Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Today we celebrate All Souls Day. We pray for all the
souls in purgatory with the great confidence born of faith that our prayers
assist those who are being purified of the temporal punishment due to sin and
have the certain hope that they will one day enter heaven.
Purgatory is a very consoling
doctrine. It is a state of final purification after death and before entrance
into heaven for those who died in the state of grace but were only imperfectly
purified. Purgatory is the final cleansing of divine mercy which makes a soul
able to enter into the joy of heaven.
The Church bases Her teaching
on Tradition as contained especially in the Councils of Florence and Trent and
also on certain scriptural references that speak of a cleansing and purifying
fire such as 1 Corinthians 3: 15 and 1 Peter 1: 7.
We also base our
understanding and teaching of purgatory on the constant practice of praying for
the dead which was evident even in the early Church. This is why it is so
important that we pray for the dead and especially have Holy Mass offered for
the souls of the deceased. St. Padre Pio said, “More souls of the dead from Purgatory than of the living climb this
mountain to attend my Masses and seek my prayers… The souls in Purgatory pray for us, and their prayers are even more
effective than ours, because they are accompanied by their suffering. So, let's
pray for them, and let's pray them to pray for us.”
In Christ,
Msgr. Baker
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