Release 1,000 Souls From Purgatory

Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great, whose feast day is Nov. 16, that the following prayer would release 1,000 souls from purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners which would alleviate the indebtedness accrued to them during their lives.

Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

St. Gertrude the Great was born in Germany in 1263. She was a Benedictine nun and often meditated on the Passion of Christ. She did many penances, and Our Lord appeared to her many times. She died in 1334.

The Miracle of Divine Mercy

If you've ever put off going to confession, don't any longer. Never be afraid to open your heart in making confession, for you are revealing yourself to Jesus. At that moment, you give Him permission to heal you.

Saint Faustina recorded the words of Jesus in her diary in late 1937:

Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [The Sacrament of Reconciliation] There the greatest of miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God's mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late. (Diary entry 1448*

Unite With Jesus in Holy Communion

Read the words of Jesus in this passage from Saint Faustina's diary, then think about the part of the Holy Mass when people line up for Holy Communion. Do they receive the Holy Host as a rote exercise, walking up, looking around at others, not paying attention? Or do they take the Lord into their hands and into their hearts in silence, listening to Him at the moment. Approach Holy Communion with the words in your heart, "Be merciful to me, O Lord, a sinner. Son of David, have pity on me."

Saint Faustina wrote in her diary in December 1937:

The Lord said to me, It should be of no concern to you how anyone else acts; you are to be My living reflection, through love and mercy.

I answered, "Lord, but they often take advantage of my goodness." That makes no difference, My daughter. That is no concern of yours. As for you, be always merciful toward other people, and especially toward sinners.

Oh, how painful it is to Me that souls so seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls, and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust Me. I want to lavish My graces on them, and they do not want to accept them. They treat Me as a dead object, whereas My Heart is full of love and mercy. In order that you may know at least some of My pain, imagine the most tender of mothers who has great love for her children, while those children spurn her love. Consider her pain. No one is in a position to console her. This is but a feeble image and likeness of My love. (Diary entries 1446 and 1447)

Doing God's Holy Will

How do we know God's will for us? Simply, it comes through prayer. You can obtain great clarity by a simple prayer and putting yourself in God's presence in eucharistic adoration or at Mass.

Saint Faustina writes in her diary in spring 1937.

In the evening, I heard these words in my soul: My daughter, know that I shall speak to you in a special way through this priest [Father Plaza] so that you may not yield to doubt concerning My wishes. Already in the first meditation my soul was struck by the following words of the priest: I must not oppose God's will and God's designs, whatever they might be; and as soon as I am convinced of the certitude and the authenticity of the will of God, I have the duty of carrying it out. No one can release me from this. Whatever the will of God may be, once I have come to know it, I ought to carry it out. This is just a very short summary, but the whole meditation imprinted itself on my soul, and I have no doubts about anything. I know what God wants of me, and what I ought to do. (Diary entry 1101)

Come With Joy to the Presence of the Lord

Psalm 100:1B-2, 3, 4, 5

Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.

Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.

Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.

Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.

 Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.

For he is good, the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.

Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.

Without Me You Can Do Nothing

John 15:1-17

The Vine and the Branches.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.

He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.

You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.

Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.

Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.

By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this,j to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.

This I command you: love one another.

Jesus Is Everything

Col 1:15-20

Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the Body, the Church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the Blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.

The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows

This devotion goes back to the Middle Ages but has gained new popularity following the Church-approved Marian apparitions in Kibeho, Rwanda, in the 1980s. In her apparitions, Our Lady of Kibeho recommended that people pray the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows to obtain the favor of repentance. Read more from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception.

The Seven Sorrows Chaplet consists of seven Hail Marys for each one of the seven sorrows.

Start with an Act of Contrition, then meditate on the sorrowful mystery, start with the prophecy of Simeon, say one Our Father and seven Hail Marys.


1. Prophecy of Simeon - reflect on and sympathize in the sorrow of our Blessed Lady, when she presented her Divine Child in the Temple, and heard from the aged Simeon that a sword of grief should pierce her soul on His account. Reading: Luke 2:25-35.

Our Father, Seven Hail Marys

2. Flight into Egypt - reflect on her sorrow when, to escape the cruelty of King Herod, she was forced to fly into Egypt with St. Joseph and her beloved Child. Reading: Matthew 2:13-15.

Our Father, Seven Hail Marys

3. Separation from Jesus in Jerusalem - reflect on her grief, when, in returning from Jerusalem she perceived that she had lost her dear Jesus, whom she sought sorrowing during three days. Reading: Luke 2: 41-50.

Our Father, Seven Hail Marys

4. Meeting Christ on the Road to Calvary - reflect on her meeting her Divine Son, all bruised and mangled, carrying His cross to Calvary, and seeing Him fall under His heavy weight. Reading: Luke 23: 27-29.

Our Father, Seven Hail Marys

5. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Christ - reflect on her standing by when her Divine Son was lifted up on the cross, and the blood flowed in streams from His sacred wounds.Reading: John 19:25-30.

Our Father, Seven Hail Marys

6. Our Lord is Taken Down from the Cross - reflect on her sorrow, when her Divine Son was taken down from the cross, and she received Him into her arms. Reading: Psalm 130.

Our Father, Seven Hail Marys

7. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is Buried in the Tomb - contemplate her following His sacred body, as it was borne by Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, to the sepulcher, enclosed there, and hidden from her sight. Reading: Luke 23: 50-56.

Our Father, Seven Hail Marys

Close with three Hail Marys in honor of the sorrowful tears of Our Lady.

V. Pray for us, O most Sorrowful Virgin
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of Thy Passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Savior of the world, Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of Sorrows, Pray for Us

Blessed Virgin Mary,
who can worthily repay you with praise
and thanks for having rescued a fallen world
by your generous consent!
Receive our gratitude,
and by your prayers obtain the pardon of our sins.
Take our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven
and enable them to make our peace with God.

Holy Mary, help the miserable,
strengthen the discouraged,
comfort the sorrowful,
pray for your people,
plead for the clergy,
intercede for all women consecrated to God.
May all who venerate you
feel now your help and protection.
Be ready to help us when we pray,
and bring back to us the answers to our prayers.
Make it your continual concern
to pray for the people of God,
for you were blessed by God
and were made worthy to bear the Redeemer of the world,
who lives and reigns forever.
Amen.

Lost and Found

Today's Gospel reading gives us three parables -- each about rejoicing and celebrating after something lost is found. In essence, it's about our returning to God after we have sinned -- and heaven's great joy because we have come back, asked to be forgiven and subsequently converted. These parables give us hope. When we ask for God's forgiveness in prayer, penance and most important, the sacrament of reconciliation, that is confession, He is near and comes to us, reaches to us with open arms and accepts our contrition.

So go to the Cross, and don't be afraid. See His open arms. He wants to embrace you.

Gospel Luke 15:1-32

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them he addressed this parable.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.

“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”

Then he said,
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns,
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”