A truly Christian soul will, during this month, think with love of the
faithful departed. There is nothing more pleasing to God, or more
profitable to ourselves, than the practice of praying for the souls in
purgatory, that He may relieve their sufferings and speedily admit them to
His glory. We see our friends dropping from the ranks of the living, and
entering that state which is so mysterious. The Church tells us that we
can help them on their way to heaven by our prayers, if they have been
detained in purgatory to atone to God’s justice for their transgressions.
St. Alphonsus says, “It is a duty, for Christian charity commands us to
relieve our neighbors who stand in need of our assistance; but who among
all our neighbors have so great need of our help as these holy prisoners,
deprived for a time of the sight of God?” Many indulgences, both plenary
and partial, are applicable to them; let us gain them, so that the mercy
of God may be moved in their favor. Let us also remember the poor souls
who have no one to pray for them. And in return these blessed souls will
not neglect to obtain for us many graces from God, particularly the grace
of eternal life.
Considerations and Prayers for Every Day.
First Day.
Often meditate on the sufferings of the souls in purgatory. The thought
will inspire you with the proper and holy fear of God’s justice, which
requires expiation in purgatory for sins unatoned for in this life. It
will also move you to have compassion on the poor souls, and to relieve
them by your good works. The souls in purgatory endure dreadful
punishments; it is the opinion of theologians that they suffer the pains
of fire. They also suffer the pain of loss, which is more severe than that
of sense. You should ask yourselves: Shall we suffer these dreadful pains
in purgatory, or shall we escape them? Let us take warning from the
unhappy souls who are to be miserable for eternity, and cultivate a
salutary fear of God’s justice and so avoid sin. Let the happiness of the
saints encourage us to lead virtuous lives, and confide in the mercy and
goodness of God. Standing between the eternity of happiness and the
eternity of misery, we must make our choice. Through God’s grace and the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin and the members of the heavenly court,
let us resolve, in future, to avoid not only mortal but also venial sin.
Let us resolve also to atone for our past sins, and pay the debt which we
owe to God’s justice, so that when our souls are separated from our bodies
we may go at once to enjoy God in heaven.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from the bonds of
their sins; and by the assistance of Thy grace may they escape the
sentence of condemnation, and enjoy the bliss of eternal light. Amen.
Second Day.
We are told that few of those who save their souls, except children who
have not lost their baptismal innocence, go to heaven without passing
through purgatory. How many are surprised by death in venial sin! how many
who receive forgiveness for the guilt of mortal sin still owe some
temporal debt for it! how few leave this life without some stain on their
souls! Yet every stain must be wiped away, every farthing of the debt
paid, before the soul can leave the prison of purgatory. We have no time
to lose, death may be at our doors. Why not now use the means of avoiding
purgatory? Why do we count a suffering in the future which in the present
we would be in no way ready to accept, but would employ every effort to
escape? How soon must we leave this world never to return! How soon will
day and night have no meaning for us! Our bodies, mouldered into dust,
will come to life again only at the sound of the last trumpet, and then
only for judgment. Friends who love us, possessions on which we have set
our hearts, will be taken from us. We will leave as we came, alone. Why,
then, attach ourselves to those things in such a way as to bring upon us
the displeasure of God, and the sufferings which His displeasure entails?
Better far to live here with the thought of the bitterness which goes with
wrongdoing and a sense of security for the future, than thoughtlessly to
incur the punishment which is to be found in purgatory.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Third Day.
The earth is only a vast cemetery. Our ancestors are mixed up with its
clay, whether they lie beneath the surface or have had their ashes
scattered to the four winds. How soon were they forgotten! Of all the
generations which have gone before us how few individuals are known! Of
some history tells the noble deeds, of others the dark ones. The really
wise and great men of every age are the virtuous, now the friends of God.
Their names come down to us in benediction. History may record the names
of the wicked, but their memory is held in execration. What matters it to
all those who are dead whether men speak of them or not? The one thing of
importance is how God has regarded their lives. We too will soon be
forgotten. The birds that will sing near our graves will be listened to
and admired by the visitor to the cemetery, but we will not receive even a
passing thought. Even those for whom our hearts throbbed with anxiety,
those for whose happiness we strove with so much labor, will scarcely
think of us. We will have been gathered to the dead, our term of activity
will have passed, our day will have ended, and with it all interest in us
will also end. We will be one of the millions laid away in the cemetery.
Has this thought no meaning for us? It ought to suggest the importance of
giving more attention to that which God had in view in creating us. Not
ambitious of what men may think of us, but ambitious of securing that
which we alone can obtain for ourselves, happiness in the life to come.
Then will our lonely and forgotten condition matter very little.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Fourth Day.
You have, perhaps, stood at the grave, and seen the earth cover the
remains of a dear one. It may have been the remains of the most beloved
one you ever knew. Oh, how you stood in need of consolation! There were
moments when you felt as if your heart must break. Yet when faith came to
your aid, and you remembered that the separation was only for a time, that
the moment of reunion would come, and you would again see the dear one,
only purified, glorified, and free from all the blemishes life on earth
entails, there was an awakening, a consolation, a strengthening, which no
other thought could bring. With this new feeling came the resolve to help
the one gone by such gifts as your love would dictate and your faith
direct. What if that dear one was condemned to tarry in a place of
purgation? What if you by your good works and prayers could assist, but
instead spent your time in fruitless lament and regrets? Then it was that
you felt all your old love quicken, and the eagerness which had led you to
care for the loved one in life, received a new incentive. You recollected
that the time in which he could help himself had passed, and he had to
rely entirely on the good services of his friends—that the hand of God was
to lay heavy upon him until the full measure of expiation had been paid.
There is comfort in the reflection that we can still be of service to
those we loved in life; we can be charitable to them, and improve
ourselves by the practice of that charity. The true Christian mourns his
friends, but he mourns over them, not with a vain hope, but with a
prayerful appeal to the throne of mercy.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Fifth Day.
The doctrine of purgatory implies two truths. First, that after a mortal
sin is forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance, and the eternal punishment
due to it is remitted, there still remains some debt of temporal
punishment to pay, either in this life—by deeds of penance—or in the next
in purgatory. Second, even venial sins are a stain which prevent the soul
from entering into heaven. These stains, therefore, must first be wiped
off, if the soul is to enter the abode of all holiness. Now, purgatory is
the place where the souls predestined to eternal glory are detained for a
time, and this period is fixed by God’s justice for the purpose of
expiation and purification, until they are quite worthy of the everlasting
bliss prepared for them. Until the end of the world, until the last Day of
Judgment, there will be an intermediate place between heaven and hell.
Heaven is the place where only the just and holy are admitted. Hell is the
dungeon into whose depths are plunged the souls of the impious and
unrepenting. But purgatory lies between the two, and is meant to receive
for a time those souls of the just who will require some further
purification. And I am hurrying to one or the other place. Which shall it
be? Whichever it is it will be of my own making and choice. God is now
giving me time and opportunities sufficient to gain the one and avoid the
other. Let me reflect whither my course is leading me. Let me do it
now—to‐morrow may be too late. God has given me only one life in which to
accomplish my salvation. According to the eternal decree that life will
end at the appointed time.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Sixth Day.
