During November the Church traditionally prays for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
These Souls are Holy because they are destined for heaven. They have passed beyond death, and can already see God. They know how much he loves them, and they long to be united with him, but they’re in Purgatory because they need to be purified of all that is unholy.
You can play a part in their purification. When you lift them up in your prayers, you give them a gift.
It is the most important gift you can give to those no longer with us in this world, and they thank you for it.
Remember that one day, your turn will come to thank those who are praying for you down here, praying that your soul will be united to God in heaven.
During the trial for his life, Jesus was abandoned by all of those who ought to have spoken up for him.
Saint Peter didn’t have the courage to admit being a disciple, and he betrayed Jesus three times. Then we read how Jesus came out, and turned, and looked at Peter. And we read how Peter fled from the gaze of Jesus and wept bitterly. That sense of shame must be a bit like Purgatory. The Lord will look at us full of love, and we experience shame and remorse for all the ways we have betrayed him here on earth.
Only after this purifying pain will we be able to meet his loving gaze and stand before him, face to face. We help the faithful departed by holding them up in our prayers, turning them to face the mercy of God. And for that, we do them a great service.
This is an extract from an essay on Purgatory by a famous Catholic writer called Ronald Knox:
“ To wake up after death is not like waking up after an operation, from the ordinary life of yesterday or today into the ordinary life of tomorrow. It is like waking up from a dream world into the real world, hitherto unexperienced… and Purgatory is the interlude in which the dream world of yesterday is forgotten, and tomorrow, somehow, grows gradually more real as the mounting light of day begins to heal us with its warmth.”
May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
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