Purgatory is a widely debated topic among Catholics. Excuse me as I put on my devils advocate hat in this article and critically examine whether purgatory really exists or not. Dear lord in heaven, I pray to you now on this day to avoid purgatory and benefit from its graces. I ask for the remission of all sins grieve my forgiven soul. Bless me oh lord that i may serve you with the sacrifice of my humility and the example of suffering.
The idea that nearly all of us shall, notwithstanding, have to pass a period more or less long in the excruciating fires of Purgatory after death seems to be at variance with this all-merciful and all-loving plan of our Divine Lord. It is true that we are weak and fall many times and that God’s justice is rigorous and exacting, but it is equally certain that God’s mercy and love are above all His works. Discussing; Most Powerful Prayer, How to Avoid Purgatory By Father O’Sullivan.
Prayer To Avoid Purgatory
It is no less certain that Our Lord has given us abundant grace and strength to save us from sin and many (and most efficacious) means of satisfying for any sins that we may have committed. This last fact seems to be almost entirely overlooked, or imperfectly understood by the majority of Catholics.
Of course, those who go on deliberately sinning and who make no effort to correct their faults and refuse to use the many wonderful means God offers them for satisfying for sin, condemn themselves to Purgatory.
The object of this little book is to show how we can avoid Purgatory by using the means God has so generously offered us, and, secondly, to show that the use of these means is within the reach of every ordinary Christian.
The careful perusal of these pages will be a source of much benefit and consolation to all who read them.
The author offers them to the loving Heart of Jesus and asks Him to bless them.
Chapter 1
CAN WE AVOID PURGATORY? YES.
Many think that it is practically impossible for the ordinary Christian to avoid Purgatory. Go there we all must–so they say.
They laughingly remark: “It will be well for us if we ever get there” Alas! When too late they will recognize how terribly rash their words were. As a consequence of such fatalistic ideas, many make no serious effort to avoid Purgatory, or even to lessen the term they may have to pass there. Thank God all do not hold such gloomy views.
WE SHALL STRIVE IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES TO SHOW
a) How all can notably shorten their period of expiation in Purgatory; b) And how they may even avoid Purgatory altogether. These pages are well worth reading and re-reading. The fact is that a great number of souls go to Purgatory and remain there for long years simply because they had never been told how they could have avoided it.
The means we suggest are easy, practical and within the reach of all. Moreover, far from being irksome, the use of these means will only serve to make our lives on this earth holier and happier and will take away the exaggerated fear of death which terrifies so many.
We ask you, Dear Reader, to put this little booklet into the hands of all your friends. You cannot do them a greater service.
Chapter 2
HOW CAN WE AVOID PURGATORY?
The reason why we have to pass through Purgatory after death is that we have committed sins and have not made satisfaction for them. Every individual sin must be expiated–in this life or the next! Not even the slightest shadow of sin or evil can enter the all-holy presence of God.
The graver, the more frequent the sins, the longer will be the period of expiation and the more intense the pain.
It is not God’s fault, nor God’s wish, that we go to Purgatory! The fault is all our own.
We have sinned and have not made satisfaction.
Even after our sin, God, in His infinite goodness, places at our disposal many easy and efficacious means by which we may considerably lessen our term of expiation, or even entirely cancel it.
Most Christians, with incomprehensible rashness, neglect these means and so have to pay their debts in the dreadful prison house of Purgatory.
We will briefly enumerate some of the principal means by which we can avoid Purgatory-or at least lessen its severity and duration.
Chapter 3
THE FIRST MEANS: REMOVING THE CAUSE
The First Means of avoiding Purgatory is manifestly to remove the cause which sends us there, which is sin.
It may not be easy to refrain from all sin, even the smaller sins, but every ordinary Christian can, by the frequent use of the Sacraments, easily abstain from mortal sin.
Secondly, we can all avoid deliberate and grave venial sin. It is an awful thing to offend the good God deliberately. Deliberation intensifies enormously the malice of sin and offends God much more than faults of weakness, or sins committed when we are off our guard.
Lastly, we must use our best endeavours to break off bad habits. Habits, like deliberation, add seriously to the malice of sin
A deliberate falsehood is very much worse than a hasty lie of excuse, and a lie resulting from the inveterate habit of lying is very much worse than a casual lie.