The Church is the mystical body of Jesus Christ, of which He is the Head,
and all the faithful are the members. It is divided into three parts: the
Church Militant on earth, consisting of the faithful who are still
fighting for their faith and struggling for their salvation; the Church
Triumphant, consisting of the saints in heaven; and finally, the Church
Suffering, consisting of the souls in purgatory. All the dead, then, who
die in the Lord, belong to the great mysterious body of Christ, either as
members glorified already, or as still awaiting the glory to come. But all
are united among themselves and form one great communion of saints.
Therefore when we consider what faith teaches us concerning the Church
Suffering, or purgatory, we cannot help exclaiming: “O faith! how
beautiful thou art! How touching is the communion of saints!” We children
of the Church Militant stretch forth one hand towards our brethren of the
Church Triumphant for help and protection; and with the other extended we
supplicate by our prayers, our alms, and patient sufferings, that the time
of probation for our brethren of the Church Suffering may be shortened. We
feel they entreat us to alleviate their torments, and their gratitude for
our good services will incline them to help us in our infirmities and
weakness. How often does this thought occupy our attention? It should
engage us frequently. As we are now so once were the souls in purgatory;
as they are now so we hope to be—for once in purgatory it means that
heaven is within our reach.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Seventh Day.
The Bible, in its very first pages, shows us that a custom of praying for
the dead existed among the people of the earliest centuries. This implies
the existence of purgatory, because it stands to reason that we do not
pray either for the saints in heaven or for the damned in hell. For, says
St. Thomas Aquinas, those prayers would be useless and in vain, if there
were no purgatory, because prayers cannot be offered up for those who have
already arrived at their end, but only for those who have not yet reached
their final destiny. When Jacob and Joseph were about to depart from this
world they earnestly besought those who stood around their death‐beds,
especially their own children, to convey their mortal remains to
Palestine. For those pious patriarchs well knew that their descendants
there would offer sacrifices of expiation, and they hoped these offerings
would gain for them the longed‐for peace and rest. On the announcement of
the death of Saul all the inhabitants of Jabes imposed upon themselves a
seven days’ fast. The inspired poet‐king takes part, not only in the
sorrow, but also in the sacrifices. He himself sings in touching, elevated
strain, the doctrine of purgatory, when describing the inexpressible joy
and delight of those souls who have happily passed through the fire and
water of tribulation, and have arrived at the ardently longed‐for joy and
refreshment of the Lord. The prophet Micheas says: “I shall arise, when I
sit in darkness, the Lord is my light. I will bear the wrath of the Lord
because I have sinned against Him, until He judge my cause and execute
judgment for me: He will bring me forth into the light, I shall behold His
justice.”
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Eighth Day.
Instructed by holy and exalted prophets, the people of Israel, from the
earliest times, made sacrifices and offerings for the dead, and thereby
clearly showed their belief in purgatory. The records of all the past
centuries referring to the subject clearly show that not the smallest
doubt can be entertained on this point. When the star of the Jewish
civilization began to fade, the heroic line of the Machabees gathered all
their force once more together, in order to inaugurate a new epoch of
power and glory. In the description of their noble and heroic actions we
come across the unmistakable proof of their universal tradition and
belief. Judas, the mighty hero, having lost a great number of soldiers in
battle, did not confine himself to merely giving them an honorable burial.
He commanded a collection to be made, and sent the sum to Jerusalem for a
sacrifice to be offered for the fallen heroes. Holy Scripture concludes
the narrative with the words: “It is therefore a holy and a wholesome
thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their
sins”—that is from all temporal punishment due to those sins. This thought
is justly called holy, because it springs from a holy source, that of
faith and charity. It is called wholesome, in the first place to the poor
souls themselves, because it comforts and encourages them in their
sufferings, in the next place to those who pray for them, because they
increase their own merits thereby, and gain new, faithful friends in
heaven.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Ninth Day.
The Holy Scriptures imply, in the narration of the action of the great
leader Judas, the existence of purgatory, or some such place of
purification in the next world, where the souls of the departed can be
assisted by our prayers and sacrifices, and be cleansed from their sins.
Certainly it would have been impossible, in such heavy time of war, to
gather from the people such large sums of money, or to all at once
introduce an innovation in religious practice of that kind, if this belief
in purgatory had not been long and firmly implanted in their hearts. All
the passages from the Old Testament clearly prove the truth of the
Catholic doctrine, which teaches us that there exists a place for the
purification of such souls as die in a state of grace, but have not yet
fully expiated all their sins; and that those souls can be delivered by
the prayers and good works of the faithful. The son of Sirach bears
witness to the same when he says: “A gift hath grace in the sight of all
the living, and restrain not grace from the dead,” which means that we
should pay our dead the last respects and offer up sacrifices for them.
This passage supports the general belief of the Jews, that we can assist
the departed by good works. The Jews even now believe in the existence of
some place of purification, and are in the habit of praying for their
dead. The Jewish belief in purgatory rested on a very firm foundation.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Tenth Day.
In the fulness of time the divine Saviour Jesus Christ appeared on earth.
While disowning in His teaching all the false theories and erroneous
traditions of Scribes and Pharisees, while condemning with the greatest
precision their errors on the subject of death and resurrection, He never
uttered one syllable against the general belief in purgatory, or against
the public practice of praying for the dead. On the contrary He left it
just as it existed under the Old Law. Could the Son of God, Who had come
down to make known the will of His Father, have acted thus if this were
not a holy, just, and pious custom? The Redeemer did not find it necessary
to give lengthy proofs of the existence of this place of punishment. It
was enough to simply remind the people of it. For, in truth, He addressed
a people who had never entertained the smallest doubt on the subject. In
one of His sermons He unmistakably alludes to purgatory, where He speaks
of a prison from which no one can be delivered except on the payment of
the full debt. What other prison but purgatory can here be meant? Heaven
cannot be meant, and out of hell there is no redemption. The Gospels have
preserved another saying of the Son of God which presupposes the existence
of purgatory: “And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it
shall be forgiven him; but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it
shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to
come.” There are, then, sins which can be atoned for in the next world.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Eleventh Day.
With regard to the doctrine of purgatory the apostles taught as their
divine Master did. St. Paul says: “For other foundation no man can lay but
that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this
foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man’s
work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because
it shall be revealed in fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of
what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereon, he
shall receive a reward. If any man’s work burn he shall suffer loss: but
he himself shall be saved, but so as by fire.”—1 Cor. iii. 12. He who
appears before the Judgment Seat of God with works still stained and
imperfect, will reach indeed his happy end, but not before those stains
and imperfections have been cleared away by a process which is like unto
the crucible of fire. The fire which the Apostle speaks of cannot be the
fire of tribulation, or the sufferings of this life; for he speaks of a
fire which burns on the Judgment Day; that is, after this life. Again, it
cannot mean the mere ordeal of the Judgment, because here the soul is not
only tried, but also burns and suffers from the burning. Nor can it mean
the fire of hell, because he who burns in the fire will come out of it and
be saved, which cannot be said of those in hell. The Apostle could only
have had the fire of purgatory in view—that fire which burns for the
purification of souls not quite spotless, and which will continue until
the Day of General Judgment.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twelfth Day.
