Did you ever hear of Saint Odilo? I hadn't until very recently. Among his other accomplishments, he established All Souls Day (November 2nd) in monasteries, and from there it spread throughout the rest of the Church. I was happy to hear that the USA has a parish, St. Odilo Church in Berwyn, illinois, dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
St. Odilo Church is the only parish in the United States dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory. It was founded and sanctioned as the Shrine of the Poor Souls by His Eminence, George Cardinal Mundelein, in 1928, with a special indulgence of 200 days granted upon each visit to the shrine.
Who Was St. Odilo?
Fr. Anthony Brankin, pastor of the Shrine of the Poor Souls, teaches how and why we pray for the dead. He wrote:
"If every sin is an act of selfishness, then it must be compensated for by an act of love. Now the act of love, can be a prayer or a sacrifice done out of love. To offer up a sacrifice means that if we offer up our sufferings out of love for Jesus, we are taking our place on the cross with Him."
"Every Mass is our chance to be joined with Jesus in His sacrifice. And every prayer—every suffering—every pain—every inconvenience that we offer up to God in love is also our being on the Cross with Him."
For the rest of Father Brankin's words, written in the parish bulletin, read: Ramblings - Fr. Brankin
No comments:
Post a Comment