The Communion of Saints is on parade for us this week – and really, for the whole month! November, as you know, is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for whom we pray especially on November 2, All Souls’ Day. The Church Suffering, as they are called, is that portion of the Body of Christ that is making atonement for their sins and being purified so they can enter into Heaven. It is good that we spend time praying for them each day, but especially each day during the month of November. I encourage you to take a look through the Enchiridion of Indulgences, which you can buy online (though there are various versions available in PDF format, too), and pick a prayer or two to pray throughout the month of November for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Note, too, that between November 1 and 8, visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead brings with it a plenary (full) indulgence, which is offered for the deceased. You are probably aware, but we have a small cemetery outside the parish office here at St. Rita!
Remember that indulgences come in two forms – plenary (full) and partial. They are a remission of temporal punishment due to sin (i.e. Purgatory time), which can be applied to yourself or to a soul in Purgatory. They are possible because Christ by His Passion won superabundant graces for us on our journey to Him, and it belongs to the Church to dispense them from Her treasury. Likewise the merits of Our Lady in corresponding to God’s grace and the merits of the saints which were above and beyond what was needed for themselves are part of the treasury of graces which the Church pours out upon the faithful. In order to receive those graces, the Church asks an act of piety, the approved list of which is found in the Enchiridion. To receive an indulgence, you must be in the state of grace when the act of piety is performed, and for plenary indulgences, the following conditions are also required: 1) Confession within 20 days before or after, 2) Eucharistic Communion ideally on the same day, but within 3 days. 3) Prayers for the Roman Pontiff, 4) No attachment to sin, including venial sin. The latter is the most difficult and encourages us to continue to fight against sin and for charity. It is good to pray something like, “In the Name of Jesus, I renounce all attachment to sin” on a regular basis – and, of course, to avoid sin!
Pray, then, for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and they will pray for you, also! We all desire to get to Heaven after we die, and these souls are assured of it, though the purification they are enduring is quite painful. We, too, may have to endure such purification in order to be perfect and able to enter into eternal glory. In the meantime, we are also given Solemnity of All Saints to remind us that real sanctity is in fact possible in this life, and we can complete this life and go straight to Heaven, bypassing Purgatory. It simply requires a conformity to the Will of God in all things.
The Saints in Heaven, the Church Triumphant, witness to us what God can do in His people. Being a great saint, however, isn’t a matter of achievement or pride. The saints don’t “care” about the honor we give them, because we can’t even begin to approach the honor God does them by bestowing upon them eternal life and glory. The honor we give the saints assists us, keeps our focus on Heaven, and opens us to receive the graces that God wants to give.
We, those who are still making our ways towards Heaven, are called the Church Militant, because we have to do battle against sin and temptation, and often against ourselves. But do not let that reality obscure the fact that you are already a member of the Communion of Saints by your Baptism. In other words, you have entered into God’s family, God’s Kingdom, God’s life! You have so many others cheering you on along the way – not only your family and friends here, but all the souls in Purgatory and all the saints in Heaven. Live the Communion of Saints as if it were your family, because it is!
In Christ,
Fr. Christensen