Tradition excludes every doubt, even the least shadow of doubt, as to the
existence of purgatory. We have testimony from a whole army of renowned
writers of the Church: Sts. Augustine, Chrysostom, Epiphanius, Jerome,
Cyril, Gregory, up to Tertullian who lived in the second century. The
tradition is contained not only in the writings of the Holy Fathers, but
also in the practice of the Church reaching down to the apostolic age,
according to which prayers and sacrifices were at all times offered up to
God for the souls of the departed. Tertullian speaks of the sacrifices for
the dead as of an apostolic tradition, and St. John Damascene says, in his
sermon on the dead: “The apostles and disciples of our divine Saviour, who
had seen the eternal Word with their own eyes, and had converted the
multitudes of the living world, taught that in the awful, immaculate and
life‐giving mysteries of the Eucharist, remembrance should be made of
those who died in the Lord.” In confirmation of it he alleges the
testimony of St. John Chrysostom in these words: “That John, who on
account of his eloquence was called the golden‐mouthed, teaches that not
inconsiderately or accidentally was it ordained by those wise disciples of
God and transmitted to the Church, that the priest should offer prayers
for the dead in the celebration of the awful divine mysteries.”
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Thirteenth Day.
We will now hear from the great St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. I am
quoting from his treatise on the care for the dead. Mark how beautifully
he writes: “We read in the book of Machabees that there were sacrifices
offered up for the dead, but even if there had been no mention made of the
subject in the pages of the Old Testament, the authority of the Church
would be sufficient as manifested in her practice, according to which the
priest at the altar makes commemoration of the faithful departed.” By her
funeral rites, offices and commemorations of the dead, as well as her
ancient Ordos, the Catholic Church has at all times clearly and definitely
testified to, and declared her belief in, the existence of purgatory.
Further, she has solemnly declared it an article of faith in several
Councils—as, for instance, in the General Council of Trent, which defines
that there is a purgatory, and that the faithful can come to the
assistance of the souls suffering therein by their prayers, and oblations
of the most holy sacrifice of the Mass. And it even threatens with
excommunication from the Church all those who maintain that every penitent
sinner, having received justification, is forgiven as to his guilt and
eternal punishment in such a way that there remains no temporal punishment
to be expiated in purgatory.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Fourteenth Day.
What a touching proof we have of the faith in the intercession of the
living for the dead, in the story of the life of St. Monica, the mother of
St. Augustine! As her son stood by the bedside of his dying mother, and
with difficulty tried to restrain his tears, Monica said to him: “Only one
thing I beg of thee; remember me always at the altar of God, wherever thou
dost chance to be.” St. Augustine, therefore, often offered up the holy
sacrifice for his mother, and in his “Confessions” he entreats God in the
following touching prayer: “O God, grant that all Thy servants, who are my
brothers and to whom I have dedicated this book, grant that all who read
these prayers may, in their prayers before Thy altar, think of Thy
handmaid, my dearest mother, and pray for her in loving remembrance.” When
St. Paul says that at the mention of the sacred name of Jesus every knee
shall bend in heaven, on earth and under the earth, by this last
expression “under the earth,” according to the general opinion of the Holy
Fathers of the Church, he pointed to that temporal, intermediate place,
wherein imperfect souls must abide until they are purified from all stain
of sin, but even yet, while still there, are united in common adoration
with the saints who are in the full enjoyment of heaven, as well as with
all the Christians of the Church Militant on earth. But St. Paul teaches
us no less by example to offer up prayers and petitions to God almighty
for the souls of those who have died in the Lord.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Fifteenth Day.
We may, without great difficulty, infer the existence of purgatory from
the truths known by faith. Our faith teaches us that in the Sacrament of
Penance our sins are forgiven, together with the eternal punishment due to
them. The temporal punishment due to them is not always forgiven, however,
and consequently it remains to be endured either in this world or in the
next. Call to mind the examples of David, Moses, Peter and Mary Magdalene.
They were all forgiven their sins and the eternal punishment due to them,
and yet how much did those dear servants of God bewail their offences
during their whole lives and expiate the temporal punishment due to them!
Again there is another argument and ground on which our reason demands the
existence of a purgatory. It may be that a soul just departed this life is
free from all mortal sin—even free from all temporal punishment due to
grievous sin, but perhaps not free from certain light and venial sins,
which, though not destroying the grace of God in the soul, still darken
and stain its full splendor. It may be that all those venial sins are
atoned for and wiped away by the patiently borne agony of death, but how
often it happens that the Christian is suddenly surprised by death in
different forms, and when least expecting it. It would be contrary to
God’s mercy and justice to cast that soul into hell, or to receive it at
once into heaven.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Sixteenth Day.
The doctrine that sinners, even after the guilt and eternal punishment due
to sin are remitted, have still, as a rule, to satisfy the justice of God
in some way, has been acknowledged by the Church both in deed and by
express word. By deed, because of her severe penitential discipline in the
early days of the Church, because of the works of penance enjoined in the
confessional, and the granting at all times of indulgences. By express
word because of the definition of the Council of Trent. Now if according
to the certain doctrine of faith, some temporal satisfaction remains to be
made after the remission of sin and eternal punishment, what, we ask, will
become of those souls who are suddenly called away before they have done
such penance as their sins required—before they have given full
satisfaction? Into heaven, where nothing impure can enter, they cannot be
received until the full debt is paid. Into hell they cannot be cast,
because they died in a state of grace and are friends and children of God.
Therefore, reason says, there must be a place where those just and holy,
though not yet thoroughly cleansed souls, must linger till purified
completely, and fully worthy of God’s sacred presence. Were it otherwise
our reason would be darkened and troubled by doubts, either as to the
justice or as to the infinite mercy of God. Reason tells us that there is
a state of virtue not good enough for heaven, and a state of vice not bad
enough for hell. Common sense tells us that there is a difference between
sin and sin, and that consequently there must be a difference in the
punishment.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Seventeenth Day.
The souls in purgatory suffer. They are sent there to suffer. They are
detained there to suffer. The time of action is gone; the time of passive
suffering has come. Their whole existence, or life, is, as it were, taken
up with suffering. What are they suffering? Of what kind and character are
their sufferings? The pains of purgatory are just the same as the torments
of hell, with the exception of eternity and despair. The difference
between the two is, that the pains of purgatory come to an end, and are
not severed from the sweet hope of eternal happiness. Like the pains of
hell, so also the pains of purgatory are of two kinds. They are the pain
of loss and the pain of sense. These two kinds of pain correspond to the
twofold disorder contained in every sin. For every sin is first of all an
aversion or turning away from God, the highest and uncreated good—either a
complete aversion as in the case of mortal sin, or a partial aversion as
in the case of venial sin. Second, every sin is a conversion to, or a
turning towards, a created, real or apparent good as our highest good,
which is, of course, a disorderly conversion. Now this twofold
inordinateness must be expiated by a twofold corresponding punishment. For
wherein a man sins, says the Scripture, therein is he punished.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Eighteenth Day.
