God is giving two last remedies . . .
For November, we offer a few excerpts from a true saint for our times, Sister Josefa Menendez, the author of “The Way of Divine Love”, a treasure of a book. These few quotes give a quite an insight into purgatory. There is much to think on in them.
Continue reading “Sister Josefa Menendez on Purgatory, 2023”
Whenever I have the time and the strength, I love to plunder around on Archive’s site in hopes of discovering some long lost devotional book or booklet, and today I have one such treasure for you.
It’s a Novena entitled The Poor Souls’ Friend and it’s by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, a favorite of mine. It was published by the Redemptorist Purgatorian Society. There is a link to the booklet after the post.
By providing this Novena now, I’m hoping that some of you may decide to add it to your own Purgatorian Prayers for this beautiful month of mercy.
(By St. Alphonsus de Liguori)
Let us commend to Jesus Christ and His holy Mother the souls in Purgatory, in particular those of our relatives, benefactors, friends, and enemies; especially those for whom we are bound to pray; and let us offer the following considerations and prayers for them, pondering over the great sufferings which these spouses of Christ endure.
Manifold are the sufferings which those blessed souls must endure, but the greatest of all is the reflection that their sins in life are the cause of their present torments.
Daily Prayer
O Jesus, my Saviour, I have so often deserved to be cast into hell; how great were my suffering if I were now cast away and obliged to think that I, myself, had caused my damnation! I thank Thee for the patience with which Thou hast endured me. My God, I love Thee above all things and I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee because Thou art infinite goodness. I will rather die than offend Thee again. Grant me the grace of perseverance; have pity on me, and at the same time on those blessed souls suffering in Purgatory. Mary, Mother of God, come to their assistance with thy powerful intercession.
Today, for All Souls Day, we have an essay by Father Faber on Purgatory. It was last published during Covid-time and so included an update on the indulgence changes made by Pope Francis. I’ve chosen to leave that notice in the post because I’m not aware that anything has changed since it was last posted. I you have knowledge of a further change , please update me. Thank you!
And now we review the new Decree of the Sacred Penitentiary which has adapted the granting of indulgences intended for the faithful deceased, to the health situation and to the restrictions put in place in various countries to limit gatherings.
This decree affects first of all the plenary indulgence granted, from November 1 to 8, for a visit to a cemetery accompanied by a prayer for the deceased. This indulgence can be transferred to other days of the same month, freely chosen by the faithful, without the need for them to follow one another. It being understood that these days, even transferred, remain limited to eight.
Continue reading “Father Faber on Purgatory, 2023”
In November, we focus on the Poor Souls and on our own mortality as well. The chill wind blowing the flaming leaves about recalls to us thoughts of purgatory and its cleansing fires, bringing to mind loved ones gone before us and our own mortality.
Although these days, the very concept of Purgatory is an affront to the sensibilities of modern Catholics, it can be a comforting concept to those familiar with the true teachings of the faith. Like the dogma of the sacrificial nature of the Mass, Purgatory is a reminder of the loving justice of God.
If we were to make full use of all the opportunities presented to us every day for offering up our trials and sacrifices for the remission of our sins and for the sins of others, we could conceivably assist many poor souls to heaven as well as shorten our own stay in purgatory’s cleansing fires. The fact that we do not do this, that is, do not make full use of these opportunities for sacrifice, is perhaps due to our not wearing our scapular mindfully, or not maintaining our Consecration to Our Lady as we should. November is a great time to correct this.
It’s time again to prepare for the month of All Souls. Our Novena is the classic by Father Daniel Lord, S.J. thanks to Father Daniel Cooper’s Sancta Trinitas.
If we begin the Novena tomorrow, October 24, we will complete it on the eve of All Souls, that is, on All Saints Day. I have added the date of the month below each day, to help us keep track.
The following essay on purgatory comes from the Society’s News Site and is one of the best essays on Purgatory I’ve read -I believe you’ll find it worthwhile.
“I believe that when, freed from all union with matter, the soul finally becomes itself in the purity of its essence, and only then does it ‘think’, in the strong sense of word for the sages.”
This consoling word put on the lips of Cato, when it is meditated upon with a Christian view, throws a singular light on what the souls of the faithful who have left this world are living at this moment, these dear beings for whom the month of November is auspicious in reviving a memory that the pitiless onslaught of the years is trying to stifle little by little.
Indeed, our sanitized century strives to push back, with a barely veiled dread, the very idea of death, thus digging such an abyss between the world of the living and that of the dead, that the latter seems to constitute an unknown universe, disturbing and obscure.
Nothing could be further from the truth, however, if we take the time to consider what are both enlightening and consoling arguments of Catholic theology on this matter.
