Author Topic: November the month for the Poor Souls in Purgatory (Read 2335 times)

Binechi · « **Reply #30 on:** November 28, 2015, 01:22:26 PM »

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SECOND DAY: PAINS OF PURGATORY

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: Let us go with our Guardian Angel to Purgatory, to that place where the Divine Justice purifies Souls before they are admitted into Heaven.

There we will meet again our parents and our friends. Had this devotion no other advantage than that of reminding us of our departed ones, we should be grateful to God for such a consolation.

Oh, my father! Oh, my mother! Oh, brothers! Oh, sisters! Oh, friends! I had forgotten you! What do you suffer, beloved Souls? What shall I do to deliver you?

Our pains, they reply, are beyond description. When separated from our body, we saw the face of God, our Supreme Good, the Infinite Perfection. Then would we rush into His bosom, but we were driven back by His Justice and our awareness of our unworthiness! We were banished! Oh, no! On earth below, you will never understand our pain, our grief, because we are separated from God! Your troubles, your sorrows, are the mere shadow of our affliction. But we suffer through our fault. If we would return to our former place on earth, we would be glad to accept the hardest mortification in exchange for Purgatory. "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me!" (Job 19:21.) Appease the Divine Justice with your good works, pay our debts, hasten the day when we shall enter into Heaven, and then we will return our gratitude forever.

PRACTICE: Encourage all the works established for the relief of the Souls in Purgatory.

RESOLUTION: At night, in the examination of conscience, I will question myself: What have you done today for the relief of Poor Souls?

Binechi · « **Reply #31 on:** November 29, 2015, 12:13:16 PM »

OBLIGATION OF ASSISTING
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: The Souls in Purgatory cannot help themselves; they are unable to shorten their captivity. This reason alone should urge us to come to their assistance.

After death there is no more place for mercy, the time for justice commences. The soul is no longer free to choose between good and evil, therefore she cannot obtain any merit and her sufferings are accounted only as a payment for her debts. Alas! To be condemned to such sufferings, to be afflicted perhaps during centuries! How bad it is for those "Poor Souls!"

Could we see an unfortunate man, lying on the road, wounded, bleeding and would we pass and abandon him! We hold the key of a prison, crowded with prisoners; they crave for liberty and shall we leave them in their pitiable situation! So we have received from the mercy of God the privilege of liberating the Souls detained in purgatory. We may say that we are the Providence of the dead; we, and we alone, may open the gates of Heaven to the Souls who are longing for their deliverance. It is the teaching of the Church, that the prayer of the living can be applied to the Souls in Purgatory. As your prayers ascend to Heaven, graces come down as a refreshing shower, bringing to the Souls forgiveness, liberty, and glory. The supplications of Mary and Martha obtained the resurrection of Lazarus. Let us address our prayers to the heart of Jesus, and we will deliver from their pains our dear departed ones. Shall we not be guilty if we do not employ our credit in favor of the unfortunate prisoners in Purgatory?

PRACTICE: Saint John Chrysostom recommended to every Christian family that they have a box at some convenient place in the house and that they put into it pennies, which will be used to have Masses said for the "Poor Souls."

RESOLUTION: Pray today for the most abandoned Souls.

EXAMPLE: At the Benedictine monasteries, when one of the monks died, his ordinary meals are distributed among the poor during thirty days. In the year 830, when a terrible plague was raging, many religious died. The abbot Blessed Rabanus Maurus gave the order to distribute the alms, according to the ancient usage, but the procurator did not obey. One night the stingy monk, having been delayed by his work, to shorten his way to his cell, passed through the Chapter room. There he was surrounded by all the monks, recently dead, who whipped him, leaving him half dead on the floor. Early the next morning he was found by the religious, who were going to the chapel. He related the event, made his confession, received the last rites and died two days afterwards.

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: We humbly beseech You, O Lord, to release the Souls of Your Servants, in order that they may obtain the glory of the resurrection and that they may be joined to the saints and elect in Heaven. 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