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

  • Sixth Day

    Torments of Purgatory: The Sentence of Dam

    – Deprived of God –

    The greatest suffering in Purgatory is not that of fire, as fierce as it may be. A greater suffering is that which theologians call “The sentence of Dam.” In this world, we do not understand the intensity of the suffering caused by being deprived of God because we do not see him directly. We do not love Him with all our heart, we do not think of Him very often. But the souls in Purgatory have seen God on their day of Judgement, and according to St. Ambrosius, Their eyes beheld a great spectacle. God showed himself to them with all his adorable perfection. He imprinted his image so vividly in their spirit, He infused them so fiercely with the glory of his infinite Majesty, that they think of Him continually and love Him with a love that is pure and complete. This insatiable love, this deprivation, this hunger, this thirst for God torments and tortures them. They are continually dying without dying and the Church calls this condition a “death” and rightly so, Lord, deliver them from death.

    To get an idea of this torment, imagine a person dying for lack of air. See the efforts that person makes to gulp a little much-needed oxygen, how the chest is distended and the veins bulge in the neck. It is a terrible struggle between life and death. But what is a little air when compared to God? What is it then to die without God, deprived of the soul’s need for God who is the soul’s breath? What living hunger! What painful agony!

    Lord, deliver them from that terrible agony and show them your adorable Face. Our Father who art in Heaven, gather your children out of exile!

    – Deprived of Heaven –

    Truly, the soul in Purgatory is not exiled from its earthly native land but from its true native land, Heaven. It has seen the splendours of its blessed homeland when it appeared before the Lord who is the joy and delight of saints. It recalled that loving invitation, Come, blessed of my Father, yours is the kingdom which has been prepared for you since the creation of the world. It saw and contemplated all its magnificence. Now, unable to enter that homeland, it has to wait for days, weeks, years, centuries, before being able to plunge into that torrent of Goodness which is God himself. My God! What an exile! What a cruel delay!

    How heart-rending are the sufferings of that unfortunate soul, When will I be able to see my homeland, my family in Heaven? When will I be reunited to my parents, my brothers and sisters who are in the Glory of God and stretch out their arms to me? When will I be invited to unite my soul to Jesus, my celestial spouse? Oh eternal gates, open up! Open up!

    Poor unfortunate soul! It hears a mysterious voice reply, Not yet. Later.

    Dear souls, we can open those gates for you. Don’t you know that prayer and charity are the golden keys that will open the gates of Heaven?

    Pray continuously and those souls in exile will rise to Heaven, to their beloved homeland, where they will sing forever the mysteries of God.

    – Example –

    When the captive children of Israel had been taken far from their homeland, unable to see the shores of the Euphrates, they sat down sadly on the strange shore. They wept for the memory of Jerusalem: they had no words of joy, no songs of glory, their harps hanging from the willow trees on the shore were silent.

    The Babylonians asked them, Children of Israel, why do you weep?

    It is because we remember Zion, our homeland! We remember and we regret!

    But, exiled children of Zion, if you sang to sooth your suffering and dispel your sadness… Sing a few songs from your homeland. Sing your national anthem. Sing!

    Can children in exile sing patriotic hymns on strange shores? Far from here, we remember, we regret, we sigh, we weep and we tearfully await the consolation of our return. Oh Jerusalem! May our tongue be welded to our palate should we one day forget you!

    The souls of our brethren are detained by Divine Justice, far from the homeland which they lovingly long for. They are condemned to a painful exile on strange shores, which are a thousand times more desolate than those of this world.

    There they also weep as they remember their heavenly homeland. Their tears differ from ours as Heaven differs from the earth and time differs from eternity. Humans, unless they are ill, instinctively seek nourishment. If they stopped eating being neither sick nor dying, that hunger would never stop growing because that instinct would never diminish.

    Imagine if there was in this world, only one bread that could stem the hunger of any creature. Man would suffer intolerable torment in order to have some of that bread. Imagine if only gazing upon that bread was enough to stem that hunger. His instinct would urge him to seek it in order to be contented. If he were told with certainty that he could never see that bread, then that for him would be Hell. He would be in a state of damnation, deprived of all hope of seeing God, true Bread, true Saviour.

    But the souls in Purgatory do have the hope of one day contemplating that Living Bread and of being filled with it. Meanwhile, they suffer from hunger and remain in their torment as long as they are unable to stem that hunger with the true Bread, Jesus Christ, true God and Saviour, our Love.

    Let Us Pray

    Oh merciful God, God so holy, God so Just, let yourself be moved out of love for those unfortunate holy souls. Do not conceal yourself one moment longer from the ardour of their desire, do not repel them any longer: open your bosom and allow them to enter and lose themselves in You. Oh Jesus! Call your children and our brethren to eternal happiness and may the light that never dies shine upon them! May they rest in peace!

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.