St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin nun 1769- 1852 (4th American Saint)
by VP
Posted on Tuesday November 18, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Rose-Philippine Duchesne, sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, founderess of the congregation first house in America (1818)
"Mother Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin, foundress, in America, of the first houses of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
Born at Grenoble, France, August 29, 1769, she was educated by the Visitation Nuns, entered that Order, saw its dispersion during the Reign of Terror and vainly attempted the reestablishment of the convent of Sainte-Marie d'en-Haut, near Grenoble. Finally, in 1804, she accepted the offer of Mother Barat, to incorporate her community into the Society of the Sacred Heart. In 1818 Mother Duchesne set out with four companions for the missions of America. Bishop Dubourg welcomed her to New Orleans, whence she sailed up the Mississippi to St. Louis, finally settling her little community at St. Charles. Cold, hunger and illness, opposition, ingratitude and calumny served only to fire her lofty and indomitable spirit with new zeal. Having founded the new houses at Florissant, Grand Coteau, New Orleans, St. Louis and St. Michel, La., she yearned to teach the poor Indians. Old and broken as she was, she went to labor amongst the Pottowatomies at Sugar Creek, Kansas. But one year later she returned to St. Charles and died October 18, 1852. Preliminary steps for her beatification have been taken. " BAUNARD, Histoire de Mme. Duchesne, Paris, 1878.
"At Bordeaux, for example, Robespierre had ordered the construction of a huge guillotine having four blades, thus to make short work of the execution of the twelve hundred priests imprisoned there. Four days before that fearful decree was to be carried into effect, Robespierre met his own death by the knife of another guillotine.
Some few of the faithful priests escaped deportation and wandered through France, giving the Last Sacraments to the sick and dying, saying Mass in hiding wherever they might and encouraging the faithful to persevere. So Philippine became a "priest-hunter." She seemed to have an intuition for recognizing those who could give her sick poor what would be their only comfort in their last hours. When she had failed to find one of these outlawed priests, she would pray beside the dying, exhorting them to contrition and to confidence. One day she carried a woman to her own lodging, placed her in the bed which she shared with another Dame de la Miséricorde, and prayed beside her all the night until she died. Fear seemed unknown to Philippine. Danger was evident, even to her, but she scorned the thought of it if there were hope of saving souls. In those years of terror, she would go at any hour of the night to visit the sick in the hovels they called home and, if she left them before dawn, it was to find her way to some secluded spot where Mass was to be said.
At last there came a respite when with the death of Robespierre in 1794 the application of the laws against the loyal clergy was relaxed. Some of the clerical prisoners were set free and so many exiled priests returned, that the Convention in alarm gave them a month in which to quit France once more. Vacillation was, in most cases, the characteristic of the Convention, which revoked, renewed, and withdrew the renewal of the decrees which it had made." Mother Philippine Duchesne By Marjory Erskine
"The hard soil about them was but a type of the harder soil in the population of the new land which they came to serve. Souls neglected, hardened, arrogant, ignorant, filled with self-conceit, devoted to ease and pleasure and self-indulgence, gave little encouragement for the future. Yet the good nuns struggled on. But in one year they had to leave the placeanother instance of the constant disappointment that was to be Mother Duchesne's earthly portion. "One day the Sacred Heart was to return to that place, and to gather in the harvest she had prepared. This was always her part of the work in our Lord's vineyard. Others reaped where she had conquered the soil inch by inch. She opened the way amidst brambles and briers. She was in the desert the pioneer of Christ." Catholic World, Volume 65 Mother Duchesne BY S. L. EMERY. p 687
Saint Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop and Confessor
by VP
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025 at 05:00AM in Saints
