Indulgences for the Holy Souls

Published on Oct 31, 2012

+J.M.J.+ http://sanjuan.webhop.org

INDULGENCES FOR THE HOLY SOULS

As we begin the month of November, this is a privileged time to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Holy Mother Church encourages us to gain plenary indulgences for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. From Nov.1st through Nov.8th, if we visit a cemetery in a spirit of piety and devotion, and pray, even just mentally, for the dead, we may gain a plenary indulgence for one holy soul on each day of the Octave (on the usual conditions). This special indulgence is only applicable to the dead. We can pray any of the Raccolta prayers #582-600 to accomplish this end, and Fr. Michael Rodríguez always encouraged everyone to meditate upon the Dies irae sequence at this time of the year (Raccolta #587). If you have a Traditional Missal, you can also pray a number of the prayers from the Nov. 2nd Mass or Requiem Mass. In the Catholic Bible, it is ideal to pray Psalm 129 De Profundis.

Also, on November 2 we can gain a plenary indulgence for the Holy Souls by visiting a Church and piously praying for the dead,(One Our Father and Creed suffice), and fulfilling all the usual conditions for a plenary indulgence.

The usual conditions for a plenary indulgence are:
(1) Pray for the Pope (usually one Our Father one Hail Mary)
(2) Worthily receive Holy Communion the day of the indulgence
(3) Make a sacramental Confession within a week (before or after)
(4) Be free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin. A sincere and devout act of the will to this end suffices.
* If we fail in the usual conditions, there is still merit in our good pious act, but usually only amounts to a partial indulgence.

It should be noted that according to Traditional Church Discipline and Practice, fasting and partial abstinence are OBLIGATORY on the Vigil of Pentecost and ALL SAINTS DAY. To read more about what the Catholic Church traditionally teaches on Fasting and Abstinence, visit this website:http://www.fisheaters.com/fasting.html

NOVEMBER - DEVOTION TO THE HOLY SOULS
From Fr. Schouppe's book entitled Purgatory:
"There is in Purgatory, as in Hell, a double pain - the pain of loss and the pain of sense. The pain of loss consists in being deprived from a time of the sight of God... It is a moral thirst which torments our soul. The pain of sense, of sensible suffering, is the same as that which we experience in our flesh." (p.32)
"Speaking in general, the Doctors [of the Church] agree in saying that the pains are most excruciating. The same fire, says St. Gregory, torments the damned and purifies the elect. 'Almost all theologians', says St. Robert Bellarmine, 'teach that the reprobate and the souls in Purgatory suffer the action of the same fire.' It must be held as certain, writes the same Bellarmine, that there is no proportion between the sufferings of this life and those of Purgatory. St. Augustine declares precisely the same... They will be saved no doubt, after the trial of fire, but that trial will be terrible, that torment will be more intolerable than all the most excruciating sufferings in this world. Behold what St. Augustine says, and what St. Gregory, Venerable Bede, St. Anselm, and Bernard have said after him. St. Thomas Aquinas goes even further; he maintains that the least pain of Purgatory surpasses all the sufferings of this life, whatsoever they may be." (p.33-4)
Let us therefore offer fervent prayers for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

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Requiem Aeternam

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.

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

“ . . .and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”

~ St. Paul  (2 Timothy 4:6-7)

Holy Souls

Please always remember to pray for the holy souls in purgatory. 

The Prayer of St. Gertrude is one of the most famous of the prayers for the souls in purgatory:

"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen." 

St. Gertrude the Great was a Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in the 13th century. According to tradition, our Lord promised her that 1000 souls would be released from purgatory and allowed into God’s Presence each time this prayer is said devoutly:

There is great joy as well as pain for the souls in purgatory. Joy for they know for certain they are bound for heaven, but pain because they are not there yet, and must undergo purification. Purgatory has been described as a “cleansing fire” that burns away the sins on our souls. St. Paul wrote those of being saved “yet so as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15), and whether or not the soul endures a literal fire, its purification does involve suffering.

The most famous scriptural reference concerning these prayers comes from the Old Testament where it is called “a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins” (2 Macabees 12:46). If everyone who dies goes immediately to Heaven or to Hell, then this verse would be nonsense. Those who are in Heaven have no need of prayer, "that they may be loosed from sins"; those who are in Hell are unable to benefit from such prayers, because there is no escape from Hell, since damnation is eternal. Thus, there must be a third place or state, in which some of the dead are currently in the process of being "loosed from sins." 

On a side note, Martin Luther argued that 1 and 2 Maccabees did not belong in the canon of the Old Testament, even though they had been accepted by the universal Church from the time that the canon was settled by Catholic popes and Catholic bishops in the 4th century. (Yes it was the authority of the Catholic Church who decided what books belonged in the Bible.)

