This book celebrates the meaningful recitation of novenas, a traditional nine day prayer to a particular saint, angel or Madonna for help in solving a problem.
It was our objective to create a book that would be assessable to all, Catholic and non-Catholics alike.
You will learn about The Saints, Angels and The Madonna. The history of The Saints who lived with us on earth. The many visions of The Madonna as she appeared on earth. And more…
Barbara and Sandy
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
“Today you will be with me in Paradise.”
“Woman, this is your son” . . . “This is your mother.”
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
“I thirst.”
“It is finished.”
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
[Sources: Loyola Press, U.S. Catholic, The Word Among Us]
“I know by experience that the glorious Saint Joseph assists us generally in all necessities. I never asked him for anything which he did not obtain for me.”
—Saint Teresa of Avila
Patron of: Fathers
A righteous man who never shirked his responsibilities as protector of his family, Saint Joseph offers a perfect example for fathers everywhere. He is invoked by families for all matters of support needed to sustain a household, both material and spiritual.
A descendant of the House of David, there is very little written about Joseph in the gospels. He was said to be betrothed to Mary when she became pregnant with Jesus. Instead of leaving her in scandal, he accepted the word of the angel Gabriel who told him that the child was divinely given and Joseph and Mary were chosen by God to be his earthly parents. It was Joseph who protected Mary on the journey to Bethlehem when Jesus was born. He also suffered the frustrations of a man who could not find proper shelter for his family as his wife was about to give birth. Upon returning to their native city of Nazareth, Joseph was once again visited by an angel warning him of the impending slaughter of the innocents. On faith alone, he dispensed with his business and personal effects, taking Jesus and Mary to Egypt where they stayed for seven years until Herod’s death. It fell upon Saint Joseph to support his young family in this foreign country.
The last mention of Joseph comes when Jesus is twelve years old and strayed from his family while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is thought that he died well before Jesus began his mission with Jesus and Mary at his deathbed. For this reason, more than any other saint, he is invoked for a happy death, one where a person is older and has their family at their side.
Though of noble lineage, Joseph was a carpenter and it was from him whom Jesus learned his trade. Because he worked with his hands and frequently put his family ahead of any personal ambitions, workers everywhere who live similar lives call on him as a patron. It is no mystery that the cult of Saint Joseph became more popular in modern times with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Many saints throughout the ages have declared him to be a powerful advocate as well, since it is thought that Jesus obeyed him in his earthly life, he is inclined to listen to Joseph in his heavenly life. Teresa of Avila always buried medals with his image when she needed land for a new convent. This tradition has extended itself to realtors of all faiths who bury statues of Saint Joseph on properties they wish to sell.
It is assumed that since Joseph respected his wife’s virginity that he was an older man when he married. He is depicted in art with a staff, which he led his family ( precursor to the bishop’s staff) a lily for purity, and with carpenter tools or holding the baby Jesus.
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,
and defend us from every evil. Amen.
Gifting during Lent.
During the Lenten season, Psalm 23 reminds us of God’s intent that we find times of refreshing: Beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul.
St. Ignatius of Loyola refers to these times of refreshing as consolations: a deep-seated sense of God’s presence leading to spiritual growth.
How are we being refreshed and consoled in our lives, in our Church, and in our work for justice?
by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua
by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua
We have access to several keys to help rescue the holy souls in purgatory and get them to heaven.
Joseph Pronechen BlogsNovember 2, 2019
There’s only one door out of purgatory for the Holy Souls there. It opens only into heaven. But here’s the catch: they can’t open it themselves. We have to open it for them. We have the key.
The question is, will we help unlock it for some of them during this month of November, which the Church dedicates to the Holy Souls?
Here’s the beautiful part: The Church hands us not just one key but a whole ring full of them. We can use any number of them to keep unlocking the door for the single-file lineup of souls who are suffering in purgatory.
They’re all waiting to join the saints in heaven on the other side of the door. They can get there a lot quicker if we unlock that door for them. Notice how the Church puts All Souls Day, Nov. 2, right next to Nov. 1, All Saints’ Day?
So, let’s start with some of the main keys the Church gives us to use. Some work every day, and some work only at a certain time or day, like the one that works from Nov. 1-8 specifically for the souls in purgatory. These are listed in the official Manual of Indulgences (Enchiridion Indulgenarium).
Every year on these eight days the Church grants a plenary indulgence that can be applied only to the souls in purgatory. The faithful can receive this indulgence each of the eight days to apply to a particular soul — a parent, spouse, relative, friend, or anyone even unknown.
