Saturday 28 October 2017

5 Ways to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory (1)

October 28-29, 2017. 30th  Sunday in Ordinary Time.

From Rosary Crusade Australia:
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 8, 7pm
NATIONAL ROSARY CRUSADE
Australia ! It’s time to unite our voices in prayer
Join us for the ROSARY CRUSADE
In light of current events in Australia, the call to unite our voices, hearts and spirits in PRAYER has never been more important. Christians are facing persecution and threats to our religious freedom like no other time in the history of  this great nation.
We will pray the Rosary for these specific intentions:

he attack on marriage and the family.
the push for the legalisation of euthanasia; and the push for the legalisation of abortion.
 
“ Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.”   -   Blessed Pope Pius IX

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Praying for the souls of those who have died is an  ancient practice of the Church -- here's how to do it this November. by Philip Kosloski 

November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory and the faithful are encouraged not only to remember the passing of relatives and friends, but most importantly to pray for the souls of the deceased. Praying for the souls of those who have died is an ancient practice of the Church, one that is based on the Catholic teaching regarding Purgatory.
   
The Catechism offers a brief explanation regarding this state in the afterlife: “The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect… As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that  certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come” (CCC 1031).
   
“[E]very sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory” (CCC 1472).
    
On account of this reality, the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy explains, “Hence derives the pious custom of suffrage for the souls of the faithful departed, which is an   urgent supplication of God to have mercy on the souls of the dead, to purify them by the fire of His charity, and to bring them to His kingdom of light and life. This suffrage is a cultic expression of faith in the communion of saints. Indeed, ‘the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honoured with great respect the memory of the dead; and “because it is a holy and a whole-some thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins” (2 Mac 12, 46) she offers her suffrages for them.’” 
   
It is a Spiritual Work of Mercy to pray for the souls of the faithful departed, imploring God to purify the souls of the dead “by the fire of His charity” and to bring them at last to their Heavenly Home.

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