Since Martin Luther threw both books of Maccabees out of his Protestant Bible during the sixteenth century Reformation, most Protestants today don’t recognize Maccabees as scripture. But remember, he also threw out the book of Revelation and James, thought they were added back in by his followers after his death. (By what authority you might ask did he have to do this, and what would prevent anyone from removing books from the Bible today?)

In the First Book of Samuel 31:13, the survivors fasted for the dead, which makes no sense if the deceased were not in a place where that penance (fasting) could do some good for them. In Matthew 12:31, Jesus told the parable about blaspheming the Holy Spirit (not believing that the Holy Spirit can save you, no matter what – the sin of despair), and said that anyone who does blaspheme the Holy Spirit "will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come" (Matthew12:32). Since sins aren't forgiven in Hell, and those in Heaven are already forgiven for their sins, then this one statement indicates another place after death where sins can indeed be forgiven.

Many of the Fathers of the Church, such as St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom, considered prayers for souls in purgatory to be essential.

Once you die you are either saved or not saved. If you have suffered greatly in this life, or during your death, that pain and suffering alleviates your purgatory time, if it was done for Christ, and not wasted in anger at God. All purgatory does is to detach you from your love of sin, and to pay your debt to God for all of the sins that you have committed while alive on earth. This is directly analogous to someone who robs a bank and then asks for forgiveness. While the bank president will probably forgive him, the thief still has to give back the money and pay his debt to society through prison time. Remember - nothing unclean or defiled shall enter Heaven (Revelation 21:27).

The Catholic Church has always taught that Purgatory does exist. It is not a second chance to be saved, but rather, a place of cleansing for the already saved before entering into heaven. Once you die you are either saved or not saved. People who die with unexpiated sins or the attachment to sin on their souls go there, and are cleansed in the purifying fire of Purgatory for a period of time. Once they are purified, they go to heaven and enjoy the Beatific Vision forever. We can help those in Purgatory by praying for them, saying rosaries for them, offering up our sufferings here on earth for them, and most powerfully of all, having Holy Masses said for them.

Some will try to tell you that the word “Purgatory” is not mentioned in the Bible. This is true, and yet it does not disprove the existence of purgatory or the fact that belief in it has always been part of Church teaching. The words Trinity and Incarnation are not in Scripture either, yet those doctrines are obviously taught in the Bible.

Scripture clearly teaches that purgatory exists. Prayers for the dead and the doctrine of purgatory have been part of the Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ, for over 2000 years. It was not the Catholic Church that added the doctrine of purgatory. Rather, any change in the original teaching has taken place in the Protestant churches, which rejected a doctrine that had always been believed by Jews and Christians. 

So please always remember to pray for the holy souls in purgatory every day. What a beautiful gift for these very special souls!

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The Holy Souls in Purgatory

"Pray! Pray very much! Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High." "Make everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended..." These were the words at the Angel's second appearance to the three children of Fatima.

2 MACCABEES, 12:45-46:
"And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins."

One of my dearest personal devotions concerns the "Poor Souls", the souls who died in God's grace but await their entrance into Heaven because of the spiritual effects ofsin they have yet to atone for. The Poor Souls languish and are purified in the Fire of Divine Love in a state known as "Purgatory". As these souls can no longer help themselves through penance, prayer, and good works the Church encourages us to spiritually assist them by offering prayers and sacrifices on their behalf to lessen their time of purification.

It is said that the Poor Souls are very aware of their spiritual benefactors and gratefully intercede for those who assist with their release from Purgatory. They can also be powerful advocates at the hour of death, as there have been many reports of how the Poor Souls who have already reached Heaven, have appeared to their benefactors in the final moments of life both to comfort them in death then escort them into Paradise.

Here are just a few ways that a person can assist the Holy Souls:

1. Attend Mass on their behalf and/or have Masses offered for their relief/release.
2. Pray for them using traditional Prayers for the Dead (see below) or the Holy Rosary.
3. Perform charitable works on their behalf (e.g. visit a sick person, give alms, etc.)
4. Offer sacrifices, big or small, for them (fasting is especially powerful).
5. Last, but certainly not the least, encourage others to pray for them.

+ PRAYERS FOR THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY + 

* TRADITIONAL PRAYER FOR THE DECEASED:
Grant unto them, O Lord, eternal rest and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

* ST. GERTRUDE'S PRAYER for the HOLY SOULS (as revealed to her by Our Lord):
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most precious blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, in union with all the Masses being said throughout the world today for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home, and within my family. Amen.

Stations of the Cross offered for the Holy Souls in Purgatory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYyt843oTRY

Why Do Catholics Pray To Saints?

Why do Catholics ask the saint to intercede for them? Isn’t this just a false doctrine created by man? Why would we ask a “dead” person to pray for us, instead of just asking God directly? Jesus is the only one who saves us, so why do Catholics do this?

