The departed, the Souls in Purgatory
We know that praying for the dead is an immemorial tradition in Holy Church, that Purgatory is a dogma of faith and no one may cast any doubt upon it.
Who has not heard of the testimony of the first Christians, and of Christians from every century to this day, and already in the Old Testament, the testimony of the book of the Machabees invites us to pray for the dead.
We do not consider Purgatory as being a place and state of horrid tortures, but as a place and state of purification, where one really suffers from being still separated from God and the blessed, and as a place and state of expectation in Love.
It is important to pray everyday for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Our sacrifices, our little renouncements, our prayers, our communions, and especially the offering of Holy Masses relieve or save the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
It is recommended to offer a Gregorian Trentine for the souls of our dear departed, so to be granted their prompt deliverance.
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Eternal rest give to them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. V. (Ps. 111.7)
The just shall be in everlasting remembrance; he shall not fear the evil hearing. |
"Let us not omit supplications for the souls of the dead; the Church prays and commands prayer for all those who have died in the Christian and Catholic family, even without naming them all, and in a general memento, so that the Mother common to all makes up in this way for the fathers and mothers, sons, parents and friends who are not there to fulfill this duty".
(Saint Augustine, De cura pro mort. IV)
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"Even though these sins, he says in one of his sermons, do not give death to our soul, they disfigure her, they allow her to unite to the heavenly spouse but at the cost of an extreme confusion. It is through prayers and continual fasting that we are able to redeem them and what has not been redeemed by us will have to be purified in this fire of which the Apostle said: "...(everyone's work) will be revealed through fire..." Therefore, while we are in this world, let us mortify ourselves... and thus these sins will be purified in this life, in such a way that in the other, this purifying fire will find nothing, or so little in us to devour... But if we do not redeem our faults through good deeds, we will have to remain in the purifying fire as long as our venial sins (minuta peccata) will require it to be consumed, like wood, hay or straw".
(Saint Cesaire of Arles) |