"He was bishop of Neocæsarea in Pontus; eminent for his great learning and virtues, but much more for his miracles, which he wrought in such numbers that he was called Thaumaturgus, which signifies, Worker of Miracles. In this respect, as St. Basil says, he might be compared with Moses and the apostles. When he built a church at Neocæsarea, he commanded a mountain which obstructed the work, to remove and yield place, which it did. He fixed his staff near the bank of a river, which sometimes overflowed and swept away inhabitants, houses, cattle and crops; and no such floods happened again. His staff also grew, and became a tree. A lake, which was a subject of contention between two brothers, was dried up at the prayers of the saint, and became solid land, whereby the cause of dispute was removed. He was a man of a prophetic and apostolic spirit; and in his devotions, he shewed the greatest reverence and recollection. He abhorred lies and falsehood, and particularly all detraction. No anger or bitterness ever appeared in his words or behavior. A little before his death, he inquired how many infidels yet remained in the city; and being told that there were seventeen, he sighed, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, expressed his grief that any continued strangers to the true religion, but thankfully acknowledged as a great mercy, that having found but seventeen Christians at his first coming thither, he left but seventeen idolators. He died in the year 270, or 271
Pray for all the pastors of the church; that by their vigilance and good example, they may bring forth a plentiful harvest. All who are engaged in error, or in a sinful state, stand in need of their help, and ought to be the subject of their labors and prayers, that none may perish through their neglect. In whatever degree you are, let your words and example be to edification. Endeavor to do good to all, and let the great charity of this saint teach you not to conceal any thing that may be beneficial to the public." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"St. GREGORY was born in Pontus, of heathen parents. In Palestine, about the year 231, he studied philosophy under the great Origen, who led him from the pursuit of human wisdom to Christ, Who is the Wisdom of God. Not long after, he was made Bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in his own country. As he lay awake one night an old man entered his room, and pointed to a lady of superhuman beauty, and radiant with heavenly light. This old man was St. John the Evangelist, and the lady told him to give Gregory the instruction he desired. Thereupon he gave St. Gregory a creed which contained in all its fulness the doctrine of the Trinity. St. Gregory set it in writing, directed all his preaching by it, and handed it down to his successors. Strong in this faith, he subdued demons; he foretold the future. At his word a rock moved from its place, a river changed its course, a lake was dried up. He converted his diocese, and strengthened those under persecution. He struck down a rising heresy; and, when he was gone, this creed preserved his flock from the Arian pest. St. Gregory died in the year 270.
Reflection.-Devotion to the blessed Mother of God is the sure protection of faith in her Divine Son. Every time that we invoke her, we renew our faith in the Incarnate God; we reverse the sin and unbelief of our first parents; we take our part with her who was blessed because she believed." Little Pictorial Lives of the Saint edited by John Gilmary Shea
Seventeeth Day: The Manner in which the Church bestows Indulgences upon the Souls in Purgatory
by VP
Posted on Monday November 17, 2025 at 04:00AM in Purgatory Month Meditations
The Church does not apply indulgences to the souls in Purgatory as she does to the faithful upon earth through the tribunal of penance and absolution, but confers them simply through pious supplications and sacrifices offered in their behalf; thus they are relieved indirectly. Holy Church opens her rich treasures of merit and satisfaction in proportion to the suffrage of the faithful, who offer expiation and fervent prayers to God for the relief of the suffering souls.
God has reserved to Himself the right to accept entirely, or in part, the satisfaction offered for any soul in Purgatory. This acceptance depends upon His holy and adorable Will, and perhaps, in great measure upon the care of the soul to render herself worthy of the Divine Assistance during her earthly career. Besides, there may be some obligation neglected by the person who intends to gain the indulgence, owing to ignorance or forgetfulness on his part.
Therefore, we have no assurance whatever that an indulgence given by us to the souls has had the desired effect. Considering this, we should prepare most carefully, and fulfill all obligations required for gaining an indulgence. However, let us place with entire confidence in the tender hand of Divine Mercy the application of indulgences to departed souls who are especially dear to us.
Prayer: Have mercy, O Lord, upon the suffering souls in Purgatory; mitigate the severity of Thy judgments; let the infinite merits of Thine only begotten Son and those of Thy saints assist the holy souls and deliver them from their sufferings. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten, and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls of those who neglected to gain indulgences for the souls in Purgatory.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. (three times)
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907
Saint Gertrude, Virgin and Abbess A.D. 1292
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 16, 2025 at 05:00AM in Saints
" St. Gertrude, Spouse of Christ, Pray for us.
