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

  • Seventh Day

    Torments of Purgatory: The Pain of Remorse

    – The evil we needed to avoid –

    The torments, of which we just spoke, are not the only ones which torture the souls kept captive in this place of atonement. They still feel sadness, bitter regret, desolation and fierce reproaches from their guilty conscience, a thousand times more severe for them than the pain of the flames which makes them suffer without being consumed. In Hell, says the Gospel, the worm that gnaws at the condemned, never dies. In Purgatory, it will surely die one day; but as long as it lives, it bites with cruelty and viciously tears its unfortunate victims. Oh, how terrible is that struggle between a soul and its guilt! From the depths of its suffering, the captive soul looks back sorrowfully on its existence here on earth. In the glow of the flame that tortures it, it clearly sees all the evil it has committed and which it could have avoided with the grace of God, evil which it had never confessed. It discovers millions of sins it has never perceived or which it had considered trivial, having seen no need for an examination of conscience. Forced to recognise its guilt, whereas it would only have had to make an effort to be more loving and just, that poor soul is deeply afflicted and cries out in the delirium of its torture, My God, you are just and your judgement is equitable. I am the only author of my suffering. Oh if I could only start my life on earth over again, Lord how I would serve you and how carefully I would preserve my soul from Purgatory. Vain and sterile regrets! Unfortunately, it is too late!

    Let us learn, oh faithful souls. Let us free ourselves from evil. Let us do penance here on earth in order to avoid that fierce torment, that gnawing worm in Purgatory. My God! Strip, burn, crush us in this world and help us avoid that place of penance.

    – The good we should have done –

    Another torture for the soul in exile is viewing all the good it could have done and yet omitted, all the blessings it received from the bounty of God and which it often misused. What more could God have done for that soul? He nourished it with his Sacraments, fortified it by grace, encouraged it with good examples witnessed in others. Supported by so many gifts, it should have taken giant steps on the road to holiness and arrived like so many to a higher degree of perfection. Yet it often stopped along the way or walked at a snail’s pace. If only it had been generous, had made penance and sacrifices; if only it had accepted the inevitable hardships of life with resignation, it would have made earth its Purgatory and would have entered into the eternal kingdom with little or no purification necessary. Now instead, it must endure, through its own faults and without merit, much greater suffering and torment. Instead of the crown of glory it would have received in Heaven, it is tortured with a crown of flame in Purgatory. How painful is that realisation.

    Dear souls, have we not ourselves accomplished very few good deeds? Have we prayed for the souls of our deceased loved ones? Let us make the resolution to do better in the future, with God’s help and through the intercession of our Lady.

    – Example –

    Gerson, the chancellor of the University of Paris, as distinguished for his virtue as for his eloquence, relates in one of his books the story of a poor mother who had been forgotten in death by her son. God allowed her to appear to her son in order to express her torment and to beg for his prayers, My son, she cried, my dear son! Think of your poor mother who is suffering so much. Consider the terrible torments, to which the Justice of God has condemned me for the sins of my mortal life. The most excruciating for me is remorse, the regret I have for having loved God so little after He had granted me so many graces. I offended such a great, just, loving God, such a tender Father, so generous a benefactor! That very thought is so painful; it kills me continuously; that gnawing worm is like a sharp dagger which pierces me without bringing about my death; it makes me weep tears of blood. Nevertheless, I am forced to beat my chest and cry out, ‘My God, you are just and equitable; if I suffer so much, it is through my own fault, my own great fault!‘ Oh my son! If you still love me, have mercy on me, tear the dagger from my chest, deliver me from this gnawing worm and open the gates of Heaven for me. I beg you, my dear child to serve God more than your poor mother did and to die with contrition in your heart! Faithful to his mother’s warning and plea, the child prayed constantly for his mother and died in holiness.

    Let Us Pray

    My God, give me the grace to become as holy and as perfect as you want me to be. For being neglectful, the souls in Purgatory are severely punished by regret that tear their hearts continuously. Appease their remorse, Lord, by forgiving their faults. The dagger, which pierces their heart is so painful! Oh Jesus, be their Conciliator! Call your children and our brethren into the bosom of your Glory! 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.