Whether they are in Heaven or in Purgatory – this is not the place to speak of souls condemned by their own fault and who share only eternal misfortune – the souls of the deceased enjoy, albeit in different ways, a knowledge of God far more luminous than ours.
To explain this thesis, St. Thomas Aquinas resorts to the principle according to which the mode of intellectual knowledge of the separated soul – that is to say of the deceased whose soul has left the body – is similar to that of the angel. Now it is proper to the angel to be devoid of corporeal matter and therefore of the sensory organs which depend on it.
The angel does not apprehend external realities like us: where the human being reasons and passes successively from one conclusion to another, with sometimes – often, alas! – the possibility of falling into error and being guided by badly tamed passions, the angel immediately sees the conclusion in a way that is instantaneous, stable, and intuitive, that is, without any form of reasoning.
In other words, where so few men manage to realize – and when they do so at the cost of how many hesitations – what place God, this God who contains all in His hand, must hold in the conduct of life, the angel perceives this high truth in a single act of intelligence.
Conscious, in the twinkling of an eye, of its finitude as much as of its absolute dependence on its Creator governing the whole universe, the angelic creature overflows without waiting, with feelings of filial awe, thanksgiving, and silent adoration.
Our deceased who, it should be repeated, have a mode of knowledge similar to that of the angel, although to a lower degree, our deceased therefore have a perception, a feeling, and, in a word, an intuition of God that is much more acute and penetrating than that which we can ever have while we live in this vacillating world.
The souls of the faithful who have left us are therefore souls in the Truth, souls who face the Truth, who are fixed there in a consoling and indefectible way. How far from our dear departed are the dreams of independence, the disastrous illusions of a false freedom, the pretense of an existence out of time which believes, ironically enough, to be able to do without God, or worse, give Him the miserable role of a bit player!
Certainly there is a lesson to be learned here. If only, like the souls of the faithful departed, we practiced contemplation through the events of life – joys, sorrows, successes, and failures – the reflections of our own finitude, our radical impotence, and our absolute dependence on God, how the course of our lives would be transformed.
Time here below no longer has any hold on the souls of the faithful departed, this human, worldly time which sees unfold, as on a theater stage, the implacable drama of passions, hesitations, and all the turn about towards which our frail nature seems inexorably inclined.
Indeed, the souls who suffer in Purgatory are marked by a very particular duration that the scholastics call by the name of aevum. It is constituted time, measured by the succession of thoughts: so many thoughts, so many instants in this aevum.
Let us cast our eyes on this soul in Purgatory who strongly desires the God and who suffers from not being yet worthy, because of so many imperfections and failed acts; well, all the time left to this soul will be occupied with the mere thought of this desire. So much so that the liturgy applies these words to it: “towards You the dead sigh, burning with the desire to be released from their chains in order to finally appear in Your holy presence.”
The souls of the blessed are, for their part, in another time, that of participated eternity which consists of a single immobile moment, like a fixed point: that of a gaze full of love focused on the Trinity definitely possessed.
What a contrast this is to us, fickle creatures, who waste every moment that God, in His mercy, gives us, fluttering from one activity to another, according to our whims.
Out of time, the souls in Purgatory have not lost the memory of those who were dear to them here below; and further, the souls who have reached eternity are not disinterested in the history of men: they are so united to the justice of God, explains St. Thomas, that they do not hesitate to interfere in our earthly affairs, insofar as this divine justice which goes beyond our narrow conceptions, allows it or demands it.
Finally, is not the time of our dear deceased that which made them become passionate about God?
Each soul is able to experience, at the moment of ultimate separation, the defined dogma of faith of the particular Judgment. The infallible magisterium of the Church, through the second council of Lyons and in terms taken up later by Pope Benedict XII, teaches that immediately after death, the soul is rewarded according to its merits.
In other words, the ultimate earthly moment is, for the soul preparing to leave its body, the moment of definitive choice. Some fine minds have wondered if, immediately after the separation, the soul would still be capable of producing an act of conversion to God in extremis. This view was held by Cardinal Cajetan, an authorized commentator on St. Thomas, and followed more recently by Sister Benedict of the Cross, better known as Edith Stein.
This hypothesis, while certainly useful in highlighting the infinite mercy of God, is not followed by the majority of theologians who see in the last moment spent on Earth the decisive moment when the soul determines itself freely and definitively towards what will be its eternity: with or without God.
How precious this last moment is and many souls suffer in Purgatory from ineffable torments for having perhaps neglected its significance too much.
But it is up to us, to us who are still in human time, who are to a certain extent masters of our time, to remedy this casualness. By working first on our own spiritual perfection (however much we fall and without ever giving up) is the way we prepare the ground for this final moment when we are face to face with the divine. We can also do good by taking on us a part of the negligence that our dear deceased had in this life, by offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for their intentions, and by the application of the indulgenced prayers the Church for the deceased.
