Fourth Day: Expiation for Venial Sins and Imperfections
by VP
Posted on Monday November 04, 2024 at 01:00AM in Meditations
" The judgments of God are very different from the judgments of men. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways My ways,:" saith the Lord. "For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts." (Is. LV. 8-9) Though the judgments of God are severe, they are ever just. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required." (Luke XII. 48) And St. Gregory the Great says: "Where grace has been augmented, there, also, the account has been increased." From those souls, upon whom God has bestowed great and special graces, He demands a faithful co-operation, and the least infidelity to such grace is punished with extreme severity: the purgation or cleansing of these favored souls must be perfect in proportion to the high degree of glory to which they are to be exalted. in reference to prayer for the suffering souls, who are in Purgatory for venial sins and imperfections, we must observe that, though their time of suffering is comparatively short, and their punishment less rigorous, their pain and agony is more intense, owing to their yearning desire of perfect union with God. They are in utmost need of our fervent prayers, and will show their gratitude by their petitions for us before the throne of God, according to the speedy assistance we have given them during our earthly lives."
Prayer: Inflame within us, O Lord, the fire of Thy Divine Love, that all our inordinate desires may be consumed here upon earth, thus rendering our prayers for the suffering souls in Purgatory more acceptable to Thee and beneficial to them. Though 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 have suffered for the longest time in Purgatory.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. (Three times)
Practice: Do not let human respect prevent you from performing a duty.
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907