Divine Mercy Youth Prayer Cenacle: this prayer group is rich in mercy and offers the experience of the Merciful Christ to our youth. It teaches them the importance of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, celebrating the sacraments, and ministering to others through works of mercy. Divine Mercy youth prayer cenacles are a formation for our young people to begin a trustworthy participation in the life, mission and work of the Catholic Church.
Our focus is on Jesus, The Divine Mercy. Jesus wants to enter into an intimate relationship with His young ones. We work to help our youth to truly know God, to know His extraordinary love and tender mercy.
To accomplish this, we lead them into a loving and trusting friendship with Jesus through prayer. It is a friendship that begins in the soul with Jesus. Through prayer, our youth get to truly know Jesus intimately and experience His personal love for them as a trusting friend. Through prayer our youth learn to develop their interior life with Jesus, the ability through grace to speak to Jesus, to listen, to recognize Our Lord’s voice from within, and to recognize His loving presence in their life.
We then instruct our youth to come follow Jesus, by inviting them to make an act of total consecration, to entrust their heart and commit their life to Jesus of Mercy through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, under her title, Our Lady of Mercy.
We then work to help our youth begin living the Catholic Faith as Young Apostles of Divine Mercy.
Our youth offer merciful love, forgiveness, healing and hope to those in need through works of mercy--offering the loving presence of Jesus to others.
What Is a Divine Mercy Prayer Cenacle?
The word “Cenacle” (Latin cenaculum: dining room) refers to the Upper Room, (Mt 26:17-19, Mk 14:12-16, Lk 22:7-13) where the Apostles prepared for the Lord’s celebration of His Last Supper, during which He instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood. The cenacle was also the site of Christ’s resurrection appearance to the Apostles (Jn 20:19) and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles gathered in prayer with Mary in the Upper Room (Acts 1:13-14, 2:1-36).
Divine Mercy Youth Prayer Cenacles are where as a young community of faith we gather together in prayer with Mary in the Upper Room. It’s the place in which we gather and approach the Merciful Heart of Jesus, calling upon His Divine Mercy for us and for the whole world.
Jesus tells us: “I have opened My Heart as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust” (Diary, 1520).
Location and description of a Divine Mercy Youth Prayer Cenacle:
Divine Mercy Youth Prayer Cenacles can take place at your parish, adoration chapel or a room in a parish center. The room should consist of the following: the Image of Divine Mercy, a statue of Mary (Our Lady of Grace), candles and a small water fountain filed with water (representing God’s overflowing mercy). All these prayerful items should be blessed by a priest.
Materials needed for a Divine Mercy Prayer Cenacle
• A Catholic Bible
• Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul
• Divine Mercy for today’s Youth booklet
• Books, films, and materials on Divine Mercy from the National Shrine of Divine Mercy
• Rosary’s and pamphlets on how to Pray the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
• Prayer cards of Divine Mercy and Miraculous Medals to be available for our youth to hand out and evangelize to other youth
We recommend one hour and thirty minutes for the Divine Mercy Youth Prayer Cenacle.
Structure - Divine Mercy Prayer Cenacle
Prayer Outline Part 1 (The Chaplet)
1. Opening greeting:
Begin by welcoming your youth and new members. Invite the youth to share about what’s going on in their life and ask them if they have special intentions that they would want the group to pray for.
2. The Purpose of our Prayers: The purpose of our prayers is to pray for our youth, the youth of today; the youth of tomorrow; and the youth that has fallen yesterday; in hope that they will return. Praying for our youth is a commitment we hold very close to our hearts. In addition, we pray for our families and for all families throughout the world. We are dedicated in praying for our Holy Father the Pope and for the Holy Church.
3. Description of Prayers: Remind the youth of the order of prayer. We begin by praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, followed by praying the Holy Rosary. After the rosary, we invite all of you to hold hands and present your petitions to Jesus and Mary out loud.
4. Opening Prayer: Dear Jesus, we praise and thank you for your love and for calling us to your Merciful Heart. We place our self into your loving presence and ask you to come into our hearts and fill us with your peace. We ask that you would send your spirit of healing into the brokenness of our hearts and fill us with your tender mercy. Sweet Jesus, we thank you for all your good gifts especially for the gift of your Mother Mary. Dear Lady, our Mother, we invite you to be with us now and to pray with us and for us. Help us to pray more and more with all of our hearts, and always lead us closer to your son Jesus. We also invite the heavenly angels, saints, and Holy souls to pray with us and for us.
