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

  • Twenty-Eighth Day

    How can we avoid Purgatory? 

    – By often thinking about Purgatory –

    The thought of Purgatory leads our spirit to meditate on death and judgement and thereby can only inspire in us salvific reflections. Meditate on your death, the Holy Spirit tells us, and you will not sin.

    The thought also inspires the spirit of penance and mortification. Meditating on the long, cruel torments, the anguish and the countless victims, who plead for relief, the soul will exclaim, at long last, I want to atone and redeem. I want to take advantage of the days granted to me by God’s Mercy. I want to atone for my sins with a little generosity and love. I want to avoid the torments in Purgatory by any means. I will succeed with my will and God’s grace.

    If by God’s grace we always had that truth before our very eyes, it would be impossible for us not to become saints, even great saints. The constant thought of Purgatory would eliminate from our life a multitude of venial faults, would inspire the practice of sublime virtues and in our final hour, adorned with our merits, our soul would soar towards its eternal home without having to be purified in Purgatory

    – By often praying for the souls in Purgatory. –

    The fathers and doctors of the Church believe that those who take an interest and pray for the souls of the deceased escape Purgatory or at least spend little time there. They tell us that the most infallible mark of predestination is to save many souls, for God did promise to do for us as what we would do for others.

    Blessed are the merciful for they will obtain mercy.

    We can hope for the gratitude of the souls we have delivered. Could they show themselves less sensitive or charitable than we? At the moment of our death and our judgement, they will come running and will be our protectors, our witnesses, to tip the scales on the side of mercy. They will remove the snares of the infernal spirit and we will obtain the most precious grace: a holy death. St. Augustine said, I have never heard of anyone who volunteered to pray for the dead and who had a bad or uncertain death.

    This is assuredly a means of avoiding the rigors in Purgatory! Let us heed the advice of the Gospels, Let us make friends so that at the moment of our death, those whom we have relieved will introduce us to the Eternal Tabernacles.

    Our brethren, the deceased, are now in need. What little we do for them will help them fly up to Heaven whose very gates we will have helped to open. Yes, let us deliver them from Purgatory and they will keep us from falling there ourselves. It is reported that at the moment of St. Catherine of Cortone’s death, all the souls she had helped by her prayers, came to receive her triumphantly.

    – Example –

    There is a story told about a woman who had consecrated her life to the relief of the souls in Purgatory. As she was about to breathe her last, the evil one attacked her furiously, realising that she was about to escape his grasp. It seemed as if all the demons in Hell had congregated around her. The dying woman fought desperately against the Hellish cohort, when suddenly there appeared in her room a number of beings. They were unknown to her but they shone like so many suns. They chased away the demons and surrounded her bed, encouraging and consoling her. Heaving a deep sigh, the woman cried out, Who are you who bring me so much consolation?

    They answered, We are grateful visitors from Heaven who were beatified by your help and we have come to help you cross into eternity, to take you from this place of anguish and to introduce you to the joys of the Holy City. With those words, a smile broke out on the dying woman’s face and her eyes closed as she entered the Lord’s Peace. Her soul, pure as a dove, presented itself to the Lord of lords where it found as many protectors and advocates as she had delivered from Purgatory. Found worthy of Glory, she entered in triumph amid the applause and blessings of all the souls she had pulled out in Purgatory. May we one day know the same happiness!

    For the relief of the souls in Purgatory, we can also offer: a visit to a church, a pilgrimage, the use of holy water, Masses, novenas, prayers, sacrifices, acts of love, humiliations, fasting … 

    Using holy water is pleasing to the Lord. Every time the priest blesses us with holy water, he does so as the Church’s representative whose prayers the Saviour always heeds, no matter for whom he offers them. Maria Simma tells us, When you take holy water and make a sign of the Cross, allow a few drops to fall on the ground for the souls in purgatory.

    Let Us Pray

    Oh my God, do not let me forget, by a false sensibility, the salvific thought of Purgatory. Etch its existence in my heart as a powerful means of preserving me from Purgatory and of coming to the aid of the souls who linger there. Help me to bring their exile to an end and to open for them the gates of Heaven!

    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.