Saint Gertrude And the Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory

 

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT 

Feast Day  November 16

Every November 16th, the Church celebrates one of the most loved mystic  of the Middle Ages; Saint Gertrude the Great. Her feast day was made part of the universal Calendar of the Roman Rite by Pope Clement XII in 1738 and she was given the tile of “the great” by Pope Benedict XIV. Born on January 6, 1256 in the region of Eisleben in Germany. Incidentally, this is the same hometown of Augustinian monk turned protestant reformer, Martin Luther. Saint Gertrude died at Helfta on November 17, 1301…

Saint Gertrude’s spiritual life, as a Benedictine nun, centered around the Sacred Liturgy. Her attendance at the Divine Office throughout the day and participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice was the substance of her spiritual food. However, she also spent many hours in prayer and meditation in which the Lord appeared to her. She experienced visions of the Lord for the rest of her life. As we might imagine, they had a powerful effect on her soul. In addition, Saint Gertrude had great power for intercessory prayer and miracles. Her prayers led to many healings of her sisters and those who came to the monastery. Her visions of Jesus and prayer led her to write several beautiful treatises on mysticism and nuptial mysticism, which were shared with her monastic sisters.

O my adorable and loving Savior, consume my heart with the burning fire with which Yours is aflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Your love. Let my heart be united with Yours. Let my will be conformed to Yours in all things. May Your Will be the rule of all my desires and actions. Amen.

PRAYER OF SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT FOR THE HOLY 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..


Saint Gertrude the Great is invoked for souls in purgatory and for living sinners. Our Lord told Saint Gertrude that the above prayer would release 1,000 souls from purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners as well.

Prayer to the Guardian Angels for Your Loved Ones

 

Guardian Angel , watch over those whose names you can read in my heart. Guard over them with every care and make their way easy and their labours fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, repentance if they fail. ~Amen

Novena of Surrender to Jesus

The Surrender Novena


Day 1
Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 2
Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything.
It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother’s way. Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care, so that only I act, saying, “You take care of it.”

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 3
How many things I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need, turns to me, looks at me and says to me, “You take care of it,” then closes its eyes and rests. In pain you pray for me to act, but that I act in the way you want. You do not turn to me, instead, you want me to adapt to your ideas. You are not sick people who ask the doctor to cure you, but rather sick people who tell the doctor how to. So do not act this way, but pray as I taught you in the Our Father: “Hallowed be thy Name,” that is, be glorified in my need. “Thy kingdom come,” that is, let all that is in us and in the world be in accord with your kingdom. “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven,” that is, in our need, decide as you see fit for our temporal and eternal life. If you say to me truly: “Thy will be done,” which is the same as saying: “You take care of it,” I will intervene with all my omnipotence, and I will resolve the most difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 4
You see evil growing instead of weakening? Do not worry. Close your eyes and say to me with faith: “Thy will be done, You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that I will intervene as does a doctor and I will accomplish miracles when they are needed. Do you see that the sick person is getting worse? Do not be upset, but close your eyes and say, “You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that there is no medicine more powerful than my loving intervention. By my love, I promise this to you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 5
And when I must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you; I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. What troubles you and hurts you immensely are your reason, your thoughts and worry, and your desire at all costs to deal with what afflicts you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 6
You are sleepless; you want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything and you surrender to human strength, or worse—to men themselves, trusting in their intervention—this is what hinders my words and my views. Oh, how much I wish from you this surrender, to help you; and how I suffer when I see you so agitated! Satan tries to do exactly this: to agitate you and to remove you from my protection and to throw you into the jaws of human initiative. So, trust only in me, rest in me, surrender to me in everything.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 7
I perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever performed miracles, not even among the saints. He does divine works whosoever surrenders to God. So don’t think about it any more, because your mind is acute and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs, do this, all of you, and you will see great continual silent miracles. I will take care of things, I promise this to you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 8
Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace; close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. Repose in me, believing in my goodness, and I promise you by my love that if you say, “You take care of it,” I will take care of it all; I will console you, liberate you and guide you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 9
Pray always in readiness to surrender, and you will receive from it great peace and great rewards, even when I confer on you the grace of immolation, of repentance, and of love. Then what does suffering matter? It seems impossible to you? Close your eyes and say with all your soul, “Jesus, you take care of it.” Do not be afraid, I will take care of things and you will bless my name by humbling yourself. A thousand prayers cannot equal one single act of surrender, remember this well. There is no novena more effective than this.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Mother, I am yours now and forever.
Through you and with you
I always want to belong
completely to Jesus.

How to Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

 

Chaplet of the Divine Mercy

(for recitation on ordinary rosary beads)


Begin with:

Our Father

Hail Mary

Apostles' Creed


On the five large beads:
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

On the ten small beads:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Conclude with (3 times):
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.


