We are still in November and 'they'...........

.....are still in Purgatory!

It surprises me just how many Catholics know nothing about Purgatory and, even, dismiss it as being part of the 'outdated' teachings of the Church.

I am not suggesting for one minute that readers of this blog fall into that category but they might like to send this video clip to any family members who have expressed doubts on what is infallible Church teaching.

Of course, we don't like to talk about Purgatory just as we do not like to talk about death but, if we get to Purgatory we will not have to face eternal death, only eternal life.
Better still if we can avoid Purgatory altogether and join the glorious faithful in Heaven.

And one way in which we may achieve this seemingly over ambitious aim is to follow the advice given by St James the Apostle who states:

"He who saves a soul, saves his own, and satisfies for a multitude of sins"

How do we do this? By praying for the Holy Souls, by offering up penances on their behalf and by propagating the faith.

A powerful prayer for the Holy Souls...pray it to 'empty Purgatory':

"Eternal Father I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Jesus, with all the Masses being said all over the world this day, for the Souls in Purgatory."

The best November hymn for the Holy Souls

Help Lord the souls.....


"in prison for the debt unpaid...."

 By far and away the best and probably most effective lament on behalf of the Holy Souls.

I could not find a Youtube clip worth listening to so I sang the hymn myself....if you turn up the volume on your PC (why do people say "turn it up real loud?") you may hear a rather crackly but fine baritone voice.....

Here are the words......

Help, Lord, the souls which Thou hast made,

The souls to Thee so dear,

In prison for the debt unpaid

Of sins committed here.

Those holy souls, they suffer on,

Resign'd in heart and will,

Until Thy high behest is done,

And justice has its fill.

For daily falls, for pardon'd crime,

They joy to undergo

The shadow of Thy cross sublime,

The remnant of Thy woe.

Help, Lord, the souls which Thou hast made,

The souls to Thee so dear,

In prison for the debt unpaid

Of sins committed here.

Oh, by their patience of delay,

Their hope amid their pain,

Their sacred zeal to burn away

Disfigurement and stain;

Oh, by their fire of love, not less

In keenness than the flame,

Oh, by their very helplessness,

Oh, by Thy own great Name,

Good Jesu, help! sweet Jesu, aid

The souls to Thee most dear,

In prison for the debt unpaid

Of sins committed here.

   Blessed Cardinal John Newman - Pray for the Holy Souls - Pray for us!



Be a hero - for the sake of the Holy Souls

Make an heroic Act of Charity, (but it's not to be undertaken lightly), you give up all of your 'satisfactory value' towards the alleviation of your own time in Purgatory in order to release souls now. Here's how, courtesy of Fisheaters -

                                               Heroic Act of Charity

An "Heroic Act of Charity" is the offering of the satisfactory value (not the merits) of all of our sufferings and works of the rest of our lives and of any time we may spend in Purgatory for the relief of the souls in Purgatory. We do this by first deciding to do so, and then praying (using our own words or the more formal prayer below) to offer these things to God through Mary's hands.

Doing this is not a matter of taking a vow; it doesn't bind under pain of sin, and it is revokable (unless one vows never to revoke the Act). But it is a tremendous sacrifice, hence the name. It is truly heroic, a giving up of one's own earned relief from the temporal effects of sin -- even relief of the sufferings of Purgatory -- for the good of others.

In addition to asking God to use their satisfactory works for the souls in Purgatory, those who make this Act also receive a plenary indulgence (under the usual conditions) for the souls in Purgatory each time they receive Communion, and each time they hear Mass on Mondays for the sake of the departed.

Words to a formal Act of Heroic Charity are as follows:

O Holy and Adorable Trinity, desiring to aid in the relief and release of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, through my devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, I cede and renounce, on behalf of these souls, all the satisfactory part of my works, and all the suffrages which may be given to me after my death. In their entirety, I offer them to Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God, that she may use them, according to her good pleasure, for those souls of the faithful departed whom she desires to alleviate their suffering. O my God, deign to accept and bless my offering which I make to Thee through the most august Queen of Heaven and Earth.

        Amen.

Phew! I feel a little faint!

The Catholic brand

This month especially we pray "to empty Purgatory" - a wondrous ambition.