May this month of November find us faithful and generous towards the memory of our dear departed, as well as in thoughts of the death which inexorably awaits us. In this nothing is sad with regard to our faith, because, as written so aptly by Gustave Thibon: “If death ripened in our souls as it ripens in our bodies, we would go to it like a flower opening to the light, and life here below, far from being darkened by its approach, would already be bathed in its transfiguring radiance.”
† . † . †
Our Good Lord willing, I will be able to post one more essay on purgatory for you before the end of the month; it will address purgatory and the Sabbatine Privilege. I promised that essay a while ago and am sorry it has taken me so long to complete it, but should get it posted next week. Meanwhile, please do not waste a single opportunity to gain graces for the Holy Souls. Our loving generosity towards them is so pleasing to Our Lord and each grace we earn to ease their plight, not only benefits them but redounds to our benefit at our own death and private judgement.
Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.
Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
† Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
† St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
† St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
For November, we offer a few excerpts from a true saint for our times, Sister Josefa Menendez, the author of “The Way of Divine Love”, a treasure of a book that I love dearly. These few quotes give a quite an insight into purgatory. There is much to think on in them.
In Lent 1922, God put Sister Josefa in touch with an abyss of woe, Purgatory. Many souls came to solicit her suffrages and sacrifices in terms of very great humility. At first she was frightened, but by degrees she became accustomed to their confidences. She listened to them, asked them their names, encouraged them, and very humbly recommended herself to their intercession. The lessons they inculcated are worth remembering. One of them came to announce her deliverance and said: “The important thing is not entrance into religion, but entrance into the next world.” “If religious souls but realized the heavy price to be paid for concessions to the body …” said another, while asking for prayers.
“My exile is at an end and I am going to my eternal home….” A priest-soul said to her: “How great is the mercy of God, when He deigns to make use of the sufferings of other souls to repair our infidelities; what a degree of glory I might have acquired had my life been different.” A nun who, on her entrance into Heaven, confided to Josefa: “How different the things of earth appear when one passes into eternity. What are charges and offices in the sight of God? All He counts is the purity of our intention when exercising them, even in the smallest acts. How little is the earth and all it contains, and yet, how loved…. Ah, what comparison is there between life, however prolonged, and eternity! If only it were realized how in Purgatory the soul is wearied and consumed with desire to see God.”
There were also some poor souls, who having escaped through God’s mercy from a still greater peril, came to beg Josefa to hasten their deliverance. “I am here by God’s great mercy,” one of them said, “for my excessive pride had brought me to the gates of Hell. I influenced a great number of other people, and now I would gladly throw myself at the feet of the most abject pauper. “Have compassion on me and do acts of humility to make reparation for my pride, thus you will be able to deliver me from this abyss.”
“I spent seven years in mortal sin,” another confessed, “and three years ill in bed, and I always refused to go to Confession. I was ripe for hell-fire and would have fallen into it if by your present sufferings you had not obtained for me the grace of repentance. I am now in Purgatory, and I entreat you, since you were able to save me … draw me out of this dreary prison.” “I am in Purgatory because of my infidelity, for I would not correspond with God’s call,” said another. “For twelve years I held out against my vocation and was in the greatest peril of damnation, because in order to stifle my conscience I gave myself up to a life of sin. Thanks to the divine goodness, which deigned to make use of your sufferings, I took courage to come back to God … and now, of your charity, get me out of this gloomy prison.”
Josefa never went down into Purgatory, but she saw and spoke with a number of souls who came to solicit her prayers, and some told her that, thanks to her sufferings, they had escaped Hell. These souls, as a rule, humbly accused themselves of the faults for which they were in Purgatory (see Ch. V. of Biography). A few facts are here added. “ … I had a vocation, but lost it by reading bad books; I also had discarded my scapular, out of contempt” (July 27th, 1921).
“ … I was given up to a great deal of vanity and on the point of marrying. Our Lord made use of very severe measures to prevent my falling into Hell.” (April 10th, 1921). “My religious life was wanting in fervor….” “I had a long religious life, but I spent my last years rather in taking care of my health than in loving Our Lord. Thanks to the merits of a sacrifice you made, I was able to make a fervent death, and I owe it to you that I escaped the long years in Purgatory I had deserved. The important thing is not so much entrance into religion … as entrance into eternity.” (April 7th, 1922).
