From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   November 2nd - All Souls Day   
      
   Commemoration of the Faithful Departed   
      
   The Church teaches us that the souls of the just who have left this world   
   with   
   traces of venial sin remain for a time in a place of expiation, where they   
   suffer whatever punishment may be due to their offenses. Even if pardon has   
   been   
   obtained for our sins, satisfaction must be made to God, our Creator, in   
   this   
   world or in the next; for His sanctity has been, as it were, insulted by the   
   self-will of one of His ignoble creatures. The more noble the person   
   offended,   
   the more serious the offense, even according to human laws. It is a dogma of   
   our   
   faith that the suffering souls are relieved by the intercession of the   
   Saints in   
   heaven and by the prayers of the faithful upon earth. To pray for the dead   
   is   
   therefore an act of charity and of piety, certainly obligatory for a   
   Christian   
   who professes to have charity in his heart. We read in Holy Scripture: "It   
   is a   
   holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed   
   from   
   their sins." (II Maccabees 12:46)   
      
   When towards the close of the tenth century, Our Lord inspired Saint Odilo,   
   Abbot of Cluny, to establish in his Benedictine Order a general   
   commemoration of   
   all the faithful departed, the practice was soon afterwards adopted by the   
   entire Western Church and has been continued unceasingly to our day. Let us   
   always bear in mind the departed who have died in the love of God, and offer   
   up   
   our prayers and sacrifices to help expiate for them. By showing this mercy   
   to   
   the suffering souls in purgatory, we gain for ourselves very devoted   
   friends,   
   who will in their turn pray for us. We shall then be entitled to be treated   
   with   
   mercy at our departure from this world, and to share more abundantly in the   
   suffrages of the Church, continually offered for all who have fallen asleep   
   in   
   Christ.   
      
   Reflection: When we offer satisfaction to God in this life for our offenses,   
   there is merit attached to our penances. There is no longer any merit in   
   purgatory; others must provide. Let us reflect well that if we do not   
   ourselves   
   repair our sins and faults, we place our burden on others; is that what we   
   want?   
      
   Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on   
   Butler's   
   Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger   
   Brothers:   
   New York, 1894).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Better to be reproved by the grammarians than not understood by the people.   
   -St Augustine   
      
   Bible Quote   
   And answering, he said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard   
   and   
   seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf   
   hear,   
   the dead rise again, to the poor the gospel is preached: And blessed is he   
   whosoever shall not be scandalized in me.  (Luke 7:22-23)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead   
      
   "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand   
   of   
   the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.   
      
   SECOND DAY   
      
   Is not the memory of the dead sweet to the heart, and is it not consoling to   
   gather about us in thought the family dispersed by death?   
      
   Prayer: Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis   
      
      
   De Profundis   
      
      Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,   
   O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.   
      Let Thine ears be attentive to the   
   voice of my supplication.   
      If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,   
   O Lord, who shall stand it?   
      For with Thee there is merciful   
   forgiveness: and by reason of Thy   
   law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.   
   My soul hath relied on His word;   
   my soul hath hoped in the Lord.   
      From the morning watch even until   
   night; let Israel hope in the Lord.   
   Because with the Lord there is mercy;   
   And with Him plenteous redemption.   
      And He shall redeem Israel from   
   all its iniquities.   
      Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,   
   And let perpetual light shine upon them:   
      May they rest in peace. Amen.   
      
   Most compassionate Jesus, have mercy on the souls in Purgatory, for whose   
   redemption Thou didst take upon Thyself the nature of mankind and die an   
   ignominious death. Mercifully hear their pleadings - look with pity on the   
   tears   
   which they now shed before Thee and by virtue of their passion release them   
   from   
   the. pain due unto their sins. Most pitiful Jesus, let Thy Precious Blood   
   flow   
   down into purgatory and refresh and revive the captive souls suffering   
   there.   
   Stretch out unto them Thy strong right hand, and lead them to a place of   
   refreshment, light and peace. Amen.   
      
   See entire prayer at:   
   http://halfthekingdom.com/daily%20thoughts%20and%20prayers.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)