Getting in first (before the popesplainers): as things now stand in the postconciliar Vatican, yes, it's entirely possible that 'Pope Leo XIV', recuperating after lung surgery, didn't know that the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue (DID) on Friday published a special message to Hindus ahead of their Diwali holiday next week, stressing the Vatican’s commitment to peace “in the spirit of Assisi.”
The Vatican extended its ‘warmest prayerful and festive wishes’ to Hindus on Diwali while suggesting the ‘spirit of Assisi’ could help Christians and Hindus ‘forge pathways of peace’ together.
But while Indians celebrate their false Hindu religion of Diwali this week, the one true Church (as distinct from the postconciliar cult installed in the Vatican) remembers and prays for the dead. The Holy Souls in Purgatory - including the people we loved so much during their time on earth - endure terrible suffering and depend on our prayers and God's mercy for their release into Heaven.
However, all that a cursory internet search for Rome's reminders to pray for the dead on the Feast of All Souls was one tepid, anodyne post on Twitter from the (compromised) EWTN Vatican:
Well, New Zealand celebrated All Souls yesterday. Not likely to have done it by attending Holy Mass: it was Monday, Priests' Day Off. The Catholic Bishops' National Liturgy Office came up with a statement from 2023. And a 2020 quote from 'Pope Francis' which is hardly a prayer even:"Today, in the thought of so many brothers and sisters who have died, it will do us good to look up."
So in tune with the Spirit of Vatican II, is it not? Look up, because the brothers and sisters who have died are all in heaven.
And it's suitably illustrated by the quintessential salon painter of his generation, William Bouguereau, in "In Paradiso". A painting not of souls in torment in Purgatory longing for Catholic suffrage to get them out, but of a soul borne by angels heavenwards, where the false Synodal counterfeit religion would have us believe we're all going anyway, no matter what. Because remember, Protestants find the idea of Purgatory distasteful. So commemoration of its inhabitants is not helpful to the cause of the One World Church.
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| In Paradisum. William Adolphe Bouguereau |
Because from November 1 to 8 inclusive the faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence applicable to the deceased every day, by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for them.
As an incentive to piety she reminded herself of the Catholic teaching that praying for the Church Suffering means these souls pray for us who still labour in the Church Militant (which surely needs prayer now as never before).
"If only you knew with what great longing these holy souls yearn for relief from their suffering. Ingratitude has never entered Heaven." – St. Margaret Mary
Pray for the Holy Souls. DAILY.
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| Is that Cardinal Tucho Fernandez we see with Leo at the All Souls' Day Mass? |
And another thing: are any 'good Catholics' in the pews of Novus Ordo churches still fretting over the fires of hell or purgatory? Soothed as they are by funeral homilies and eulogies assuring them that the deceased loved one is in heaven already, probably not.
But any still entertaining pre-Vatican scruples about fire and brimstone can now relax. On the feast of All Souls their Holy Father Pope Leo XIV spoke of the “promise of salvation” made in Scripture which, he said, assures us that “no torment shall ever touch” the souls of the just.
There are two things wrong with that duplicitous statement. First, Novus Ordo Massgoers are generally poorly catechised and ignorant of Church teaching and easily hornswaggled into believing that they are already 'the just' and in no need of improvement in Purgatory.
Second, that Scriptural quote is misleading. The Douay Rheims translation has, instead, "But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them"(Wis 3,1).
That is, the souls of the just shall not be touched by the torment of death of the soul (mortal sin) and its consequence, when unconfessed and unrepented, of Hell. That scriptural verse refers to 'the just' as those who die in the state of grace.
But very few of 'the just' can be admitted immediately to Heaven without the purifying torment of Purgatory, where their only consolation is the knowledge that they will see God, and their only help is our prayers.
By omitting the two words 'of death' (Hell), Robert Prevost aka Pope Leo XIV denies the Church Suffering of prayers for their release. To be fair, in his All Souls Day Mass homily he included the “beatitude” added by St. Francis of Assisi to his Canticle of the Creatures: “Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, / from whom no living person can escape. / Woe to those who die in mortal sin; / blessed are those whom she finds doing Your most holy will, / for the second death shall do them no harm.”
But would many Novus Ordo Massgoers recognise mortal sin if it stood up on its hind legs?
From Pax Orbis:
Through prayer and certain works performed under the conditions laid down by the Church, the faithful may obtain plenary indulgences applicable to souls in purgatory. An ancient practice whose meaning and provisions it is good to recall.
The feast of All Saints, celebrated on November 1, is followed the next day by the commemoration of all the faithful deceased. After honoring the saints who enjoy the glory of Heaven, the Church invites her children to turn to the souls who are still waiting to enter it, in order to come to their aid with their prayers, sacrifices and indulgences.
Death does not end the bonds of charity that unite the members of the Church. Those who have died in the grace of God, but have not fully expiated the consequences of their sins, must complete their purification in purgatory before they can attain eternal bliss.
Assured of their salvation, these souls can no longer do anything to shorten their sufferings themselves, while the faithful who remain on earth have the power to help them.
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What is an indulgence?
Indulgence is the remittance, before God, of the temporal punishment due to sins whose sin has already been forgiven. It does not, therefore, replace the sacrament of penance and does not grant forgiveness of sins, but an indulgence allows for the remission of penalties that remain to be expiated after their absolution.
To grant this remission, the Church draws from her spiritual treasure, made up of the superabundant merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.
There are two kinds of indulgences. The plenary indulgence remits the entire temporal punishment due to sins, so that a soul that dies after having obtained it, without having contracted a new debt to divine justice, would enter directly into Heaven. Partial indulgence, on the other hand, only restores a part of it.
By granting these indulgences, the Church comes to the aid of human weakness, which makes it so difficult to make complete atonement for sins during earthly life. In this way, she encouraged works of piety and charity, while recalling the need to satisfy divine justice.
This mercy can also benefit the deceased, to whom the faithful can apply indulgences by way of suffrage. For this reason, at the beginning of November, the Church is planning several opportunities to obtain a plenary indulgence in favor of the souls in purgatory.
How do I get an indulgence for the deceased?
On November 2, the day of the commemoration of the faithful departed, a plenary indulgence applicable only to the souls in purgatory can be obtained by devoutly visiting a church or oratory and reciting the Our Father and an I believe in God, subject to the usual conditions.
From November 1to 8 inclusive, the faithful can also obtain a plenary indulgence applicable to the deceased every day by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for them, even mentally. This prayer is free: no particular formula is imposed.
In both cases, the performance of the prescribed work must be accompanied by the general provisions required by the Church:
- To be in a state of grace and to perform the prescribed work.
- To go to confession in the days before or after the work.1
- Receive Holy Communion.
- Pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, for example by reciting the Our Father and a Hail Mary.
- To be detached from any affection for sin, even venial sin.
This last condition deserves special attention, because it is not enough to perform the prescribed works materially to obtain a plenary indulgence. If the detachment from all affection to sin is lacking, the indulgence obtained is only partial.
The same sacramental confession may be used to obtain several plenary indulgences, while communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff are required for each of them.
An act of charity within everyone's reach
The visit to a cemetery, often carried out out of family fidelity, thus takes on a supernatural dimension when it is accompanied by prayer and the provisions requested by the Church. It is no longer just a question of keeping alive the memory of those who have left us, but of bringing them real help, by contributing to their deliverance from the pains of purgatory.
These first days of November are therefore an invitation not to forget the deceased, especially the most abandoned souls, for whom no one prays anymore. And if we have the power today to help them, tomorrow we may need the prayers of those who will survive us.From November 1 to 8, indulgences for souls in purgatory | SSPX News
