We Pray for the souls in Purgatory because they can’t pray for themselves.
All Saints Day, Nov. 1 + All Souls Day Nov 2 = The Totality of Saints (Saints and Saints in Waiting) we celebrate on these 2 days. Re: All Saints Nov. 1 here is a simple quote from the Catechism that highlights our Bond with Them! ““The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom… constantly care for those whom they have left on earth…” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2683).”
The Souls in Purgatory died in God’s Grace and have already earned Sainthood, but have to undergo additional “purification” as reparation for the “Temporal” Punishments of their past sins, but they are already destined to live in God’s Kingdom, to see Him Face-to-Face everyday! However they can no longer do any good works, to repay their sin debt, on their own, besides the suffering they endure in Purgatory. Many Saints have been moved with extreme desire to assist the Souls in Purgatory, in their release to be with God, to see God, as soon as possible. St Gertrude the Great was one such saint that was devoted to praying for the souls in Purgatory. St. Gertrude, a Benedictine Nun, was shown Jesus’s Sacred Heart when she was a newer nun at 25 years of age. The vision of Jesus’s Sacred Heart and St. Gertrude’s desire to help the souls in Purgatory, are directly related, because Jesus’s Sacred Heart in Its’ Endless Mercy, yearns for all these souls to be with Him, for whom He Endured the Greatest of all Suffering for their salvation. This post highlights St. Gertrude’s devotion to the Souls in Purgatory and relates the Prayer that Jesus instructed her to be said, that will release 1000 souls from Purgatory each time it is said, with true love and devotion to Jesus’s Sacred Heart. When praying this prayer our focus is on Jesus’s Endless Mercy and His desire that all His children be united with Him; for this He suffered and Died on the Cross and Rose from the Dead, that we may live forever.
What is Purgatory? Listen below…
We know our prayers help the souls in Purgatory, Listen below…
Here is the Prayer revealed to St. Gertrude that will release 1000 souls from Purgatory when said with specific Love to Jesus’s Sacred Heart and realization of His Endless and Bountiful Mercy!
If we say this prayer 3 x Daily for 30 days, that will be 90,000 Souls YOU personally can release to God! Say the prayer to Jesus’s Sacred Heart 3 x day for a year, over 1 MILLION souls you can release to Jesus in Heaven. ” A well known Priest said during an interview, “lately I have had such an intense interest and focus on the Sorrowful Jesus and Mary, that I have been finding myself praying the sorrowful mysteries everyday. ” So why not take his lead and focus on the Sorrowful Souls in Purgatory everyday! with the St. Gertrude Prayer?
According to tradition, many souls would fly to heaven when this prayer is prayed with heartfelt devotion.
https://marytojesus.com/2022/07/27/prayer-praying-the-daily-rosary/
St. Gertrude Prayer for 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.Prayer is said with love and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
By Saint Gertrude
About St Gertrude
About St. Gertrude’s Devotion to the St. Heart of Jesus, “Hearld of Divine Love”
About St Gertrude, her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Souls in Purgatory!
St Gertrude was born January 6, 1256, Eisleben, Germany and Died: November 17, 1302, Kloster Helfta
Saint Gertrude the Great’s Story
St. Gertrude, a Benedictine nun in Helfta, Saxony, Germany, was one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher Saint Mechtild, she practiced a spirituality called “nuptial mysticism,” that is, she came to see herself as the bride of Christ. Her spiritual life was a deeply personal union with Jesus and his Sacred Heart, leading her into the very life of the Trinity.
But this was no individualistic piety. Gertrude lived the rhythm of the liturgy, where she found Christ. In the liturgy and in Scripture she found the themes and images to enrich and express her piety. There was no clash between her personal prayer life and the liturgy. (Source click link.) The Liturgical Feast of Saint Gertrude the Great is November 16.
