Introductory Prayer

Let us pray.

Lord, hear the prayers we will offer up to you every day of this month for the consolation of our deceased brothers and sisters and grant them a place of refreshing light and peace! Hear also the prayers which those souls will offer up to you for our intention that we might ultimately obtain, through their intercession, the graces for which we pray.

Daily Readings and Meditations

  • Thirtieth Day

    Last will of the deceased

    – We must execute it faithfully –

    A dying person’s last will is sacred! We must respect it!

    The Council of Trent recommended that bishops closely scrutinise the execution of the last will made by the faithful departed.

    Other Councils went so far as to refuse communion to anyone who appropriated to himself the gifts of the dying or who refused to abide by their last wishes.

    Strict laws also help us to understand how guilty we become when we deprive the deceased of their merits which they tried to gain for themselves after their death. Woe to those who would appropriate for themselves the merits of the souls in Purgatory! They deprive them of the relief they would have received and in a way, they become their torturers and thus become responsible for their torments.

    Let it be known that God will not absolve them so easily. The day will come when God will ask them to account for those injustices.

    They will probably be punished, even in this world, by temporal chastisements and who knows how long they will have to endure the rigours of Purgatory?

    Christian souls ponder these words! Did your parents, friends and benefactors not give you pious recommendations on their death beds?

    Did they not ask you openly, or in a will, for prayers and Masses?

    Did they not beg you through tearfilled eyes to at least remember them in your prayers?

    Have you justified the trust they placed in you?

    Have you fully and conscientiously satisfied all the obligations they had left you?

    If you have not done so, commit yourself to acquit that sacred debt of Justice. 

    – We must execute it promptly –

    Not only must we faithfully accomplish the supreme wishes of the dead but we must also do it as soon as possible so as not to deprive those souls of the relief they will obtain through the Masses we offer or through our charitable deeds. We must also remember to ask them to pray for their benefactors. 

    Every day we delay is a fault for which we are totally responsible.

     If we could only understand how terrible atonement is in Purgatory! Instead of putting off the offerings, which would diminish their torment, we would hasten to bring relief to those souls who are so worthy of our compassion, some of whom were so dear to us.

    Those who neglect fulfilling the sacred responsiblities they contracted with their dying loved ones will be severely judged!

    Learn from this. Carefully choose those in whom you will entrust your last will. Place the sums you wish to donate to charitable works in hands worthy of trust, along with the Masses offered for your deliverance. It is the only way you can be assured of having your last will accomplished, unless you belong to a very Christian family which in faith has conserved the respect for the memory of the deceased.

    – Example –

    The following describes the punishment awaiting those who do not execute the last will of the dying. There is a report, in the Charlemagne’s Gestures, of a valiant sea captain who was approaching retirement. He sent for a relative whom he had often helped and told him, I have spent over sixty years in the service of king and country, never asking for anything else than my wages. I own nothing but my trusted horse which I would like you to sell after my death and distribute the sum you obtain among the poor for my soul’s relief. The relative promised to do exactly as he had asked.

    When the captain died, the relative, seduced by the horse’s beauty and training, kept it to himself and neglected to give the required alms to the poor. Six months had gone by when the soul of the deceased captain appeared to the ungrateful relative. You wretched man, said the soul, you have not kept your promise. You are the cause of the terrible torments I have to endure because you have not given the alms I had requested. Know this! Your conduct will be punished by a prompt death and a particular chastisement has been set aside for you: you will carry the sentence of your own faults to which will be added those, which I still have to suffer in order to satisfy Divine Justice.

    The guilty relative was struck by the threat and, wanting to clear his conscience, he hastened to execute the captain’s last will. He did everything asked in order to avoid the consequence of his actions. He could not, however, avoid his death, which had been prophesied. Injustice and ingratitude towards the dead are despised by God and provoke His Holy Anger in this world and the next.

    Let us hasten to repair any injustices we may have committed towards the deceased.

