Special

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 […]

Fourth Reason: The Gratitude of the Deceased

– In Purgatory –

Most theologians will agree that the suffering souls intercede for those who assist them even while they are in Purgatory. They can obtain nothing for themselves and their prayers are fruitless when they ask for their own torments to be abated. Such is not the case for the prayers they offer for […]

Third Reason: The Love of Our Lady

– She consoles the souls in Purgatory –

Mary does not limit herself to consoling and encouraging her dear children on earth. She is also the Consolation of those whom Divine Justice retains in Purgatory. What mother, seeing her child fall into a flaming pit, would not rush to her child’s rescue?

Would […]

Second Reason: The Love of Our Lord

– How He loves the souls in Purgatory –

Consider that Jesus has the same infinite love for the souls in Purgatory as He has for all the souls for whom He has shed His Blood. Everyone can say, He loves me and has died for me. If there are degrees to infinity, He must love […]

First reason for bringing relief to the Souls in Purgatory

– This devotion glorifies God –

Our first motivation for hastening by every possible means the relief of those holy souls is the glory, which it gives God. Truly, nothing glorifies the Almighty, praises His holy Name, dilates his paternal Heart or contributes to the compliance of his adorable Will than the relief […]

Forgetting the dead

– It denotes a great insensitivity –

The Bible speaks of a man called Lazarus who was covered in ulcers, dressed in rags and lay on the doorstep of a wealthy man. He asked for very little: the mere crumbs, which fell from the rich man’s table. He was refused even that.

What insensitivity! What hardness of […]

Relief for the Souls in Purgatory

– What can bring them relief –

The Council of Trent decreed, We believe that souls detained in Purgatory are relieved by the suffrages of the faithful. That is how the Church, in its Divine and magnificent unity, includes Christians of all eras and all classes. The charity, which binds them and unites their spiritual wealth is […]

Abandoned Souls

– Abandoned by their friends –

Consider the fact that there are souls completely forgotten in Purgatory for whom no one prays and who suffer without consolation.

It is true that the Church does not forget any of her children. Those abandoned souls have a right to the prayers of our tender Mother who petitions the Lord every […]

State of the souls in Purgatory in relation to us

– They are united to us by the bonds of charity –

Remember that we are bonded to those holy souls by a Divine spiritual chain. Just like us, they were created in the image of God, bought by the Precious Blood of Jesus, regenerated by the water of baptism. They have been […]

Holiness of the souls in Purgatory

St. Catherine of Genoa told us, Every soul, the moment it is in Purgatory is elevated to a degree of perfection and Divine union which could serve as a model for the most holy person here on earth. There are in Purgatory a multitude of predestined souls who have triumphed over their passions, who have conquered the world and the devil, who […]