Living the Liturgical Year Well: November, The Holy Souls in Purgatory

Featured image: All Souls Day, Joža Uprka (1861–1940), 1897

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Grey is November… starts a poem by Elsa Beskow. And I often find that it is so, even if she wrote from Sweden. The liturgical year is, once again, so fitting in its dedication of the month of November. If the weather is grey, thinking about Purgatory can make one grey as well. But in truth I absolutely love that the month of November is dedicated to praying for the souls in Purgatory. It is such a wonderful opportunity to reminisce and think more deeply about our loved ones who are no longer with us. November also brings about the end of the liturgical year and the beginning of a new one.

Why pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

Mainly because they cannot intercede for themselves anymore. But they can pray for us! So truly it is a win-win situation. We can ask for their intercession and we can intercede for them, offer sacrifices and help them get into Heaven. Purgatory is a place of purification where the soul is refined and purified before entering Heaven. And our prayers and sacrifices can speed it up for our loved ones or those who have no one to pray for them. Too often a person is “cannonized” upon their departure from this world, and it is then assumed that they are in Heaven. But what if they are not? This “canonization” actually hurts them as we neglect to pray for them.

An oxymoron?: Holy Souls in Purgatory

Isn’t it an oxymoron to call the souls in Purgatory “holy”? No, it isn’t! The souls in Purgatory have achieved salvation but need some time to be purified and ready to fully enter into the Beatific Vision. Let’s be honest, we are all sinners and few of us are so holy that we could enter right into Heaven. This time of purification that delays their entry into Heaven is the cause of their suffering. Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us: “The more one longs for a thing, the more painful the deprivation of it becomes. And because after this life, the desire for God, the Supreme Good, is intense in the souls of the just (because this impetus toward him is so impaired by the weight of the body, and that time of enjoyment of the Perfect Good would have come) had there been no obstacle; the soul suffers enormously from the delay.” So let’s pray the Holy Souls through the pearly gates this month!

How to pray for the Holy Souls

There are so many beautiful ways to pray for the Holy Souls, not just in November but all year round.

The Holy Rosary

Offering a Rosary for the Holy Souls is one of the simplest devotion. A well prayed and meditated Rosary takes about 20 minutes. We often pray the Rosary in the car. That makes it such a pleasant drive and everyone is more attentive.

Divine Mercy Chaplet

Just like the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet is a very easy and efficacious way to pray for the Holy Souls. Even shorter than the Rosary, about 10 minutes. A priest friend once said that it is “surgical”. Meaning that it gets right to Our Lord and is a very powerful prayer.

St Gertrude’s prayer

Given to Saint Gertrude the Great by Our Lord Himself, this beautiful prayer eases the pains of the souls in Purgatory.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy 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.

We include it at the end of our Rosary or Chaplet, making it an easy way to daily remember the Holy Souls. Saint Gertrude’s feast day, appropriately, falls on November 16th.

Cemetery visit

For the first entire week of November we can gain a partial indulgence for the Holy Souls by visiting a cemetery, with special disposition and intention. This is a great way to introduce our children to their ancestors and to not only pray for the Holy Souls but also to take care of their graves. Growing up, I remember going with my grandmother to “tour” the family. We visited each grave, cleaned it up if necessary, placed some fresh flowers and, of course, listened to each persons’ story. It is a beautiful tradition that I dearly miss. If you live near family gravesites, start a new tradition, go and visit, spend time there. I do love the Hispanic traditions of All Souls day for that reason.

One more

Another thing our family has done for years and years is to put on our family altar a poster with the pictures of loved ones who have died. This was a very simple craft that I put together maybe 20 years ago and to which we have added every year, sadly. Using two 12”x12” pieces of strong cardboard taped together, I covered them with pretty and thin scrapbooking paper using some Modge Podge. Then I either printed or photocopied pictures of our loved ones, added their names and voila! Then we display it on our family altar to be able to pray for each one. We also have a big glass pillar candle with the names of all of our loved ones written on it in sharpie and we light it when we are praying as a family. These are simple, tangible ways that we have been praying for the souls in purgatory. These are also easily understood by very young children and their own devotion to praying for the Holy Souls grows quickly.

Saints in November

So many saints have their feast days in November, it was hard to select just a few.

Solemnities

November 1st is the Solemnity of All Saints. One of Catholics’ favorite days of the year! What a beautiful feast to celebrate all the saints, known and unknown. It is usually a Holy Day of Obligation, but this year as it falls on a Saturday, attending Mass is recommended but not obligatory. Traditionally, on the evening before, our family builds a saint altar. Using our family altar, boxes and stools draped by a white cloth (usually a table cloth or a sheet), we display all the saints icons, statues and images we can find around the house. We add candles and flowers (if we have any left). On All Saints day morning we pray our family Rosary in front of this altar before heading to Mass. It is a beautiful and  fun tradition. 

November 23rd is the Solemnity of Christ the King, and the end of the liturgical year. This solemnity always falls on the Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent. After attending Mass we display an image of Christ the King and of course we will celebrate with royal cookies.

November Memorials

November 4th: Saint Charles Borromeo

Saint Charles Borromeo was bishop of Milan, Italy and a cardinal. 

• Picture Book: I have yet to find a picture book on Saint Charles Borromeo but Saints Alive has a lovely episode on his life and a free downloadable coloring page. 
• Activity: The coloring page mentioned above and we will do a little nature exploration on the cardinal, complete with a Nature Journaling page. 
• Recipe: Cardinal Sundaes seems the perfect way to celebrate this Italian cardinal!

November 13th: Saint Frances Cabrini

• Picture Book: In a similar situation as Saint Charles Borromeo, The Merry Beggars offer us an amazing retelling of the life of this saint who has left her footprint throughout the United States. Our Parish in Welby, CO used to be Saint Frances Cabrini’s parish while she lived here. It is one of the oldest Italian parishes in Denver. She used to glean the fields around the church to feed the orphans! How cool is that?!?
• Activity: Tracing on the map of the United States all the places where Saint Frances has been makes for quite an  impact when you think that she could not fly from place to place nor drive… She really travelled a LOT!
• Recipe: How about an Italian dinner?

November 30th: Saint Andrew – Apostle

This year, Saint Andrew’s feast day is superseded by the celebration of the First Sunday of Advent. 

• Picture book: The Twelve Apostles by Mariana Mayers
• Activities:
  – Apostles ID cards
  – Peg dolls
  – Start praying the Saint Andrew Novena! This novena is a beautiful challenge, and I have yet to pray it all the way through, but we will try again this year.
• Recipe: Scones are such a favorite of mine, that we will have to have some to celebrate the patron saint of Scotland!

November 30th: The First Sunday of Advent

But that’s for another blog post…

Wishing you a beautiful and meaningful month of November, sharing about your family’s history, praying for your deceased loved ones and enjoying fall to the fullest.
Love,
Mattie