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November – Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, The Faithful Departed
On a late August morning, I was gently shaken awake by my Mother. My eight-year-old eyes opened to Her’s. Her lips held a very slight smile so as not to frighten me, but her gaze was obstructed by a mist of tears. “God took Bobby last night” she whispered. “He was in a car accident and He has gone into eternity. Let’s all go pray the Rosary for Bob’s soul.” She hugged me and continued her rounds of waking up my siblings. Stunned to hear of the death of my oldest brother, just 15 years old and on his way to camp with family friends, I gathered with the small crowd of my pajama-clad siblings around our family shrine and recited the Sorrowful Mysteries. My mind was confused in disbelief, my heart was sad but there was a certain peace as we united in prayer together as a family, praying for the repose of the soul of my brother, “Bobby”.
Although this unexpected death left us all grief-stricken, we children were no strangers to the reality of life’s final destination. My Mother had read to us daily, the lives of the saints – martyrs shedding their blood courageously for love of Christ, virgins giving their lives completely to Jesus, confessors founding lasting institutions of charity, priests and bishops who labored ceaselessly for their flocks. With each of these stories there was one common denominator. A holy death. The stories of saints never end in an earthly accomplishment, but rather in the death of these holy heroes. Even as children, we knew that this life was temporary, and the best was yet to come. This was not a morbid reality: it was hope filled and rooted in the truth of our Catholic Faith.
The reality of death and what we followers of Christ hope for, is prescribed in the very first lessons of our Faith. Even at 5 years old, my St. Joseph First Communion Catechism, with the amazingly detailed colored pictures, held for me all the answers:
· Who made us? God made us
· Why did God make us? God made us to show forth His goodness and to share the everlasting happiness of Heaven
· What must we do to be happy God in Heaven? To be happy with God in Heaven, we must know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world.
The devotion of this month devoted to the Faithful Departed – the Holy Souls in Purgatory - brings these truths freshly to our minds as we pray for our beloved dead who have gone before us into the life of eternity.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,” which is experienced by those “who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified” (CCC 1030). It notes that “this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (CCC 1031).
The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.
It is entirely correct to say that Christ accomplished all our salvation for us on the cross. But that does not settle the question of how this redemption is applied to us. Scripture reveals that it is applied to us over the course of time through, among other things, the process of sanctification through which the Christian is made holy. Sanctification involves suffering (Rom. 5:3–5), and purgatory is the final stage of sanctification that some of us need to undergo before we enter heaven. Purgatory is the final phase of Christ’s applying to us the purifying redemption that he accomplished for us by his death on the cross. (Catholic Answers)
The following is an article from “Refine” an online magazine for Catholics of all states of life. In it you will find ideas of ways to observe “Halloween” season and the month of November, dedicated to the Holy Souls:
https://refinelife.co/living-memento-mori-family-friendly-ways-to-bring-meaning-to-all-hallows-eve/
Acknowledgements:
Catholic Answers https://www.catholic.com/tract/purgatory
Catholic Church. 2000. Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd ed. Huntingdon, PA
St. Joseph First Communion Catechism. St. Joseph, MO: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1963.
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