Many non-Catholic Christians believe that it is wrong to pray to the saints, claiming that our prayers should be directed to God alone. True worship (as opposed to veneration or honor) does indeed belong to God alone, and we should never worship man or any other creature as we worship God. But while worship may take the form of prayer, as in the Mass and other liturgies of the Church, not all prayer is worship. When we pray to the saints, we’re simply asking them to help us, by praying to God on our behalf, or thanking them for having already done so.

By the year 100 A.D., Christians were honoring other Christians who had died, and asking for their intercession. Many people think that honoring saints was something the Church set up later, but it was part of Christianity from the very beginning. The first saints were martyrs, people who had given up their lives for the Faith in the persecution of Christians.

Look at the picture of your loved ones in your wallet, or around your home or office. Why do you keep these particular pictures? You might answer that you carry those pictures to remind you of people you love, to help you feel that they're close to you when you're not together, or to share with people you meet. But you probably didn't say you worshiped them. These are some of the same reasons we have statues and pictures of saints. Seeing a statue of Saint Therese of Lisieux who lost her mother when she was a child might make us feel less alone when we are grieving.

Have you ever asked anyone to pray for you when you were having a hard time? Why did you choose to ask that person? You may have chosen someone you could trust, or someone who understood your problem, or someone who was close to God. Those are all reasons we ask saints to pray for us.

Scripture is very clear that the "prayer of a righteous man availeth much". God is pleased when we turn to one another and join together in our prayers. We are members of the same body of Christ (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:25-27) and of one another (Eph. 4:25), and the Church refers to this mystery as the "communion of saints".

Those in heaven are alive, closest to God, and more aware of our needs than when they were on earth. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:1-2).

Since saints led holy lives and are close to God in heaven, we feel that their prayers are particularly effective. Can they hear us? Absolutely! The saints are very much alive in Heaven according to Jesus: "And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” -Matthew 22:31-32. In fact, they are more alive in Heaven than they were here on earth.

Based on the overwhelming evidence from Scripture, the Tradition of the Church as well as the fact that it is theologically acceptable, we can be assured that the Saints in heaven can hear our prayers and are praying for us.

Wishing you all a very happy All Saint's Day!

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All Hollows Day - Why do we honor all the saints today?

The earliest certain observance of a feast in honor of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of "all the martyrs." In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagonloads of bones and reinterred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended "that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honored in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons" (On the Calculation of Time).

But the rededication of the Pantheon, like the earlier commemoration of all the martyrs, occurred in May. Many Eastern Churches still honor all the saints in the spring, either during the Easter season or immediately after Pentecost.

How the Western Church came to celebrate this feast, now recognized as a solemnity, in November is a puzzle to historians. The Anglo-Saxon theologian Alcuin observed the feast on November 1 in 800, as did his friend Arno, Bishop of Salzburg. Rome finally adopted that date in the ninth century.

Did you know this about Halloween?

What is the relation of Halloween to All Saints/All Souls? Which came first?

The practice of a festival day to honor the whole communion of Saints, rather than that just a single saint, seems to happen for the first time in the Catholic Church with the consecration of the Pantheon in Rome as a public place for the Church’s worship. This happened in the year 609 (or 610) on May 13th. The Pantheon had been originally dedicated for the use of Roman religion as a place where all the gods would be honored. Boniface displaced the images of the gods from their shrines and gave the building over to the Saints of the Church, particularly the Martyrs. This was a kind of “in your face” to pagan culture. Boniface was saying that the old gods had been defeated and were defeated by the faith of the Church’s Martyrs.

Also, May 13th was a day associated in Roman religion with what was called the festival of the Lemurs or ancestral spirits. It is likely that Boniface’s choice of this day to claim the Pantheon for Christian worship was intentional and it was a way of saying that the Martyrs are the great ancestors of all the baptized and it is their memory and witness that is rightly honored on the day that Romans recalled their ancestors.

How we get from May 13th to November 1st is interesting. The festival of All Saints seems to emerge from the dedication of another Roman church that was consecrated by Pope Gregory III. The church is named St. Peter and all the Saints. It was a subsequent pope, Gregory IV, who extended the annual festival that commemorates this church dedication to the whole Church as All Saints Day. The extension of festivals specific to the Church of Rome is an part and parcel of how the Catholic Faith becomes the underlying cultural matrix from which a new kind of European civilization would emerge.

All Souls Day (celebrated November 2nd) seems to emerge with the growth and spread of monastic communities and the practice of commemorating deceased members of monasteries. This practice gained broad cultural traction and in time was extended to the whole Church.


Halloween is the precursor to All Saints Day and as such is kind of like what December 24th is to Christmas Day. Remember, the calendar of the Church is filled with festival days, all of which were once associated with great, public celebrations. A holy day of obligation has not always meant spending 45 minutes in church for Mass and then going back to work. Holy Days were times for a party and if you look at the Church’s calendar, past and present, with this ethos in mind you will discover that the reasons for a party happened with great frequency..