A lady once told us how she had, when younger, the habit of constantly speaking ill of her neighbours.
Having heard a sermon on the subject, she made a strong resolution never to do so again, and kept it.
That simple, strong resolution changed the whole trend of her life and saved her from thousands of sins, and most surely from a long and painful Purgatory.
Who cannot make a like resolution and keep it?
If a Christian avoids, as he easily can, these three classes of sin, viz., mortal sins, deliberate and grave venial sins, and habits of sin, it will be relatively easy for him to atone for faults of frailty, as we shall presently see.
RESOLUTION
We would be well advised to pronounce with special emphasis and fervour, every time we say the Our Father, the words:
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”
These are the very words of God Himself and repeated frequently and fervently will certainly obtain for us pardon of our sins.
Chapter 4
THE SECOND MEANS: PENANCE
The Second Means of avoiding Purgatory is to satisfy for our sins in this life by doing penance. “Do penance or you shall all likewise perish” Do penance, or you will burn long years in Purgatory, is a fact that there is no getting away from.
This is a terrifying thought and one that makes the bravest man shudder. Which of us does not tremble when he thinks of those who have been burnt to death in a slow fire? What fear would not be ours if we had to face a similar death? Yet their suffering was of relatively short duration. The incomparably fiercer fire of Purgatory, which we may have to face, may last 20, or 50 or 100 years!
Many people have such a horror of penance that they never even dream of practicing it. It is like the fear that children have of ghosts, a very great but a very unfounded fear. Their idea is that penance is something awful They think perhaps of the severe penances of the great Saints and of course are afraid to attempt anything of a like kind.
The Second Means: Penance
God does not ask us, as a rule, to do what is heroic. When He does, He gives us all the strength necessary, as in the case of the Saints. He asks each one to do a little. If we are afraid of doing much, and it is only natural that some should be, let us do at least a little. No one but a coward is afraid to do a little, especially if he gets much in exchange.
The easy road to Heaven of Saint Therese, the Little Flower, is to do many little things. God was infinitely pleased with the widow’s mite; He will be equally pleased with our little penances.
As a result of little mortifications, we can deliver ourselves from the awful fires of Purgatory and amass rich merits for Heaven. To go into the matter further, there is not much difficulty about mortification or penance, notwithstanding the absurd fear that people have of it.
Penance is not only easy, it is useful and necessary, and it will bring us very great happiness. Not to do penance is the greatest penance of all. As a matter of fact, every man of the world naturally, spontaneously mortifies himself. The first principle, for instance, of politeness and good breeding is to sacrifice our whims and tastes for the sake of others. The selfish man is a boor; the generous man is the idol of all.
Again, the only way of securing good health is to eschew the most appetising viands when they do us harm and to make use of plain foods when they do us good. Overeating is the cause of the vast majority of sickness and premature deaths.
To take another example. The secret of success is strenuous, methodical, regular work. Now generosity, self-denial, method, regularity are other forms of very genuine but practical mortification. Yet no man can get on without them. To insist on our own likes and dislikes, to do only as we please, is to lead a life bristling with difficulties, in which every duty is a burden, every good act an effort and a labor
Boy scouts and girl scouts are bound to do a kind act every day, even though it costs them a big effort. Christians should surely do more. Daily acts of self-restraint, of patience with others, of kindness to others, the exact fulfilment of duty are splendid penances and a great aid to happiness.
RESOLUTION
If we are afraid to do much, let us do many little things.
Chapter 5
THE THIRD MEANS: SUFFERING
The Third Means of avoiding Purgatory is very easy. It consists in making a virtue of necessity, by bearing patiently what we cannot avoid, and all the more since suffering, borne patiently, becomes easy and light. Suffering, if accepted with calmness and for God’s sake, loses all its sting. If received badly, in the spirit of revolt and with repugnance, it is intensified a hundredfold, and becomes almost intolerable.
Everyone in this vale of tears has to face sorrows innumerable and infinite in variety. Crosses light and crosses heavy are the lot of us all. Strange as it may seem, these sorrows, which most of us would gladly dispense with, are in truth God’s greatest graces. They are the little share He offers us of His Passion and which He asks us to bear for love of Him and as penance for our sins.