Imprimatur:
Franciszek Cardinal Macharski
Cracow, August 1, 1994

Promises

The Lord Jesus attached great promises to this prayer provided that the conditions of the correct devotion to the Divine Mercy are met, that is, the spirit of trusting God and being merciful towards neighbour is required. Perseverance in praying is an expression of this trust; the greater the trust is, the greater the perseverance in saying the Chaplet is. The Lord Jesus said to Sister Faustina that by saying the Chaplet one can obtain everything. However, apart from the grace of a good death, He has never claimed that everything can be obtained immediately, having said the prayer once. In her ‚Diary’ Sister Faustina describes situations, for instance, calming of a storm (Diary 1731), when her request had been granted after she had said the Chaplet once. She also writes about situations when she had been saying this prayer without interruption for many hours, for example, praying for rain (Diary 1128). When she prayed by the bedside of the dying, sometimes it was enough when she said the Chaplet once in order to obtain the grace of a happy and peaceful death and some other time, when a soul needed a lot of prayer, it was necessary for her to say the Chaplet many times (Diary 1035).
The Lord Jesus attached a promise of obtaining all graces to the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy said with trust – He said: It pleases Me to grant everything they [people] ask of Me by saying the chaplet (Diary 1541), adding: if (…) [it] is compatible with My will (Diary 1731). God’s will is an expression of His love for man, thus everything that is not compatible with it is either bad or harmful. Therefore, it cannot be given by the best Father, who desires only man’s good – from the perspective of eternity. This general promise pertains not only to supernatural graces but also to rewards in this world.
Apart from the general promise, there are promises that concern the hour of death, and to be more precise: the grace of a happy and peaceful death, in other words, death in the state of grace and without experiencing fear and terror. These graces can be obtained not only by those who say the Chaplet with trust themselves but also the dying by whose bedside others will say this prayer. The Lord Jesus promised: At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or [if] the Chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person, then the indulgence [for the dying] is the same. When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person, God’s anger is placated and unfathomable mercy envelops the soul (Diary 811). The Lord Jesus promises to grant the grace of a good death, that is, of conversion and remission of sins, even if the whole Chaplet has been said once – it needs to be said in the spirit of the Divine Mercy devotion, thus, the attitude of trusting God (faith, hope, love, humility, sincere and deep contrition) and being merciful towards neighbour is required. He said: Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy (Diary 687).

What the Lord Jesus said to Sister Faustina shows how great the graces attached to this prayer are: By saying the chaplet you are bringing humankind closer to Me (Diary 929). Priests are to recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation (cf. Diary 687).

Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

 

Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit


Holy Spirit,
Divine Consoler,
I adore You as my true God,
with God the Father and God the Son.
I adore You and unite myself to the adoration
You receive from the angels and saints.

I give You my heart
and I offer my ardent thanksgiving
for all the grace which You never cease to bestow on me.

O Giver of all supernatural gifts,
who filled the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, with such immense favors,
I beg You to visit me with Your grace
and Your love and to grant me the gift of holy fear,
so that it may act on me as a check to prevent me
from falling back into my past sins,
for which I beg pardon.

Grant me the gift of piety,
so that I may serve You for the future with increased fervor,
follow with more promptness Your holy inspirations,
and observe your divine precepts with greater fidelity.

Grant me the gift of knowledge,
so that I may know the things of God and,
enlightened by Your holy teaching, may walk,
without deviation, in the path of eternal salvation.

Grant me the gift of fortitude,
so that I may overcome courageously all the assaults of the devil,
and all the dangers of this world which threaten the salvation of my soul.

Grant me the gift of counsel,
so that I may choose what is more conducive to my spiritual advancement
and may discover the wiles and snares of the tempter.

Grant me the gift of understanding,
so that I may apprehend the divine mysteries
and by contemplation of heavenly things detach my thoughts
and affections from the vain things of this miserable world.

Grant me the gift of wisdom,
so that I may rightly direct all my actions,
referring them to God as my last end;
so that, having loved Him and served Him in this life,
I may have the happiness of possessing Him eternally in the next.
Amen.

ALL SAINTS DAY PRAYER

 

Dear Father,

You have given the saints in heaven eternal happiness and they now live in the fullness of your glory. Because of their holy love for you, they also care about me and my family, my friends, my church, and my neighbors. Thank you for the gift of their friendship and the witness of their holy lives. I ask our patron saints and every saint who has become especially dear to me to intercede for us. I ask them to help us journey safely on the narrow path that leads to heaven. O Lord, give us their protection. Grant us their assistance in overcoming temptation and gaining the fullness of life with you.

Amen.

Prayer for All Saints Day

 

Prayer for All Saints Day 

Dear God, 

Thank you for the example of the Saints. I desire to join in their company, worshiping you forever in Heaven. Please help me follow their footsteps, and yours, Jesus Christ. Please help me to conform myself to Your image, seeking Your will in all things, as the Saints did. Please help me to devote myself, and all that I do, to Your glory, and to the service of my neighbors. Amen. 

Novena Prayers To Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

The Miraculous Medal, also known as the Medal of Our Lady of Graces, is a devotional medal, the design of which was originated by Catherine Labouré following her apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal of Paris, France. It was made by goldsmith Adrien Vachette. Wikipedia
Approval: 1836; Archbishop Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen; Archdiocese of Paris
Date: 18 July 1830; 27 November 1830
Patronage: Special graces, miracles of healing, conversions, believers
Shrine: Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Paris, France

Why you should wear the Miraculous Medal?
It is a daily reminder of your faith. Since it is used to show the connection between the Blessed Mother and an individual seeking her grace, it is a good way to remind yourself to honor that special grace every day. It is also a way to remember the distinct place your religious beliefs hold in your life.

