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 […]
Twenty-Third Day
Fourth means of relieving the souls in Purgatory: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
– It is offered by Jesus Christ –
Of all the means we have indicated so far for the relief of souls in Purgatory, none is as powerful, as efficient as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is a very consoling article of our faith. The reason for […]
Twenty-Second Day
Third means of comforting the souls in Purgatory: Holy Communion
– Sacramental communion –
When we have the joy of receiving communion, we become united to Jesus Christ in a manner so intimate that like the apostle, we can cry out, It is no longer I who live but Jesus Christ who lives in me. Our flesh becomes his flesh. His Heart makes […]
Twenty-First Day
Second means of comforting the souls of Purgatory: Charity
– Corporal charity –
Charity is the virtue most often mentioned in the Gospels. St. Thomas maintains that its power of satisfaction is even greater than that of prayer. The angel said to Tobias, Charity saves one from death; it erases sins; it releases souls from darkness and brings them to God’s grace where […]
Twentieth Day
First means of comforting the souls in Purgatory: Prayer
– Simple means –
After having studied the reasons, which urge us to relieve the souls in Purgatory, let us now examine the most efficient means we have of assisting them. The first one is prayer; it is accessible to everyone, young or old, rich or poor. No one can invoke a reasonable excuse […]
Resumed 6th Sunday after Epiphany – A Message From St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Translation From the Holy Gospel According to Matthew
At that time Jesus spoke to the multitudes this parable: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field: which is the least indeed of all seeds: but […]