Borne in this spirit they will lessen considerably our time in Purgatory and very possibly completely remove it–with this difference, that Purgatory, even a Purgatory of 50 or 100 years, will in no wise increase our merits in Heaven; whereas, every pain and sorrow and disappointment in this life will lessen our suffering in Purgatory, and also bring us more happiness and glory in Heaven.
How sad it is that so many Christians, for want of thought, make their sufferings a thousand times worse than they are and lose all the immense merits that they could so easily gain.
RESOLUTION
Let us suffer with calmness and serenity for the love of God. We shall thus save ourselves from Purgatory.
Chapter 6
THE FOURTH MEANS: CONFESSION, COMMUNION, HOLY MASS
The Fourth Means by which we can lessen our time in Purgatory, or avoid it altogether, is by frequent Confession, Communion and daily assistance at Mass.
Confession applies to our souls the Precious Blood of Christ, wipes out our sins, gives us light to see their malice, fills us with horror of sin and, above all, it gives us strength to avoid it. In Holy Communion we receive the God of infinite mercy and love, the God of all sanctity, who comes expressly to pardon our sins and help us to sin no more.
He visited the house of Zaccheus once, and in that one visit, Zaccheus obtained complete pardon of all his sins
How is it possible that the same God of goodness and sweetness can come, not into our houses, but into our very hearts in Holy Communion and not give us the same and even greater graces. He visited Zaccheus once, He visits us every day if we allow Him.
Many, alas, never feel, never grasp the immense joys and consolation of Holy Communion.
The Mass is identical with the Sacrifice of Calvary, in its essence, in its value, in the graces it bestows. The Sacrifice of Calvary was sufficient to save all the world, millions and millions of souls, and was also sufficient to save countless other sinful worlds, had they existed. By assisting at Mass, we can apply all these oceans of graces to our own souls, and that not once, but every day.
RESOLUTION
Let us go to Mass and Holy Communion every day. We can do nothing better. One day with Mass and Communion is worth a hundred days without them.
CHAPTER 7
THE FIFTH MEANS: ASKING GOD
The Fifth Means of avoiding Purgatory is asking God for this grace. Some wise Catholics have a really great, if simple secret, which is well worth learning and using for our own benefit.
God promises us in the most solemn and deliberate way (and He cannot fail to do what He promises) that He will give us everything we ask in prayer, if it is good for us.
Now two conditions, especially, make prayer infallible, namely perseverance and faith. God cannot refuse such a prayer.
These Catholics we speak of pray expressly every day of their lives that God will free them from Purgatory. In every single prayer they say, in every Mass they hear, in every good act they perform, they have the express intention of asking God first of all and with all their hearts to deliver them from Purgatory.
How? That is for God to decide.
It is not easy to see how God can possibly refuse such constant, unceasing prayer. The fact that such prayers are said daily and many times in the day, for 20, 30, 50 years, shows that they are said with undoubting faith and magnificent perseverance.
We exhort all our readers to adopt this practice. The more they know and think on Purgatory, the more fervently will they make this prayer.
RESOLUTION
Every time we say the Hail Mary let us say with all the fervour of our hearts the words: “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen”
Chapter 8
A SIXTH MEANS: RESIGNATION TO DEATH
A Sixth Means of avoiding Purgatory is given us by some great saints: They say that when a sick person becomes aware that he is dying and offers to God his death with perfect resignation, it is very likely that he will go straight to Heaven.
Death is the awful punishment of sin, and when we accept it, as of course we ought to do, with submission and resignation, our act pleases God so much that it may satisfy perfectly for all our sins.
The idea of Pope St. Pius X was the same when he granted a plenary indulgence at the hour of death to those who say at least after one Holy Communion the following prayer:
“Eternal Father, from this day forward, I accept with a joyful and resigned heart the death it will please You to send me, with all its pains and sufferings”
It will be better still to say this prayer after every Holy Communion we receive.
It is for our best interest to accept God’s will in everything that happens to us in life and in death.
Nothing can be easier when we remember that God always wishes what is best for us. If we do what God does not will, we shall surely suffer.