Man sins, and thus turns away from God; the punishment, therefore, must be
an eternal or temporary deprivation of God, the highest good of man. He
sins, and thus turns towards a created good, and derives pleasure and
satisfaction from it; the punishment, therefore, for this illicit, sensual
pleasure, is the pain of sense, the pain inflicted by created things. Now
fire is a pain of sense; and it is a doctrine sufficiently warranted by
Scripture and tradition, that the fire of purgatory is a real fire, by
which the souls are chastised and purified. The Holy Fathers explain that
the greatest imaginable sufferings here on earth, the most dreadful
martyrdom of the holy confessors of Christ, the worst pains of the most
terrible illness, can bear no comparison with the torments and pains
suffered by the poor souls in purgatory. Well known is the exclamation of
St. Augustine, “Here burn, here cut, here crucify, but spare me in
eternity, O God!” The sufferings of this life can be soothed by
consolation, can be softened by many distractions; now and again there is
a respite granted to the greatest sufferer, and time heals many woes. But
the sufferings of purgatory continue without any alleviation or
interruption.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Nineteenth Day.
According to the writings of the Fathers, the pain of loss is the greatest
of all the pains of purgatory. Together with the bitter remembrance of
having done evil and omitted to do good, is the consciousness of being
deprived of the beatific vision, than which there can be no greater pain.
St. Alphonsus says: “Far greater than the pains of the senses are the
pains of loss arising from the deprivation of the presence of God.”
Because the poor souls are inflamed with not only the natural, but the
supernatural love of God, they are almost violently drawn towards Him,
their supreme good; and because they have the consciousness of being
debarred from perfect union with God by their own sins and imperfections,
they feel such exceeding great pain that it would kill them were it
possible for them to die. “Therefore,” says St. Chrysostom, “is this pain
of loss greater than that of sense, and the greatest of all pains. A
thousand fires of hell could not produce greater pain than that which is
caused by the fully realized loss of God.” Here on earth, while confined
in their bodies of sin, their souls could not enjoy the beatific vision;
but once delivered from their mortal bodies, the time is come when they
are able to see God, Who would be their everlasting joy were it not for
their own fault. It is this pain of separation that makes the pain of
purgatory a cleansing fire in the fullest sense of the word.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twentieth Day.
In this valley of tears the sighs of holy persons are full of pain and
sorrow, of pining after God and heaven. How painful must have been this
burning love and yearning desire in such souls as St. Paul’s, St.
Augustine’s and St. Teresa’s! Yet what was their suffering compared to the
consuming fire of yearning in the souls of purgatory? For, however much we
may pine after God, our only good, still while on earth we have many
things that comfort us and deaden our pain. The very burden of our body,
the distracting events of life, the possibility of great age, or larger
store of merit, all these things are so many means of comfort to us. But
the poor souls in purgatory have none of these consolations; there is
nothing to assuage their pain of yearning and unfulfilled desire. More
than the panting hart do they thirst after the fountain of eternal light
and life. This unspeakable thirst is, in their case, all pure pain,
unmingled with any soothing alloy. Oh, what a burning sea of sorrow those
poor souls are plunged into! Flames within, flames without, flames all
around them! Were it not that God’s omnipotent hand upheld them, their
spirit would almost be consumed by those flames of fire. As you have
noticed I have left you to draw from the proofs, as also from the
description of the flames of purgatory, your own pious deductions and
resolutions. But now I ask is there a doctrine in the Church which calls
for more serious and pious consideration than this belief in purgatory,
for your own spiritual benefit, and then for the help you can afford those
whom God’s justice has condemned there?
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐first Day.
It has always been a doctrine of the Church, no less than a practice, that
by our prayers and good works we can help the souls in purgatory. For the
Church not only taught the doctrine, but from the earliest times
encouraged the faithful to offer up the holy sacrifice for them. It was at
the great Council of Trent that the doctrine became an article of faith.
We are united to them in the communion of saints. This community is like
the members of one body. As in the body all the members help each other,
so in the communion of saints all have a share in the common goods, as the
Psalmist says, “I am a partaker with all them that fear Thee.” If Christ
could make vicarious atonement to His heavenly Father for our sins, and
the eternal punishment due to them, then, also, the members of the
community founded by Him can, through His power and merits, assist and
make satisfaction for one another as regards the temporal punishment due
to their sins. So that, as the Apostle says, the abundance of one may
supply the want of the other, so that there may be an equality. The souls
in purgatory, then, since they are souls departed in the love of God,
belong with us to that great brotherhood, the communion of saints. So we
can come to their assistance, and by our efforts help to discharge the
debt they are still owing to God’s justice. Or united to them by the bonds
of love, we form as it were one person. We pass the value of our good
works to them, and our heavenly Father looks upon the price we pay for
them as if paid by themselves.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐second Day.
Let us consider more particularly by what means we can assist the poor
souls. We can greatly and powerfully assist them, and the holy Council of
Trent expressly points out the means we should use. It says particularly
that the faithful can help the poor souls detained in purgatory by their
prayers, and by the most holy sacrifice of the Mass. This, as you will
perhaps observe, has been said several times already in this book. True,
but it is in order that I may point out the conditions which are required
to make those means effective that I again speak of them now. What is
necessary, primarily, is that we have the intention of helping the poor
souls, otherwise our good works are all put down to our own account, or if
we do not stand in need of them, they are put into what is called the
treasury of the Church, and then they are beyond our disposition. It is
not, however, necessary to make a new intention before every action. It is
sufficient to make once for all an intention of doing certain things for
the sake of the suffering souls, and then not withdrawing it again. Still
it is advisable to renew it now and again, as for instance at morning
prayers or at Mass. It is necessary to be in a state of grace if we wish
to help the souls by our good works or by our own personal prayers,
penance, indulgences, and so forth. He who is in a state of sin cannot
make satisfaction for himself; how then can he do so for others? How can
he who is a captive redeem himself, or give freedom to others?
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐third Day.
The giving of alms for the benefit of the souls in purgatory, is one of
the means over which the Fathers of the Church grew eloquent. Nor indeed
is it necessary to make use of the sayings of the early Fathers, for we
can find abundant proof of the efficacy of alms related in the Holy
Scriptures. The angel Raphael said to Tobias: “Alms delivereth from death,
and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and
life everlasting.” Elsewhere we find: “Water quencheth a flaming fire, and
alms resisteth sin.” But let us listen to the Fathers of the Church. St.
