(Photo: Dante's Purgatorio)
(a) There will be no purgatory after the general judgment.
(b) Since we do not know how long individual souls are detained in purgatory, there is need for persevering prayer for the repose of the souls of all those who die after reaching the use of reason, except those who are canonized or beatified by the Church.
(c) The souls in purgatory are certain of entering heaven as soon as God's justice has been fully satisfied. (Source: The Baltimore Catechism, no. 3, Lesson 14.)
It is the DUTY of all Catholics to pray for the Church Suffering! Those who pray for the holy souls during their earthly life can be assured of a greater share in the prayers of the living during their own purgatory. Have mercy on them and say the following prayer often.
PRAYER OF ST. GERTRUDE THE GREAT
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 and for sinners everywhere -- for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home and in my own family. Amen.
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 and for sinners everywhere -- for sinners in the universal Church, for those in my own home and in my own family. Amen.
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5 comments:
It's been a really long time since I read Dante, but I believe that illustration shows the souls waiting to get into Purgatory. The first souls Dante (that is, the hero of the story) meets in The Purgatorio are those who put off repentance; as a punishment for their delay, they can't even get into Purgatory right away: God makes them wait to get in for an amount of time proportionate to the amount of time they kept God waiting on earth (e.g., seven years of standing in line for Purgatory for every year the soul dinked around on earth).
Thanks for the info on the illustration from Dante. I wouldn't have even guessed on that. I do own that book - I really need to read it someday. My book list is sooo long!
I know a family that has seven children and they recite the Prayer of St. Gertrude every hour during the day, when their clock chimes. The younger ones, at night, then count the number of souls they have helped release from Purgatory.
I say that prayer daily. I need all those souls praying for me when they get to heaven.
That picture is just so dark...almost scary if you know what I mean.
Micki - that's the point I believe. Purgatory is a dark, scary, awful place of suffering. We ought to meditate on this fact and let this motivate us to pray for the holy souls to relieve them. They cannot pray for themselves, but rather depend on us. Many of us will one day end up there too.
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