Special

Last will of the deceased

– We must execute it faithfully –

A dying person’s last will is sacred! We must respect it!

The Council of Trent recommended that bishops closely scrutinise the execution of the last will made by the faithful departed.

Other Councils went so far as to refuse communion to anyone who appropriated to […]

Apparitions

– Does God allow the souls in Purgatory to come back to earth? –

One of St. Augustine’s close friends, the Bishop of Ustale, one day asked him the following, What must we make of the many reports we have of deceased people appearing and going about the world? What must we also make of the reports that in certain graveyards, sounds […]

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 […]

Eighth means of relieving the souls in Purgatory: Heroic acts of charity

– Its nature –

A heroic action consists in abandoning into Our Lady’s hands for the souls in Purgatory, all good deeds, even those done for us by others, before and after our death.

On November 20, 1854, Pope Pius IX recommended that act in a decree to […]

Seventh means of relieving the souls in Purgatory – Indulgences 

– How precious they are –

Our sins are so serious and grievous, our reparations so slight, that we could not acquit the temporal debt of these sins in this world if the Church did not assist our weaknesses by opening up the treasure chest of indulgences.

This is an […]

Sixth means of relieving the souls in Purgatory: The Way of the Cross

– It is the Way to Heaven for the living –

This devotion, so great for the memories it awakens, so precious for the advantages it procures, is the most efficient means of conquering our passions and is the surest way of arriving at the summit of perfection. With every […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]