Virgo Potens

Foi + Charité La porte du Ciel sera ouverte a l’ame chretienne qui se sera polie par la Charite . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Faith + Charity The gateway of Heaven will be opened to the Christian soul that has been polished by Charity.  Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 20th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 20th Day ~ The Happiness of Purgatory 1. The happiness of purgatory is a happiness of prospect, not of actual enjoyment. It is in spe and not in re, hoped for, not already possessed. But the hope is something more than hope, it is a certain expectation which the holy souls know cannot be disappointed. This is their support and strength, their joy and consolation, amid their unspeakable anguish. They can look forward to the long years of eternal bliss when they will repose int he bosom of God. O happy prospect, to us always uncertain, so certain to those holy souls! (continued)

2 of 2 19th Day ~ Our Friends and Acquaintances 2. There is one class in purgatory whom we are to help. In the course of our lives we have done much harm and little good. The harm we have done has had an evil influence on others; perhaps we have led them into sin by our bad example We might have done so much by the holiness of our lives to make them love God, and we have done so little! Will there not be many whose time in purgatory will be much longer than it would have been if I had only lived up to a higher standard? 3. There are also many in purgatory who have commended themselves to our prayers or been commended to us after their death ; we have promised to pray for them, yet we have done littleornothingforthem. Howunkindthey mustthinkustohaveforgottenthem! Inour thoughtlessness we have lost an opportunity of charity that would have won for us their grate ful thanks to all eternity. Examine yourself as to whether you owe help to any in purgatory by reason of either (1) your bad example, (2) your neglect of duty to them when alive, (3) your neglect of your promise to help them after death. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Exaudi, Domine, vocem meam qua clamavi ad te: miserere mei, et exaudi me. ++++ (Ps. 26) Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: have mercy on me and hear me. (Ps. 26, 7) Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 19th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 19th Day ~ Our Friends and Acquaintances 1. Of all those with whom we have been connected by some tie of friendship or affection, of companionship, or common occupation, or business, how many there must be who are now in purgatory! Most of them have some sort of claim on us. Some have been entrusted to our care; others have been influenced by our example; others have claims on our gratitude; others have in some way helped us on our way to heaven. To all these we should seek to hold out a hand in the midst of their time of suffering. (continued)

Foi + Charité La porte du Ciel sera ouverte a l’ame chretienne qui se sera polie par la Charite . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Faith + Charity The gateway of Heaven will be opened to the Christian soul that has been polished by Charity.  Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 20th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 20th Day ~ The Happiness of Purgatory 1. The happiness of purgatory is a happiness of prospect, not of actual enjoyment. It is in spe and not in re, hoped for, not already possessed. But the hope is something more than hope, it is a certain expectation which the holy souls know cannot be disappointed. This is their support and strength, their joy and consolation, amid their unspeakable anguish. They can look forward to the long years of eternal bliss when they will repose int he bosom of God. O happy prospect, to us always uncertain, so certain to those holy souls! (continued)

O Maria sine macula concepta, ora pro nobis. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen. 100 Days, once a day (Leo XIII, March 13, 1884) ~ The Raccolta (1910) NOVENA in Honor of OUR LADY of the MIRACULOUS MEDAL November 18th - November 26th Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal ~ November 27th Begins today at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

2 of 2 18th Day ~ Our Kinsmen in Purgatory 2. We all shrink from unnatural cruelty: a son who neglects his mother in her need; a parent who leaves his child in misery. There is a sort of unnatural cruelty in neglecting those to whom it may be we owe much, and whom God has in some way entrusted to us. They are now dependent on us, stretching out their hands for spiritual alms, for Masses, prayers, indulgences. I might so easily do more— why do I not do it? 3. We read in the parable of Dives how he dreaded the presence of his brethren in the place when he was in torments. This will also be the case in purgatory. How bitter it will be to us to know that there are some closely united to us by blood, who are also there through our fault or neglect! If we had shown charity to them in this life, they might long ago have been in heaven, praying for our deliverance. Instead of that our purgatory will be prolonged for our unkindness to them, and will be intensified by self-reproach. God will treat us as we have treated them. Think of your suffering relations and beware of neglecting them. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Het is een vrome en heilzame gedachte voor de overledenen te bidden. 2. Mach. 12, 46. It is a devoutly wholesome thought to pray for the dead. Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 18th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 18th Day ~ Our Kinsmen in Purgatory 1. Most of us have some who are related to us by blood still suffering in the purgatorial fire, father or mother, brother or sister, some other kinsmen perhaps more closely connected with us. All these have a special claim upon us. They are bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. To neglect them is very cruel, as it would be to neglect those of the same family, if they were suffering on earth in some way we could easily relieve. Might I not do more for my relations who are still in need of my help? (continued)

Exaudi, Domine, vocem meam qua clamavi ad te: miserere mei, et exaudi me. ++++ (Ps. 26) Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: have mercy on me and hear me. (Ps. 26, 7) Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 19th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 19th Day ~ Our Friends and Acquaintances 1. Of all those with whom we have been connected by some tie of friendship or affection, of companionship, or common occupation, or business, how many there must be who are now in purgatory! Most of them have some sort of claim on us. Some have been entrusted to our care; others have been influenced by our example; others have claims on our gratitude; others have in some way helped us on our way to heaven. To all these we should seek to hold out a hand in the midst of their time of suffering. (continued)

