The Church Suffering

Mary O’Regan makes a pledge in the month of holy souls

Friends and acquaintances of mine were close to a comedy writer who died a young man. He was a lapsed Catholic who did not live an exemplary life of virtue. But he was dearly loved by them, and I’ve heard him described as a kind-hearted genius. I was left cold after watching a movie about his life, because of its flippant treatment of his tragic death and I felt a strong call to pray for his soul. I doubted the call and asked for a grace to be given me through the Sacred Heart of Jesus whereby I be sent a sign: if I were to find the comic novel he wrote, I’d have a Mass offered for him.

Precisely two days later I was helping some nuns in a convent and went in search of a misplaced log-book in a cupboard. A surge of electricity went through my hand and I was guided to a spot where I pulled out a book and to my consternation, I found it was the writer’s comic novel, the exact signal I had requested. It was entirely unlikely to find it where it was, because these sisters do not read a lot in English.

Somewhat alarmed, I wasted no time. I got in touch with a prelate and asked him to offer Mass for the deceased comedy writer’s soul. Shortly afterwards I found out that while he was still alive the writer had made a request that he and his friends attend a sung Latin Mass in Boston to hear the beautiful music. And he made this request twice. He’d attended Harvard shortly before the new Mass came in and I invited them to honour his request, even though he would not be bodily present, and so promptly they arranged a trip to Harvard where they would pray for his soul.

Prayers and Masses had been offered for his soul, and as a good work for the writer, I asked his friends that they avail themselves of the Sacred Heart novena for their personal use. One dear friend bought exquisitely beautiful holy cards of the Sacred Heart and gave gifts of them to the others, which they faithfully carry with them.

The efforts I made for the young writer rekindled in my heart my love for the holy souls and my desire to ease their pain as they are purified. So, I decided to re-take a vow called the Heroic Act of Charity for the Holy Souls whereby I pledged to give these souls all the satisfactory value of all my good works, and all the pain of purification which I may be given after death. November, the month of the holy souls, is upon us, so may I invite you to consider making the Heroic Act of Charity for the holy souls? In doing so, you will make a complete gift of all your works of the satisfactory value, and all the satisfaction from your good thoughts, good words and good works will go to the suffering souls in Purgatory. Some close friends of mine have also taken the vow. The beauty of the vow is that you will be heroically helping the holy souls while simultaneously you are in the throes of fighting the good fight. These are just a few examples: when you plan a kind gesture, when you say something to cheer up someone who is feeling down, or when you collect a prescription for someone bed-bound. You may make a profoundly generous donation of all your works of satisfaction, by offering this Heroic Act: Oh Holy and Adorable Trinity, desiring to co-operate in the deliverance of the souls in Purgatory, and to testify my devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, I cede and renounce on behalf of those holy souls all the satisfactory part of my works, and all the suffrages which may be given to me after my death, consigning them entirely into the hands of the most Blessed Virgin, that she may apply them accordingly to her good pleasure to those souls of the faithful departed whom she desires to deliver from their sufferings. Deign, O my God, to accept and bless this offering which I make to Thee at this moment. Amen.

'The efforts I made for the young writer rekindled in my heart my love for the holy souls and my desire to ease their pain as they are purified'

This is such a sublimely selfless gift to the holy souls that you may find yourself rewarded like St Gertrude, who, when she was about to die, Our Lord appeared and made known to her that because she gave the holy souls all her works of satisfaction, that she would not suffer any pains of Purgatory and that her glory in Heaven would be significantly increased. It is a cruel irony that in this new supposed Church of Mercy, the Church Suffering is often abandoned by the Church Militant. Should we not make a complete commitment to them and invite others to do so, and perhaps thereby help restore the traditional and true understanding of the Mystical Body of Christ as existing here on Earth, in Purgatory, and in Heaven?