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

  • Seventeenth Day

    Second Reason: The Love of Our Lord

    – How He loves the souls in Purgatory –

    Consider that Jesus has the same infinite love for the souls in Purgatory as He has for all the souls for whom He has shed His Blood. Everyone can say, He loves me and has died for me. If there are degrees to infinity, He must love them more than us because, as they are confirmed in grace, they can no longer sin. They will no longer offend Him and they can praise and adore Him more tenderly than we can. Let there be no doubt, the eyes and the heart of merciful Jesus are constantly fixed on those martyrs, our deceased brethren. Far from forgetting them, from leaving them amidst their suffering, we might say that Jesus suffers along with them. He suffers as Redeemer for those souls, which He bought by His Sacrifice, as Father, as spouse and as Head of the mystical Body. Their suffering reminds him of his own Suffering, their love entreats His Love. If He could die again, He would in order to pay their debts and open the gates of Heaven to them; and to hold back the power of His Love. He must give way to His Wisdom and to all the merciful Justice of a God who abhors the slightest stain. Let us ask for a heart like that of Jesus. Let us love our brethren of the suffering Church as He does.

    Let us love them tenderly for they are holy and their torment is so severe. Let us love them as ourselves, for the love of God; thus we will relieve them of a large part of their suffering and will help in their liberation.

    – Oh how Our Lord would liek for us to comfort the souls in Purgatory –

    Jesus cannot deliver the souls from Purgatory; Divine Justice prevents Him from doing so, but from the tabernacle, where love keeps him captive, He encourages the faithful to pray for them and to bring torrents of refreshing peace and consolation to their place of atonement. One day, He told St. Gertrude, Every time you deliver a prisoner, it is as if you were delivering Me from captivity and I will reward you such as you deserve. On the altar where He offers Himself, He doesn’t want his Sacrifice to be offered a single time without having the priest and his assistants remembering the suffering Church. He has combined in one precious treasure all His merits, all those of His Holy Mother and those of all the saints. He asks all the faithful to plunge their hands into that treasure chest of love and to take as much as hands can hold and offer atonement for the debts of those suffering souls. From the Tabernacle, He cries out! Give me my children; deliver them with prayer, by holy Masses and by indulgences. Hasten the moment when I will crown them in glory and pour my eternal blessing upon them.

    To stimulate our charity, He continuously repeats what He told his disciples when speaking to them about the poor, Everything you do for the least of my children, you do unto Me. He will reward us one day, as though He had been delivered.

    Dear friends, what a powerful reason for our burning with zeal for such a great and easily accomplished mission. What a joy it is to be able to so easily satisfy the burning desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

    Our Divine Saviour one day told blessed Marie Lataste, There is nothing you can do which is more agreeable to God than to deliver souls from Purgatory.

    Among those souls, those of priests are not remembered often enough by the faithful. Yet how great and numerous are the blessings which we owe to priests! From crib to grave, priests are the distributors of so many graces, consolations, support and advice. Our Lord one day said to Marie Lataste:

    My daughter, pray constantly, pray for my priests for you do not pray for them enough; the faithful forget that it is their duty to pray for priests who are their fathers in regard to their salvation. The greater a person’s dignity, the greater is his responsibilty and more severe will be his judgement. That is why so many priests must spend time in Purgatory. Pray for their liberation, so that when they enter Paradise, they will become our powerful intercessor with God!

    – Example –

    In a letter written to a woman of the world, Father Lacordaire wrote about a Polish peasant who had died and was placed in the flames of atonement by Divine Justice. His pious wife prayed for his soul constantly. Believing her prayers to be insufficient, she wanted to touch the Heart of Jesus by having a Mass celebrated in His honour for the liberation of the soul that she was mourning. Being quite poor, she didn’t have the necessary sum for that Mass to be celebrated. She approached a rich, atheistic philosopher she knew and humbly presented him with her dilemma. The latter, allowing his heart to be moved, gave her what she asked for. The widow immediately had a Mass celebrated in the Sacred Heart Chapel and participated with great fervour. A few days later, God allowed the deceased peasant to appear before the rich benefactor.

    I thank you, he said, for the offering you made for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That offering has delivered my soul from Purgatory where it was held prisoner. Now, in return for your charity, I come on behalf of the Lord to warn you of your approaching death and your need to reconcile with God.

    That rich man converted and died with the deepest love and affection for the Heart of Jesus!

    Let Us Pray

    Oh Jesus, full of mercy and goodness, You love humanity so deeply, You justify it by faith and You glorify it by grace. I beg You through the merits of the Sacred Wound opened on your side by the soldier’s lance, deliver the deceased from the fire in Purgatory and make them worthy of the glory of your saints. Be their Conciliator, Oh Jesus! Call your children and our brethren to Your Eternal kingdom. May they rest in peace!

    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 for.

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.