Please Pray for the Dead

 I've been reading this book this month, 

the month of the Holy Souls.

I've learned quite a few things about Purgatory.

One thing, is that we Catholics are not the only ones that pray for the dead!

This was a Jewish custom and in fact, Orthodox Jewish still pray for the dead.

Please go 

HERE

for biblical proof of Purgatory. 

I'd try to explain it but he does a much better job than I'd do!

I love that Everything we Catholics do is BIBLICAL!! 

I am black and white, I need that order, that backing so to speak.

I've always thought of Purgatory as a place of cleansing.

A place where the soul wants to be, to be purified for God.

Now, Yes, Jesus died for us, for our sins.

But sin is sin and the soul knows it.

The flames of Purgatory is the yearning the soul has for God.

The way I understand it is

each day in Purgatory is one day closer to God 

so there is Joy and a yearning pain at the same time.
The soul wants to be there.
The soul knows that he is going to Heaven.
  

Last week, I couldn't go to my holy hour 

because I wanted to go to my uncle's funeral.

On the way there, I had this pain in my heart, 

upon the realization of not seeing Jesus that day.

This pain is yearning.  It brought me to tears.  

I think that is a very small example of what Purgatory will be like.

It's a love.  

The Love we have for our Father in Heaven.

The love and desire to be perfect for Him.  

St Faustina Kowalska relates in her diary, her mystical experience

of the complete moral self-insight that one day will be revealed to every man at the particular judgement after death:

Once I was summoned to the judgement (seat) of God, I stood alone before the Lord.  Jesus appeared such as we know Him during His Passion...Suddenly I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it.  I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God.  I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for.  What a Moment!  Who can describe it?  To stand before the Thrice-Holy God!  Jesus asked me, "Who are you?" "You are guilty of one day in purgatory."  I wanted to throw myself immediately into the flames of purgatory,

 but Jesus stopped me.  

From Hungry Souls:

"St Faustina transmits the awfulness of the soul's confrontation with the Eternal, 

its insight that perfect holiness is required before it can enjoy God's presence--the smallest imperfections having more weight than even a pure soul as Faustina's had been aware--and the instinctive impulse of the soul to be cleansed, even in the flames of Purgatory."

This book also explains that ANY spiritualist phenomena, 

or so called manifestations of the dead during states of trance, hypnosis, or at a spiritualist and other magic or occult sessions: they are by no means the departed persons they pretend to be, but hoaxes or demonic imposters. 

This makes me think of mediums claiming to be "Catholic" and yet 

going against the Church and continuing to delve into this kind of phenomena.

Poor souls are not sensitive to commands to vanish in the Name of God, or in the Name of Jesus.

Their anxious begging for help signals hope for deliverance.

 The sad thing is that I don't think many people give much thought 

to what happens to the soul after death, except that it goes to Heaven.

I think that most people think that almost everyone goes to Heaven.

This is one of the greatest tragedies. 

The souls in Purgatory, having no one to pray for them, 

all their loved ones believing they are already in Heaven.

Pray, Pray, Pray...

They need our prayers

 Another book, I'm going to read again (in Texas this winter)

is Get Us Out of Here!

This book is Maria Simma's accounts of the Poor Souls that appeared to her, 

begging for prayers.  

This book is SO good!! 

You can find it HERE

 If you click on this picture you can see my Little Red in the background, getting ready to run!
(stinker)

Pray for the dead, pray rosaries, offer Masses, 

never give up praying for them!

Last week we had some of our Catholic Homeschool Youth 

 (32 of them) over for a walk to the graveyard 

(up the hill, down the hill, through the woods, and across the field)

to pray for the Holy Souls

I gave a short talk on Purgatory, indulgences  

and a little about St Gertrude and the prayer given to her from Jesus:

Eternal Father, 

I offer you the most precious

Blood of Your Divine Son,

Jesus, in union with the Masses said

throughout the world today, 

for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, 

for sinners in the Universal Church, 

those in my own home, 

and within my family.

Amen.

(This prayer was given to St Gertrude and Jesus promised that every time it was said, 1,000 souls would be released from Purgatory and allowed into God's Presence)

The saints knew of Purgatory!!

 

 Here we are walking across the field

 After my short talk, the kids got to explore and try to find the oldest grave.

We also have a section where all the babies that were miscarried during the year 

are buried through our Catholic hospital in town.  

Several of us went over there. 

Instant tears, I tell you, instant. 

 We caught this beautiful sunset on our way home...

 Then it got loud and a little crazy....

 We had pizza, pop, snacks and lots of fun!

 We broke into 2 groups (16 kids each)

 And played Minute to Win it games!!

 M&M Suck it (I named this one)

 Face the Cookie

 Stack Attack!
The parent helpers were awesome! 

 Guess the Candy amount to win the candy!!

 Have you ever made this?  Tastes exactly like Salted Nut Rolls...

The games were a lot of fun, but next time, 

I think we'll set up several places where the games can be going on at the same time, 

it seemed like there was a lot of waiting around...and then the non game players 

got bored...but most had fun, I think!
 My daughter heard kids talking about it the next day after Mass and she said they had fun!

My own kids thanked and thanked me over and over 

for a fun night!!

Please pray for the Holy Souls!!

I've always had a love for the Poor Souls

I have a hard time writing about it, for fear of not doing justice, 

but my goal here is to make people aware and to hopefully pray more!