A priest friend of mine always makes a point of visiting any non Catholic cemetery he happens to be passing in order to say an eternal rest or three for those buried there. That is an admirable practice.

Those souls have no one to pray for them and they carry the stain of their earthly sin until such time that recompense has been judged to have been made.

They are branded with the infection of sin; sin that needs to be eradicated just as an infected wound is cauterized, by fire.

And to carry the metaphor still further, iron loses its properties (sin) in fire and then, if heated to the correct degree and annealing takes place, it becomes harder and stronger then before.

It becomes perfect just as our souls will become perfect so that we may enter into God's kingdom for all  time.

Cristobal de Morales - Missa Pro de Defunctis

Misere mei Deus.....

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them.
                                          May they rest in peace. Amen.

Free them from their sins Lord

Absolve Domine......for the Holy Souls

The Undead on Procession in Brighton

Let the undead bury their, er, undead...

Last weekend, Brighton was hit by its annual procession of the undead. Basically, people, mostly young people, dress up as zombies and go on procession through Brighton. This appears to kick off what turns out to be more or less a week of 'festivities' grounded in the thin end of the occult wedge. In fact, even a few days before All Hallow's Eve, the checkout girl from Sainsburys was serving customers dressed up as one who has risen from the tomb in a less than glorified body.

A huge amount of commercialism surrounds 'Halloween' now but that shouldn't detract us from a desire of the young to go on procession, even if it is just to give outward expression to an inner reality. It is a little sad that there is only a small, if growing, visible public counter-culture in Britain when it comes to Catholic processions, not that vast swathes of the youth would want to join in - it might even freak some people out a bit.

One can also see in the zombie processions and what amounts to a week of preparation for Halloween, with all the parties and dressing up and stuff two societies running in parallel lines - one society, society at large, immersed in a culture obsessed with death and another society - the Church - which with a strong heartbeat should live up to Her proclamation of life 'in all its fullness'. Tomorrow, thanks be to God, October will be over and November will have begun, a month in which Holy Church intensifies Her loving prayers for the Souls of the Departed. It struck me today that the Souls in Purgatory's greatest torment is not the 'purifying fire' but the thwarted desire to see God 'face to face'. They are in a different realm and though they anticipate and greatly hope to see God, believing surely in this eventuality, their spiritual reality is much different to the Saints in Heaven and indeed ours. The Saints in Heaven see God and enjoy the vision of His Glory. We do not see the vision of His Glory, and yet, at Mass we do see God, disguised as bread in the Blessed Host.

The Souls in Purgatory must therefore yearn for what the Saints in Heaven possess and what we here on Earth possess also, when we receive Holy Communion, for unlike those in Purgatory, when we receive Holy Communion, we are united in our Souls to God. God and us become one.  Much as it may seem as if our lot, on Earth, is a vale of tears, our position is more enviable than that of the Souls in Purgatory, since at Communion, we possess in our souls what those souls do not - Jesus Christ Himself, His Body, Blood, Soul, Humanity and Divinity.

How much those Souls in Purgatory must lament that they did not perhaps always appreciate that this was so. How likely that we shall be guilty of the same lack of love for Our Lord! How much we should be aware that it is His Body and His Blood!

How much then, we who have time that we often squander, should have compassion on the Dead and remember them in our prayers as often as we can, for we have been promised by Holy Church that our prayers can bring them not just relief, but the eternal vision of the Triune God. We, too, can gain indulgences from Holy Church, as Rorate Caeli reminds us today, by visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead in the month of November. If we are wise, then we shall surely do so. What a great mystery it is that we poor and feeble creatures can bring relief to the Souls in Purgatory by our prayers. If we knew what Purgatory was like, then surely we would endure much for them and pray very regularly indeed for them.

Lent is a good time to remember those in Purgatory

Lenten prayers may release a soul to Heaven

O gentlest Heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on the soul of your departed servant (name). Be not severe in your judgement, but let some drops of Your Precious Blood fall upon him/her, and send, O merciful Saviour, Your angels to conduct him/her to a place of refreshment, light and peace. Amen.

Thanks for this prayer to Salve Regina