If you want to find me, look for me near the Altar or in the heart of Gertrude."
"JESUS CHRIST IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST.-It was by meditation on the infinite goodness of Jesus Christ in the adorable sacrament of the Eucharist that St. Gertrude, abbess of Rodersdorff, in Saxony, was raised to that high degree of perfection, contemplation, and divine love, which was never surpassed, save by St. Theresa, and which still awakens the admiration of all who are intent upon the contemplative life. But, not content with meditating and praying, she sought to reproduce in her own person the humility, charity, patience, and sweetness of the Divine Exemplar, so that works, without which there is no true virtue, should not be wanting to her Faith. She has sketched the true portrait of her soul in her book of Revelations," which embodies the narrative of her communications with God and the holy transports of His love. She died in 1334, and her last malady was, so to speak, nought but a holy languor of Divine love, so delightful and ineffable were the consolations she enjoyed. Numerous miracles have borne witness to her sanctity.
MORAL REFLECTION..-"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give shall never thirst, but this water shall be in him a well springing up into life everlasting."-(John iv. 13.)" Pictorial half hours with the saints by Fr. Auguste François Lecanu
"AT five years of age, she was offered to God in a Benedictine nunnery in Saxony, and at the age of thirty, chosen abbess. Divine contemplation and devout prayer she always looked upon as the principal duty of her state. The Passion of our divine Redeemer was the favorite object of her devotions. She spoke of Christ with so much unction, as to enrapture all who heard her. The love of God, which burned in her breast, seemed the only spring of her affections and actions. Watching, fasting, abstinence, perfect obedience, and the constant denial of her own will, were the means by which she tamed her passions. But profound humility and perfect meekness had the chief part in this work. Though possessed of great natural talents, her mind was penetrated only with deep sentiments of her own nothingness and imperfections. It was her sincere desire that all should have the same contempt of her, which she had of herself; and she used to say that it seemed to her one of the greatest of all the miracles of God's goodness, that he was pleased to suffer the earth to bear her. Though superior over the rest, she behaved towards them as if she had been the lowest
servant, and one unworthy to approach them. While she gave herself up
to heavenly contemplation, she was very solicitous to attend to the necessities of every one. Her tender devotion to the Mother of God, sprang from the ardor of her love for the divine Son. The suffering
souls in Purgatory had a great share in her compassion and charity. She
never interrupted her sighs and moans, admitting no human consolation,
so long as her desire was delayed. Yet she rejoiced in hope and love in perfect resignation to the will of God, in the visits of the divine
Spirit, in suffering with her loving Redeemer, and for his sake, and in laboring for his service. Her desires were at length fulfilled, and
having been abbess forty years, she was called to her heavenly spouse in
1292; having in her last sickness enjoyed the sweet comforts and presence of the Holy Ghost." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
On another day, as she received the saving Host, our Lord addressed her thus: "Consider that the priest who gives you the Host touches it directly with his hands, and that the vestments with which he is clothed, out of respect, do not reach beyond his arms; this is to teach you, that although I regard with pleasure all that is done for My glory, as prayers, fasts, vigils, and other like works of piety, still (those who have little understanding will not comprehend it), the confidence with which the elect have recourse to Me in their weakness touches Me far more sensibly; even as you see My Flesh is nearer to the hands of the priest than his vestments.” The Life and Revelations of Saint Gertrude
Prayer before Mass (Prayers of St. Gertrude):
O Almighty, everlasting God, seeing that it is the true faith of Thy Church that the holy Sacrifice of the Mass instituted by Thy Son is infinitely pleasing to Thy divine Majesty, and renders Thee an infinite worship and praise, and since by it alone Thou canst be worthily and adequately worshiped and praised; impelled by an ardent desire of Thy honor and glory, I purpose to assist at this present sacrifice with the utmost devotion of which I am capable, and to offer this most Holy Oblation to Thee in union with Thy priest.