St. Gertrude, was granted the grace of seeing the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Gertrude was given a vision in which she gazed through Christ’s open side and peered upon the Divine, beating Heart (roughly 300 years before devotion to the Sacred Heart was made popular by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque).The vision of Jesus’s Sacred Heart and St. Gertrude’s desire to help the souls in Purgatory, are directly related, because Jesus’s Sacred Heart in its endless Mercy, yearns for all these souls to be with Him, for whom He endured the greatest of all suffering for their salvation.
What does this all mean?
In a near future post I will add additional reflections on the simplicity of living a God-Mindfulness Life, i.e. living our day, connected to God, allowing our Daily work and responsibilities to be an offering to God, with the Graces and Merits which flow from them given to God as a daily prayer and penance offering. We make these offerings to Mary and Jesus, to be used as They see fit. Mary and Jesus have told us that our prayers, our offerings to them are used as reparations to free souls that have passed, who suffer in Purgatory, as well as for reparations for present day sinners in hopes that they convert in their life to following Jesus. Do the daily prayers that I currently say release as many souls as I would be able to if I were now to add the saying of the St. Gertrude Prayer to my daily prayers? Hmmm. More on this in a minute! Keep reading…because even the slightest thoughts that we pray on behalf of others, God lifts and multiplies on our behalf through His endless Mercy and Grace! He is just waiting for us, for us to respond to Him. None of our prayers are too little, or insufficient in God’s eyes. His Grace is sufficient according to our knowledge and what He asks of us. Of course the more we know, the greater is our opportunity to serve God! Now that I know about the St. Gertrude Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory, of course I will try to include this prayer in my daily prayers.
Readers of this Blog Post who may already have a practice of praying for Souls, If you would share your practice, I would really appreciate hearing about what you do.
For myself, I’ve always prayed for all the Souls of the departed on All Souls Day. Currently I have felt compelled to have a Prayer List which includes people I encounter daily as well as remembering departed souls, image below. When I encounter someone daily, and to whom I say “I will pray for you,”; shortly thereafter their name goes on the list, and I review the names during prayer, usually several times per week. On that Prayer list there are also the names of deceased whom I have become aware of either as family, friends or by horrific events for whom I pray. The list is part of the Verbum Bible app that I use where one can create special prayers and be reminded to pray them daily. However in the Notes and Book sections on my phone, I also have other Prayers and Practices I wish to refer to, eg. saying the rosary, and saying the Brigittine and Sorrowful mysterie’s Rosaries. I have my God-Mindfulness daily practice guide as another Daily Prayer I refer to as well. As I write this, I have now added the St. Gertrude Prayer to the note page with my God-Mindfulness practice guide. Writing this Blog has been a Faith Journey for myself, and I hope some readers find value for their own Faith journeys’.
I have previously said that our lives are about our constant connection to God (God-Mindfulness) and the actions that we perform (Prayer and Penance), on our own paths to Sainthood. What an awesome responsibility, awesome opportunity, to partake in the releasing of souls from Purgatory to begin their most perfect lives with God. Imagine the gratitude that they feel toward us, for thinking of them, praying for them, and assisting in their release from Purgatory through the Mercy of Jesus’s Sacred Heart. Our prayers on behalf of Souls in Purgatory, remembering Jesus’s Sacred Heart, shortens their purification by our unselfish petition to the Father. St. Gertrude had mystical experiences with Jesus, where she saw Jesus and was told to pray the prayer she wrote out for us, to release souls from Purgatory. Each time its’ said with devotion to Jesus’ Sacred Heart a 1000 souls are released. Our Praying the same prayer allows us to help the Souls in Purgatory as well!
While I intend to pray the St. Gertrude Prayer, I ask how many other prayers, practices, devotions are there, that I am not familiar with, that I could incorporate into my daily life? Is what I do currently, how I pray sufficient in God’s eyes? Would if I don’t have the words, or can remember them, or my phone’s battery dies, what then will I pray? How can I pray?
In preparing this post, I read though that Jesus has said that even the slightest thoughts on our part, about praying for the Souls in Purgatory, especially in the context of Jesus’s Merciful and Sacred Heart, allows souls to leap out of Purgatory to God! Our thoughts, our own words to God, ARE sufficient for us to become Saints and assist others, made so by Grace and Inspiration in our minds, from the Holy Spirit, the endless Love of Jesus through His most Scared Heart and the endless love of His Father, for all His Creation. He has told us so in His Word!
