joy of nine9

 My Ukrainian grandmother, who had been in Canada for barely 15 years, died accidentally under extreme duress as a young mother of three boys when her husband was at war. Since this occurred in the 1940’s, she was denied a Christian burial in the Catholic church. When my grandfather returned from the war,  the young family left the Catholic Church and my grandfather remarried a Protestant Presbyterian. In turn, I was raised in this church with no knowledge of any Catholic roots until I converted. My father pleaded with me to reconsider; his childhood memories of how the  Church handled immigrants were horrific.

This is why the subject of praying for those on the other side of the veil is close to my heart. I KNOW  personally, the agony of a soul who is desperate for my prayers. I have learned through personal experience, that souls in purgatory, although they cannot pray for themselves,  press in on the most sensitive of their relatives for prayer.

It took years before I understood that the emotional weight I carried like a rock in my chest was not mine but I what I felt was actually my grandmother’s guilt, shame and sense of unforgiven sin in my own emotions.  I heard her negative words interiorly and again the words I heard seemed to condemn ME.  These spiritual, emotional and even physical burdens were simply the only way my grandmother could get my attention.  After two years of interceding for her, a priest ( who in fact is the official exorcist of my diocese) was finally led by God to give this poor soul absolution in the name of the Church.

Instantly, I mean immediately, I was free and my grandmother was filled with joy as she literally flew into the arms of Christ. I still could burst out into songs of praise every time I think of my grandmother and in thanksgiving for the new joy which replaces the burdens I carried for years.

 

Faithful Departed here is a link for many more prayers for the month of November

Prayer for Mercy on the Souls in Purgatory
While we know that all who are in Purgatory will enter into Heaven, we are still bound by charity to try to lessen the suffering of the Holy Souls through our prayers and deeds. While our first responsibility is to those people we have known, it is important to remember in our prayers those souls who are most forsaken.

The Heroic act of Charity : O my God, in union with the merits of Jesus and Mary, I offer Thee for the Souls in Purgatory, all my Satisfactory Works, as well as those which may be applied to me by others during my life and after my death. And to be more agreeable to the Divine Heart of Jesus and more helpful to the departed I place them all in the hands of the merciful Virgin Mary.