Purgatory

 

"Purgatory reveals the great love God bears for us and cleanses the imperfections of those who desire to be united with Him."

Saint Josemaría Escrivá

"When you look upon Purgatory, you perceive My sweet and boundless Providence toward those wretched souls who squandered their time and now, separated from the body, no longer have the opportunity to earn merit. I have allowed the duration of their punishment to be shortened through the agency of you—who are still alive and have the opportunity for good works—by means of almsgiving, devotions, fasting, and prayers offered in the state of sanctifying grace and with trust in My Mercy."

The Lord Jesus to Saint Catherine of Siena

"While I was in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament on the Feast of Corpus Christi, a person engulfed in flames suddenly appeared before me; the heat radiating from them was so intense that I felt as though I were burning along with them. In prayerful contemplation, I saw that this soul was in Purgatory, and I began to weep bitterly for them."

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

"Do not fear Purgatory because of the suffering we associate with it; rather, one should desire to avoid it by pleasing the Lord God."

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux to a fellow nun

"Every time a soul is able to leave Purgatory thanks to your prayer and sacrifice, you bring Me such great joy—as if you had rescued Me Myself from suffering."

The Lord Jesus to St. Gertrude the Great

"The souls suffering in Purgatory are brides of God who are undergoing purification."

Saint Veronica Giuliani

Saturdays were the days when Saint Gemma would meet with Our Lady of Sorrows. Galgani also offered up prayers and sufferings daily for the souls in Purgatory; indeed, her guardian angel encouraged her to do so.

"Every suffering, even the slightest, brings them comfort," he explained.

"The souls in Purgatory are suspended, as it were, between earth and heaven; for they are no longer inhabitants of earth, yet heaven remains closed to them. Thus, they might be called homeless."

Blessed Honorat Koźmiński

"Purgatory—a necessary purification before meeting the Lord God."

Saint John Paul II

"Blessed is he who, while still alive, aids the souls in Purgatory through good deeds; for God’s justice demands that those deprived of the living's help be purified in fire."

An angel speaking to Saint Bridget of Sweden

"The Mother of God holds the title of Mother of the Souls in Purgatory. 'I am,' she says, 'the Mother of all those who are in the place of penance. My prayers mitigate the punishments imposed upon them for their sins.'"

Revelations of Saint Bridget of Sweden

"Faced with the perfect holiness of God, the souls of some deceased persons feel so unclean and unworthy to approach Him that they voluntarily submit to an unspeakably great, yet purifying, torment. Nevertheless, they are happy, for they know they are saved."

Saint Catherine of Genoa

"Purgatory is God's infirmary." "There are very few souls, even among the saints, who have managed to enter heaven without passing through purgatory."

Saint John Vianney

"The greatest suffering of souls is an immense longing for eternal love—for God. Souls in purgatory cannot help themselves; only the prayers of the living can assist them in reaching heaven. Such aid is a great act of mercy toward them."

Saint Faustina Kowalska

"For a long time, I have felt the need to offer myself as a victim for poor sinners and for the souls undergoing purification. This desire grows ever stronger in my heart—so much so that it has become, I might say, an intense passion. It is true that I have offered this sacrifice to the Lord several times, allowing Him to pour out upon me the punishments prepared for sinners and for the souls being purified—even a hundredfold upon me—provided that He converts and saves sinners and soon welcomes the souls in purgatory into heaven. It seems to me that Jesus desires this. I am certain He will not hesitate to grant me this permission."

Saint Padre Pio

"Do not worry! I am currently speaking with several souls who are on their way from purgatory to paradise. They stopped here to thank me because I remembered them during Holy Mass this morning."

Saint Padre Pio

"It is not the case that they have died and we are alive. It is actually they who are alive, while we are the ones dying."

The late Father Piotr Pawlukiewicz.

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in eternal peace through the infinite mercy of God. Amen."

Jesus, King of MERCY

The Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great

This prayer is one of the most famous of the prayers for souls in purgatory. St. Gertrude the Great was a Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in the thirteenth century. According to tradition, our Lord promised her that 1000 souls would be released from purgatory each time it is said devoutly. 

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, 

for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, 

those in my own home and within my family. 

Amen.

If you say this prayer devoutly 5 times each day, then in a year you help release 1,825,000 souls from purgatory.

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A brief information about St. Gertrude the Great 

(1256-1301)

Born on 6 January 1256, on the feast of the Epiphany in Eisleben in Thuringia. Gertrude join Cistercian monastery school of Helfta in Saxony at 5, and since then as "Gertrude of Helfta". She was a woman of vast knowledge and intellect, spending most of her youth dedicated to her education. On 27 January 1281, Gertrude saw Jesus in the form of a marvellous adolescent and He said to her, "I have come to comfort you and bring you salvation". By this event's remembrance, Gertrude wrote, "Jesus, my Redeemer, you have lowered my indomitable head to your gentle yoke, preparing for me the medicine suited to my weakness" and after which, she was solely devoted with living in full intimate communion with Jesus (the Sacred Heart of Jesus). In another message Jesus reveal and said to her, "It would be good to make known to men and women how they would benefit from remembering that I, the Son of God and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, always stand before God for the salvation of the human race, and that should they commit some sin through their weakness, I offer my unblemished Heart to the Father for them". 