“… I have been a year and three months in Purgatory, and were it not for your little acts I should have remained there long years. A woman of the world has less responsibility than a religious, for how great are the graces the latter receives, and what liabilities she incurs if she does not profit by them…. How little nuns suspect the way their faults are expiated here … a tongue horribly tortured expiates faults against silence … a dried-up throat, those against charity … and the constraints of this prison, the repugnance in obeying! In my Order, pleasures were few and comforts still fewer, but one can always manage to secure some … and the smallest immortifications have to be expiated here. To restrain one’s eyes, to refuse oneself the gratification of a little curiosity may at times cost a big effort … and here … the eyes are tormented by the impossibility of seeing God.” (April 10th, 1922).
“Another nun accused herself of failings against charity, and of having murmured at the election of one of her Superiors.” (April 12th, 1922). “… I have been in Purgatory till now … because during my religious life I talked a great deal and with little prudence. I often communicated my impressions and complaints, and these indiscretions were the cause of faults against charity which my Sisters then committed.”
“Let all learn from this,” commented Our Lady, who was present at the apparition, “for many souls fall into this danger.” Our Lord stressed this grave warning by these words: “That soul is in Purgatory because of her faults against silence, for this kind of fault leads to many others: first, the Rule is broken; secondly, there often occur in such failings sins against charity or religious spirit, personal satisfaction, outpourings of heart that are ill-placed among religious, and all this, without a feeling of responsibility not only for oneself but for one or many others who are led into the same faults. That is why this soul is in Purgatory, and burning with desire to see My face.” (February 22nd, 1923).
“I am in Purgatory because I did not care enough about the souls confided to me, and because I did not sufficiently realize their value and the devotedness called for by so precious a charge.” (August 1922). … I was in Purgatory a little under an hour and a half to expiate a certain want of confidence in God. True, I always loved Him very much, but not without fear. It is true also that the judgments of religious are severe and rigorous, for we are judged not by our Spouse, but by our God. Nevertheless, during life our confidence in His mercy ought to be boundless, and we should trust His goodness. How many graces are lost by religious who have not enough trust in God.” (September 1922).
“… I am in Purgatory because I did not treat the souls that Jesus entrusted to me with the care they deserved…. I allowed myself to be influenced by human motives and natural likes, not seeing in them God, as I should have, and as all Superiors must. For if it is true that all religious should see in their Superior the Person of God Our Lord, the Superior also ought to see Him in her daughters….” “Thanks be to you who have helped to free me from Purgatory…. O! if nuns realized how far they can be led by unruly feelings … how vigorously they would strive to conquer themselves and master their nature and passions.” (April 1923).
“My Purgatory will be a long one, for I did not accept God’s Will for me, nor make the sacrifice of my life generously enough during my illness. Illness is a great grace of purification, it is true, but unless one is careful, it may cause one to stray away from religious spirit … to forget that one has made vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, and that one is consecrated to God as a victim. Our Lord is all love, certainly, but also all justice.” (November 1923). (Menendez, Sr. Josefa. The Way of Divine Love (with Supplemental Reading: Devotion to the Sacred Heart) TAN Books. Kindle Edition.)
As I was reading Sister Josefa yesterday, the following passage struck me most poignantly. It occurred when Josefa made her vows:
A few hours later Josefa, still deep in glad recollection, noted, so that she might never forget it, what Our Lord had been pleased to do for her.
“After the sermon, I went up to the altar rails to receive my crucifix of vows and black veil. Then suddenly I saw Our Lady present, O! so ravishingly lovely, all bathed in light. She held a veil in her hands, and when I returned to my prie-dieu, she herself put it on my head. All round her and framing her person were a number of radiant little faces which looked like those of tiny children, lit up with joy. With ineffable sweetness she said to me: ‘While you, beloved daughter, were suffering, these souls were weaving this veil for you. All those you prayed for have left Purgatory and are safe in Heaven for all eternity. There they will protect you.’ “
Do you see? We do suffer greatly now, but we should thank Our Lord for this opportunity to gain much merit for poor souls and for consolation for Him whom we love!
Recommended:
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most precious blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, in union with the holy Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Poor Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, for those in my own home and in my family. Amen.
All things are passing…God never changes…Patient endurance attains all things…
Alone God suffices.
Pray the Rosary for poor souls!
Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
† Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
† St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
† St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!
In November, we focus on the Poor Souls and on our own mortality as well. The chill wind blowing the flaming leaves about recalls to us thoughts of purgatory and its cleansing fires, bringing to mind loved ones gone before us and our own mortality.
Although these days, the very concept of Purgatory is an affront to the sensibilities of modern Catholics, it can be a comforting concept to those familiar with the true teachings of the faith. Like the dogma of the sacrificial nature of the Mass, Purgatory is a reminder of the loving justice of God.
