FORTY-EIGHTH LESSON
All Souls.
"It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead."--MACCH. XII.44.
To be saved, my dear children, to partake of the eternal happiness of those saints of whom we were speaking yesterday, we must either have preserved perfect innocence, or else have regained it, for nothing impure saith the Lord, can enter the kingdom of heaven. God in his mercy forgives us the sins of which we sincerely repent and confess, but He does not exempt us from atoning for them, and only remits part of the expiation they deserve. It remains then for us to do penance, and if we have not had the courage to do it in this world, we shall undergo it in the next, by the torments of purgatory. Purgatory, my children, is a place of suffering, where God sends those poor souls who have not deserved hell, but who are not pure enough to enter heaven. There, in great suffering, they do the penance they ought to have done on earth; the latter would have been less painful, and not so long. Then it is they regret the lost time, and that want of energy which prevented their following the dictates of religion during their lifetime.
God leaves souls in purgatory, for a longer or shorter period of time, according to the number of sins they have to atone for; but the Church teaches us that we can shorten the sufferings of these souls, by praying for them, and particularly by offering to God in their behalf the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Not only does the Church pray at the end of all her services for those who are no more, but she also consecrates to their memory one whole day every year; this day is the one following the feast of All Saints, to remind us that we, the Christians on earth, who ask for the protection of the Christians in heaven, must not forget those who are in purgatory, because, as we are all children of the same family, we must mutually help one another.
My children, this day is a sad one: it reminds us of the relations and friends we have lost, whom we so dearly loved, and whom we shall so long remain without seeing—today we weep over the graves of those well beloved dead, and beg their forgiveness of God, if unfortunately they be still far from Him. And you, my dear children, who in a great measure at least, do not as yet know this cruel grief, the loss of loved ones, pray for the relations and friends of others, for those whom your mother regrets, and in general for all the dead. It is a duty of charity, and the poor souls whose sufferings you have contributed to shorten, when once in heaven, remembering your piety, will intercede for you in return.
If this instruction were read over, by any bereaved orphans, they would feel that gratitude obliges them to pray to God for the parents they have lost; and this duty will seem to them to be most easy to fulfill. Think indeed what a consolation it is for those poor children, to be able to hope that those to whom they owe their life, and whose tenderness had lavished such care and so much love on their early years, will be indebted to their fervent prayers for eternal happiness!
After having fulfilled your duties towards the dead, my children, seek out for yourselves some useful lesson in the thought of purgatory. First of all, bear well in mind how deeply God abhors sin, since He obliges us to atone for all evil doing, so as to blot out the smallest marks of sin, and may this thought induce you to commit it less easily. Then after this, finally resolve to do penance for your sins during this life, so that God may look upon you, as worthy of heaven after death.
Disclaimer: Linking of a site does not imply endorsement of the views of the site, but merely offers it as a resource the webmaster beleives to be accurate. Because sites can be amended over time and non-Catholic items added, we ask all to do due diligence in checking things out
Ads are added to keep this site free. Donations are also accepted! If you find an objectionable ad, please contact us so we can block it in the future.
