Indulgences for Souls in Purgatory

1.  A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted to the faithful who,

 1.  on any and each day from November 1 to 8, devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, if only    mentally, for the departed;

2.  on All Souls' Day (or, according to the judgment of the ordinary, on the Sunday preceding or following it, or on the solemnity of All Saints), devoutly visit a church or an oratory and recite an Our Father and the Creed.

2.  A partial indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted to the faithful who

1.  devoutly visit a cemetery and at least mentally pray for the dead;

2.  devoutly recite lauds or vespers from the Office of the Dead or the prayer Eternal rest.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.  May they rest in peace.  (Order of Christian Funerals)

~ From the Manual of Indulgences ~

~  From EWTN:  General Conditions for Receiving Indulgences ~ 

St. Jean Vianney: Value of Offering Jesus and His Merits to the Eternal Father

My children, you remember the story I have told you already of that holy priest who was praying for his friend; God had, it appears, made known to him that he was in Purgatory; it came into his mind that he could do nothing better than to offer the holy Sacrifice of the Mass for his soul. When he came to the moment of Consecration, he took the Host in his hands and said, "O Holy and Eternal Father, let us make an exchange. You have the soul of my friend who is in Purgatory, and I have the Body of Your Son, Who is in my hands; well, deliver my friend, and I will offer You Your Son, with all the merits of His Death and Passion." In fact, at the moment of the elevation, he saw the soul of his friend rising to Heaven, all radiant with glory. Well, my children, when we want to obtain anything from the good God, let us do the same; after Holy Communion, let us offer Him His well-beloved Son, with all the merits of His death and His Passion. He will not be able to refuse us anything.

~ St. Jean Vianney ~

Resurrection Reminders

“Of all the things of life, a happy death is our principal concern.

For if we attain that, it matters little if we lose all the rest.

But if we do not attain that, nothing else is of any value.”

~ Blessed Junipero Serra ~

St. Francis of Assisi: Eternal Consequences of Dying in Unrepented Mortal Sin

"We should all realize that no matter where or how a man dies,

if he is in the state of mortal sin and does not repent,

 when he could have done so and did not,

the Devil tears his soul from his body with such anguish and distress

 that only a person who has experienced it can appreciate it. "

~ St. Francis of Assisi ~

~ Is It a Mortal Sin to Miss Mass on Sunday? ~
~ Is Missing Sunday Mass a Mortal Sin? ~

Grateful Intercession of Souls in Purgatory for Their Friends

THE PRINTER OF COLOGNE

The celebrated printer of Cologne, William Freyssen, gives us the following account of how his child and wife were restored to health by the Holy Souls.

William Freyssen got the order to print a little work on Purgatory. When he was correcting the proofs, his attention was caught by the facts narrated in the book. He learned for the first time what wonders the Holy Souls can work for their friends.

Just at that time his son fell grievously ill, and soon the case became desperate. Remembering what he had read about the power of the Holy Souls, Freyssen at once promised to spread, at his own expense, a hundred copies of the book which his firm was printing. To make the promise more solemn, he went to the church and there made his vow. At once a sense of peace and confidence filled his soul. On his return home, the boy, who had been unable to swallow a drop of water, asked for food. Next day he was out of danger and soon completely cured.

At once, Freyssen ordered the books on Purgatory to be distributed, feeling sure that it was the best way to obtain help for the suffering souls, by interesting a hundred people in them. No one who knows what the Poor Souls suffer can refuse to pray for them.

Time passed, and a new sorrow fell to the share of the printer. This time his dear wife was stricken down and, despite every care, grew daily worse. She lost the use of her mind and was almost completely paralyzed, so that the doctor gave up all hope.

The husband, bethinking him of what the Holy Souls had done for his boy, again ran to the church and promised to distribute 200 of the books on Purgatory, begging in exchange the urgent succor of the Holy Souls.

Wonderful to relate, the mental aberration ceased, his wife's mind became normal, and she recovered the use of her limbs and of her tongue. In a short time she was perfectly restored to health.

~ Excerpt from Read Me Or Rue It by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P. ~

St. Catherine of Genoa: Reproaches to Persons in This World

And thus this blessed Soul, illuminated by the divine ray, said: “Would that I could utter so

strong a cry that it would strike all men with terror, and say to them: O wretched beings! why are

you so blinded by this world that you make, as you will find at the hour of death, no provision for

the great necessity that will then come upon you?

“You shelter yourselves beneath your hope in the mercy of God, which you unceasingly exalt,

not seeing that it is your resistance to His great goodness which will be your condemnation. His

goodness should constrain you to His will, not encourage you to persevere in your own. Since His

justice is unfailing it must needs be in some way fully satisfied.

“Have not the boldness to say: ‘I will go to confession and gain a plenary indulgence and thus

I shall be saved.’ Remember that the full confession and entire contrition which are requisite to

gain a plenary indulgence are not easily attained. Did you know how hardly they are come by, you

would tremble with fear and be more sure of losing than of gaining them."

~ Excerpt from Treatise on Purgatory by St. Catherine of Genoa ~

St. Paul of the Cross: The Perfecting of a Soul

"Fancy a sculptor who sends for a piece of wood which he wishes to form into a fine statue. The wood-choppers carry to his shop a rough and shapeless log. The sculptor begins to smooth it down, using first the hatchet, then the saw, afterwards the plane, and finally the chisel. What does the wood do ? Does it make any resistance ? No, it allows itself to be worked upon until it becomes a beautiful statue.

"Thus acts the Divine Artist. With a view of freeing the soul from her imperfections and, as it were, of polishing her, He permits the demons to torment her by temptations, and then He tries her by means of aridities and desolations. If she bears these trials with patience and longanimity, she perfects herself and becomes a very beautiful statue, worthy of a place in the art gallery of heaven."

~ St. Paul of the Cross ~