If we were to make full use of all the opportunities presented to us every day for offering up our trials and sacrifices for the remission of our sins and for the sins of others, we could conceivably assist many poor souls to heaven as well as shorten our own stay in purgatory’s cleansing fires. The fact that we do not do this, that is, do not make full use of these opportunities for sacrifice, is perhaps due to our not wearing our scapular mindfully, or not maintaining our Consecration to Our Lady as we should. November is a great time to correct this.
According to a pamphlet issued many years ago by the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, “The faithful who devoutly offer prayers for the Poor Souls with the intention of doing so for nine (9) successive days may obtain an indulgence of three (3) years each day, or five (5) years each day if in November, and a plenary indulgence at the completion of the nine days of prayer for the Poor Souls.
An excellent prayer for them is Psalm 129, the De Profundis:
Out of the depths have I cried to thee, O Lord:
Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall abide it?
For with Thee is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord.
My soul hath relied on His word:
My soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with Him plentiful redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Those who pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary know that the De Profundis is a regular part of Compline, i.e., evening prayers; just be sure to form the intention for the indulgence for the Poor Souls.
Wearing our scapular mindfully, realizing that it is “our Mother’s Apron” so to speak, helps us understand that this apron, as I call it, is a working item. We put on an apron when we will be working on something, and all our life is a work of love, honoring our Queen and Mother, giving glory to God in all things. To this end, we remind ourselves often of our total dependence on her and our total consecration, which we live, moment by moment, in the small choices of our lives. Now, no one knows of these things, nor should they, for they are part of the intimate secrets shared between a Mother and her child. Treasure them in your heart as Mary herself did.
To help us understand the beneficial nature of purgatory, Father Schouppe’s classic, “Purgatory explained by the lives and legends of the Saints”, is helpful. Fr. Schouppe has many good stories from the lives of the saints to illustrate various aspects of Purgatory, and the following one is a good example.
From the Revelations of St. Gertrude, Father tells us that a young religious in St. Gertrude’s convent was much admired because of her great piety. After her death, St. Gertrude was fervently praying for the soul of the young nun when she was rapt in ecstasy and had a vision of the deceased sister standing before the throne of God, eyes downcast, she seemed to be ashamed. St. Gertrude then beseeched Our Lord, “Most Sweet Jesus, why does not Your infinite goodness invite Your spouse to approach You and enter into the joy of her Lord?”
At this, Our Lord smiled with tender love and beckoned to the reluctant soul to draw near Him, but she, troubled and trembling withdrew from Him. St. Gertrude then addressed her dear sister, “Do you retire when our Lord calls you? You that have desired Jesus during your whole life, withdraw now that He opens His arms to you?” “Ah, my dear Mother, I am not worthy to appear before the Immaculate Lamb. I still have some stains which I contracted upon earth. To approach the Sun of Justice, one must be as pure as a ray of light. I have not yet that degree of purity which He requires of His saints. Know that, if the door of Heaven were to be opened to me, I should not dare to cross the threshold before being entirely purified from all stain.”
In #98 of her Autobiography, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque tells us:
“On one occasion when I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament on the Feast of Corpus Christi, a person suddenly appeared before me all enveloped in flames, the heat of which penetrated me so powerfully that I believed myself to be burning as well. The pitiable condition in which I beheld him caused me to shed an abundance of tears. He told me that he was that Benedictine monk to whom I once went to Confession, and who had ordered me to receive Holy Communion, and that, as a reward for this, God had allowed him to have recourse to me that he might obtain some alleviation in his sufferings. He asked me to apply to his soul all that I should do and suffer for three months, which I promised with the consent of my Superiors.
“He then went on to say that the cause of his suffering was his preferring his own interests to the glory of God, through too great attachment to his own reputation; secondly, a want of charity towards his brethren; and finally, too natural an affection for creatures, many proofs of which he had manifested in his spiritual dealings with them, thereby greatly displeasing God.
But it would be difficult for me to express what I had to suffer during those three months. For he never left me, and on the side on which he stood, I seemed to be all on fire; this caused me such intense suffering that my tears and groans were continual. My Superior, being moved with compassion, ordered me to perform severe penances, and in particular to take the discipline, because the bodily pains and sufferings, imposed upon me through charity, greatly relieved those which this Sanctity of love inflicted upon me as a slight sample of what It causes those poor souls to endure. At the end of three months he appeared to me in a very different state; he was bathed in joy and glory, and about to be admitted into eternal bliss. He thanked me and promised to be my protector before God. I had fallen ill at the time, but as my suffering ceased with his, I soon recovered. (“The Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary“, TAN Books. Kindle Edition.)
Father Schouppe also has this quote from St. Catherine of Genoa’s Treatise on Purgatory, which reinforces the concept.
