after all, we were all afraid, and in our fear, we have all crucified the Son of the Living God.
Holy God! Holy Mighty One! Holy Immortal One! Have mercy on us, and on the whole world. Amen.
ARISE! LET US BE GOING! 
I am glad to say that I haven’t heard anyone call the Divine Mercy prayers sickly sweet. I don’t know how anyone could but we are living in strange times.
Justice and mercy in the public sphere are disappearing in Australia. Please pray for our Cardinal Pell. He has not received a fair trial and is now in prison awaiting sentencing for a crime he did not commit.
I’ve been puzzled by this as well (Divine Mercy being too “soft”) and you just sealed the deal that it ain’t!
This is a prayer Fr. Thomas down in Mesa AZ (Queen of Peace) would say after every Mass and we would alternate “decades” between English and Spanish. I loved it.
Didn’t Jonah manifest a similar failing concerning a misunderstanding of God’s mercy? Scoffers against DM betray their inability to repent, I think.
I like the Divine Mercy Prayers. I wish the Marians would have let me join their congregation. Traditionalists say the Divine Mercy Devotion should defer to the Good Shepherd Devotion, and that Low (Quasimodo) Sunday is important
It’s not because they find the concept or prayers “saccharine.” They always bring up the fact that the Apparitions and accompanying theology (I think that’s the right word) were suppressed for a while, and they bring up several passages in St. Faustina’s Diary in which she: 1) Stated Our Lord told her that she was the most beloved of all His children (implying that Our Lady takes second place); and 2) Stated that she saw the Blessed Host come out of the tabernacle and rest in her hands, thereby implying that Communion in the Hand is acceptable. Sister Faustina never makes this last claim, but they draw that conclusion from her retelling of the event.