Update / November is the Month of the Holy Souls, Part 1

Please see our new page above,

“Recommended Resources.”

This will give you quicker and easier access to the best resources we have discovered over the past 18 years. You can still click on “Resources” to the right under “Topics” or “Resources” below the title of a post, such as this one (they won’t give you the same thing, the topics are like a search, the categories give you full posts in date order), but for fast and easy, see our new page.

Starting today, All Saints Day, we have the glorious week of Plenaries! Holy Church makes it so easy to obtain this indulgence for your loved ones among the Holy Souls. It’s one of those joyful things about being a Catholic, that you can turn into a habit each year. It is the perfect time to visit your departed at the cemetery, if you find it difficult to make time for that. This is the time to motivate you, to honor them and to contemplate mortality in general…and to get souls into Heaven, as God’s will determines!

Here’s what you need to know…

From Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary:

PLENARY INDULGENCE

An indulgence that can remove all the temporal punishment due to forgiven sin. No one but God knows for certain when a plenary indulgence is actually gained, because only He knows whether a person's dispositions are adequate. One norm for such dispositions is that "all attachment to sin, even venial sin, be absent." If these dispositions are in any way less than complete, the indulgence will only be partial. The same provision applies to the three external conditions necessary to gain a plenary indulgence: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Pope. If these conditions are not satisfied, an otherwise plenary indulgence becomes only partial. These conditions may be satisfied several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work, though preferably Communion should be received and the prayers offered for the Pope on the same day as the indulgenced work. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day.

From the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter’s Holy Cross Chaplaincy:

Six General Rules for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence

1. State of grace…when performing the indulgenced act

2. Complete detachment from sin, even venial sin

3. Confession (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)

4. Communion (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)

5. Prayers for the Supreme Pontiff (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)

6. Indulgenced Act: a special good work with…conditions of place and time

Indulgenced Acts to be Performed for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence for the Poor Souls of Purgatory

• From November 1 to 8: visit of a cemetery with mental prayer for the poor souls

• On November 2: visit of a church or an oratory with one Our Father and one Creed being recited

Also from Fr. Hardon…

MENTAL PRAYER

The form of prayer in which the sentiments expressed are one's own and not those of another person and the expression of these sentiments is mainly, if not entirely, interior and not externalized. Mental prayer is accomplished by internal acts of the mind and affections and is either simple meditation or contemplation. As meditation, it is a loving and discursive (reflective) consideration of religious truths or some mystery of faith. As contemplation, it is a loving and intuitive (immediately perceptive) consideration and admiration of the same truths or mysteries of faith. In mental prayer the three powers of the soul are engaged: the memory, which offers the mind material for meditation or contemplation; the intellect, which ponders or directly perceives the meaning of some religious truth and its implications for practice; and the will, which freely expresses its sentiments of faith, trust, and love, and (as needed) makes good resolutions based on what the memory and intellect have made known to the will.

November 2nd is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, or All Souls Day….ending the Triduum of Death which began on All Hallow’s Eve.

Election Day in the United States is the 3rd. Let us pray for America, her leaders and her people, especially the unborn.

Looking ahead, Advent begins the 29!

Let us remember the Holy Souls in Purgatory with particular attention this coming month.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Requiescant in pace.

Amen.

November is the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory-Part II

“Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine, et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Requiéscant in pace. Amen.”

When combining Holy Church’s old and new calendars, we see the following features for the month of November…

The month has begun in the midst of the Triduum of Death, reminding us of the brevity of this life and the glory which awaits the Children of God. I recall hearing the following lyrics in early childhood-I think it made some impression on me:

“O when the saints go marching in, When the saints go marching in

O Lord I want to be in that number, When the saints go marching in”

What a wonderful month that begins contemplating the Church Triumphant and ends in expectation of the Birth of Our Savior!