“The Lord is all merciful. He stands before us, His arms extended in order to receive us into His glory. But I see also that the Divine Essence is of such purity that the soul, unless she be absolutely immaculate, cannot bear the sight. If she finds in herself the least atom of imperfection, rather than dwell with a stain in the presence of the Divine Majesty, she would plunge herself into the depths of Hell. Finding in Purgatory a means to blot out her stains, she casts herself into it. She esteems herself happy that, by the effects of a great mercy, a place is given her where she can free herself from the obstacles to supreme happiness.”
And so we see that even in His justice, Our Lord Jesus Christ is a most merciful God! When we pray for these Holy Souls, we are fulfilling Our Dear Lord’s request that we love one another. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15, 12) Every day we must offer our prayers and some sacrifice for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The De Profundis, which is part of the Little Office, is a good prayer, as are the Sorrowful Mysteries. One practice is to pray the Indulgenced Prayer Before a Crucifix after you have received Holy Communion. When you have complied with the usual requirements you gain a plenary indulgence which you can ask Our Lord to apply to the Poor Souls. The requirements are to be in a state of grace, receive Confession, Holy Communion and pray for the intentions of the Pope.
Now, sometimes people complain about praying for the intentions of the Pope, especially lately. But all that is necessary is to pray, and be assured that Our Lord will never allow harm to come on account of honest prayers! I often tell Our Lord, “I’m praying out of obedience and I trust that You will help our Pope to be obedient, too!”
Another plenary indulgence you can earn for the Poor Souls is the one from St. Pius X for adoring Our Lord at the elevation of the Host and of the Chalice at Mass. Don’t look away or close your eyes, but look and adore! That is what the elevation is for! Pray with all your heart, “My Lord and My God” and you will gain a plenary indulgence. (with the usual conditions).
In November especially, we do this for Poor Souls, but also for those at the hour of their death, especially since so many Catholics do not understand the extent of their insult to God’s justice until their private judgement and then it is already too late. How horribly overwhelmed they must be! But we trust all to the infinite mercy of God, who will bless those who need it most.
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most precious blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, in union with the holy Masses said throughout the world today, for all the HolySouls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, for those in my own home and in my family. Amen.
Above all, though, offering Masses for the Poor Souls is the very best benefit you can give them. So don’t forget to have Masses said for their relief.
I didn’t realize it was this late–the day here began gloomy and overcast and now suddenly after an entire day of feeling like it was evening, it really is nightfall. That may be an allegory for our life… We become so accustomed to attending the funerals of others, praying for them. And so our thoughts on death become ingrained that death is what happens to others. Now is the time to make friends for ourselves with the souls of Purgatory who have learned what we must learn and will be with us when we face our own judgement. They will remember our kindness to them. We do not know how soon we may need them!
Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
† Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
† St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
† St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Please pray for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!
~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!
Under the category, better late than never: This Novena should have been posted October 23rd. But I am posting this quite latendue to medical treatment. Even though late, it is nevertheless always a good time to pray for the dead, especially today when the apostasy is so far advanced that many Catholics feel that as long as someone “was a good person” they pass Purgatory and go straight on in to Heaven. I was stunned to have a priest tell me that several years ago.
But we know that, “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” (2 Machabees, 12, 46)
It’s time again to prepare for the month of All Souls. Our Novena is the classic by Father Daniel Lord, S.J. thanks to Father Daniel Cooper’s Sancta Trinitas.
If we begin the Novena tomorrow, October 24, we will complete it on the eve of All Souls, that is, on All Saints Day. This year (2021), I have added the date of the month below each day, to help us keep track.
(Daniel A Lord, SJ)
October 24
Sin is the one thing that holds back the progress of men and women. True progress is man’s ascent to God. Only sin blocks his path. Vice and crime throw human beings back to animal levels when they should be mounting toward the angels.
Death in mortal sin means the complete failure that is hell. It flings a man, who is destined for eternal happiness, into eternal loss and pain. Death in venial sin or with the punishment due to sin still on the soul means a halt in the progress toward heaven. The poor soul – poor indeed in his eagerness to reach God and the tedious, painful delay that keeps him from God – must linger in God’s prison-house. This is the sad land of purgatory. It is a place of anxious, almost impatient waiting. Since there are in purgatory relatives we loved and friends we knew and thousands of others who call to us for help, we pause and say:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
October 25
Nothing else is humanly harder to bear than painful waiting. All the souls in purgatory are sure one day to reach heaven. They know how wonderful heaven is and how desirable is God. But they cannot follow the violent impulse that drives them toward their happiness. They must hunger for God and still be withheld from the possession of Him. In hell there is only bleak and hopeless despair.