I offer Thee not only this sacrifice, but all those which shall be this day offered from every part of the world; and I protest before Thee that if it depended on me whether they should be offered or omitted, I would put forth all my powers to procure and further their being offered. And were I able now to raise up to Thee, of the stone which are scattered over the earth, most devoted priests, who should day by day and with glowing fervor offer to Thee this sacrifice of praise, I would most gladly do it. But, being what I am, I implore Thee, O most holy Father, through Jesus Christ Thy Son, to pour into the hearts of all Thy priests, and especially those who might perchance otherwise offer Thee this acceptable sacrifice coldly and without due recollectedness, the spirit of grace and of fervor, that they may be enabled to celebrate Thy tremendous Mystery with becoming awe and devotion.
Grant to me, and to all those who are here present with me, that we may join in this most sacred action with reverence and devotion, so that we may have our portion in its fruit and effect. I confess to Thee, O almighty God, and to the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, and to all the Saints, my own sins and those of all the world; and I lay them on Thy sacred Altar, that they may be entirely blotted out by the virtue of this sacrifice. Do thou deign to grant us this grace, by that love which held back Thy hand from smiting when Thy most beloved Son, Thy only Son, was immolated by the hands of ungodly men. amen"
Preces Gertrudianae; Prayers of St. Gertrude and St. Mechtilde.
Sunday Sermon: THE HOLY VIATICUM
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 16, 2025 at 05:00AM in Sunday Sermons
Tadeusz Gorecki - Viaticum
"Come, lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall be safe."MATT. ix. 18.
1. The one thing necessary for us is a holy death.
2. The thrice-told miracle.
3. We, too, must pray and desire the Lord to come.
4. Then our soul shall be safe.
"There is one thing that should be the constant theme of our prayers: the one thing above all to be desired. A good life must be crowned by a holy death. And we have confidence in this, that our Blessed Lord will graciously hear our prayers. "Thou hast given him his heart's desire; and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips " (Ps. xx. 2).
We have such a perfect model before us in this day's gospel in the ruler, who besought our Blessed Lord to come to his daughter, who was at the point of death. His faith, his earnest entreaty is pictured before us three times over, as SS. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each give us an account of this miracle that was granted to the father's desire and prayer. Our Savior was so touched that at once, to allay the father's fears, He said, "Fear not, only believe, and she shall be safe. And Jesus rising up, followed him with His disciples." A delay occurred through the woman that touched the hem of Christ's garment, and our Lord speaking to her. The father's fears redoubled, and friends hastened to meet him, saying: "Thy daughter is dead; why dost thou trouble the Master any further? But Jesus saith, Fear not, only believe" (Mark v. 35). That father's faith and earnestness were rewarded by his child being raised to life and restored to him.
We have something more precious to us than that young maiden was to her father. Does it not shame us to remember his love for her, and his faith in Christ our Lord, contrasted with our apathy about our souls? Where is our daily earnest prayer, our anxiety about the state of our souls, whether dangerous, dying, or dead? Do we fall at our Lord's feet, praying Him to come into our house?
If we were ill, you will say, we should pray thus, and be as anxious as that father was. No, the preparation for a holy death is not made when we come to die. It is during life that we should prepare for the end. If we have little or no desire, no fervent longing for Holy Communion during life, we shall not have it when we come to die. Each Communion should be a preparation for the last one. And oh, how much depends on our Blessed Lord coming to us then! For so great a favor, is it not well worth to pray for it day after day? Each time we receive our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist our most earnest prayer and desire should be, that He will come to us at the end, and then our soul "shall be safe."
How the saints longed for that safeguard when death approached! St. Benedict had himself borne to the church, and, supported in the arms of his brethren, standing before the altar after receiving His Master and his true King Christ, he gave up his soul to God. A fitting end for such a blessed life. And St. Thomas Aquinas, when the Holy Viaticum was brought to him, though dying, raised himself and knelt and prayed aloud: "I firmly believe that Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, is present in this most holy sacrament. I receive Thee, the price of my soul's ransom, I receive Thee, the Viaticum of my soul's pilgrimage. Thou, O Christ, art the King of glory, Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father." And so needful and precious is it to our souls to receive the Holy Viaticum that St. Mary Magdalen was transported by a miracle from her hermitage to receive It ere she died.