    Let Us Pray

    Oh my God, do not allow me to neglect my duties towards the dead. Their rights are sacred, their last will is equally sacred to me. I will fully satisfy all the obligations which they have left me and, if possible, I will accomplish those, which I might have neglected to this day. I will pray faithfully for their deliverance. Merciful Jesus, Mary Queen of Purgatory, be their Conciliators. May they rest in the peace of Heaven!

Prayers

Decade of the Rosary for the Deceased

– The Our Father

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

– x10 Hail Marys

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

– Glory Be

Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Litany for the Faithful Departed

Lord have mercy.
Jesus Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
Jesus Christ, hear us.
Father in Heaven, God Almighty,
have mercy on the faithful departed.
Son of God, Redeemer of the world, Almighty,
have mercy on the faithful departed.
Holy Spirit, Bread of life, Almighty God,
have mercy on the faithful departed.
Holy Trinity, the One True God,
have mercy on the faithful departed.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for the faithful departed.
St. Michael the Archangel,
pray for the faithful departed.
My Holy Angel and Angels of the faithful departed,
pray for the faithful departed.
Community of Blessed Spirits,
pray for the faithful departed.
St. Joseph and St. John the Baptist,
pray for the faithful departed.
Holy Patriarchs and Prophets,
pray for the faithful departed.
Holy Apostles and Evangelists,
pray for the faithful departed.
St. Stephen and St. Lawrence,
pray for the faithful departed.
Holy Martyrs,
pray for the faithful departed.
St. Gregory and St. Augustine,
pray for the faithful departed.
Holy Doctors, Popes, and Confessors,
pray for the faithful departed.
St. Ann and St. Mary Magdalene,
pray for the faithful departed.
St. Catherine, St. Ursula, and her companions,
pray for the faithful departed.
Holy Virgins and Widows,
pray for the faithful departed.
Holy Saints of God,
pray for the faithful departed.
Be their Conciliator
Lord, and forgive them.
Be their Conciliator
Lord, and save us.
By your holy and tender Name Lord,
have mercy on the souls of the faithful departed.
By Your great Mercy Lord,
have mercy on the souls of the faithful departed.
By Your bitter Passion and Your Sacred Wounds Lord,
have mercy on the souls of the faithful departed.
By Your Precious Blood and by Your Death Lord,
have mercy on the souls of the faithful departed.
We are poor sinners Lord,
hear our prayer.
Have mercy on all the faithful departed Lord,
hear our prayer.
Remit the sentence incurred by their sins Lord,
hear our prayer.
Take them to Your peace and eternal rest Lord,
hear our prayer.
Grant them Your paternal inheritance Lord,
hear our prayer.
Invite them to come and contemplate Your Divine Beauty Lord,
hear our prayer.
Fill them with Your unlimited bounty Lord,
hear our prayer.
Fulfill their total desire for salvation Lord,
hear our prayer.
Give eternal rest, especially to the souls of our relatives, friends and benefactors Lord,
hear our prayer.
Have mercy on the soul for whom no one prays Lord,
hear our prayer.
May the offering of the Holy Mass and Holy Communion be beneficial to them Lord,
hear our prayer.
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,
forgive them.
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, Sweet Jesus, 
hear them.
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, 
grant them eternal rest.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Salve Regina

Hail holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, hail our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry poor banished children of Eve. To thee we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate thine eyes of mercy towards us, and, after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

The Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory

Lord Jesus, have mercy on the souls detained in Purgatory. It was for their salvation that you took on our human nature and suffered a most painful death. Have mercy on their burning desire to see you, have mercy on their tears of repentance. Through the merits of your Passion remit the sentence they incurred by their sins. Dear, loving Jesus, may your Blood descend on those dear souls! May it shorten their time of atonement and may they soon be called to eternal happiness in your presence! Amen.

De Profundis

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord hear my voice! O Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading. If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord who would survive? But with you is found forgiveness: For this I revere you. My soul is waiting for the Lord more than a watchman for daybreak. Let the watchman count on daybreak and Israel on the Lord. Israel indeed will he redeem from all its iniquity. Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.