2 of 2 Devotion to the Five Wounds (For the Holy Souls In Purgatory) WE offer unto Thee, O eternal FATHER, Father of mercies, for those souls so dear to Thee in purgatory, the most Precious Blood shed on Calvary from the wound in the left foot of JESUS Thy Son, our Saviour, and the sorrow of Mary His most loving Mother in beholding it. Pater, Ave, Requiem aeternam. ii. We offer unto Thee, O eternal FATHER, Father of mercies, for those souls so dear to Thee in purgatory, the most Precious Blood shed on Calvary from the wound in the right foot of JESUS Thy Son, our Saviour, and the sorrow of Mary His most loving Mother in beholding it. Pater, Ave, Requiem aeternam. iii. We offer unto Thee, O eternal FATHER, Father of mercies, for those souls so dear to Thee in purgatory, the most Precious Blood shed on Calvary from the wound in the left hand of JESUS Thy Son, our Saviour, and the sorrow of Mary His most loving Mother in beholding it. Pater, Ave, Requiem aeternam. iv. We offer unto Thee, O eternal FATHER, Father of mercies, for those souls so dear to Thee in purgatory, the most Precious Blood shed on Calvary from the wound in the right hand of JESUS Thy Son, our Saviour, and the sorrow of Mary His most loving Mother in beholding it. Pater, Ave, Requiem aeternam. v. We offer unto Thee, O eternal FATHER, Father of mercies, for those souls so dear to Thee in purgatory, the most Precious Blood and water flowing on Calvary from the pierced side of JESUS thy Son, our Saviour, and the sorrow of Mary His most loving Mother in beholding it. Pater, Ave, Requiem aeternam. Let us pray. AND now to give greater value to our feeble prayers, turning to Thee, most loving JESUS, we humbly pray Thee thyself to offer to the eternal Father the sacred wounds of thy feet, hands and side, together with thy most precious Blood, and thy agony and death; and do thou also, Mary, Virgin of sorrows, present, together with the most sorrowful Passion of thy well-beloved Son, the sighs, tears and all the sorrows suffered by thee through His sufferings, so that through their merits the souls who suffer in the most ardent flames of purgatory may obtain refreshment, and, freed from this prison of torment, may be clothed with glory in heaven, there to sing the mercies of God for ever. Amen. Absolve, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sin, so that by thy aid they may deserve to escape the judgment of wrath, and come to the enjoyment of beatitude in eternal light. ℣ Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord. ℟ And let perpetual light shine upon them. ℣ From the gate of hell, ℟ Deliver their souls, O Lord. ℣ May they rest in peace. ℟ Amen. ℣ O Lord, hear my prayer. ℟ And let my cry come unto Thee. ℣ The Lord be with you. ℟ And with thy spirit. Let us pray. O GOD, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen. Eternal rest, etc. 200 Days, once a day. (Leo XIII, September 15, 1888.) ~ The Raccolta (1910)

My Jesus, mercy. DEVOTION to the FIVE WOUNDS (For the Holy Souls In Purgatory) Go before our actions, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with thy inspiration, and follow after them with Thy help, that every prayer and work of ours may begin from Thee and through Thee be likewise ended. Through CHRIST our Lord. Amen. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. (continued)

2 of 2 17th Day ~ The Degrees of Pain in Purgatory 2. The pain of loss, too, will vary according to the degree of holiness which was within their reach. All will experience their greatest suffering from this loss of God, but with some the loss, however great in itself, will be felt far less sensibly. It is those who were called to a high sanctity, to whom God revealed Himself with a special intimacy of love on earth, who will appreciate most intensely the misery of separation from Him. What reason, then, I have to tremble! 3. Each of these two kinds of pain will gradually be assuaged as time goes on. They will be worst at first, and will diminish little by little as the debt to be paid becomes lighter. This mitigation will be hastened on by the prayers and good works offered for the holy souls on earth, by the supplications of the Church, and above all by the Sacrifice of the Mass. How much we may do for those who are suffering for their sins! Pray that you may earn a speedy relief. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 17th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 17th Day ~ The Degrees of Pain in Purgatory 1. The pain of sense and the pain of loss have each of them an almost indefinite number of degrees. The pain of sense varies in proportion to the indulgence of the senses on earth, and the knowledge possessed of the sinfulness of this indulgence. Those who have had merely the natural law to guide them will have a comparatively light punishment, while those who have been nurtured under the shadow of the Church and taught that they must crucify the flesh with its concupiscences will indeed have a terrible penalty to pay. All the advantages and graces that they have received will but add to their punishment in as far as they have wilfully thrown away those golden opportunities of self-conquest. (continued)

