Let it never be said that the expression, “Out of sight, out of mind” describes our attitude toward the faithful departed.
November is the special backdrop against which the church exhorts us to pray and sacrifice for the poor souls in purgatory. Yet, we realize that our serious duty to assist them as they make their way to heaven obliges us daily.
The doctrine of purgatory is very consoling, not depressing as some critics have long maintained. Imagine: ours is a loving God who permits his friends who are not prepared for paradise to be cleansed after death in order to enter eventually into the unending kingdom of the Lord.
The Almighty was not compelled to make this golden opportunity available. But he did because, as each of us attests in the Act of Contrition, God is “all good and deserving of all my love.”
The holy souls in purgatory, as many of us learned as children, benefit tremendously from our prayers, acts of charity, almsgiving, and penance, and particularly from the celebration of Mass that we arrange on their behalf. These men and women, boys and girls died as sincere friends of God. Yet, they require further purification before being admitted into heaven. They are not quite ready to enter the new Jerusalem.
These souls are our brothers and sisters. They have the right to request our compassion. And we have the sacred responsibility to extend it to them. Only God knows the great work we perform when we place the faithful departed on our list for daily prayer and mortification.
A valuable practice is to memorize a prayer or two that we can pray often for the faithful departed. There is the familiar one that St. John Paul II added after he prayed the Angelus; many also recite it at the conclusion of grace after meals.
V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R. And let Perpetual Light shine upon them.
V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.
V. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
R. Amen.
Another excellent way to aid the poor souls — and, in fact, those on earth who are steeped in sin — is by reciting the prayer attributed to St. Gertrude the Great, Virgin (1256-circa 1302):
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.
The faithful departed who now are the recipients of our kindness will return the favor when we find ourselves needy.
May our fellow followers of Christ who suffer in purgatory soon enter into heaven through the overwhelming mercy of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the trustworthy intercession of Mary Most Amiable and St. Joseph, that “just man.”
The good and merciful Lord will grant to the holy souls in purgatory everlasting life in paradise and unparalleled peace to their grieving families on earth.
Remembering our beloved deceased who are in purgatory is not only helpful to them but also comforting to us. Every time we pray for them, we assist them on their pilgrimage to heaven, and we recognize the indescribable compassion of the Almighty bestowed upon them through the prayers and merits of Mary, the Mother of the Poor Souls.
Msgr. Mangan is on the faculty of Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg.
Corpus Christi