Last week, we covered the final of the four pillars of Discipleship and Stewardship, and in that article, I mentioned that there are various ways in which to practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. There is one that I would like to focus on in particular this week, which is the spiritual work of praying for the living and the dead. Now that we are in the month of November, we are invited to pray in a more concerted way for the dead.
Prayers for the faithful departed is one of the greatest works of charity we can offer, for by doing so, we are contributing to the purification that the Lord does for those souls in Purgatory as they continue their journey to their final destination of Heaven. They rely greatly on the prayers we, as their brothers and sisters, offer for them from our place here on earth. The Church has such a great love for these souls and a desire that their need for prayers never be forgotten that she has an entire day dedicated to praying for them, which is All Souls Day (November 2). Only in Heaven will we truly appreciate how much of a gift this day is to so many souls, and we ourselves will likely be beneficiaries of those prayers when we die. Not content with keeping our attention on these souls for just one day, the Church has designated the entire month of November as a time for praying for these souls. Finally, during the first week of November, from November 1-8, the Church offers a plenary indulgence to be applied exclusively to the souls in Purgatory.
I would therefore like to strongly encourage us all to undertake this great work of charity over the next few days. Sometimes we lament that we do not do enough to help the poor, well here is an amazing opportunity in which I hope we call all join. Here is how to gain the indulgence – and just so you know, an indulgence can be gained each day during this time, so be generous!
- Pray at a cemetery – just stop by any cemetery and offer a prayer for the souls who are there. This prayer can take a variety of forms, perhaps the most simple being the traditional prayer we offer for the faithful departed: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.” You call also go online and look up Order for Visiting a Cemetery. There is a nice order that one can use alone or with a group. Finally, a perk of our Cathedral is that our sanctuary inside the church is actually a cemetery, as there are four bodies buried there! The State of Illinois recognizes it as a cemetery, so I think it counts!
- Pray for the Intentions of the Pope – this can be as simple as praying an Our Father and a Hail Mary with the intention that they be for the Holy Father’s intentions. This needs to be done each time we visit a cemetery, preferably the same day as the visit, and it can be done at the cemetery itself.
- Go to Holy Communion – you will need to receive Holy Communion for each indulgence you seek to gain, and that should preferably be done the day you visit a cemetery, if at all possible.
- Go to confession – you only need to go to Confession once for it to apply for any indulgences you are seeking to gain during a period of time. The timing for confession can be any time before or after this week, preferably a week or two on either side. So if you just went to confession, you’re probably good.
For a plenary indulgence, we should be detached from all sin, which is often a little more difficult to quantify and explain, but we need not be overly scrupulous as we consider that point. If any of these requirements are not completed, the Church can still grant a partial indulgence, which is not insignificant by any means, and it might be just enough for one soul to be finally ready for Heaven!
Father Alford