Leo writes: “Alms atone for sin, destroy death, and extinguish the flames
of eternal fire.” St. Chrysostom calls alms‐giving “a heavenly ladder,
leading to God’s right hand, and a sure refuge for those who give as well
as for those who receive.” St. Paulinus praises a Roman nobleman, who on
the death of his beloved wife assembled all the poor and destitute of the
city in St. Peter’s Church, and distributed food among them in order to
comfort and help her whose loss he bewailed. And St. Hieronymus, speaking
of the same nobleman, says that while other husbands adorn their wife’s
graves with violets, roses and lilies, this one pours the balm of alms
over the sacred dust and venerable remains of his beloved wife. The
petition for alms from the worthy poor is like the knocking at your door
of a poor soul in purgatory.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐fourth Day.
What a beautiful Catholic practice is this of giving of the goods which
the good God has entrusted to us, for the benefit of the poor souls! Could
we not also set aside something for such a noble purpose? The alms we give
to the poor souls in purgatory may be likened to so many checks signed by
names dear to God, and which when presented He will not dishonor. When it
is difficult for us to give money in alms, we can at least give other
things of less value—even things that are no longer of use to us. How many
things there are in our homes that are not of the least use to us, which
if given in alms for the suffering souls might be of the greatest benefit
to us as well as to them! We give them in alms to the poor and forsaken
ones on earth, that they may benefit them as well as the poor forsaken
souls in purgatory. Perhaps you have a list of debtors, and perhaps in
that list there are many from whom you never expect to recover anything.
Why not make a promise, in case of the recovery of certain sums, to give
half to the deserving poor for the benefit of the suffering souls in
purgatory? It is not impossible that the guardian angel of purgatory may
help to restore to us money otherwise lost. Remember it is not the wealthy
alone who can give alms for this purpose, but the poor as well; at least
they can give their good‐will. Do you remember that the angels sang at the
birth of the Redeemer: “Peace on earth to men of good‐will”?
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐fifth Day.
We have the authority of Holy Scripture for the efficacy of prayers: “It
is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead.” It is holy
because it is most pleasing to God; it is wholesome because we have reason
to believe that through the infinite mercy and compassion of His Sacred
Heart, Our Lord accepts prayers offered in atonement for the sins of those
suffering in purgatory. If the prayers we offer for temporal goods are
often heard and granted, how much more so when we offer them for spiritual
goods, for the souls tenderly loved by God? Well might St. Augustine say:
“One cannot conceive a holier or more wholesome practice than praying for
the dead.” The “Imitation of Christ” has the following: “Full of love and
charity, we must remember in our prayers the souls of the faithful
departed, but particularly the souls of our parents, friends and
relations, and those who have been our benefactors on earth. For that is a
work of real love and charity. As we entertain the most earnest hopes that
we shall be remembered when we shall have departed this life, we ought to
make every effort in our power to assist them to arrive speedily at their
promised abode of bliss, and by our prayers shorten the weary days of
their pilgrimage in purgatory. And we must remember that every one who
actively assists in the deliverance of these poor souls, gains for himself
the greatest advantages. By offering his prayers for their eternal repose,
he by no means loses the fruits of those prayers, for they are remembered
to him, and are before him when his time comes to die. And moreover one is
rewarded even in this life for such prayers.”
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐sixth Day.
The holy sacrifice of the Mass is the surest and most effectual means we
possess for procuring the eternal repose and happiness of the departed.
“The sacrament of love, the revelation of unity, and the bond of
friendship,” says St. Augustine. “We pray for all who have departed this
life, with the most confident conviction that the prayers at the altar are
the most profitable to them,” says St. Cyril. And again: “Supposing a king
who was offended by a subject has banished him from his kingdom, and the
friends of the outlaw wish to restore him to the king’s favor, and for
that purpose form a deputation to the royal personage, and presenting a
costly gift, venture to plead for pardon for the offender; would not the
king comply with their request, and either grant the pardon, or mitigate
the punishment to some extent? Well, in like manner we, although sinners,
plead for pardon from the King of heaven and earth for our banished
friends, and with much surer hopes of success, for the gift we offer is
not an earthly crown, but is the body and blood of His own well‐beloved
Son, Who has bled for the sins of the whole world.” The holy sacrifice is,
I again repeat, the most effectual and the most powerful means we have for
assisting the suffering souls in purgatory.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐seventh Day.
Let me now suggest how you may act and pray during the holy sacrifice. At
the _Confiteor_ let us imagine the souls in the depths of purgatory; place
ourselves in the midst of them and hearken to their entreaties for help.
At the _Elevation_ let us say: “O my God, in memory of the painful death
Thou didst endure, have compassion on these poor souls for whom I pray. O
my God, behold Thy precious blood, which was shed for their deliverance.
Oh, let the saving fruits of this precious blood come to the poor souls,
let its cleansing streams flow into purgatory. Remember with what great
love Thou didst shed it for Thy elect, so many of whom are now languishing
in the fiery dungeon.” We can fix our eyes on the crucifix placed over the
altar; it will help us to make our supplications more direct. The thorn‐
crowned head will remind us of our superiors, spiritual and temporal,
perhaps in purgatory. The wounded right hand our parents, friends and
benefactors. The left hand the souls of those who have wished to do us
harm in life. Nor would it be amiss, while contemplating the wound in Our
Saviour’s side, to recommend one’s own soul. At the _Communion_ when we
see the sacred Host in the hands of the priest, let us consider that it is
the body of Him Who commanded us to pray for the dead. For it is He Who
said: “If you ask the Father anything in My name He will give it to you.”
Let us remind Him of His words, and implore Him by His love. This is a
favorable moment to have our prayers heard.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐eighth Day.
The Catholic doctrine of the intercession of the saints must not be lost
sight of in this series of thoughts on the November devotion. In our
wants, personal wants, spiritual and temporal, we, true to our Catholic
instinct, first address ourselves to our Mother Mary for help. We must not
forget her in the matter of the poor souls. Mary’s loving heart is not
less loving for the souls in purgatory than it was for the same souls
while in life. How can she abandon them? She never abandons a sinner on
earth. For a stronger reason she does not forget the souls of the just.
Mary loves them still, for her love is eternal. She is the Mother of Him
Who said, “I was in prison and ye visited Me;” of Him Who descended into
hell. Therefore it is an opinion well worthy of acceptance and respect,
founded on trustworthy revelations and authentic declarations, that the
Blessed Virgin assists in a most special manner the souls in purgatory.
They are souls and are poor, and therefore the Blessed Virgin loves them.
They are souls and are suffering; souls are the magnet of Mary’s heart.
Priceless is the value of a soul, and no one has better shown it than Our
Lord Himself. Satan, by offering Him the whole world, could not prevail
upon Him to fall down; but by trying to rob Him of souls he caused Him to
bow down even to the earth under the weight of the cross. But, after
Jesus, who could better know the value of a soul than Mary, who comes next
to Him in the work He did for souls?
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Twenty‐ninth Day.