RESOLUTION
Each time we repeat the Our Father, let us say with special fervour the words: Thy will be done. In all our troubles, small and great, let us do likewise. Thus everything will gain us merit. By this simple act we change sorrow into joy, the worries of life into gold for Heaven.
THE SEVENTH MEANS: EXTREME UNCTION
The Seventh Means of avoiding Purgatory is Extreme Unction: God Himself has given us a Sacrament, the end of which is to take us directly to Heaven. This Sacrament is Extreme Unction, which according to St. Thomas and St. Albert was instituted especially to obtain for us the grace of a holy and happy death and to prepare us for immediate entrance into Heaven.
Many Catholics do not understand this most consoling doctrine, and because they do not understand it, they prepare themselves insufficiently for the reception of Extreme Unction and so lose many of its great graces.
Every Sacrament properly received produces its effect. Baptism cleanses us from Original Sin and any other actual sins that may have been committed by adults before receiving the Sacrament.
The Sacrament of Holy Orders gives a priest all his tremendous powers. Matrimony makes man and woman husband and wife. In the same way Extreme Unction, if devoutly received, prepares the dying Christian for immediate entrance into Heaven, thus delivering him from Purgatory.
How foolish it is, therefore, to put off receiving this Sacrament until very late, when the dying person is too exhausted to receive it with full knowledge of what he is doing and with due fervour and devotion. The moment of death is the supreme moment in our lives. It is the moment which decides our fate for all Eternity.
RESOLUTION
Let us use every means in our power to secure a happy and holy death, especially by receiving most devoutly, and as soon as possible, Extreme Unction.
Chapter 10
INDULGENCES AND PURGATORY
[The grants of indulgences were changed in 1968. See the Enchiridion of Indulgences 1968]
God in His infinite mercy and compassion offers us a most wonderful and easy means for lessening or cancelling our Purgatory.
Fully aware of our weakness, and knowing, too, how fearful many are of penance, He opens wide the treasury of His Goodness and offers us most abundant Indulgences in exchange for some small act of devotion.
For one recitation of short ejaculatory prayers, He grants 100 or 300 or more days Indulgence. These we may say hundreds of times in the day. Those who say the little ejaculation: “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee” one hundred times a day gain 30,000 days Indulgence. Those who say it 1,000 times, as many do, gain 300,000 days Indulgence each day!
Nothing can be easier than to acquire the habit of saying this little prayer all day long, countless times each day.
Then, for each Hail Mary of the Rosary, one gains more than 2,000 days Indulgence!
Most Powerful Prayer
The most powerful prayer is made up of three words: “hail Mary.” These three words have saved the world.
This prayer has saved the world because it is a prayer of faith, hope and charity. The Hail Mary contains all that is necessary for salvation. It is a very complete prayer. It is more than just an expression; it is an act of love, an act of faith and an act of hope.
The Hail Mary, like the Our Father, contains all the Christian virtues: faith, hope and charity in their highest degree. This is why it is so important to say this prayer frequently every day as much as possible and also to teach it to our children from early childhood on.
We must not forget that we are creatures who were created by God to love Him above all things; we are made to live in harmony with Him and to show Him our gratitude by our actions through acts of love toward others as well as toward God Himself.
How to Avoid Purgatory By Father O’Sullivan
Father O’Sullivan was a prominent Irish priest, who died in 1959. Before he died, he wrote this amazing prayer. It has been used by many people with great success.
We come before Thee, O Lord, with our minds focused on the things of this world. We know that Thou art God and that we are not. We feel our weakness and frailty, and we know that without Thy help we can do nothing.
We approach Thee with our hearts filled with hope for good things in this life and for eternal happiness in the next life; but above all else we pray for Thy grace to help us avoid Purgatory and Hell and merit Heaven.
O Lord Jesus Christ! We implore Thee to hear us by the infinite merits of Thy Sacred Heart, which was broken on Calvary for the sake of sinners, especially for those who faithfully say this prayer morning and night in honor of Thy Most Sacred Heart. Amen!
The most powerful prayer is the Our Father, which Jesus Christ taught us. It is the most important prayer because it expresses our relationship with God as children to a father. The prayer also shows us how we should be united with all other people.