If hitherto we have been careless and negligent in this respect-seldom thinking and praying for a holy death, and piously longing that our Lord in His sweet mercy may come to us at the end, let us begin at once, heartily, fervently to make it our daily supplication. Our divine Lord longs to save us, but He does expect to be asked, to be implored, to be desired and yearned for. Let us pray like that father in the Gospel, and say like David: "O God, I have declared to Thee my life. Thou hast set my tears in Thy sight. In what day soever I shall call upon Thee, behold, I know that Thou art my God. In God I have hoped. . . ..because Thou hast delivered my soul from death; that I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living." (Ps. lv. 9, 13)
Prepare in life, pray in life, for at our last illness, through misery, pain, and weakness, there may be little zest for prayer. The faithful Lord will remember all the supplications and holy desires and He will come to us, with Peter and James and John, as the Gospel says, typifying faith and hope and charity, and our soul shall be safe. The words with which the priest administers Holy Viaticum show us the danger of that hour, and how, indeed, we need an almighty guardian. The priest holding the Blessed Sacrament, which is given to us as the food of the wayfarer, for our soul's journey to the other world, says, "Receive, brother, the Viaticum of the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who may guard thee from the malignant enemy and lead thee to life everlasting."
Thus our dear Redeemer comes to our soul that it may be safe and may live. Yes, this life may pass away, but our soul's life is just beginning the eternal blessed life, to which our Lord will lead it. That blessed life which we shall pass in beholding, glorifying, loving our good God, our Savior for ever and for ever." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey (23rd Sunday after Pentecost)
Sixteenth Day: The Efficacy of Prayer for the Suffering Souls
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 16, 2025 at 04:00AM in Purgatory Month Meditations
"It is holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins." (2 Mach. XII, 46)
Prayer for the dead is holy because pleasing to God; wholesome, because through the merciful goodness of God it accomplishes its sublime and charitable object. Nothing is so pleasing to God as the sacrifice of love and mercy, especially when offered for the suffering souls, whom He loves most tenderly, because they are holy and sure of Heaven.
To relieve the suffering souls we can do nothing more salutary than to gain indulgences applicable to them, offering to God the perfect satisfaction of Christ and the saints, and performing good works in their behalf, that they may be comforted or delivered from the pains of Purgatory.
A suffering soul may receive an entire or a temporary remission of her penalty, according to the indulgence applied.
Prayer: Open, O Lord, the rich treasures of Thy holy Church, in favor of the souls in Purgatory that they may receive full pardon, or at least, some relief in their pains; and grant us grace to deliver and to comfort a great number of suffering souls by prayer and good works. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten, and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls, who during their earthly career, endeavored to gain many indulgences for the faithful departed.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. (three times)
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907Saint Albert the Great, Bishop Confessor patron saint of scientists and philosophers.
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 15, 2025 at 05:00AM in Saints
" Dread the torments suffered by the souls in Purgatory, and have compassion on them. Succor them by your prayers and deliver them by your good works" St. Albert the Great.
Miniatures Lives of the Saints, for Every Day in the Year, Volume 1; Volumes 28-146 1883
"God, thou art wondrous in thy saints!
Appointed by you to the highest pastoral office of the Church of Jesus Christ, I kneel today as a pilgrim at the tomb of St Albert, to glorify you with all the faithful on this day commemorating the 700th anniversary of his death, and to thank you for his life and his works, through which you gave him to your Church as a teacher of the faith and example of Christian life.
God, our creator, cause and light of the human spirit, you gave St Albert a profound knowledge of faith in true imitation of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. The world itself became for him the revelation of your omnipotence and goodness. Through his contact with your creation he learned to recognize and love you more profoundly. At the same time he researched through the works of human wisdom, including the writings of non-Christian philosophers, and paved the way for their encounter with your Gospel. Through the gift of discrimination you made him uniquely able to avoid error, to establish truth more deeply and make it known among men. In doing so you made him a teacher of the Church and of all mankind. With the intercession of St Albert we pray together to you for your mercy.
