November 2, All Souls Day, the one day in the calendar year that we Catholics pay special attention to critical need to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. On this day, all Masses are offered for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and it remains a Holy Day of Obligation.
To supplement what we hear from our parishes and pastors on November 2 and throughout the month of November, the Catholic Business Journal includes here the beautiful prayer of St. Gertrude the Great, which may be said at any time, and other references.
Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great
Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great that the following prayer would release 1,000 souls from Purgatory each time it is said. Approval and recommendation by M. Cardinal Pahiarca at Lisbon, Portugal, on March 4, 1936.
O, Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal church, for those in my own home and within my family. Amen
About St. Gertrude
As culled primarily from an article published by Our Lady of the Rosary Library in Kentucky, St. Gertrude was a Benedictine nun who lived the mystic life of the cloister. She meditated on the Passion of Christ, which often brought a flood of tears to her eyes. She performed many penances and Our Lord frequently appeared to her, as verified by her spiritual director and by the Church. She had a tender love for the Blessed Virgin and was especially devoted to the suffering souls in Purgatory. St. Gertrude died in 1334, and the Church celebrates her feast on November 16.
The Holy Souls will repay us a thousand times over!
Who can be in more urgent need of our charity than the souls in Purgatory? What hunger, or thirst, or dire sufferings on earth can compare to their dreadful torments? Neither the poor, nor the sick, nor the suffering whom we see around us have such an urgent need of our help! Yet we find many goodhearted people who interest themselves in every other type of suffering, but alas, scarcely one person who works for the Holy Souls.
Yet who can have more claim on us? Among these Holy Souls may be our mothers and fathers, our friends and relatives. Having already run their earthly lives, they can no longer pray for themselves. It is up to us.
When these Holy Souls who now suffer in Purgatory are finally released from their pains and enjoy the beatitude of Heaven, they do not forget those who have prayed for them on earth. Instead, their gratitude for our prayers knows no bounds. Prostrate before the throne of God, they never cease to pray for those who helped them! By their prayers, these Holy Souls shield their friends from many dangers and protect them from the evils by which we on earthare threatened.
To learn more about the Holy Souls in Purgatory, go to http://www.CatholicBusinessJournal.net.
Recommended books include:
Praying in the Presence of Our Lord for the Holy Souls, by Fr. Benedict Groeschel
Stories about Purgatory and What They Reveal
The Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, by Susan Tassone
Charity for the Suffering Souls, by Reb. John A. Nageleisen
Thirty Day Devotoins for the Holy Souls