How to use this key? On each day from Nov. 1-8 a person seeking the plenary indulgence for a soul must (1) “devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, if only mentally, for the departed; (2) on All Souls’ Day (or according to the ordinary, on the Sunday preceding it or following it…) devoutly visit a church or an oratory and recite an Our Father and the Creed.”
There are a couple of other requirements that have to be fulfilled, too, which apply to any plenary indulgence. More on this detail a bit later, since it will also apply to other keys.
Just in case, for these same dates, there is a key that is a partial indulgence (for example, maybe a person isn’t able to fulfill all the requirements for a plenary indulgence). Again, for these Nov. 1-8 days, it can be applied only to souls in purgatory and granted for (1) devoutly visiting a cemetery and at least mentally praying for the dead; (2) devoutly reciting lauds or vespers from the Office of the Dead or the prayer, “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.”
But don’t stop with only these eight days. You have all month to gain indulgences (more on requirements in a moment) to apply to the holy souls sending out their SOS’s (Stop Our Suffering). And you can help them every day of the year too, with other keys.
These are most accessible, handy keys with a plenary indulgence attached (with the usual conditions) since they will readily open that door. These four can gain that plenary indulgence “each day of the year,” but “no more than once a day.”
You choose who the indulgence applies to: either yourself — you cannot give it to another living person — or to a holy soul in purgatory. Remember them this November, and throughout the rest of the year too.
We went over the specific requirement for the Nov. 1-8 plenary indulgence, and then for a plenary indulgence that can be gained on any day of the year, one per day, though any of the main four listed.
Here’s a quick refresher of the standard requirements every plenary indulgence must fulfill to become plenary which wipes away all temporal punishment due to sin. Just think of the number of holy souls you help out of purgatory, and in turn what friends they will become helping you get to heaven.
To gain a plenary indulgence you must:
And fulfill these three conditions:
One sacramental confession suffices for gaining several plenary indulgences, but a separate Holy Communion and separate prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father are required for each plenary indulgence. According to the most recent Church guidelines on the subject, “it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act.”
Of course, you must also:
If any part of the requirements is missing, then the indulgence becomes partial. Heaven determines the degree of the partial indulgence.
We’re on the receiving end, too, even when we give away the indulgence, plenary or partial, to the holy souls in purgatory. Here’s how.
When Blessed Pope Paul VI updated the enchiridion in 1967, he said that the “aim in granting them is both to help the faithful expiate the punishment due sins and to urge them to works of piety, penance, and charity.”
Then in a 1999 general audience concentrated on indulgences, St. John Paul II explained how the Church “dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints … as it were through indulgences.”
He said it is “the expression of the Church’s full confidence of being heard by the Father when — in view of Christ’s merits and, by his gift, those of Our Lady and the saints — she asks him to mitigate or cancel the painful aspect of punishment by fostering its medicinal aspect through other channels of grace. In the unfathomable mystery of divine wisdom, this gift of intercession can also benefit the faithful departed, who receive its fruits in a way appropriate to their condition.”
Even though we give the indulgence away to a holy soul, here’s how we’re helped as we aim for that plenary indulgence. St. John Paul II pointed to the requirement “that the spiritual condition for receiving a plenary indulgence is the exclusion ‘of all attachment to sin, even venial sin.’”
“Therefore, it would be a mistake to think that we can receive this gift by simply performing certain outward acts. On the contrary, they are required as the expression and support of our progress in conversion.”
So at the same time we’re helping the holy souls and getting that indulgence key to quickly open the door to heaven for them, we’re progressing in our spiritual life.
Simply put, attend Mass for the Holy Souls. Have a Mass offered for a departed soul. What could be more exceptional help for them.
Then there is the St. Gertrude Prayer specifically to release souls from purgatory: “Eternal Father I offer you the most precious blood of your divine son Jesus, in union with all the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.”
Once you use these keys and help the holy souls to get through that door in purgatory, they will never forget you. They will become your friends praying for you from heaven — and we certainly can use lots of friends helping us from there.
This article originally appeared Nov. 2, 2017, at the Register.
Joseph Pronechen Joseph Pronechen is staff writer with the National Catholic Register since 2005 and before that a regular correspondent for the paper. His articles have appeared in a number of national publications including Columbiamagazine, Soul, Faith and Family, Catholic Digest, Catholic Exchange, and Marian Helper. His religion features have also appeared in Fairfield County Catholic and in major newspapers. He is the author of Fruits of Fatima — Century of Signs and Wonders. He holds a graduate degree and formerly taught English and courses in film study that he developed at a Catholic high school in Connecticut. Joseph and his wife Mary reside on the East Coast.Show Comments 14
Please remember the Forgotten Souls in Purgatory!
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