Send to your Church teachers of truth in our time as well, who will be capable of interpreting and preaching your Gospel to the people of the world through their words and saintly living. Hear us, O Lord. Open the hearts of man through the grace of a living faith so that they may recognize God's presence in his creation and their own lives and come to correspond more and more perfectly with his holy will. Accompany and illuminate the work of scientists and scholars with your Holy Spirit. Preserve them from pride and self-conceit and give them a sense of responsibility in their dealings with the gifts of your creation. Give those responsible in State and society insight and responsibility so that they may use the achievements of science and technology for peace and progress among the peoples of the world and not for their harm or destruction. Help us all to recognize the truth amidst the many dangers and errors of our time and to serve you devoutly in a life strengthened by faith. With the intercession of St Albert, bless all citizens of this country, give the German people peace and unity and let it always be aware of its' responsibility in the community of nations. Accompany my pastoral visit in the Federal Republic of Germany with your special blessings and assistance, strengthen all believers in their love of Christ and his Church so that through the testimony of their Christian living your name may be glorified in truth and justice in the world today. Pray for us, St Albert , that we might be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: God, our refuge and strength, you gave the sainted bishop and teacher of the Church, Albert, the power to associate human knowledge with eternal wisdom. With his intercession and strengthen, protect our faith in the intellectual confusion of our days. Give us the openness of his intellect so that the progress of science may also help us to know you more profoundly and come closer to you. Let us grow in the knowledge of the truth which you yourself are, so that we may some day see you face to face in the presence of all the saints. For this we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Fifteenth Day: The State of Grace Necessary to Assist the Souls in Purgatory
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 15, 2025 at 04:00AM in Purgatory Month Meditations
Holy Church teaches us that the state of grace is necessary to perform good works acceptable to God and of merit to the souls in Purgatory. There are some good works, the value of which does not depend upon the spiritual condition of the one who offers them. A person who may be, unfortunately, in the state of mortal sin, can have Masses said for the faithful departed. He himself will acquire no merit, thereby, but the suffering souls will derive the full benefit of the Holy Sacrifice. In all other good works offered for them, the state of sanctifying grace is requisite.
"He that abideth in Me," says Christ, "and I in him, the same beareth much fruit, for, without Me you can do nothing." If, then, we are incapable of gaining merit for ourselves, how can we bestow any upon others? St. Francis Xavier says: "Before being intent upon delivering souls from Purgatory, take heed to redeem our own souls from Hell!" and here we may add the word of the Lord spoken by His prophet: "Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your device from my eyes: cease to do perversely." (Isaiah I. 16)
Prayer: Grant us the grace, O Lord, to avoid sin at all times, and confirm us in Thy charity, that, by Thy bounty, our supplications for the suffering souls may be acceptable to Thee and beneficial to them. Through Christ Our Lord. AmenPrayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten, and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls of those who were careful never to lose the grace of God.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. (three times)
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907Saint Josaphat, Archbishop of Poloczk, Martyr. (1580-1623)
by VP
Posted on Friday November 14, 2025 at 05:00AM in Saints
Martyrdom of Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych by Józef Simmler (1823–1868)
"The life of St. Josaphat is a lesson for all time. The two truths which he was charged by our Divine Lord to proclaim, and which he was to seal with his blood: the supremacy of the Roman Pontiff and the unity of the Church, are denied in our own day by the same sectaries, and all who maintain them assailed by the same fiendish cruelty." The Dublin Review, Part 1 page 46. 1877
"Stir up, O Lord, we beseech thee, in thy Church the Spirit wherewith the blessed Josephat thy Martyr and Pontiff was filled." Thus prays our Mother, today, and the Gospel likewise points to the desire of obtaining pastors like to thee, O holy Bishop! The sacred text speaks of the false shepherd, who flees at first sight of the wolf; but the Homily, which explains it in the Night Office, brands equally with the title of hireling the keeper who, though he does not flee, suffers the enemy un-resisted to work havoc in the fold. May the divine Shepherd, whom thou didst imitate unto the end, even unto laying down thy life for the sheep, live again in all those whom he calls, like Peter, to exercise a greater love." The Liturgical Year: Passiontide and holy week, 3d edition. 1901 Abbot Prosper Gueranger OSB
"ST. JOSAPHAT was born in Volhynia, a province of Poland, of noble and
virtuous parents who brought him up in lively sentiments of piety.
