All Souls Day..

 All Souls Day*

Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed

November 2

*The commemoration of All Souls is rooted in the Church's 
strong conviction that we, the living, have a serious responsibility 
in love to accompany with prayer those who have died but who 
must yet complete the purificatory preparation every human being 
needs to be able to dwell in the all-encompassing love of God. 
(From Magnificat, November 2025, Vol 27, No 9)
www.magnificat.com

Artist - Ludovico Carracci

"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.  Amen."

St Gertrude the Great

"I would go so far as to say that if there was no purgatory, then we would have to invent it, for who would dare say to himself that he was able to stand directly before God. .... (God) can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with Him and can stand there in the fullness of life.  Purgatory strips off from one person what is unbearable and from another the inability to bear certain things, so that in each of them a pure heart is revealed, and we can see that we all belong together in one enormous symphony of being." - Pope Benedict XVI 

LITTLE LITANY OF THE HOLY SOULS 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. 

Holy Souls, Pray for us. For the souls of our families, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of our friends, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of our enemies, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all pagans, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all priests, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all religious, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of the just, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all sinners, We pray Thee, O God. For the Holy Souls in Purgatory, We pray Thee, O God. For those who have none to pray for them, We pray Thee, O God. O almighty and eternal God, we beg Thee to have mercy on the Holy Souls in Purgatory, especially those for whom we  are bound to pray; and we ask Thee also to listen to the prayers of the Blessed Souls in our behalf. Amen.

All Souls Day ~ Jakub Schikaneder (1888)

  PRAYER FOR A HAPPY DEATH…

written by St John Henry Cardinal Newman

O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour by the strong arms of Thy sacraments, and the fragrance of Thy consolations. Let Thy absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let your own body be my food, and Thy blood my sprinkling; and let Thy Mother Mary come to me, and my angel whisper peace to me, and Thy glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile on me, that in and through them all I may die as I desire to live, in Thy Church, in Thy faith, and in Thy love. Amen.   

My Jesus, mercy.

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*MORE on All Souls Day...   Click here: All Souls Day 

 BOTH EXCELLENT!!  DVD: Purgatory: The Forgotten Church  

(Director: Fr John Clote) 

BOOK: Purgatory - Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints (Author:  Fr F.X. Schouppe)

Let us empty purgatory!

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Remember those, O Lord,

Who in Your peace have died,

Yet may not gain love's high reward

Till love is purified 

With You they faced death's night

Sealed with Your victory sign;

Soon may the splendor of Your light

On them forever shine!

  

“Grant, O Lord, that I may experience a reasonable sorrow at the death of those who are dear to me, shedding tears of resignation over our mortal condition, yet soon restraining them by this consoling thought of the faith: that in dying, the faithful have only withdrawn a little from us to go into a better world.   May I not weep as do the pagans who are without hope. I may have reason to be sad, but in my affliction hope will comfort me. With hope so great, it is not fitting, O my God, that Your temple should be in mourning. You dwell there, You who are our Consoler; and You cannot fail in Your promises.” - St. Augustine

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Traditionally...

During the Octave of All Saints' Day (Nov 1 thru Nov 8) 

any of the faithful, by devoutly visiting a cemetery 

and praying for the departed, can obtain 

a plenary indulgence (each day this is done),

applicable to the holy souls in purgatory,

(under the usual conditions for obtaining indulgences).

Make every effort to do this!

Ending well...

But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom

and will possess it forever - yes, for ever and ever.  

 Daniel 7:18 
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Solemnity of All Saints*
November 1
We are called to remember all of the saints, known and unknown,

whose lives have served as holy examples for us. 

