Signs of the Times  

     NOVEMBER 1ST -- ALL SAINTS DAY


     The Catholic Church pays, day by day, a special veneration to some of the holy men and women who have helped to establish it by their blood, develop it by their labors, or edify it by their virtues.  But, in addition to those whom the Church honors by special designation, or has inscribed in their calendar, how many martyrs are there whose names are not recorded.  How many humble virgins are holy penitents.  How many just and holy anchorites or young children snatched away in their innocence.  How many Christians who have died in a state of grace, whose merits are known only to God, and who are themselves known only to heaven.  Now should we forget those who remember us in their intercessions?  Besides, are they not our brethren, our ancestors, our friends and fellow-Christians, with whom we have lived in daily companionship--in other words, our own family?  Yes, it is one family; and our place is marked out in this home of eternal light and eternal love.


    NOVEMBER 2 -- ALL SOULS DAY


    The  Catholic Church also teaches us that the souls of the just wh have left this world soiled with the stain of venial sin remain for a time in a place of expiation where they suffer such punishment as may be due to their offenses.  It is a matter of faith that these 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 then, both an act odf charity and of piety.  We read in the Bible: "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins."  And when Our Lord inspired St. Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, towards the close of the 10th century, to establish an Order a general commemoration of all the faithful departed, it was soon adopted by the whole Western Church, and has been continued unceasingly to our day.  Let us, then, ever bear in mind the dead and offer up our prayers for them.  By showing this mercy to the suffering souls in Purgatory, we shall be particularly entitled to be treated with mercy at our departure from this world, and to share more abundantly in the general suffrages of the Church, continually offered for all who have slept in Christ.



   PURGATORY

      CATHOLICS BELIEVE THAT AFTER DEATH THERE ARE MANY SOULS THAT ARE NOT DESTINED FOR HELL BUT THAT ARE NOT READY TO ENTER HEAVEN WITH GOD--THEY GO TO PURGATORY TO BE CLEANSED OF SIN...

   The Catholic doctrine regarding the concept of Purgatory has developed from the Catholic beliefe that God is both merciful and just.  Because God is merciful, sinners can atone for their non-mortal sins even after death, but because he is just, this atonement is a requirement that must be met.
      Purgatory (from the Latin word "purgare" - to make clean, to purify) is where that atonement happens.  The Church teaches that Purgatory is where those who die without mortal sin on their soul, but also without making full satisfaction to God for their sins, must suffer for a time to purify their souls and to make recompense to God.  Purgatory is different from hell because it is temporary.  Souls suffering in Purgatory know that eventually they will be with God.  In traditional teaching, Purgatory is a place------


    ....to be continued...from the book, "The Souls in Purgatory" by Maria Simma, a mystic from Austria, who from childhood helped the souls in Purgatory with her prayers who appeared to her and asked for them....