All Souls...

This post may be a repeat... (I would have to check my entries from past Novembers. It is the introduction to the booklet pictured below).

"It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." 2 Macc. 12:46

"There shall not enter into it anything defiled…" Apoc. 21:27

Praying for the souls of the dead is a tradition which goes back to our Jewish heritage. Judas Machebeus collected silver to send to Jerusalem to be offered for the sins of those fallen in battle. He understood that nothing unclean or defiled could stand before God and therefore provided for the offerings for the souls of those who had died so that they could see God. Reading of the Psalms bears out this understanding: "Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or who shall rest in thy holy hill? He that walketh without blemish …" (Ps. 14:1-2)

Our Catholic heritage is no less rich in the theology of praying for the souls of our beloved departed.

In the gospel of St. Matthew, in the parable of the unjust servant, our Lord tells us that our debts must be paid. ("And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt" - Mt. 18:34).

St. Paul says that we are saved only through fire (1 Cor. 3:15). St. Peter likens our trials to gold being tested by fire. (1 Peter 1:7).

The councils of Lyons II (1274 A.D.), Florence (1439 A.D.) and Trent (1563 A.D.) reaffirmed earlier traditions in the Church of the existence and purpose of purgatory – that place where those who have departed in the love of God but before complete satisfaction has been made for their sins may be purged in order that they can approach God unblemished. Further, the custom and tradition of the Church Militant – the faithful left here on earth – of praying, sacrificing, and giving alms on behalf of those souls in purgatory to make satisfaction for their sins and thus to shorten their time of purging, was reaffirmed by these councils also.

Purgatory is truly a grace of God because it is the nature of God which demands that those approaching be unblemished, and thus without purgatory, many would never reach Heaven. St. Catherine of Genoa wrote that the soul, upon death, finally free of worldly attachments, is able to see itself as it really is; seeing the stains from its sins and desiring God, the soul throws itself into the fires of purgatory to be cleansed in preparation for the audience with God.

These holy souls in purgatory, the Church Suffering, can not help themselves. The Church Triumphant, those who have entered into their Heavenly reward; the Church Suffering; and the Church Militant – these three are in reality one Communion of Saints. As the Church Militant we ask the Church Triumphant to intercede for us before God; we offer our prayers, fasting, and almsgiving to aid the Church Suffering. At every Mass during the Eucharistic Prayer, we pray for the souls of our departed loved ones, those gone before us "marked with the sign of faith."

With all this Catholic tradition, however, it seems that prayers for the holy souls in purgatory have waned as a private devotion in recent years. Funeral notices for Catholics rarely plead for Masses to be said for the departed. The Truth that God is all-merciful has been distorted to exclude the notion of purgatory – even though this exclusion distorts the true nature of God and the true nature of God’s mercy.

The prayers in this booklet are not new and are not an anthology of all the beautiful prayers written over the centuries for the holy souls. Herein are simple prayers, one for each day of the week. The prayers follow Christ’s way of the cross in petitioning for the Holy Souls. Each daily prayer is followed by the recitation of Psalm 129. Psalm 129 is especially appropriate as a prayer for the Holy Souls and for us, as it calls on us to contemplate more deeply our need to trust in God and the mercy we must receive from Him for our salvation. Psalm 129 also expresses the deep longing the souls in purgatory have for God as they cry to Him "de profundis" – "out of the depths".

It is hoped that this simple exercise, taking less than two minutes every day, will become a habitual and devout practice among the Church Militant so that the Church Suffering may be aided and granted their deepest longings.

This practice too, will help us advance in our own spiritual life. These prayers will help us to contemplate more fully our own day of judgment, our own longing for God, and our devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the altar. The devout practice of prayer and sacrifice for the holy souls focuses our attention on our own sinfulness and on our own need for God’s mercy. This act of charity for our suffering brethern will help us to become less selfish and more detached from the worldliness around us. The more we love, the more we have the capacity to accept God’s love for us.

Since the practice of praying for the souls in purgatory has slowed - many, many souls are waiting and longing for God; with no help coming from us. We need to bemore prayerful. We need to pray for our priests and bishops - and for those priests and bishops suffering in purgatory. We need to pray for our family and friends – and for those family and friends suffering in purgatory. We need to pray for the conversion of sinners – and for those suffering in purgatory who have no one praying for them.

By praying for these souls that long for God, may our own longing for God be increased.

Oremus pro invicem! – Let us pray for each other!