Thanks to your magazine, I discovered the power of the chaplet of divine mercy when recited in the presence of a dying person, I learned that Jesus would grant the grace of being present with the dying, if only we asked Him. Consequently, my mother and I asked Our Lord for the grace to be at my grandmother’s side at the hour of her death and to recite the chaplet of mercy in her presence.

My grandmother Genevieve died on December 13, 2004. She had a special devotion to the mercy of God and Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Every day at three o’clock she recited the chaplet with the whole family. However, for the last nine months of her life she was bedridden and unaware of her surroundings, as she was terminally ill. She could have gone to the Lord at any moment. We were unable to predict or even guess the time of death. 

On December 13, I had intended to travel to another town to attend to some business. Even now I am l not sure how it happened that I stayed at home. My mother and I were about to do the housework. Suddenly we felt the need to pray at my grandmother’s side. My mother lit the Candlemas candle, blessed the room with holy water, and we began to recite the chaplet of mercy. Halfway through the chaplet, my grandmother suddenly opened her eyes, looked upwards, and gave her last breath, quietly and peacefully. We continued to pray over her dead body. We then realized that Jesus had granted our request. It was an overwhelming experience for both my mother and myself, as neither of us had ever been with a dying person before. We had been able to witness this brief moment of departure that we could so easily have missed. It was a great grace from the Merciful Jesus, for which we profoundly thank Him.

Jesus said: “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). “I am telling you the truth: the Father will give you whatever you ask him for in my name” (Jn 16:23).