Transalpine Redemptorists: Purgatorian Archconfraternity

“Oh no! That is not sufficient. It is the Blood of Jesus Christ that is needed to extinguish the flames by which I am consumed; it is the August Sacrifice that will deliver me from these frightful torments.”

(A Soul from Purgatory to Bl Henry Suso)

Father Michael Mary: The Purgatorian Archconfraternity is a Church approved practical application of our good intention to assist the souls of our beloved dead by having as many Masses said for them as possible. They are unable to help themselves and need our help. It is not a new idea. From the earliest times Catholics have done what they could to help the souls of their loved ones to reach heaven. I think for example of St. Monica who died in 387AD. When she was dying she was anxious for but one thing: that she be remembered after her death in the offering of the Holy Mass. Her words to her two sons are so well known: “Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” One of her sons was a bishop she had access to many Masses. She asked for them. The other son would also have had Masses said for his mother. Now the Purgatorian Archconfraternity is a continuation of a tradition that goes back to these earliest times of the Church. Catholics have always promised to offer Mass or to have Mass offered for the souls of their loved ones. In time formal associations came into being. The Middle Ages were the high point in the development of these purgatorian societies. With the terrible chaos of the Protestant Revolt there also came the disappearance of the great mediaeval purgatorian associations. In modern times the most important purgatorian society, and the one that our Purgatorian Archconfraternity is modeled on is the Redemptorist one which was founded in Rome in 1841. Its full name is the “Archconfraternity for the Relief of the Poor Souls in Purgatory under the title of the Assumption of Mary in the Redemptorist church of Santa Maria in Monterone at Rome.” This is our model and as traditional Catholics we carry on what seems to have been discarded in the chaos and upheaval of the post Vatican II era. We have returned to the obligations of offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day for the living and dead who are the members of the Purgatorian Archconfraternity.

~ Purgatorian Archconfraternity website ~

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