Gertrude transformed all this into an apostolate as she devoted herself to writing and popularizing the truth of faith with clarity and simplicity, with grace and persuasion, serving the Church faithfully and lovingly so as to be helpful to and appreciated by theologians and devout people. In one vision, Jesus said to her, "He longs for someone to ask Him to release souls from purgatory", just as a king who imprisons a friend for justice's sake hopes that someone will beg for mercy for his friend and he ended the message with, "I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the poor souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer." In a following message to Gertrude he gave Gertrude a prayer that would release 1000 Souls from Purgatory every time it is said with love and devotion. "Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, those in the Universal Church, in my home, and in my family."

16 November is dedicated to the feast celebration in honour of St.Gertrude the Great in remembrance of her death.. In preparation of her death, St Gertrude wrote: "O Jesus, you who are immensely dear to me, be with me always, so that my heart may stay with you and that your love may endure with me with no possibility of division; and bless my passing, so that my spirit, freed from the bonds of the flesh, may immediately find rest in you. Amen" n 1301, she was call back to her bridegroom to rejoined Him in His eternal Kingdom. Pope Benedict XIV gave her the title "the Great" to distinguish her from Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn and in recognition of St.Gertrude's deep spiritual and theological insight. St. Gertrude is the only woman among the saints to be called "the Great".

Novena for the Salvation of Souls and the Conversion of Sinners

 

After each invocation say:
My Jesus, pardon and mercy through Thy Sacred Wounds

O Jesus, Thou didst suffer and die that all mankind might be saved and brought to eternal happiness. Through the Agony of Thine Crown of Thorns I offer it to Thy Eternal Father that Thou wilt hear our pleas for further the grace of final perseverance for the just and mercy on sinners:

My dear parents and grandparents,
My brothers and sisters and other near relatives,
My godparents and sponsors of Confirmation,
My spiritual and temporal benefactors,
My friends and neighbors,
All for whom love or duty bids me pray,
Those who have offended me,
Those who will offend me,
Those who have suffered disadvantage of harm through me,
Those whom I, still a sinner, will offend,
Those who are especially beloved by Thee,
Those whose death is near at hand,
Those who desire most to be united to Thee,
Those who endure the greatest sufferings and trials, especially spiritual torments,
Those whose death is most remote,
Those sinners have no one to pray for them,
Those who are most deserving on account of their services to the Church,
The rich who do not need Thee and are thus the most destitute,
The mighty who spurn Thee,
The spiritually blind, that they might see their folly,
The frivolous, who spend their time in idleness,
The poor, who do not seek the treasures of Heaven,
The tepid, who devote little time to prayer,
The indolent, who neglect to perform good works,
Those of little faith, who neglect the frequent reception of the Sacraments,
The habitual sinners, who require for their salvation to a miracle of grace,
Parents who fail to watch over their children,
Superiors who are not solicitous for the salvation of those entrusted to them,
Those who strive for worldly riches and pleasures,
The worldly minded, who fail to use their wealth and talents in the service of God,
Those who witness the death of others, but do not think of their own,
Those who blaspheme and commitsacrilege,
Those who violate the dignity of the human body and mind through impurity,
Those who sin because of my sins and bad example,
Those who do not provide for the life hereafter,
Those whose judgment will be severe because of the great things entrusted to them,
The pope, kings and rulers,
The bishops and their counselors,
My teachers and spiritual advisors,
The priests of this diocese,
The priests and religious of the Catholic Church,
The defenders of the holy Catholic Faith,
Those who die on the battlefield,
Those who fight for their country,
Those who will be buried in the sea,
Those who are to die suddenly, in accidents and from other causes,
Those who will die of heart attacks,
Those who suffer with cancer,
Those who suffer with AIDS,
Those who shall die without the last rites of the Church,
Those who shall die within the next twenty-four hours,
For Catholic apostates, heretics, and other unbelievers,
For Catholics who hold Masonic membership or in other secret societies,
For the conversion of the Jews, Thy chosen people of old,
For abortionsists and those who aid them,
For women who seek abortions,
For those who promote or practicre contraception,
For those who give scandal, especially to children,
My own poor soul when I shall have to appear before Thy judgment seat.

Final Prayer

Final perseverance and pardon grant unto all of these, O Lord;
and let Thy graces through these petitions flow unto them and be fruitful. 

AMEN.