"To become saints means to fulfill completely what we already are, raised to the dignity of God's adopted children in Christ Jesus...” … “This, then, is the meaning of today’s Solemnity:  looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them:  happy to live near God, in His light, in the great family of God’s friends.  Being a Saint means living close to God, to live in His family…” Pope Benedict XVI

 

"Saints of God, perfected in love and victorious over sin, 

who now enjoy the reward of adoring Our Lord 

face to face in everlasting JOY and GLORY:
Be gracious to remember us, flawed and failing, who 
still struggle on earth, who kneel here adoring Our Lord 
hidden in the tabernacle, who long for the day when we 
too will be made like Him and will see Him as He is.  
Gather around us here in His Eucharistic 

Presence to strengthen us with your prayers 

and to enrich our feeble worship 
with the mighty chorus of your praise.  
Teach us by your example to love Him above all things, 
so that we too may become the pure in heart to see God, 
who enjoy with you the eternal blessed fellowship 
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen."
 
Paul Thigpen
From Jesus, We Adore You,
Prayers Before the Blessed Sacrament 

Image above: Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven, Fra Angelico - 1428-30

"Make up your mind to become a saint." 

St. Maria Mazarello 
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"Never say, 'What great things the saints do,' but,

'What great things God does in His saints.'"

 St. Philip Neri

__________________________

"The saints did not all begin well,
but they all ended well."

 St John Vianney
____________________________

"The saints were as weak as we are; 

grace sustained them.  

Why should we doubt that we, too, 

will be sustained by grace?" 

 Bl Clelia Merloni

____________________

"I must become a great saint.

My Jesus wants it."

St Bernadette Soubirous 

 

 “O blessed souls, who knew so well how to profit by 

the gifts of God, and to purchase with this precious 

ransom so delectable and enduring a heritage, tell us 

how you won through Him such an eternal blessing!

Assist us, since you are so near the Fountainhead.

Draw water for those of us on earth 

who are perishing with thirst."

St Teresa of Jesus 

 Exclamations of the Soul to God,13

____________________________________________

 

Traditionally...

During the Octave of All Saints' Day (Nov 1 thru Nov 8) 

any of the faithful, by devoutly visiting a cemetery 

and praying for the departed, can obtain 

a plenary indulgence (each day this is done),

applicable to the holy souls in purgatory,

(under the usual conditions for obtaining indulgences).

Make every effort to do this!

Heart aflame...

"I am of the same family as Christ -

what more could I want?" - St Pope John XXIII

 

Jesus the Eucharist - Jimmy (Australia) 

"Your most loving Heart, O Jesus,

dwells in this Sacrament,

burning with love for us.

It is there continually performing

thousands of good deeds towards us."

St. John Eudes

The best prayer...

   "The best prayer is the one 

in which there is the most love." 

St Charles de Foucauld

 Prayer of Abandonment 

 St Charles de Foucauld

Father, 
I abandon myself into your hands; 

do with me what you will.

Whatever you may do, I thank you:

I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me, 

and in all your creatures.

I wish no more than this, O Lord. 

Into your hands I commend my soul;

I offer it to you

with all the love of my heart,

for I love you, Lord,

and so need to give myself,

to surrender myself into your hands,

without reserve,

and with boundless confidence, 
for you are my Father. 

Excerpt from the writings of Fr Rene Voillaumeon
on the Blessed Sacrament and Charles de Foucauld:

"You will always be right in imitating the attitude of soul—which is so simple, so logical, so full of love—of Frere Charles of Jesus towards the Blessed Sacrament. Our devotion to the Eucharist must be profound, honest, totally embraced as essential. When one has acquired the disposition of receiving this gift of God with the soul of a child, one is upset by the reasoning of certain people... who dispute the devotion towards the Eucharist and sometimes question its legitimacy on liturgical or historical grounds... Why not, in the simple logic of faith, love the Eucharist with all the love with which we love Jesus himself? That is what filled Father de Foucauld with the spontaneity of a child."

No matter the cost...

    "We are given graces to overcome our fears

and to accomplish great things 

in Adoration." -  Fr John Hardon

"I strongly recommend that 

each of us make a resolution 

- no matter how much

the decision may cost us -

to make a Holy Hour...

once a week." - Fr John Hardon