In purgatory there is hope and certainty and love and eagerness – and long periods of waiting .… waiting …. waiting …. There is suffering too in purgatory, the suffering that washes away in flame the stains of guilt and cleanses as with fire the soul that will eventually enter into the presence of the spotless God. But the real pain of purgatory is that awful eagerness for God who is just out of reach, and that longing to go home to heaven, which is almost seen but as yet unattainable.
Nothing defiled can enter heaven; that we know. So purgatory is the place where defilement is removed, where the souls that are destined for glory are prepared by punishment and tedious delay for their glorious home-coming with God. For the love we bear our friends in purgatory we pray:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
October 26
This life on earth is, as we have heard a thousand times, a time of merit. When through the Church’s indulgences we avail ourselves of the merits of Christ and of the saints, we can wipe away the guilt of forgiven sins and eliminate the punishment due to venial sins, as we can also do through penance and deeds of charity. But once the soul enters purgatory, the time for that soul to gain merit is ended. When we suffer on earth, we can offer our suffering to God, increasing thereby our future happiness in heaven and cancelling out the pains of purgatory. When a soul suffers in purgatory, he slowly and tediously cancels the debts of sins; he gains no further merit for heaven.
Nor are there indulgences in purgatory, nor fresh use of the merits of Christ, of His Mother, and of the saints.Thanks however to our union in the Mystical Body of Christ, thanks to the communion of the saints, we can gain merit for the suffering souls. We can win indulgences and apply them to the period of waiting of these souls. We can cut their sufferings and speed their entry into heaven by whatever of good that we offer for them on earth. In all generosity we say for these souls who depend upon us:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
October 27
Swiftly the memory even of the dear dead seems to pass from human minds. Memory is like the tears upon a coffin, swiftly evaporated, quickly dried. The rush of the days fills the minds and hands of the living. The press of old associations and the establishment of new friends helps supplant and elbow into dusty corners of our minds the friends now hidden in God’s penitentiary.
But these prisoners do not forget us. In the slow, painful dragging of the days they have time to remember. They are so hungry for God that they have little heart for new companions. They are made sensitive – as pain always makes us sensitive – to memory, to neglect, to hope for deliverance, to the knowledge that those who once cried aloud their love have so swiftly forgotten.
With gratitude do they think of those who do remember them. With sadness they think of those who have so swiftly dropped them. They pray to God, who loves them even in their exile, for the thoughtful and the mindful. They beg that those who have pushed them away for the near and the living will drop into their prison house a thought, a prayer, a good deed in ransom. Remembering our own dear dead, we pray for them:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
October 28
These in purgatory are the friends of God. These are the souls who will in a short time be glorious and powerful saints in heaven. Their souls are saved. Their crowns are awaiting them. Their thrones are prepared, and their mansions are ready. God loves them deeply, as He loves all those faithful sons and daughters who fought the good fight. Their prayers for others come straight to His throne. They can no longer pray for themselves; their time to merit is over. They can pray and they do pray for those on earth whom they love.
That loving mother in purgatory is interceding for her children …. That devoted father is now more devoted …. Those friends have not forgotten the value of their friendship …. Those relatives are bound to us with ties much closer than blood. Most of all, the holy souls pray for their benefactors. Our slight remembering of them wins for us a great measure of intercession from them. We pray thoughtlessly; they pray with the intensity of souls who are coming ever closer to God. We ask for deliverance for them; they beg God for a thousand blessings for us. In sheer wisdom and to our own advantage we pray:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
October 29
Our souls hunger for God with far more intensity than ever a starving body hungers for food. Here in this world we are distracted by the pressure of the life about us. In purgatory there are no distractions. Their eyes fixed on the closed gates of heaven, the holy souls long for God, yearn for God, hunger and thirst for God. The terms of their sentence ring in their ears: “Thus and thus long shall you remain separated from your joy, until these sins and these misdeeds and these blemishes and these stains have been atoned for.”
Balanced against their consuming hunger for God is their certainty that they would not dare enter His presence with the slightest stain upon them. They almost wish that the fires burned more fiercely and more rapidly so that the pain could be at once more intense and more cleansing. Imagine then their gratitude for every prayer or good deed by which we help them cleanse their souls and speed them on their way to God. Imagine the leaping joy with which they welcome any act by which we cut their sentence, shorten their stay in purgatory, and hasten their entrance into heaven. We can give joy to these holy souls here and now as we say:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
October 30
What food is to a starving man …. What drink is to the parched sailor riding the tropic seas on a raft …. What light is to the man long blind …. What restored health is to the patient invalid …. What freedom is to the prisoner …. All this and far, far more is release from purgatory to a holy soul. And when food …. light …. health …. freedom come suddenly, unexpectedly, the human heart leaps and bounds, and the soul knows the sharp ecstasy of joy. So it is with each prayer that we say for the beseeching souls in purgatory.