During his childhood he was much affected at the thought of the
sufferings which Jesus Christ had endured for the love of men, and one
day when his mother was discoursing about our Lord's Passion, a dart
issuing from the side of Jesus, as represented in a neighboring
crucifix, transfixed his heart.
From that moment he felt himself powerfully inflamed with the fire of
Divine Love, and gave himself up with such fervor to prayer and works of
charity as to excite the wonder and admiration of all who beheld him. When he had reached the age of twenty, Josaphat received the religious
habit in a convent of Basilian monks, where he practiced the most severe
austerities and made rapid progress in virtue. His great reputation for
sanctity and learning caused him to be raised to the office of
Superior, and afterwards to the higher dignity of Archimandrite or
Abbot. Finally, in spite of his earnest opposition, he was elected and
consecrated Archbishop of Poloczk.
Invested with this new dignity, Josaphat continued the same humble and
penitential way of life which he had followed within the walls of his
monastery. Perfectly detached from earthly things, he devoted the whole
of the revenue of his See to works of charity and the service of the
Church. At the same time he gave himself up with unremitting assiduity
to the care of his flock, whom he earnestly strove to preserve from the
inroads of schism and heresy. Never was there to be found a more devoted
champion of the rights and privileges of the Holy See, which he
strenuously defended against the heretics both by his sermons and
writings. Almighty God blessed his efforts with great success, and he
was the means of bringing back innumerable souls to the unity of the
Faith. His success in this respect drew upon him the hatred of certain
fiery zealots, who conspired to effect his death; nor was their design
hidden from our Saint, who in a public sermon forewarned the people of
his approaching departure. Meanwhile he hastened to complete the
visitation of his flock, that death might find him faithfully employed
in the service of his Master and with his accounts made ready.
Having completed their preparation, the conspirators took occasion of
the Archbishop's visit to Vitepsk in the course of his ministration, to
carry their plot into execution. Rushing tumultuously to the
Archiepiscopal residence, they entered with drawn swords, striking and
slaying whomsoever they met. Josaphat immediately went forth to meet
them. "My children," said he, "why do you slay my friends? Behold if you
have anything against me, here I am." At these words, they rushed upon
him, loaded him with blows, pierced him with their daggers, and finally
struck off his head with an axe. His blessed body was cast into the
neighboring river, but being discovered by a miraculous light, was taken
out and interred with great solemnity and veneration. St. Josaphat
accomplished his glorious martyrdom on November 12, A.D. 1623, being
then in the forty-third year of his age." Short lives of the saints, for every day in the year, Volume 3 By Rev. Henry Gibson 1897
Fourtheenth Day: The Special Duty of Children towards their Deceased Parents
by VP
Posted on Friday November 14, 2025 at 04:00AM in Purgatory Month Meditations
"Honor thy father, and forget not the groaning of thy mother. Remember that thou hadst not been born but through them, and make a return to them; as they have done for thee." (Eccl. VII. 29-30) Next to God, our parents are our greatest benefactors, entitled to most tender love and gratitude, which is the sacred duty of every child. This duty does not end with this life; it is extended even to eternity. Should our departed parents find no relief in their pains? Must they cry out in bitter anguish: "I have reared sons and daughters, but they have forgotten me?"
If we compassionate the misery of strangers, if we do not heartlessly send a beggar from our doors, oh, let us remember how near and dear father and mother are to us, and how greatly we are indebted to them. After their death, we owe them prayers, alms, good works, and Masses. They cry out to us for mercy. Would it not be the lowest degree of ingratitude were we to forget those who bestowed their best love and care upon us in life? The commandment of God, "Honor thy father and thy mother," is an obligation also towards our deceased parents.
Prayer: O God, Who hast commanded us to honor father and mother, look in loving kindness upon the souls of my father and mother, and forgive them their trespasses and grant unto my the joy of being re-united to them in the glorious light of everlasting life. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten, and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls of parents who have been forgotten by their children.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. (three times)
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907
