In response to Archbishop Vigneron’s November 2, 2022 letter, A Call to Prayer: A Pastoral Note on Praying for the Souls in Purgatory our family of parishes, Resurget Cineribus, has formed a Confraternity of Holy Souls. The purpose of the Confraternity is three-fold: to provide formal means for interested parishioners to pray for the souls in Purgatory, to provide opportunities for this group and others to pray for the souls in Purgatory and gain indulgences, and to make others aware of the Church’s teaching on Purgatory and indulgences.
Confraternity of Holy Souls
A confraternity is a group of laypersons created for a specific, often charitable, purpose. In this case, the Confraternity of Holy Souls has been created to offer intercessory prayers for the souls in Purgatory who cannot pray for themselves. Members of the confraternity each make a commitment to various forms of prayer for the holy souls on a regular basis. We are looking at hosting various events to foster prayer, and opportunities for gaining indulgences, such as Stations of the Cross, Holy Hours, and public recitations of the Holy Rosary, to name a few.
Purgatory
As noted previously, another purpose for the Confraternity is to share the teaching of the Church on Purgatory. Briefly, Purgatory was defined at the Councils of Florence (1438) and Trent (1563). As noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect” (CCC 1030, 1031). As the Confraternity continues its work, more about Purgatory will be shared, including purification as referenced in Sacred Scripture.
Indulgences
Abuses in the past have given indulgences a bad rap, but they remain very much part of Church teaching. Again, from the Catechism we read, “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven…” (CCC 1471). What is key to the Confraternity is, indulgences can be gained by us and applied to the souls in purgatory.
Our Resurget Cineribus confraternity presently has six members, with the hope to add more as word gets out. Feel free to contact me at the Cathedral if you are interested in joining us. And even if you are unable to make the formal commitment as part of the confraternity, we hope you will join us at any number of the prayer opportunities we will be hosting in the future. Dates and locations will be published in all the parish bulletins. In the meantime, keep the members of the confraternity and our faithful departed in your prayers.
In the peace of Christ,
Deacon Mike