The Our Father, or Lord’s Prayer, was first taught by Jesus Christ and then passed on by the apostles and later by the Church Fathers. It is an excellent summary of Christian doctrine and spirituality. However, its power lies not so much in its words as in the intention behind them.
The Our Father teaches us how to pray and what we have to ask for from God: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When we say this prayer we are asking God to reveal His will so that we may know how to behave ourselves properly in order to make His Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”
Besides an immense number of Partial Indulgences, there are very many Plenary (full, complete) Indulgences which may be gained during life and at the hour of death.
These are specially given by the Church to enable us to avoid Purgatory.
These Indulgences can be applied to our own souls, and we shall thus directly make satisfaction for our sins. Or, we may apply them to the souls in Purgatory, who will see to it that we do not lose by our generosity.
Can the souls in purgatory pray for themselves
Even if we make it to Purgatory, we will have already achieved our Salvation. But it would be ideal to avoid the pain of our purification if it was possible, we think that such possibility is only reserved to the saints, but we are about to see that God is so merciful that He has disposed of many devotions to help us to be holy and to purify our souls before we go to Heaven. Our Lady will help us also when we have a great devotion to Her, She will truly pray for us at the hour of our death and help us to minimize the purification of Purgatory.
We can avoid Purgatory living a holy life, staying away from sin, confessing our sins regularly, having the Holy Eucharist in a state of grace and practicing works of Mercy, especially having a devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
List of Devotions that will help us avoid Purgatory
1 Fifteen Promises of Our Lady to those who pray the Holy Rosary, Given to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de La Roche
- Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary, shall receive signal graces.
- I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the rosary.
- The rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
- It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
- The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the rosary, shall not perish.
- Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
- Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
- Those who are faithful to recite the rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
- I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary.
- The faithful children of the rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
- You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary.
- All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
- I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
- All who recite the rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only son Jesus Christ.
- Devotion of my rosary is a great sign of predestination.
2 Saint Bridget 7 Prayers for 12 years
The Magnificent Promises of the 12 Years Prayers
- The soul who prays them will suffer no Purgatory.
- The soul who prays them will be accepted among the Martyrs as though he had spilled his blood for his faith.
- The soul who prays them can choose three others whom Jesus will then keep in a state of grace sufficient to become holy.
- No one in the four successive generations of the soul who prays them will be lost.
- The soul who prays them will be made conscious of his death one month in advance.
3 Our Lord made the following promises to anyone who recited the 15 prayers of St. Bridget for one year
Promises:
1 I will deliver 15 souls of his lineage from Purgatory.
2 15 souls of his lineage will be confirmed and preserved in grace.
3 15 sinners of his lineage will be converted.
4 Whoever recites these Prayers will attain in the first degree of perfection.
5 15 days before his death I will give him My Precious Body in order that he may escape eternal starvation; I will give him My Precious Blood to drink lest he thirst eternally.
6 15 days before his death he will feel a deep contrition for all his sins and will have a perfect knowledge of them.
7 I will place before him the sign of My Victorious Cross for his help and defense against the attacks of his enemies.
8 Before his death I shall come with My Dearest Beloved Mother.
9 I shall graciously receive his soul, and will lead it into eternal joys. (No purgatory)
10 And having led it there I shall give him a special draught from the fountain of My Deity, something I will not for those who have not recited My Prayers.
11 Let it be known that whoever may have been living in the state of mortal sin for 30 years, but who will recite devoutly, or have the intention to recite these Prayers, the Lord will forgive him all his sins.
12 I shall protect him from strong temptations.
13 I shall preserve and guard his 5 senses.
14 I shall preserve him from a sudden death.
15 His soul will be delivered from eternal death.
16 He will obtain all he asks for from God and the Blessed Virgin.
17 If he has lived all his life doing his own will and he is to die the next day, his life will be prolonged.
18 Every time one recites these Prayers he gains 100 days indulgence.
19 He is assured of being joined to the supreme Choir of Angels.
20 Whoever teaches these Prayers to another, will have continuous joy and merit which will endure eternally.
21 There where these prayer are being said or will be said in the future God is present with His grace.
4 The Blessed Virgin Mary grants seven graces to the souls who honor her daily by saying seven Hail Mary’s and meditating on her tears and dolors (sorrows). This devotion was revealed to Saint Bridget.
