Holy Souls Crusade Newsletter Issue 3, November 2006

This issue looks at the doctrine of Purgatory and how it has developed from Old Testament times to today. We discover the efficacy of praying the Stations of the Cross for the Holy Souls and we start our brief overviews of some of the saints most closely associated with the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

	. *Holy Souls Crusade* . " It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins" (2 Mac 12:46)

The doctrine on Purgatory is a most comforting and consoling one. It highlights the love, mercy and justice of God. We know, from Scripture, that no soul can enter Heaven with even the slightest stain of sin ….

We can go right back to the Old Testament to find evidence that supports this belief of a place or time of purgation or cleansing after death. Jews, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox have always proclaimed the reality of the final purification for those who need it. It was not until the Protestant Reformers came in the 1500s that any Christians denied the idea of a final purgation before seeing the face of God.

Victor R. Claveau, in his writings on Purgatory, states: “Prayer for the dead goes so far back into pre-Christian/Jewish antiquity that there is no way to trace its origins. If a soul is in heaven, it has no need of prayer. If a soul is in Gehenna (Hell), prayer will do no good. Prayer for the dead indicates a belief in an intermediate state between heaven and hell where prayer would do some good.”

John Henry Cardinal Newman, in his ‘Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine’ recounts no less than sixteen Early Church Fathers who hold the view on the doctrine of Purgatory in some form.

Luther rejected the Old Testament Book of Maccabees because 2 Maccabees 12:45-46 contradicted his denial of Purgatory when it says “...it was a holy and pious thought...” to make “...atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” This clearly shows the Jews believed in praying for the dead and suggests the dead might be purified of their sins, lending credence to the doctrine of purgatory that Luther had rejected. If Protestants don’t pray for their dead and non-Christians don’t have the same belief in an after-life as Christians do then it is more than likely that there are so, so many souls in Purgatory who have nobody at all to pray for them. We must remember them all in love and prayers.

The Catholic Encyclopaedia states that: ‘Men are not isolated units in the life of grace, any more than in domestic and civil life.’ also: ‘The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head, and in a constant interchange of supernatural offices.’
So we, who declare our belief in the Communion of Saints every time we recite the Creed, are called upon to be charitable towards the needs of those who have left this world and are on their way to Heaven. They all need our prayers and Masses and we must love them and do so, as much and as often as we can.

There has been so much written about saints, mystics and visionaries who have been ‘visited’ by the Holy Souls, or having been brought on a ‘visit’ to purgatory. Over the next few issues of our newsletter we will look at the various Saints most associated with the Holy Souls and recount some of the stories related by them. However, we are ever conscious of the Church’s understandable caution on Private Revelation, which we are under no obligation to believe. Public Revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle and private revelation throughout history, in most cases, does not carry the official approval of the Church. Rather, many writings carry the Imprimature or Nihil Obstat, meaning that there is nothing within the writings that contradict the teachings of the Church.

There are just too many Saints to list here so over the next issues of our newsletter we will attempt to bring just a glimpse at some of them. St. Augustine, St. Gregory, Venerable Bede, St. Anselm, St. Bernard and St. Thomas Aquinas, in their teachings on Purgatory, tell us that the sufferings of this life are nothing compared to those in Purgatory. And this is borne out in the many stories we hear about souls seeking help from our saints and mystics.

It is possible that the closer a person gets to holiness in their lives the more they promote the need for prayers for the Holy Souls. These saintly people, recognised as such by the Church, were often the instruments used by God when He allowed certain souls in Purgatory to communicate with them for our benefit. Their lives were scrutinised during the canonisation process and this included all their writings. As a result we have the opportunity today to read the many accounts of supernatural visitations and this helps to strengthen our faith in the doctrine on Purgatory, as well as strengthen our resolve to do something about it.

Two Saints have been given the honour of being Patrons for the Holy Souls – St. Odilo of Cluny and St. Nicholas of Tolentine, and so for this issue we will take a brief look at both. We also look at the work of St. Leonard of Port Maurice and his promotion of praying the Stations of the Cross.