Mary stood by when her Son died for the redemption of souls. But through
her whole holy life she had constantly before her mind the work He had
come to accomplish. Now she sees those souls red with the divine blood by
which they were purchased. She lives in the joys of heaven, to which all
souls are likewise destined. Her Son gave His life for the souls of men;
but she as Mother gave her Son for that purpose. Therefore the love of her
heart embraces also purgatory; and therefore she is also the loving Mother
of the souls in purgatory. The woman in the Gospel who so eagerly and
persistently sought after her lost groat, is but a faint symbol of the
love of Mary for the souls which she has lost—though only for a time—which
she sees separated from heaven, from her Son, and from herself, and
suffering in the flames of fire. She burns with love for those poor souls,
well remembering the words of her divine Son, when He said that even a cup
of water given in His name would be rewarded with the joy of heaven. And
if Jesus, while hanging on the cross, cried out, “I thirst,” which,
according to the opinion of the Holy Fathers, meant “I thirst for souls,”
can we suppose that Mary will not satisfy His desire, and still His
thirst? “Those who love and truly serve this most gentle Mother can indeed
be called fortunate, for not alone here on earth, but also hereafter in
purgatory, will she be their helper and comforter.”
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Thirtieth Day.
All the great servants of God had a great devotion to the souls in
purgatory, as we have seen. But as Our Lady is Queen of the heavenly host,
we cannot better conclude the treatment of the month than by giving the
last consideration to her. Mary loves the poor souls in purgatory, because
she has gone through a fire of tribulation—not in punishment for her sins,
for she had none—but that she might have more compassion for us, and be
more fully entitled to the name by which she is so well known, “Comforter
of the afflicted.” For this reason her life was a sea of sorrow; for this
reason she endured tribulation, poverty, exile, and persecution. For this
reason she suffered tortures of mind and soul, in the three days’ loss of
her Child, and in the more tragic separation on the cross. All these
sufferings were a real purgatory to her. Let us therefore venerate Mary,
and beg of her even now, while we still sojourn in this valley of tears,
to daily increase our ardor and give us perseverance in good works, to
obtain for us a happy death. But the best means to obtain this grace is to
imitate the love of the Blessed Virgin for the poor souls. Let us try and
be zealous in the cause of the poor souls, and often have recourse to this
Mother of mercy for the same purpose. In the recitation of the holy Rosary
we have a spiritual bunch of roses, which we can often offer to her for
the faithful departed. Let us scatter these spiritual roses plentifully
over the graves of our departed parents and friends. Mary, the Mother of
poor souls, will find them fragrant, and not only accept our offering but
also protect and guard us when our turn comes to die.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.
Mass for the Souls in Purgatory.
Before Mass.
O merciful Lord, we offer Thee the precious blood of the spotless Lamb, in
behalf of the suffering souls in purgatory, whose sole desire is to see
and glorify Thee in heaven. Open to them, O Lord, the infinite treasures
of Thy merits; apply to them the fruits of Thy Passion and death, and
through the adorable sacrifice of the Mass, release them from the debt due
to Thy sovereign justice. Amen.
Confiteor.
We confess our sins, O merciful God, in humility and sorrow of heart, and
we acknowledge that in Thy sight no one living is justified. Woe to us, if
Thou judge us according to Thy justice. To appease Thy anger, O Lord, we
recur to the unbloody sacrifice of Him Who was nailed to the cross for our
salvation, and who ceases not to intercede for us in heaven. O God of all
clemency! forgive us our sins, we entreat Thee, and forgive also the sins
committed by our deceased brethren, in the days of their mortal
pilgrimage. Let Thy mercy prevail over Thy justice, and let the voice of
the blood of Jesus plead more loudly for pardon than the voice of our
iniquities cries for vengeance. Amen.
Introit.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon
them. “To Thee is due the hymn, O God, in Sion, and to Thee shall the vow
be paid in Jerusalem.” Oh, hear my prayer: to Thee shall all flesh come.
Amen.
Kyrie.
O Jesus, show that Thou art the God of mercy, and take pity on the
suffering souls who sigh and weep for the day of their deliverance. Oh,
admit them without delay into Thy bosom!
Collect.
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of
Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins; that through pious
supplications they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired.
Amen.
Epistle.
“And we will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are
asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope. For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again: even so them who have slept
through Jesus, will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you in the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the
Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept. For the Lord Himself shall
come down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead who are in Christ,
shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up
together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so
shall we be always with the Lord. Wherefore comfort ye one another with
these words.”—1 Thess. 12‐17.
Gradual.
“The sorrows of death have compassed me: and the perils of hell have found
me. I met with trouble and sorrow: and I called on the name of the Lord. O
Lord, deliver my soul: The Lord is merciful and just, and now Our God
showeth mercy. The Lord is the keeper of little ones: I was humbled, and
He delivered me.”—Ps. cxiv. 3‐6. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and
let perpetual light shine upon them. Amen.
Gospel.
“Martha, therefore, said to Jesus: Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my
brother had not died. But now also I know that whatsoever Thou wilt ask of
God, God will give it Thee. Jesus saith to her: Thy brother shall rise
again. Martha saith to Him: I know that he shall rise again in the
resurrection, at the last day. Jesus said to her: I am the Resurrection
and the Life: he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live:
And every one that liveth, and believeth in Me, shall not die forever.
Believest thou this? She saith to Him: Yea, Lord, I have believed that
Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, Who art come into this
world.”—John xi. 21‐27.
Offertory.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of the faithful
departed from the flames of hell, and from the deep pit. Deliver them from
the lion’s mouth, lest hell swallow them; lest they fall into darkness.
And let the standard‐bearer, St. Michael, bring them into holy light,
which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and his posterity. We offer
Thee, O Lord, a sacrifice of praise and prayer: accept them in behalf of
the souls we commemorate this day, and let them pass from death to life,
which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and His posterity. Remember, O
Lord, Thy compassion, and Thy tender mercies, which are from the
beginning. For ourselves also we pray: “One favor I have asked of Thee,
and this I will seek; that I may dwell in Thy house all the days of my
life. That I may see Thy beauty, and dwell forever in Thy temple. Amen.”
Secret.
Have mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, on the souls of Thy servants [_name
them_], for whom we offer this Victim of praise, humbly beseeching Thy
majesty, that by this sacrifice they may arrive at rest eternal, through
Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Preface.
It is truly just, and reasonable, and salutary, to return Thee thanks at
all times, and in all places, O almighty Father, eternal God. Through
Jesus Christ Our Lord, and through His merits, we hope for a glorious
resurrection; so that if the sentence of death alarm and deject, the
promise of immortality consoles and animates us; for to Thy faithful
servants death is only a passage from this life to a better. Therefore we
unite with all the blessed citizens of the heavenly country in singing a
hymn to Thy glory, and saying without ceasing: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
of Sabaoth: heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord; His blood pleads for pardon, and His voice
rises ever to the throne of mercy in behalf of His miserable creatures.
Amen.
Canon.
