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-Fourth Day

    Fifth means of relieving the souls in Purgatory: Suffering

    – Voluntary suffering –

    Let us relieve the souls in Purgatory, said St. Chrysostome; let us bring them relief through everything which grieves us; for God applies to the dead, the merits of the living. Suffering! It is the great atonement which the Lord asks of those indebted to His Justice; we suffer for them in order that they suffer less. Oh! If our faith was stronger, our charity more alive, what mortification we would impose upon ourselves to relieve and deliver the friends whom we loved so much and who are suffering so intensely? Penance, fasting and austerity would become our daily exercises. Let us at least have enough courage to accomplish small sacrifices: refusing a small pleasure, a dangerous affection, a bad reading, sacrificing a bad habit, a luxury or a vanity. Choose the better victim, said Father Felix, choose it from the depths of your heart. For those whom you loved the most, give up what is most dear to you; sacrifice your very selves and may the price of your sacrifice become the ransom for your loved ones.

    Those blessed souls rise up on the wings of our sacrifices, our merits, our suffering. They rise triumphantly and thank us for our generosity. When they are in God’s Glory, they will give us back a hundred-fold what we have given them. What consolation and hope!

    Oh Jesus crucified, help us to understand the price of suffering!

    – Involuntary sacrifice –

    If voluntary suffering disturbs our courage, Providence imposes suffering which is more salvific for us and for our deceased, because they are not of our own doing. These are afflictions, spiritual grief, and physical afflictions, which are unavoidable in this world. We know this. We find these afflictions everywhere.

    Our life on earth is a continuous struggle, a long daily martyrdom. Should we complain? No, for all that pain can become a means of salvation for us and for others. We can use it to soothe the cruelest pains of those suffering holy souls in Purgatory. Yes, through the cross which Providence places on our shoulders, with that thorn which pierces our heart, with a tear, a sigh, with an act of resignation, we can relieve the great torments in Purgatory and dry the tears of our loved ones.

    Courage then! Let us put up with a bit of cold. We will thus cool the souls who are burning in the fire of Justice. Let us put up with a little heat. It will turn the ardour of the flame into a light mist. Let us put up with a bit of discomfort. We will deliver souls from the depths in Purgatory. Let us accept fatigue and listlessness. We will lift them on high to the glories of Heaven: a moment of sorrow for us, for them an eternity of joy!

    – Example –

    St. Antoin tells of a sick man who suffered the most excruciating pains. He begged God to relieve his suffering, but to no avail. One day, an Angel appeared to him and said:

    The Lord has sent me to offer you a choice between a year of suffering and one day in Purgatory.

    The sick man did not hesitate for an instant. One single day in Purgatory! At least he would then be done with suffering. He died instantly and his soul was cast into the abyss of atonement. The compassionate Angel came to console him. Upon seeing the Angel, the poor soul cried out in a voice that was torn with pain: Seductive Angel, you deceived me. You assured me that I would only have one day to suffer in Purgatory and here I’ve been for twenty years suffering the most cruel torments.

    You are mistaken; only a few minutes have elapsed since your death and your body is not yet cold on your death bed, replied the Angel.

    Then ask God to allow me to return to earth to suffer anything God asks of me for a year, said the deceased.

    His request agreed to, the ailing man spent that year convincing everyone he met to accept wholeheartedly all the suffering of this world rather than to expose themselves to the torments of the next life.

    He often said, Patience in one’s suffering is the golden key to Heaven. Let us take advantage of this reality and offer our suffering.

    He died at the end of the year as was agreed.

    Let Us Pray

    Be blessed, O my God who has willed that suffering and unceasing sorrows with which my life is sowed, become for me a source of abundant merit and a means of satisfying your Justice for the souls of my dear friends and relatives. Henceforth, far from complaining about my crosses, I will carry them with patience and resignation and You will grant me and my relatives your perfect Mercy. Oh Jesus, be their Conciliator! Call your dear children and our brethren to your kingdom of joy. 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.