Saint Odilo of Cluny (962–1048) became the fifth Abbot of Cluny in 994. He was a Priest of great gentleness and charity, selling church treasures to feed the poor during a famine in 1006. He was also a Priest of prayer and penance, and was zealous for the observance of the Divine Office, and the monastic spirit. He was gifted as a great organiser and reformer and under his guidance and reform of the Benedictine Rule he was instrumental in growing monasticism throughout much of Europe. Fulbert of Chartres called him the "Archangel of the Monks"

The practice of setting apart a special day for the Holy Souls was first established by Odilo. The legend of how this came about comes from Peter Damiani’s ‘Life of St Odilo’. The story is told of a pilgrim returning from the Holy Land who was caught in a storm and cast onto a desolate island. He found a hermit living there who told him that amid the rocks was a chasm communicating with purgatory, from which perpetually rose the groans of tortured souls. The hermit also claimed he had heard the demons complaining of the efficacy of the prayers of the faithful, and especially
the monks of Cluny, in rescuing their victims. Upon returning home, the pilgrim hastened to inform the abbot of Cluny, who then set November 2nd as a day of intercession on the part of his community for all the souls in purgatory. The decree ordaining the celebration is printed in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum (Saec. VI, pt.i.p. 585). From Cluny the custom spread to the other houses of the Cluniac order, was soon adopted in several dioceses in France, and spread throughout the Western Church. In 1063 Peter Damiani undertook the process of his canonization. Images of St. Odilo often show him celebrating Mass with Purgatory open at his side and the angels releasing souls from Purgatory. His Feast Day is celebrated on 19th January in Cluny, 6th February in Switzerland and 11th May elsewhere.

Saint Nicholas (Carruti) of Tolentine (1245-1305 ) was a simple priest and Augustinian Friar who touched the lives of many. His spirit of prayer, penance and devotion to the Holy Souls was notable. He often fasted and performed other works of penance, spending long hours in prayer. He received visions, including images of Purgatory, which friends ascribed to his lengthy fasts. He had a great devotion to the recently dead, praying for the souls in Purgatory as he travelled around his parish, and often late into the night.

The story is told that Nicholas, while asleep in bed, heard the voice of a deceased Friar he had known. This Friar told Nicholas that he was in Purgatory, and urged him to celebrate the Eucharist for him and other souls there, so that they would be set free by the power of Christ. Nicholas did so for seven days. The Friar again spoke to Nicholas, thanking him and assuring him that a large number of souls were now with God. Saint Nicholas possessed an angelic meekness, a guileless simplicity, and a tender love of virginity, which he never stained, guarding it by prayer and extraordinary mortifications. He was canonized by Eugene IV in 1446 and in 1884 Pope Leo XIII proclaimed Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Patron Saint of the Souls in Purgatory. Feast Day: Sept. 10th.

Saint Leonard of Port Maurice in Italy was renowned as a powerful preacher in the early 18th century. The Catholic Encyclopaedia tells us that:

“He founded many pious societies and confraternities, and exerted himself especially to spread the devotion of the Stations of the Cross. In the late 17th century the rules for a special confraternity ‘for the relief of the Most Needy Souls in Purgatory’ under the sacred names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were approved in Rome…. The confraternity for the relief of the departed under the title of ‘Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary and the Sorrowful Mother’ enjoyed special popularity and inaugurated, 8 Sept., 1760, the processions of the Way of the Cross in the Roman Coliseum; among its illustrious members was St. Leonard of Port Maurice.”

We can trace the history of the Stations of the Cross right back to the time of the Ascension into Heaven, after which, it is said, that the Blessed Mother Mary began retracing the steps of the Passion of Her Beloved Son. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, a German Augustinian nun and renowned mystic, visionary, prophet and stigmatist, wrote a treatise on The Life of The Blessed Virgin Mary. It was this book that was to lead to the archaeological discovery of the House of Mary at Ephesus (modern day Turkey), visited by both Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. It was also from this book that Mel Gibson drew much of his inspiration for the Movie 'The Passion of Christ' – a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross in movie form. She tells us in the book that Our Blessed Mother had counted every step from the courtyard in Jerusalem up to Calvary and when She lived at Ephesus laid out a similar journey up the hillside behind Her home with stone markers or tree markings from those same measurements. They ended in a cave at the top, resembling the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea where Jesus was laid.

