Holy Souls in Purgatory Prayer Apostolate

Please join us each Friday at 3:00pm in the Church to pray for the Souls in Purgatory who are our family, our friends, our beloved Priests as well as those forgotten souls who have no one to pray for them.  Prayer booklets are provided.  If you are unable to join us in person, please consider praying along with our YouTube video found here:  https://youtu.be/k5ACT7dtiI0    

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,  “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but, after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven.  The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” (CCC 1030-31).  There are many references in the Bible as well as to the validity of Purgatory.  This link to the National Catholic Register has outlined them very well:  https://www.ncregister.com/blog/25-descriptive-and-clear-bible-passages-about-purgatory  

The Holy Souls Prayer Apostolate was founded at St. Mary’s Church in 2021 and since its inception has been blessed with many members from our parish as well as surrounding parishes. The Apostolate has placed its mission under the protection of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the patronage of Saint Joseph.  
The purpose of the Apostolate is to pray for the relief and release of the Souls in Purgatory who can no longer help themselves.  Praying for these holy souls is a spiritual work of mercy and as Pope John Paul II stated, “Praying for the souls in purgatory is the highest act of supernatural charity”.    

Additional quotes from Saints on Purgatory:  

St. Paul of the Cross:
“If, during life, we have been kind to the suffering souls in purgatory, God will see that help be not denied us after death.”    

St. John Vianney:
If it were but known how great is the power of the good souls in Purgatory with the Heart of God, and if we knew all the graces we can obtain through their intercession, they would not be so much forgotten. We must, therefore, pray much for them, that they may pray much for us.”       

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori: 
The practice of recommending to God the souls in Purgatory, that He may mitigate the great pains which they suffer, and that He may soon bring them to His glory, is most pleasing to the Lord and most profitable to us. For these blessed souls are His eternal spouses, and most grateful are they to those who obtain their deliverance from prison, or even a mitigation of their torments. When, therefore, they arrive in Heaven, they will be sure to remember all who have prayed for them.”     

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska:
“I saw my guardian angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God.”  

St. Pio of Pietrelcina: 
“We must empty Purgatory with our prayers.”      

Our Lord to St. Gertrude:
My love urges Me to release the poor souls. If a beneficent king leaves his guilty friend in prison for justice’s sake, he awaits with longing for one of his nobles to plead for the prisoner and to offer something for his release. Then the king joyfully sets him free. Similarly, I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the poor souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price.”