5. Prayer – How to Prayer the Chaplet of Divine Mercy on the Rosary beads: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Say One Our Father: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Say One Hail Mary: Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. And.
Say The Apostles’ Creed : I believe in God , the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
On the third day, he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting, Amen.
Then, on the large bead before each decade say: Eternal Father, I offer you, the body and blood, the soul and divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins, and those of the whole world.
On the ten small beads of each decade, say: For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Conclude with: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (Repeat three times)
(Optional sing…)
Keep in mind, that Jesus Christ has died for us, and is risen from the dead. He is our saving Lord. He is joy for all ages.
(Optional sing…)
Father, we adore you, lay our lives before you. How we love you. Jesus, we adore you, lay our lives before you. How we love you. Spirit, we adore you, lay our lives before you. How we love you.
(Repeat three times) Jesus I trust in you.
(Optional - Prayer for Conversion, for a love one)
“O Blood and Water, which gushed fourth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in you”.
Divine Mercy Prayer Cenacle
Outline (Part 2)
6. Begin Praying the Holy Rosary
Begin each decade of the rosary by announcing each mystery so as to help everyone meditate on the mysteries of the rosary.
(Then on the large bead for each decade say the Our Father)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: but deliver us from evil. Amen.
(On the ten small beads of each decade, say the Hail Mary)
Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
(Then on the large bead at the end of each decade say the Glory be) Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
(Optional -then after each Glory be say)
Oh God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. I beg pardon of you for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you.
(Optional then after each Glory be sing…)
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria. Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria.
(In conclusion)The Hail, Holy Queen: Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy! our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee we do cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley, of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb,
Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries in the most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. May the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
7. (Shared Prayer)
Petitions to Jesus and Mary are offered aloud while all hold hands
8. (Ending Prayer)
We end by praying for our Holy Father the Pope and for the Holy Church. Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory be
9. (After concluding with the prayers, renew your act of total consecration to Jesus through Mary. (See in the following pages for consecration prayer)
ACT OF TOTAL CONSECRATION TO JESUS OF MERCY THROUGH MARY, OUR LADY OF MERCY
O Merciful, Jesus, you have opened your Heart as a living fountain of mercy, so that we may draw life from it. You ask us to approach this sea of mercy with great trust.
Dear Jesus of Mercy, I, your loving and trusting child, come to you now to consecrate my heart and entrust my life to you through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of Mercy.
O Mary, loving Mother of Jesus, and our Mother, I consecrate my heart, soul, mind, and body - all of who I am, and all that I have to Jesus through your Immaculate Heart, dear Mother.
By making this act of total consecration, I place myself into your loving hands, dear Mother. I promise to love and serve God, to live my Catholic Faith as a Young Apostle of Divine Mercy under your protective care and loving guidance.
In doing so, I promise to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, to celebrate the sacraments, and to exercise the ministry of charity, for the conversion of hearts and the salvation of all.
I promise to work in building up the Kingdom of God and promise to work in renewing His Church by leading every individual, through your intercession, to the Merciful Heart of Jesus.
Divine Mercy Prayer Cenacle
Outline (Part 3 Optional)
Time to enrich the young hearts with Divine Mercy Jesus appeared to Sister Faustina in a vision with rays of mercy streaming from His Heart. Jesus called her to be the secretary and apostle of His mercy. Jesus told her to record His message of mercy in a Diary. Her mission was to share that mercy with the whole world.
• We recommend using the Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul.
• We also recommend using books, films, and materials on Divine Mercy from the National Shrine of Divine Mercy.
Time to deepen and strengthen our faith through Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5
We offer the fullness of faith through the catechesis of the Catholic Church, which is to say to educate and instruct our youth into the faith through the teachings of the Catholic Church. “The source of catechesis is found in the word of God revealed by Jesus Christ. Catechesis will always draw its content from the living source of the word of God transmitted in Tradition and the Scriptures, for ‘sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture make up the single sacred deposit of the word of God, which is entrusted to the Church.” (National Directory for Catechesis)
Invite your youth to learn about God’s saving love for us through the teaching of the Catholic Church.
We recommend using the Catholic Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
We recommend one hour and thirty minutes for the Divine Mercy Prayer Cenacle.