The Way of the Cross in Jerusalem has been a reverent form of prayer on pilgrimage to the Holy Land since the time of Constantine in the 4th century. Again, the Catholic Encyclopaedia tells us that:

“At the monastery of San Stefano at Bologna a group of connected chapels were constructed as early as the fifth century, by St. Petronius, Bishop of Bologna, which were intended to represent the more important shrines of Jerusalem, and in consequence, this monastery became familiarly known as ‘Hierusalem’. These may perhaps be regarded as the germ from which the Stations afterwards developed, though it is tolerably certain that nothing that we have before the fifteenth century can strictly be called a Way of the Cross in the modern sense.”

During the Crusades in the Middle Ages the practice of praying the Via Crucis was carried out and under the guardianship of the Franciscans. After 1342 indulgences were granted for praying at certain spots on the route of the Passion in Jerusalem.

In 1520 Pope Leo X granted a partial indulgence for meditating on various steps of the Way of the Cross at a set of sculptured Stations in the cemetery of the Franciscan Friary at Antwerp, representing the Seven Dolours of Our Lady.

The practice of the Stations of the Cross originated with the Franciscans in the 14th century but over the centuries there have been variations in the actual number of stations. Indulgences were granted to pilgrims visiting Jerusalem but after requests from the Franciscans for those who could not go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Pope Innocent XII granted indulgences to Franciscans who prayed the Way of the Cross and this was extended by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726 to all the Faithful praying the Stations in Franciscan Churches. In 1731 Pope Clement XII granted indulgenced Stations in all Churches provided that they were erected by a Franciscan father with the permission of the local Bishop. He also fixed the number at fourteen, as we know them today. By 1862 this final restriction was lifted and every Catholic Church now has a set of Stations available to all. We can read about indulgences attached to praying the Stations of the Cross in number 63 of the Enchiridion of Indulgences issued by the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary in 1968.

A Plenary indulgence is granted to those who piously make the Way of the Cross.
The gaining of the indulgence is regulated by the following rules:

Must be done before stations of the cross legitimately erected.
14 stations are required. Although it is customary for the icons to represent pictures or images, 14 simple crosses will suffice.
The common practice consists of fourteen pious readings to which some vocal prayers are added. However, nothing more is required than a pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, which need not be a particular consideration of the individual mysteries of the stations.
A movement from one station to the next is required. But if the stations are made publicly and it is not possible for everyone taking part to go from station to station, it suffices if at least the one conducting the exercise goes from station to station, the others remaining in their places.
Those who are "impeded" can gain the same indulgence if they spend at least one half and hour in pious reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For those belonging to the Oriental rites, amongst whom this pious exercise is not practiced, the respective Patriarchs can determine some other pious exercise in memory of the Passion and Death for the gaining of this indulgence.”

The following extract, on praying the Stations of the Cross, is taken from the writings of an Ursuline Sister in Sligo called ’30 Days for the Holy Souls - Stories About Purgatory’, published by Tan Publications in 2005, but originally published in 1904.

“The pious exercise of the Stations of the Cross is a continued meditation on the Passion of Our Lord. To it innumerable indulgences have been annexed by the Sovereign Pontiffs, even the same as those of the Via Crucis in Jerusalem, or other places of the Holy Land, whence it appears how profitable this exercise must be to the Holy Souls.

We read in the Life of the Venerable Mary of Antigua that a nun of her convent, having died, appeared to her and said: ‘Why is it that you do not offer for me and for the other souls the Stations of the Cross?’ The Servant of God remained in suspense at these words, when she heard Our Lord say to her: ‘The exercise of the Way of the Cross is so profitable to the souls in purgatory that this soul has come to ask it of you in the name of all. The Via Crucis is a suffrage of great importance for these souls. By offering it for them you will have them as so many protectors, who will pray for you and defend your cause before My justice. Tell your sisters to rejoice in this treasure and the precious capital they have in it, that they may profit by it.’

