During November, the month dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, it is our duty in Charity to pray for the release of these souls that they may enter into Heaven.
We should never cease to pray for all the souls in Purgatory especially our relatives and loved ones because we cannot know for sure that they have finished paying their debt for having offended God. Br. Thomas Augustine, St. Benedict Center
Even though Saint Padre Pio knew through private revelation that his parents were in Heaven, he continued to pray for them because, as he told a friend, he never knew which Mass offered or to be offered—in God’s timeless eternity—was the one that brought them there.
On another occasion Padre Pio explained, “For the Lord, everything is an eternal present. Those prayers (offered today) had already been taken into account so that even now I can pray for the happy death of my great-grandfather!”
It is also good to remember that the souls in Purgatory can help us in all our needs. Saint Alphonsus wrote: “Though the Holy Souls cannot merit for themselves, they can obtain for us great graces. They are not, formally speaking, intercessors as the saints are but, through the sweet providence of God, they can obtain for us outstanding favors and deliver us from evils, sickness and dangers of every kind.”