The Triduum concludes with All Souls Day, reminding us that for most, there will be a cleansing of suffering. Therefore, this month is dedicated to the souls still undergoing this suffering, the Church Penitent, with special indulgences given. We celebrate 3 Doctors of the Church, 2 of whom are called “great.” We have another saint honored with this title, Saint Gertrude the Great. She was given this title by Pope Benedict XIV to distinguish her from her abbess superior, another Saint Gertrude. We can presume this pope found her mystical writings to be worthy of this title. Gertrude the Great is also invoked for the holy souls, whom she was dedicated to-it is fitting that her feast is in November. On the 21st in the new calendar, we honor Christ, King of the Universe. We celebrated Christ the King on October 31st in the old. Let us be the Church Militant, showing our acknowledgment of Christ’s rule over us, won by His Blood, at this critical moment in history. On the same day, we have Our Lady’s Presentation as an infant, not to be confused with her Purification (or Our Lord’s Presentation).

Here are some notable feasts for the remainder of this month and below is a follow-up from the previous post on Holy Souls devotions…

10-Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the Church, Author The Tome

13-St. Frances “Mother” Cabrini, Founder Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 20th Century Saint

15-St. Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church, Patron of scientists, Author On Cleaving to God

16-St. Gertrude the Great

18-Dedication of Basilicas of Sts. Peter & Paul

21-CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE / PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

22-St. Cecilia, Patroness of music

23-St. Felicitas, Martyr, invoked in Canon of Mass

24-St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church, Author Dark Night of the Soul

28-First Sunday of Advent

30-St. Andrew, Apostle

+ + +

Vatican Extends Traditional…Indulgences

From the above article…

“Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican tribunal dealing with matters of conscience, said the indulgences traditionally obtained [for departed souls] during the first week of November [11/1-8] can be gained throughout the entire month of November…Indulgences are granted when a Catholic visits a cemetery to pray for the dead, goes to confession, attends Mass and receives the Eucharist and prays for the intentions of the Pope.”

What the article left out about the obtaining of a plenary indulgence: one must be in a state of grace when the indulgenced act is performed, must be detached from sin and must perform all criteria within 20 days before or after.

+ + +

Amen.

The above Holy Hour was taken from the most recent edition of…

benedictus: the traditional catholic companion

This monthly booklet is published by Sophia Institute Press and is a wonderful Catholic guide and missal for the Tridentine Mass. The page above contains glowing comments by the likes of Cardinal Burke, Archbishop Vigano, Bishop Schneider and Bishop Strickland. (So you know its good.) My only beef with it, as a sustainability proponent, is that it uses too much paper, as the entire mass (quite conveniently) is repeated for each Sunday. This was my husband’s idea to subscribe, after hearing about it online. In spite of all the tree destruction, I am starting to really like my Benedictus and rely on it. Each one comes with a beautiful prayer card which can be used as a bookmark, and the price is only $5.00 a month! Please see the above link for further details.

As for the Holy Hour above, it is not indicated what the source is. It seems to be an opening prayer for an hour before the Most Blessed Sacrament. I suppose the rest of the hour could be performed in silent meditation or organized prayer. I am not aware of an indulgence attached to it, though there may be. It is quite beautiful. I was not able to find it elsewhere on the internet. If you would like a good copy or the source, please contact Sophia Institute Press.

In addition to Benedictus, this company publishes all sorts of other things, including a very interesting series of catechetical documents from antiquity…

tradivox: catholic catechism index

From the website…

“From as early as the 9th century, scores of faithful priests, bishops, popes, saints, and Church councils have published succinct, reliable summaries of Catholic doctrine: catechisms…Now, for the first time ever, dozens of historic catechisms are being unearthed and painstakingly restored. They are being reformatted for publication and presented to you in this gorgeous 20-volume, cross-indexed collection. The catechisms of several Popes and Church Councils are included; such as the world-renowned Catechism of the Council of Trent, those of the Synods of Maynooth and Baltimore, and the catechism of Pope St. Pius X. Here also are those classical handbooks of Catholic doctrine authored by the great Saints and Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Peter Canisius, and St. Robert Bellarmine. The many historical catechisms of Catholic doctrine featured in this series include both titles that are well known, as well as some that have not been printed or read in centuries. Originating from regions as diverse as Italy, France, Germany, Spain, England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and North America, the many catechisms contained in this series demonstrate the remarkable universality of the Catholic Faith as never before.”

Well, they’ve got me sold. That’s why I just bought the first 4 volumes and subscribed to the series, at $25.00 every 3 months. I always say as a prepper, you can never have enough good, hardcover Catholic books. Who knows how long these will be available in the current climate?

Wishing you blessings in this month of November and the coming Season of Advent.