Today we commemorate All Souls Day where we are reminded of the need to pray for the souls of the faithful departed.
Praying for the souls of the faithful departed is an act of charity. We are called upon to pray for them that they may be cleansed from the temporal punishment for sin and for their cleansing from the attachment of sin. It is Purgatory which purifies the soul before it enters into Heaven. As the Book of Revelation instructs: “Nothing unclean will ever enter it.” Thus it is Purgatory which purifies the soul in order that this may be true.
We have a lot to offer these souls through our charity. From the Second Book of Maccabees we saw the need to pray for the souls of who have gone before us, “that they might be freed from this sin.” We should be active by having Masses offered for them, by praying for them, by offering up our sacrifices for them, and by obtaining indulgences for them. Pope Paul VI exclaimed concerning the importance of indulgences, the “aim in granting them is both to help the faithful expiate the punishment due sins and to urge them to works of piety, penance, and charity.”
Therefore, let us grow our charity for the faithful departed. Through this charity may we see our own need to order on life on this earth towards God and the coming of His Heavenly Kingdom.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, Rest In Peace. Amen.