O Father almighty, Whose kind providence extendeth to all creation, cast
an eye of pity on the souls that ardently love Thee, and whose greatest
suffering is to be separated from Thee. Remember, O Lord, that they are
the work of Thy hands, and that they have been purchased by the infinite
merits of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. Oh, will not the sound of that sweet name
move Thee to pity and forgiveness? We offer in their behalf, the precious
blood which streamed from the sacred side of our dying Redeemer on the
cross; we offer Thee the powerful intercession of the most blessed Mother
of Jesus and Queen of martyrs; we offer Thee the prayers of St. Joseph,
St. Peter, St. Paul, and all the saints, together with the earnest
supplications of Thy Church on earth; and we beseech Thee to take pity on
the souls Thou lovest so tenderly. Show them Thy glory, receive them into
Thy heart, and inundate them with that torrent of bliss, of which Thou art
the inexhaustible fountain. Amen.
Elevation.
O sacred Host! Victim of man’s salvation! be propitious to us and hear our
prayers. Precious blood of Jesus, shed to wash away the sins of mankind,
sanctify our soul, and plead for mercy for the souls in purgatory! Amen.
Pater Noster.
O divine Jesus! at Whose name every knee doth bend, in heaven, on earth,
and in hell! Sovereign Judge of the living and the dead! may Thy name be
honored by the deliverance of the souls for whom we pray. May the gates of
heaven be open to receive them, and may Thy will, which desires the
salvation of all men, be this day perfectly done in their regard. Grant
that, after having been fed on the bread of sorrow, they may be fed with
the living bread of heaven in the possession of Thyself. We implore Thy
forgiveness of the sins of our parents, friends, and benefactors,
particularly of the sins to which we unhappily have been accessory.
Preserve us from those avenging flames, which we have but too well merited
by our repeated abuse of grace, our tepidity in Thy service, and our
negligence in resisting temptation. Deliver us from sin, the greatest of
all evils, and enable us to feel and understand that it is a dreadful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Amen.
Agnus Dei.
Lamb of God, Who by death didst trample on the devil, about to seize his
helpless prey, have mercy on the souls in purgatory! Lamb of God, Who wast
offered as a sacrifice of expiation, that by Thy death we might be rescued
from the slavery of sin, have mercy on the souls in purgatory! Lamb of
God, Who wast immolated for love of us that we might pass from the region
of malediction to the true land of promise, grant eternal rest to the
souls in purgatory! Amen.
Communion.
May eternal light shine on them, O Lord, together with Thy saints forever,
for Thou art merciful. Grant them, O Lord, eternal rest, and let perpetual
light shine upon them. Amen.
Post‐Communion.
O God, Who willest that while we pray for the souls in purgatory, we
should at the same time remember the most essential of our duties, grant
us through Thy infinite merits and unbounded charity, the pardon of our
past negligences. We will not defer the all‐important duty of penance,
lest it soon be too late to discharge our debts to Thee. We will fervently
and perseveringly pray for the souls in purgatory, and apply to them also
the fruits of our almsdeeds and exercises of mortification. O bountiful
God! bless these resolutions, and strengthen us to observe them
faithfully. Amen.
Last Gospel.
“I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the Last Day I shall rise out of
the earth: and I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I
shall see my God. Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and
not another. This my hope is laid up in my bosom.”—Job xix. 25‐27. After
having sat in darkness, and dwelt amidst the shades of death, we shall
rise to the contemplation of eternal life forever! “In Thee, O Lord, have
I hoped: let me never be confounded!” Amen.
The Litany of the Saints.
_Ant._ Remember not, O Lord, our offences, nor those of our parents;
neither take Thou vengeance of our sins.
Lord, have mercy on us.
_Lord, have mercy on us._
Christ, have mercy on us.
_Christ, have mercy on us._
Lord, have mercy on us.
_Lord, have mercy on us._
Christ, hear us.
_Christ, graciously hear us._
God the Father of heaven, _Have mercy on us._
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, _Have mercy on us._
God the Holy Ghost, _Have mercy on us._
Holy Trinity, one God, _Have mercy on us._
Holy Mary, _Pray for us._
Holy Mother of God, _Pray for us._
Holy Virgin of virgins, _Pray for us._
Saint Michael, _Pray for us._
Saint Gabriel, _Pray for us._
Saint Raphael, _Pray for us._
All ye holy angels and archangels, _Pray for us._
All ye holy orders of blessed spirits, _Pray for us._
Saint John Baptist, _Pray for us._
Saint Joseph, _Pray for us._
All ye holy patriarchs and prophets, _Pray for us._
Saint Peter, _Pray for us._
Saint Paul, _Pray for us._
Saint Andrew, _Pray for us._
Saint James, _Pray for us._
Saint John, _Pray for us._
Saint Thomas, _Pray for us._
Saint James, _Pray for us._
Saint Philip, _Pray for us._
Saint Bartholomew, _Pray for us._
Saint Matthew, _Pray for us._
Saint Simon, _Pray for us._
Saint Thaddeus, _Pray for us._
Saint Matthias, _Pray for us._
Saint Barnabas, _Pray for us._
Saint Luke, _Pray for us._
Saint Mark, _Pray for us._
All ye holy apostles and evangelists, _Pray for us._
All ye holy disciples of the Lord, _Pray for us._
All ye holy innocents, _Pray for us._
St. Stephen, _Pray for us._
St. Lawrence, _Pray for us._
St. Vincent, _Pray for us._
SS. Fabian and Sebastian, _Pray for us._
SS. John and Paul, _Pray for us._
SS. Cosmas and Damian, _Pray for us._
SS. Gervase and Protase, _Pray for us._
All ye holy martyrs, _Pray for us._
Saint Sylvester, _Pray for us._
Saint Gregory, _Pray for us._
Saint Ambrose, _Pray for us._
Saint Augustine, _Pray for us._
Saint Jerome, _Pray for us._
Saint Martin, _Pray for us._
Saint Nicholas, _Pray for us._
All ye holy bishops and confessors, _Pray for us._
All ye holy doctors, _Pray for us._
Saint Anthony, _Pray for us._
Saint Benedict, _Pray for us._
Saint Bernard, _Pray for us._
Saint Dominic, _Pray for us._
Saint Francis, _Pray for us._
All ye holy priests and Levites, _Pray for us._
All ye holy monks and hermits, _Pray for us._
Saint Mary Magdalen, _Pray for us._
Saint Agatha, _Pray for us._
Saint Lucy, _Pray for us._
Saint Agnes, _Pray for us._
Saint Cecilia, _Pray for us._
Saint Catharine, _Pray for us._
Saint Anastasia, _Pray for us._
All ye holy virgins and widows, _Pray for us._
All ye holy men and women, saints of God, _Make intercession for us._
Be merciful, _Spare us, O Lord._
Be merciful, _Graciously hear us, O Lord._
From all dangers that threaten us, _O Lord, deliver us._
From all evil, _O Lord, deliver us._
From all sin, _O Lord, deliver us._
From Thy wrath, _O Lord, deliver us._
From all dangers that threaten us, _O Lord, deliver us._
From the scourge of earthquakes, _O Lord, deliver us._
From sudden and unlooked‐for death, _O Lord, deliver us._
From the snares of the devil, _O Lord, deliver us._
From anger, hatred, and every evil will, _O Lord, deliver us._
From the spirit of fornication, _O Lord, deliver us._
From lightning and tempest, _O Lord, deliver us._
From everlasting death, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through the mystery of Thy holy incarnation, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through Thy coming, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through Thy nativity, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through Thy baptism and holy fasting, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through Thy cross and Passion, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through Thy death and burial, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through Thy holy resurrection, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through Thine admirable ascension, _O Lord, deliver us._
Through the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, _O Lord, deliver us._
In the day of judgment, _O Lord, deliver us._
We sinners, _Beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst spare us, _We beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst pardon us, _We beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst bring us to true penance, _We beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to govern and preserve Thy holy Church, _We
beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to preserve our Apostolic Prelate, and all
orders of the Church in holy religion, _We beseech Thee, hear
us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to humble the enemies of holy Church, _We
beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give peace and true concord to Christian
kings and princes, _We beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant peace and unity to all Christian
people, _We beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to confirm and preserve us in Thy holy
service, _We beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst lift up our minds to heavenly desires, _We beseech Thee,
hear us._
That Thou wouldst render eternal blessings to all our benefactors, _We
beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst deliver our souls and the souls of our brethren,
relations, and benefactors, from eternal damnation, _We
beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give and preserve the fruits of the earth,
_We beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant eternal rest to all the faithful
departed, _We beseech Thee, hear us._
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe graciously to hear us, _We beseech Thee, hear
us._
Son of God, _We beseech Thee, hear us._
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, _Spare us, O Lord!_
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, _Graciously hear us, O
Lord!_
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, _Have mercy on us!_
Christ, hear us.