Our prayer is bread and water and light and health; it is a reprieve and a release and freedom and a home-coming. It is the cutting of bonds, the lessening of weary waiting, the termination of exile, the sudden glorious lift that picks them up and seems almost to shoot them toward the center of their joy, God Himself. For us that prayer is an almost careless gesture. For us a routine act of charity. …. Prayer, an alms, a bit of fasting, a good deed done …. forgotten in the doing. For them something beyond price and measure, something for which they can repay us only in the immortal coin of eternity. Such a good deed we perform as we pray:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
October 31
Then on a happy day release comes. Perhaps for souls whose friends on earth forgot them and for whom because of valid reasons God showed no special consideration that release comes only at the end of long and bitter centuries. Perhaps it comes far sooner than they dared to hope. Their friends have remembered them. Prayers have poured in upon them. God has accepted these in h or in full payment of their debt. But late or soon the release comes, the sentence is finished, the grim gates of purgatory swing open. Ahead are the white and shining portals of the eternal city. Like the rush of light the released soul sweeps upward toward God. Fierce winds have not the fierce intensity that marks this flight of a soul from exile to the happiness for which God destined it.
Then in the presence of God there is the moment of triumph, the welcome by the Trinity, the entrance into the heavenly mansion …. the enthronement of another saint. As that moment shall begin for that soul, an eternity of bliss and incomparable happiness that shall be without flaw, never to be marred by uncertainty or disillusionment. For then, the soul shall possess God for all eternity. We can have part in that swift flight to joy if we pray:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
November 1
Joy does not cause the souls in heaven to forget. On the contrary joy makes them more alive to memory. The soul that has entered into bliss does not for a second forget the generous friends on earth who helped him reach God and glory. Now a saint in heaven, he uses to the full his power of intercession. He prays God to be merciful and generous to the generous. By name he mentions to Christ and to Mary those who mentioned his name when he was helpless to help himself. He speaks to the Trinity about his friends. He becomes in effect a mighty benefactor, persuasively beseeching God to extend mercy and grant favours to those who remembered him in purgatory.
He prays with the fervour of new-found joy that their passage through life will be safe, their stay in purgatory brief, their entrance into heaven swift and triumphant. He prays that one day they too might behold the beatific vision and see God, face to face through the endlessness of eternity. It is their unselfish urge to share so great a bliss that we ask them to send us. To help insure for ourselves a shortened purgatory, we pray:
O God, the creator and redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
Oh Mary, sweet refuge of miserable sinners, at the moment when my soul departs from this world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that thou didst endure when thou wast present at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me my infernal enemies, and come thyself to take my soul and present it to my eternal Judge. Do not abandon me, oh my queen. Thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in that dreadful moment. Entreat thy Son that in His goodness, He will grant me the favor to die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my soul in His sacred wounds, saying, Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.
Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
† Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
† St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
† St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!
For November, we offer a few excerpts from a true saint for our times, Sister Josefa Menendez, the author of “The Way of Divine Love”, a treasure of a book that I love dearly. These few quotes give a quite an insight into purgatory. There is much to think on in them.
In Lent 1922, God put Sister Josefa in touch with an abyss of woe, Purgatory. Many souls came to solicit her suffrages and sacrifices in terms of very great humility. At first she was frightened, but by degrees she became accustomed to their confidences. She listened to them, asked them their names, encouraged them, and very humbly recommended herself to their intercession. The lessons they inculcated are worth remembering. One of them came to announce her deliverance and said: “The important thing is not entrance into religion, but entrance into the next world.” “If religious souls but realized the heavy price to be paid for concessions to the body …” said another, while asking for prayers.
“My exile is at an end and I am going to my eternal home….” A priest-soul said to her: “How great is the mercy of God, when He deigns to make use of the sufferings of other souls to repair our infidelities; what a degree of glory I might have acquired had my life been different.” A nun who, on her entrance into Heaven, confided to Josefa: “How different the things of earth appear when one passes into eternity. What are charges and offices in the sight of God? All He counts is the purity of our intention when exercising them, even in the smallest acts. How little is the earth and all it contains, and yet, how loved…. Ah, what comparison is there between life, however prolonged, and eternity! If only it were realized how in Purgatory the soul is wearied and consumed with desire to see God.”
There were also some poor souls, who having escaped through God’s mercy from a still greater peril, came to beg Josefa to hasten their deliverance. “I am here by God’s great mercy,” one of them said, “for my excessive pride had brought me to the gates of Hell. I influenced a great number of other people, and now I would gladly throw myself at the feet of the most abject pauper. “Have compassion on me and do acts of humility to make reparation for my pride, thus you will be able to deliver me from this abyss.”
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