Nothing we do or think of about God on our own is sufficient or ever can be, but all is possible and sufficient through God’s Love for us.
As a result of my current experience, I believe I should say the St. Gertrude prayer. I believe it is an awesome opportunity to partake in the releasing of Souls from Purgatory to Heaven, by the Grace of God this happens during my recitation of the prayer. I also feel so unworthy for this task, but by God’s Grace and Jesus’s Sacred Heart I am made worthy!
I don’t think my prayer list mentioning my deceased family members is particularly wanting as a petition in God’s eyes when compared to St. Gertrude’s prayer for the Souls in Purgatory. Certainly now that I have more knowledge about the Souls in Purgatory, I do believe I have more passion in my heart to help them, and St Gertrudes Prayer seems like an incredible Opportunity God gives us.
A SIGNIFICANT Discovery for ME in my reading on the Souls in Purgatory and the Life of St. Gertrude, is this discovery,
The vision of Jesus’s Sacred Heart and St. Gertrude’s desire to help the souls in Purgatory, are directly related, because Jesus’s Sacred Heart in Its endless Mercy, yearns for all these souls to be with Him, and His Father, and for whom Jesus endured the greatest of all suffering for their salvation.
What is most significant about St. Gertrude’s story, is Jesus entrusting visions and appearances of His most Sacred Heart to St. Gertrude, and in that devotion we find the release of Souls from Purgatory as well as the forgiveness and graces we require in our lives to live in Christ’s image all the days we have on this earth.
When we pray the St. Gertrude prayer, and /or even if we don’t have the words, if we think about what Jesus showed, revealed and told St Gertrude; is that God can’t wait for the souls to be released from Purgatory, and we can quicken that release by offering to the Father, Jesus precious blood, when reciting this prayer on behalf of the Souls in Purgatory. Likewise Jesus Precious Blood, Forgiveness and endless Mercy are TOTALLY available to us, and we should not be discouraged on our road to Sainthood, no matter how many times we fail. We have the immense mystical opportunity to partner with Jesus and God the Father in releasing Souls from Purgatory…WOW and also to have own souls made pure so we can continue that good work and so much more, on our way to becoming a Saint, Fiat!
St. Gertrude’s Message to us is one of PRAYER, Devotion to Jesus’ Sacred Heart, Living in Gratitude for His Merciful Heart and performing Reparations for the sins lodged against his Heart in the past, present and all the future, for which He Suffered Completely!
Sample actual Prayer List , about 3 times longer than visible text, and it grows daily, rather then shrinks. When I encounter someone daily, and to whom I say “I will pray for you,”; shortly thereafter their name goes on the list, and I review the names during prayer, usually several times per week. On that list there are the names of deceased family and other people I become specially aware of, for whom I pray. The list is part of the Verbum Bible app that I use where one can create special prayers. However in the Notes section of my phone, and book section, I also have other Prayers and Practices I wish to refer to, e.g. saying the rosary, saying the Brigittine and Sorrowful mystery Rosaries. I have my God-Mindfulness daily practice guide as another Daily Prayer I can refer to. As I write this, I have now added the St. Gertrude Prayer to the note page with my God-Mindfulness practice guide.
Just do it , Release 90,000 Souls in a month by praying St. Gertrude’s prayer 3 times daily, and maybe promise Jesus to release 1 million Souls from Purgatory by praying daily for a year! MTJ.
Downloadable Collection of St. Gertrude Prayers courtesy of Catholic Tradition.org Their absolutely beautiful website and resource of all things Catholic Tradition with beautiful images and prayers you can download!
A treasure trove of resources on St. Gertrude is available on Catholic Traditions Org. They have a St. Gertrude Manual and St. Gertrude Prayer Book, The Prayers of Saint Gertrude and Saint Mechtilde
Fiat!