2 of 2 16th Day ~ The Pain of Sense in Purgatory 2. In this life men scarcely feel the absence of God because there are a thousand external things that distract them. But in purgatory there will be nothing to occupy the intellect and the will, nothing but the blackness of darkness and the hungry yearning of the heart, that will have nothing to feed upon, no one on whom to pour out the treasures of its love, nothing for the mind to dwell upon save its own misery, the unspeakable misery of being deprived of God. O my God, grant that I may never be separated from Thee! 3. Even here we know the agony that is caused by the unsatisfied craving of mere earthly love. Men who are separated from the object of their love seem able to find no happiness or consolation in aught else. The intensity of their misery sometimes drives them to madness, to suicide. Yet their agony is but a trifle compared with the agony of the holy souls deprived ofGod. How gladly they would suffer any physical torments for one ray of light from the throne of God! Pray for an appreciation of what it is to love God. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 16th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 16th Day ~ The Pain of Loss in Purgatory 1. The pain of loss arises from the separation of the holy souls from God. In losing God they lose everything that can satisfy the higher faculties of the soul. For one instant they have seen face to face the glory of God as reflected in the Sacred Humanity of Jesus Christ, and from that moment they long after Him with all the force of their spiritual nature. The consciousness that there is a barrier that separates them from Him Whom alone they love and after Whom they crave unceasingly, is to them an agony far worse than that of the tormenting flames. (continued)

2 of 2 15th Day ~ The Pain of Sense in Purgatory 2. The physical pain that the soul suffers in this life is dulled in that it comes through the medium of the corruptible body, but in purgatory it directly and immediately affects the soul. Hence it comes with far greater intensity, inasmuch as the soul is the root and spring of all sensibility. It will be more closely in contact with the fire and at the same time the fire will be endowed with a power to torture it with misery far worse than the utmost pangs which can be inflicted when the body intervenes. 3. The pain that we suffer in this life has necessarily a limit by means of the weakness of the body. Men faint away under extreme torture. But in purgatory the soul, freed from the body, will have no such limit fixed to its agony; its power of endurance will be in proportion to the suffering it has deserved. How can I avoid this awful agony that threatens me? Cultivate a love of mortification now, and a hatred of any unlawful indulgence of the body. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 15th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 15th Day ~ The Pain of Sense in Purgatory 1. The pain of purgatory is the penalty of sin, and sin is a greater evil than all the other evils of the whole world. Even the least venial sin deliberately committed is a worse evil than all the physical misery men have endured from the Creation until now. Hence the corresponding punishment must involve greater suffering than any earthly anguish. Some have even maintained that the lightest suffering in purgatory is more intolerable than the worst*suffering on earth, and this opinion has in its favor the authority of St. Thomas himself. What reason, then, I have to dread purgatory and seek to atone for sin now! (continued)

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee. EFFICACIOUS NOVENA to the SACRED HEART of JESUS May be prayed at anytime Begins today at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

2 of 2 14th Day ~ The Fire of Purgatory 2. According to St. Augustine, the fire of purgatory is of the same kind as the fire of hell. Venerable Bede narrates how one who was conducted by an angel in a vision to purgatory thought that such a place could be none other than hell. In purgatory it is true there is none of the despair of hell. The holy souls have heaven in prospect, but nevertheless their physical sufferings are scarcely different in kind from the awful agony of the lake of fire. How should I dread purgatory! 3. The fire of purgatory will search us through and through. It will be a penetrating fire; it will find out each fault still clinging to our soul at the hour of death, each stain not yet washed out by our tears of contrition will be burnt away before we can escape from our prison-house. When I think ofthestateofmysoulbeforeGod,ofmy past sins and present defects, what reason I have to tremble at the thought of that crucible where the dross will be burnt out of me! What a long process it will be ! Pray that you may be more earnest in cleansing yourself from sin now ! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 14th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 14th Day ~ The Fire of Purgatory 1. Every work of God is perfect in its kind, and that which He does immediately by the exercise of His divine power has always a greater force than that which He does through the agency of others. God Himself kindles the fire of purgatory. "The breath of the Lord, like a flame of fire, doth kindle it." Hence the fierceness of the torment it inflicts. It tortures the soul in purgatory far more than the material fire of earth torture the body. It reflects in some way the Infinite Majesty of God. (continued)

2 of 2 13th Day ~ The Sorrows in Purgatory 2. They will also sorrow at the thought of the happiness they have lost to all eternity. They will appreciate the measurable loss that they will suffer to all eternity for each venial sin, nay, for each deliberate neglect of grace. On earth they never appreciated as they do now how it would have been better to accept any temporal anguish rather than lose one single degree of glory in heaven, but now they are cut to the heart at thinking how they have thrown away, not one degree alone, but countless degrees of the happiness after which they long; all this too thrown away irreparably and forever! 3. This sorrow swallows up their present suffering, or, rather, they would willingly endure their present suffering for ten thousand years more if only they could regain the happiness they have for feited. What is any temporal pain compared with an eternal loss? and a loss, too, which means loss of God and loss of heaven— and that forever. Pray for greater sorrow now, and a sorrow that may avert the sorrow of purgatory. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)