THE CRY OF THE SOULS IN PURGATORY TO US

THE CRY OF THE SOULS IN PURGATORY TO US

by Rev. John Evangelist Zollner, 1884

"Friend, lend me three loaves."--Luke, 11: 5

The efficacy of continued, fervent prayer, our dear Lord one day illustrated to His disciples by a very consoling example: A man went to a friend’s house at midnight, asking him to lend him three loaves of bread, because he had nothing to set before a friend of his who had come off his journey to visit him. We may easily imagine, that this petition, at midnight, was very inopportune to the friend, who with his children, had retired to rest for the night; he, therefore, refused the petitioner, in these words: "Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee."--Luke, 11:7. 

Why have a Mass for a Deceased Loved One?

Why have a Mass for a Deceased Loved One?

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Q: When a Mass is said for the soul of a deceased loved one, does this help lessen the soul's time in purgatory?

A: Just as we pray for others here on earth, we are encouraged by the Church to pray for souls who may be in purgatory. Why? We are all in need of grace to come into the perfection of charity. We cannot enter heaven if we have not been completely cleansed of sin and all punishment due to sin. See Catechism of the Catholic Church #1031 and 1472

Nov. 1-8 visits to cemetery for Holy Souls

The current ecclesiastical regulations in force are as follows:
On All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the Poor Souls, is granted to those who visit any parish church or public oratory and there recite one Our Father and one Credo.
On all the days from November 1 though November 8 inclusive, a plenary indulgence applicable only to the poor souls is granted to those who visit a cemetery and pray (even if only mentally) for the departed.