The exercises of a Mission were given in a parish; the Faithful went in crowds to hear the Word of God and obtain the pardon of their sins. Three men only refused obstinately to profit by the grace offered them. They had promised each other and sworn not to enter the Church, and especially not to go to Confession. The wife of one of them went one day to the missionary and confided to him her grief. ‘Have you children?’ asked the Priest. ‘Yes, Father,’ she replied, ‘I have two, still young.’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘Bring them to the Church, make devoutly with them the Stations of the Cross for the Poor Souls in Purgatory, and ask, through the intercession of those souls that you shall have relieved, the conversion of your husband, and I am sure that you will obtain it. Be certain of two things: that the exercise of the Way of the Cross is one of the most efficacious means to relieve the Souls in Purgatory, and that it is equally efficacious to obtain by their intercession the succour that we need.’

Every day at twelve o’clock, when the church was empty, the virtuous woman went to kneel before the tabernacle with her two little children, and afterwards made with them the Stations of the Cross for the intentions indicated by the pious missionary. On the eve of the last day of the mission, the sinner knelt repentant at the feet of the Priest, and the next day had the happiness of receiving Holy Communion at his wife’s side. After the Mass he pressed to his heart and blessed his two children.”

O Lord, God of Holiness and Light, You do not allow any shadow of darkness or evil
in Your sight and so in Your Mercy You grant to those who have left this world burdened with sin, a time of purification, applying to them the spiritual treasures of Your Holy Church. Hear my prayer and through the merits of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, the Saints, and all of Your faithful people, bring to an end this time of waiting for our beloved dead, especially for (.....)
In Your Providence You have chosen Saint Nicholas of Tolentine as a special intercessor on behalf of the departed; hear also his fervent prayer for those whom I recommend to You, through his intercession.

O Mary, may the souls who suffer cruel torments in Purgatory, purified by the ardour
of the flames, be the object of your compassion!

O Mary, open spring which cleanses our faults, reconciler of sinners, reach out to
those who pray to you and implore your assistance in Purgatory!

O Mary, intercede for our deceased. They await patiently the end of their suffering
when they will see you and taste eternal joys!

O Mary, Model of the Just, guide of the faithful, salvation of those who hope in you, help us to pray ardently for the Souls of the deceased and touch the Heart of your
Divine Son.

O Mary, by the merits you have gained, give the dead true life, obtain mercy for
them, and be the way which leads to your Son Jesus and to eternal rest. Amen.

O God, the creator and redeemer of all the Faithful, grant unto the souls of thy
eparted servants full remission of all their sins, that through the help of our pious supplications they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired. Thou
who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

May He support us all the day long, till the shadows lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hushed and the fever of life is over and our work is done - then in His mercy - may He give us safe lodging and a holy rest and peace at the last. AMEN

Mon. Quinn, Administrator of Knock Shrine, has kindly agreed to let us have two set prayer days a year. The first will be for the Night Vigil on the second Saturday of May. The second will be held on the first Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Souls. Details of times, venues and speakers for each prayer event will be published.

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We invite additions to this column to promote special Masses and prayers for the Holy Souls in your area. Below is just a start to this column, with your help it will grow and as it does we hope to start a country-by-country and parish-by-parish list on the website showing Masses, Rosaries, Prayer Groups etc. dedicated for the Holy Souls. Please send us your information and we will include it:

St. Cornan’s Church, Kilcornan, Clarinbridge, County Galway
Every Thursday at 3pm – Fr. Martin Keane
Healing the Family Tree Mass and Eucharistic Adoration

Abbey Parish, Loughrea
The third Thursday of the month 8pm – Fr. Cathal Stanley
Healing the Family Tree Mass

Monthly Rosary and Prayers for the Holy Souls
St. Bridget’s Church, Carnhill, Derry – 1st Sunday of the month at 5pm
Longtower Church, Derry – 1st Sunday of the month at 5pm
Contact Matt, Ph: 00353 74 9368014

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CONTACTS Founders: Aidan & Carolyn Bond, 45 Dunard, Craughwell, Co. Galway Ph: +353 91-876737
Treasurer: Carolyn Bond, 45 Dunard, Craughwell, Co. Galway Ph: +353 91-876737
Secretary, Mary Mullins, Cregmore, Claregalway, Co. Galway Ph: +353 91 798407
Email:
Website: http://www.holysoulscrusade.org