Tears of Our Lady devotion revealed to Sister Amalia Aguirre
1 I will grant peace to their families.
2 They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.
3 I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.
4 I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.
5 I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
6 I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother.
7 I have obtained from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness (no purgatory) since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.
5 Promises of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to a true letter consecrating the Drops of Blood which Our Lord lost on his way to Calvary.
Devotion revealed to St. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, St. Matilda and St. Bridget
To all those faithful who shall recite for three years, each day, 2 Our Fathers, 2 Hail Marys and 2 Glorias in honor of the drops of Blood I lost, I will concede the following five graces:
- The plenary indulgence and remittance of your sins.
- You will be free from the pains of Purgatory.
- If you should die before completing the said 3 years, for you it will be the same as if you had completed them.
- It will be upon your death the same as if you had shed all your blood for the Holy Faith.
- I will descend from Heaven to take your soul and that of your relatives, until the fourth generation.
6 Five Promises – Life Offering to Our Heavenly Mother
Several messages, prayers and promises were received by a Hungarian religious (Sister Dolores Elizabeth Krizsan, who died in 1998 at the age of 96), who for her humility and obedience wanted to remain unnoticed while on earth.
Our Blessed Mother implores those who have Holy Communion daily or at least once a week to offer their lives to glorify the Greatness of God and for the salvation of souls, so that the souls of sinners are not condemned but receive at least at the time of death, the Graces necessary for Salvation.
How to avoid Purgatory – Devotions – Life Offering to Our Heavenly Mother
1 Their names will be written in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, inflamed by love.
2 Their life offering, together with the infinite merits of Jesus, can save many souls from damnation. All souls who will live until the end of the world will benefit from their life offering.
3 None of their family members will go to hell, even if it seems otherwise, because they will receive, in the depths of their souls, the grace of sincere contrition before the soul departs from their bodies.
4 On the day they offer their lives, their loved ones suffering in Purgatory will be released.
5 I will be with them at the hour of their death. They will not know Purgatory. I will carry their souls straight to the presence of the Glorious Trinity, where they will live with me in a special place created by God and will rejoice forever.
7 Feast of the Divine Mercy
How to avoid Purgatory – Devotions
Concerning the Feast of the Divine Mercy Jesus said:
Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. (Diary 300)
On one occasion, I heard these words: My daughter, tell the whole world about My Inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.
On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. (Diary 699)
Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to our neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to absolve yourself from it. (Diary 742)
I want to grant complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy. (Diary 1109)
8 Rosary of the Holy Wounds Litany
Promise 16
The soul who during life has honored the Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ and has offered them to the Eternal Father for the Souls in Purgatory, will be accompanied at the moment of death by the Holy Virgin and the angels; and Our Lord on the Cross, all brilliant in glory, will receive her and crown her.
9 Plenary Indulgences granted by the Catholic Church
An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment in purgatory still due for sins after absolution, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints”.
Conditions: Sacramental Confession, Communion, and Prayer for the intention of the Holy Father, all to be performed within days of each other if not at the same time.
Works of mercy or charity: Either visit for a suitable time their brothers or sisters in need or in difficulty (the sick, the imprisoned, the elderly living alone, the handicapped, etc.), as if making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them; or support by a significant contribution works of a religious or social nature (for the benefit of abandoned children, young people in trouble, the elderly in need, foreigners in various countries seeking better living conditions); or devote a suitable part of personal free time to activities benefiting the community or other similar forms of personal sacrifice.
Some plenary indulgences:
Adoration to the Most Blessed Sacrament. A plenary indulgence is granted to those who visit the Most Blessed Sacrament for at least one half hour (together with the three prerequisites (constants) of a plenary indulgence.
Papal Blessing. A plenary indulgence is granted to those who “piously and devoutly” receive, even by radio, the Blessing of the Pope when imparted to Rome and the world (Urbi et Orbi). (3 constants.)
Adoration of the Cross. A plenary Indulgence is granted to those who in solemn liturgical action of Good Friday devoutly assist in at the adoration of the Cross and kiss it.
10 How to Avoid Purgatory by Fr. Paul O’Sullivan
Excellent guide teaching us to live a holy life with devotions to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
Reality of Hell, Heaven, Purgatory.