Less We Forget , especially at Christmas time
Novena for the Poor Souls in Purgatoryhttp://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Novena%20for%20the%20Relief%20of%20the%20Poor%20Souls%20in%20Purgatory.html THE SEVENTH DAY: CRUELTY OF THOSE
WHO ABANDON THE "POOR SOULS" PREPARATORY PRAYER:
Act of Faith: My God, I believe in You, because You are Truth itself; I firmly believe the truths revealed to the Church.
Act of Hope: My God, I hope in You, because You are infinitely good.
Act of Charity: My God, I love You with all my heart, and above all things, because You are infinitely perfect; and I love my neighbor as myself, for the love of You.
MEDITATION: Our Lord reproved the cruelty of the rich man, who refused even the crumbs of his table to poor Lazarus, while he himself was feasting sumptuously every day. Are they not imitating the wicked rich, who stand unmoved, seeing the sufferings of the "Poor Souls?" Those unfortunates, who appeal to our Compassion, are not strangers. Among them, there are our parents, our benefactors, our friends. Not long ago, they were living among us in the same house. We bear their names, we inherited their lands; and we forgot them! We abandon them! They may say with Job: "My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me have forgotten me. They that dwell in my house, and my maid-servants, have counted me as a stranger, and I have been like an alien in their eyes." (Job 19:15.) To forget the dead is a crime. Solemn promises were made at the death-bed. A child has said to his father and to his mother dying: I will not forget you! But where is the sign of this remembrance? Does it pray for them? Perhaps a vague, shadowy remembrance of the departed comes to its mind, but where is the profit to the "Poor Souls?" Useless and vain compassion! Empty love! Where are the works, alms, and holy Masses to assist, to relieve, to deliver the "Poor Souls?" Those who forget them will also be abandoned! "With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Saint Matthew 7:22.)
PRACTICE: After the Evening Angelus say: Our Father and Hail Mary, once; or the De Profundis (Out of the Depths - for the words see the Introduction), as a daily tribute to the "Poor Souls."
RESOLUTION: I will endeavor to propagate devotion to the "Poor Souls."
EXAMPLE: A poor servant-girl had the pious custom of having a Mass said every month for the Souls in Purgatory, and she prayed especially for the Soul that was nearest to Heaven. After a long, protracted illness, she was leaving the hospital and setting out in search of a position. On her way she passed a church and, remembering that her monthly Mass had not been said, she entered the sacristy, requesting the priest to say this Mass. When she left the church, a young man came up to her. He was tall and pale, and of a noble demeanor. "My good girl," he said, "I think you are looking for a position." "Yes," said the girl, somewhat surprised. "Well," said the young man, "if you go to Mrs. N. (here he named the street and number), I think you will find a good place;" and suddenly he disappeared among the crowd of passersby. The girl went, found the house, was introduced, and presented her petition. "But," said the lady of the house, "who could have sent you here? Nobody knows that I need a servant." Suddenly the girl, looking at the wall, noticed a portrait. "Look here, madam," said she, pointing to the picture, "that is the exact likeness of the man who told me to come here." At these words, the old lady turned pale. "Ah!" said she, "that is the portrait of my son, who died two years ago. You shall henceforward remain with me, not as a servant-girl, but as my daughter, and we will always pray together for the "Poor Souls" in Purgatory."
DE PROFUNDIS. Out of the Depths.
(Psalm 129 in the Vulgate; Psalm 130 in the Hebrew.) "Out of the Depths".
Out of the depths, I have cried to You, O Lord: Lord hear my voice. Let Your ears be attentive, to the voice of my supplication. If You, O Lord, will mark iniquities; Lord, who shall stand it? For with You there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of Your law, I have waited for You, O Lord.
My soul has relied on His word: my soul has 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.
V. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.
V. From the gate of hell.
R. Deliver their souls, O Lord.
V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto You.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your Spirit.
Let us pray:
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, we beseech You to grant to the souls of Your servants, men and women, the remission of their sins, so that by our prayers they may obtain pardon for which they long, O Lord, who lives and reigns, world without end. Amen.
May they rest in peace. Amen.
Let us pray: May our prayers be profitable, O Lord, to the Souls of Your servants, that being absolved from their sins, they may have a share in the fruits of redemption. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
V. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.
V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.
Topic: Less we Forget at Christmas Time (Read 547 times)