_Christ, graciously hear us._
Lord, have mercy on us.
_Christ, have mercy on us._
Lord, have mercy on us.
Our Father (_secretly_).
_V._ And lead us not into temptation,
_R._ But deliver us from evil.
Psalm LXIX.
_Deus in Adjutorium._
O God, come to my assistance: O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek after my soul.
Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils unto
me.
Let them be straightway turned backward, blushing for shame, that say to
me: ’Tis well, ’tis well.
Let all that seek Thee be joyful and glad in Thee: and let such as love
Thy salvation say always, The Lord be magnified.
But I am needy and poor: O God, help me.
Thou art my helper and my deliverer: O Lord, make no long delay.
Glory be, etc.
_V._ Save Thy servants,
_R._ Who hope in Thee, O my God.
_V._ Be unto us, O Lord, a tower of strength.
_R._ From the face of the enemy.
_V._ Let not the enemy prevail against us.
_R._ Nor the son of iniquity approach to hurt us.
_V._ O Lord, deal not with us according to our sins.
_R._ Neither requite us according to our iniquities.
_V._ Let us pray for our Sovereign Pontiff [N.].
_R._ The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon
the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.
_V._ Let us pray for our benefactors.
_R._ Vouchsafe, O Lord, for Thy name’s sake, to reward with eternal life
all them that do us good. Amen.
_V._ Let us pray for the faithful departed.
_R._ Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine
upon them.
_V._ Let them rest in peace.
_R._ Amen.
_V._ For our absent brethren.
_R._ Save Thy servants, who hope in Thee, O my God.
_V._ Send them help, O Lord, from the sanctuary.
_R._ And defend them out of Sion.
_V._ O Lord, hear my prayer.
_R._ And let my cry come unto Thee.
_Let Us Pray._
O God, Whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, receive our
humble petition, that we, and all Thy servants who are bound by the chain
of sin, may, by the compassion of Thy goodness, mercifully be absolved.
Graciously hear, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the prayers of Thy suppliants,
and forgive the sins of them that confess to Thee; that, in Thy bounty,
Thou mayest grant us both pardon and peace.
Show forth upon us, O Lord, in Thy mercy, Thy unspeakable loving kindness;
that Thou mayest both loose us from all our sins and deliver us from the
punishments which we deserve for them.
O God, Who by sin art offended, and by penance pacified, mercifully regard
the prayers of Thy people making supplication to Thee, and turn away the
scourges of Thine anger, which we deserve for our sins.
Almighty, everlasting God, have mercy upon Thy servant [N.], our Sovereign
Pontiff, and direct him, according to Thy clemency, into the way of
everlasting salvation; that by Thy grace he may both desire those things
that are pleasing to Thee and perform them with all his strength.
O God, from Whom all holy desires, all right counsels, and all just works
do come, give unto Thy servants that peace which the world cannot give;
that our hearts being devoted to Thy commandments, and the fear of our
enemies being taken away, our times, by Thy protection, may be peaceful.
Inflame, O Lord, our reins and heart with the fire of the Holy Ghost; that
we may serve Thee with a chaste body, and please Thee with a clean heart.
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of
Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins; that through pious
supplications they may obtain the pardon which they have always desired.
Prompt, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thy inspirations, and
further them with Thy continual help; that every prayer and work of ours
may always begin from Thee, and through Thee be likewise ended.
Almighty, everlasting God, Who hast dominion over the living and the dead,
and art merciful to all whom Thou foreknowest will be Thine by faith and
works: we humbly beseech Thee that they for whom we intend to pour forth
our prayers, whether this present world still detain them in the flesh, or
the world to come hath already received them stripped of their mortal
bodies, may, by the grace of Thy loving kindness, and by the intercession
of all the saints, obtain the remission of all their sins. Through Thy Son
Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of
the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
_R._ Amen.
_V._ O Lord, hear my prayer.
_R._ And let my cry come unto Thee.
_V._ May the almighty and merciful Lord graciously hear us.
_R._ Amen.
_V._ And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
_R._ Amen.
The Seven Penitential Psalms.
Ant. Remember not, O Lord, our offences, nor those of our parents, and
take not revenge on our sins.
Psalm VI.
_Domine ne in furore._
O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy indignation, nor chastise me in Thy wrath.
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, O Lord, for my bones are
troubled.
And my soul is troubled exceedingly: but Thou, O Lord, how long?
Turn to me, O Lord, and deliver my soul: Oh, save me for Thy mercy’s sake.
For there is no one in death that is mindful of Thee: and who shall
confess to Thee in hell?
I have labored in my groanings, every night I will wash my bed: I will
water my couch with my tears.
My eye is troubled through indignation: I have grown old amongst all my
enemies.
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the
voice of my weeping.
The Lord hath heard my supplication: the Lord hath received my prayer.
Let all my enemies be ashamed, and be very much troubled: let them be
turned back, and be ashamed very speedily.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Psalm XXXI.
_Beati quorum._
Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin, and in whose
spirit there is no guile.
Because I was silent my bones grew old, whilst I cried out all the day
long.
For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: I am turned in my anguish
whilst the thorn is fastened.