Come November, does anyone ever ask, “When is All Saints Day”? or “When is All Souls Day”? 1st and 2nd November are the two days stamped on our mind and heart. All Saints Day calls every one of us to be a Saint. This means letting Jesus have full possession of our life and to live the kind of life Jesus wants His disciples to live. It means therefore to make time each day for Jesus in Personal Prayer in order to experience His transforming Love.

All Souls Day takes our mind and heart to our departed loved ones, no matter how recent or distant the parting has been. The Church brings us together to pray not just for our loved ones, but also for all the Souls who are in Purgatory. Praying for the Souls in Purgatory is an act of charity because they cannot pray for themselves.

Here below are extracts from a talk by the late Bishop Fulton Sheen on Purgatory, which I hope you will find helpful.

WHAT IS PURGATORY? It is a place where the Love of God tempers (meaning restrains) the justice of God. Justice demands that nothing Unclean but only the Pure of Heart, shall stand before the Throne of God. Our sins are forgiven here on earth, but we do not fully atone for them. For example, a person is forgiven for having stolen something, but he or she may never have returned those goods. Again, how many duties there are that people have left undone, responsibilities that have been shirked, good intentions that were merely on the surface, without being carried out. God will not sentence such souls to Eternal Loss, and that is why a provision is made after Death, for those who die in the state of Grace. It is called PURGATORY.

SUPPOSE THERE WAS NO PURGATORY: Which one of us can say with confidence that at the moment of death, we will be pure and spotless enough to stand before the Immaculate Lamb of God? Do you think you can say it? I know I cannot. There are millions who die with their souls stained with Sin. The justice of God would be terrible for such souls.

The day we were baptized, the Church laid upon us a white garment saying, “Receive this while garment which mayst thou carry without stain before the judgement seat of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayst have everlasting life”. Have any of us kept this garment unspotted and unsoiled by sin, so clean that we can say we deserve to enter the Kingdom of God? How many souls there are, at their deathbed, absolved from sins, but not from the debt of sin. If there was no Purgatory, because of even the slightest imperfections these souls would be rejected without pity by Divine Justice. Hence Purgatory is where the Love of God tempers the Justice of God, for God pardons, He gives time to re-touch the souls with His Cross; to purify them; to wash their stained Baptismal Garment, in order to be fit to enter into spotless purity of Heaven where Christ is King and Mary is Queen.

Again Purgatory is not only where the Love of God tempers the Justice of God, but where the Love of Man may temper the injustice of Man.

Most of us, men and women, are not quite conscious of the injustice, the ingratitude and thanklessness of our lives, until we see the cold hand of death laid on someone we love. The reason why bitterest tears are shed over graves is because of Words left Unsaid and Deeds left Undone, and also hurtful words said and the hurtful deeds done. We realize how differently we would have acted if only the departed ones could come back. Therefore, Purgatory enables those who are left behind to convert the spoken / unspoken words, the done / undone deeds into prayers and sacrifice, and the undone acts of kindness into prayerful help for Eternal Life with Jesus.

Take away Purgatory, how bitter would be our grief and sorrow.  Take away Purgatory, how empty our wreaths, bowed heads or silence would become. Because there is Purgatory, our bowed heads, our moments of silence will give way to a knee bent in prayer and more importantly  offering the sacrifice of the Mass to Jesus Christ.

It is difficult for us to imagine the suffering of the Poor souls in Purgatory. They suffer on the one hand because they are separated from God and on the other hand they are impatient to be with Him. Through our prayers, masses, mortifications, sacrifices, it is possible to bring joy and consolation to the ones we love. Love is stronger than Death, hence there should be love for those who have gone before us. They suffer-yes, for they can no longer gain merit for themselves. They must passively undergo some kind of purification. When a soul is completely purified, because it is pure, it naturally goes before the Throne of God Himself.

Padre Pio said we can empty Purgatory with our prayers. Jesus promised St. Gertrude, a nun and mystic, that He would release one thousand souls each time the following prayer is said with love and devotion.

“Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son Jesus, in union with the Holy 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”

Jesus keeps His Promises, and with Mother Mary’s love to save souls, let us say this prayer daily and often, that our loved ones may enter the kingdom of Heaven soon.

J. Rodrigues