Filipino Catholics and Protestants pray together the Divine Mercy
The chaplain of a Manila university pushes young Christians of all denominations to recite together the chaplet proposed to the world by Saint Faustina Kowalska. Despite doubts among Protestants who consider the prayer too “Catholic”, praying together has become a moment of ecumenism and togetherness. Divine Mercy is “the focal mystery that unites all Christians”.
Manila (AsiaNews/CBCP) – A group of Catholics and Protestants from the School of Education and Human Development recently prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet proposed to the world by Saint Faustina Kowalska under the guidance of a Catholic priest.
The prayer beads of the Divine Mercy are universal as is the mystery of the Divine Mercy, which is “the focal mystery that unites all Christians,” said Fr Caesar Santos, chaplain to the University of Asia and the Pacific School of Education and Human Development. For him, such “unconditional love [. . .] summons all who believe in him to conversion and repentance”.
Whilst some Protestants might scoff at the idea of praying a very “Catholic” prayer, 21-year-old John Bernard Ordoñez Caasi noted that even the prominent American Evangelical pastor and author Rick Warren is said to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet everyday.
For Caasi, “This devotion can provide us a breakthrough that through the grace and mercy of Christ, we may achieve unity for after all it was His prayer that we ‘may all be one.’ Let us not be tired of asking the Father to have mercy on us and on the whole world”.
Thanks to a catechesis led by the chaplain, the group meets regularly to read the chaplet.
“I think that there is a need for us to relive this wonderful tradition of the Church. The youth today shall be able to see the richness of this prayer,” Caasi stressed.
“This Divine Mercy Chaplet brings us back to the moment when Christ poured out Himself entirely upon us, drenching the world with His endless mercy. Through the Cross, the whole humanity was reunited to the love of God regardless of their race and creed.”
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