December 1, 2024
As I had mentioned this last weekend, we are beginning some new spiritual initiatives at our parishes. The first is the beginning of the celebration of the first Saturday Masses. The first Saturday Masses will begin with the first Saturday in Advent, December 7th, and the Masses will be at Holy Family at 9:00 AM. Some might ask - why are the first Saturdays so important? The answer to that can be found in the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima. In 1929, the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Lucia after she had entered the convent in order to explain a request that she had made when appearing to her in Fatima and explaining what she meant in requesting a special devotion for reparation. Mary said to her: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”
The requirements for fulfilling Our Lady’s request in order to receive her promised aid for our salvation at the time of our death are:
For five consecutive first Saturdays of the month and with the intention of making reparation for the offenses against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we are asked to:
Go to Confession (may be 8 days before or after, if you are in a state of grace)
Receive Holy Communion (can be received at a Saturday evening anticipatory Mass)
Pray five decades of the Rosary 4 – Keep Our Lady company for 15 minutes while meditating on one or more of the mysteries of the Rosary.
This devotion is a concrete way in which we can aid our own salvation, but also contribute to the salvation of others by doing reparation. It doesn’t cost us much but can make a world of difference for our souls and the souls of others on the day of judgement.
The next initiative is the founding of a Purgatorial Society at our parishes. This is an old tradition that fell out favor in many places due to the incorrect assumption that somehow everyone goes straight to heaven – which we know, and the Church has always taught – is not the case. And as a result, the souls in purgatory have been completely abandoned in many places, left to suffer alone and in silence. While some extremely holy souls do go straight to heaven when they die, those who do not must undergo a purification (the word purgatory means to purge, or to purify) before they can spend an eternity in the presence of God. As St. John reminds us in the Apocalypse - no unclean thing can enter heaven. This includes those souls who either did not do sufficient penance or atonement for their sins while on this earth, or did not make sufficient use of the graces God offered in this life and still had some attachments to sin. It also includes those souls who may have led a very bad life, but at the moment of death, thanks to the grace of God and the prayers of loved ones, were able to reach out to God and receive this last outpouring of His mercy that kept them from hell. As the book of Maccabees tells us “It is a pious and noble thought, to pray for the dead, that they may be forgiven for their sins”.
That is the main goal of the Purgatorial Society, to pray for the holy souls and offer our prayers, sacrifices and indulgences for them. To assist them in their cleansing and speed them on their way to complete union with God in heaven. It costs us so little but can mean so much to these poor souls. Think of how many people today who never visit their departed loved ones in the cemetery and how many souls are never prayed for by those who professed to love them so much during their earthly lives, only to forget them when they leave this world. It is a small thing for us but can mean so much to the holy souls if we would pray for them.
The daily prayers would consist of a decade of the Rosary, the Litany of Loreto and a few other small prayers and actions that we can easily integrate into our lives. We are talking about prayers that can easily be added to our lives and require a small time commitment. There will be other prayers and devotions we can add at various times if we would like as well. There will also be the opportunity to learn more about purgatory, including different books and novenas we can learn about and certain spiritual benefits for ourselves. That will all be explained in more detail for those who decide to join me in this venture to assist our dearly departed in purgatory. The opportunity to sign up for the Purgatorial Society will begin next week, specifically after the Wednesday, December 4th evening Mass at St. Isidore and the Thursday, December 5th evening Mass at Holy Family. If you are unable to make either of those opportunities and would like to join, please let me know and we will arrange something after the weekend Masses as well.
God love you, Fr. Anthony
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