What does the Miraculous Medal do?
The main significance of this piece of jewelry is the belief that wearing it will bring special graces from the Virgin Mary. It is often worn to help strengthen the faith of a person in the Catholic tradition, but can be worn by anyone with a Christian affiliation and a respect for the Blessed Mother.

Since the earliest days of the Church, Catholics have shown devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. They knew that throughout her life she heard the word of God and kept it, regardless of the cost. Her intercession spared the wedding couple of Cana from embarrassment. And she stood by her Son, even at the foot of the Cross. Our Blessed Mother will do the same for us. She will bring us to Jesus, help us become better disciples, and our prayer to Jesus through our Blessed Mother strengthens us, gives us hope, and unites us to heaven.

Mary has promised us graces if we come to the altar and ask for them. So come, ask, and know you’re being heard.

The Miraculous Medal Perpetual Novena

Opening Prayer

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Oh God, who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
 Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin.
Pray for us who have recourse to you (repeat 3 times)

O Lord, Jesus Christ, who have vouchsafed to glorify by numberless miracles the Blessed Virgin Mary, immaculate from the first moment of her conception, grant that all who devoutly implore her protection on earth, may eternally enjoy Your presence in heaven, who, with the Father and Holy Spirit, live and reign, God forever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, Jesus Christ, who for the accomplishment of Your greatest works, have chosen the weak things of the world, that no flesh may glory in Your sight; and who for a better and more widely diffused belief in the Immaculate Conception of Your Mother, have wished that the Miraculous Medal be manifested to Saint Catherine Labouré, grant we beseech You, that filled with like humility, we may glorify this mystery by word and work. Amen.

Memorare

Remember, O most compassionate Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your assistance, or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto you, O Virgin of Virgins, our Mother; to you we come; before you we kneel, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but, in your clemency, hear and answer them. Amen.

Novena Prayer

O Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively confidence in your all-powerful and never-failing intercession, manifested so often through the Miraculous Medal, we your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if they be beneficial to our immortal souls, and the souls for whom we pray.

(Here privately form your petitions.)

You know, O Mary, how often our souls have been the sanctuaries of your Son who hates iniquity. Obtain for us, then, a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which will attach us to God alone, so that our every thought, word and deed may tend to His greater glory. Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial, that we may recover by penance what we have lost by sin and at length attain to that blessed abode where you are the Queen of angels and of men. Amen

An Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

O Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate, we dedicate and consecrate ourselves to you under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. May this Medal be for each one of us a sure sign of your affection for us and a constant reminder of our duties toward you. Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed by your loving protection and preserved in the grace of your Son. O most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Savior, keep us close to you every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, your children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in union with you, we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever. Amen.

Repeat 3 times:

O Mary, conceived without sin.
Pray for us who have recourse to you.

Prayer for Souls in Purgatory

Prayer for Souls in Purgatory

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the holy masses said throughout the world today, for all the souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family, among my friends and relations.

Amen.

Litany Prayers for the Souls

Litany of the Faithful Departed

Lord have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us.
Christ hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of heaven,
have mercy on the souls of the faithful departed.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on the souls of the faithful departed.

God the Holy Ghost,
have mercy on the souls of the faithful departed.

Holy Trinity, one God,
have mercy on the souls of the faithful departed.


Holy Mary,
pray for the souls of the faithful departed.*



Holy Mother of God,*
Holy Virgin of virgins,*
St. Michael,*
All ye angels and archangels,*
All ye orders of blessed spirits,*
St. John the Baptist,*
St. Joseph,*
All ye holy patriarchs and prophets,*
St. Peter,*
St. Paul,*
St. John,*
All ye holy apostles and evangelists,*
St. Stephen,*
St. Lawrence,*
All ye holy martyrs,*
St. Gregory,*
St. Ambrose,*
St. Augustine,*
St. Jerome,*
All ye holy bishops and confessors,*
All ye holy doctors,*
All ye holy priests and levites,*
All ye holy monks and hermits,*
St. Mary Magdalene,*
St. Catherine,*
St. Barbara,*
All ye holy virgins and widows,*
All ye saints of God,*


Be merciful, spare them O Lord.
Be merciful, graciously hear us O Lord.



From all evil,
O Lord, deliver them.**


From Thy wrath,**
From the rigor of Thy justice,**
From the power of the devil,**
From the gnawing worm of conscience,**
From long-enduring sorrow,**
From cruel flames,**
From intolerable cold,**
From horrible darkness,**
From dreadful weeping and wailing,**
Through Thy admirable conception,**
Through Thy Holy Nativity,**
Through Thy most sweet name,**
Through Thy baptism and holy fasting,**
Through Thy most profound humiliation,**
Through Thy prompt obedience,**
Through Thine infinite love,**
Through Thy sorrow and anguish,**
Through Thy bloody sweat,**
Through Thy bonds,**
Through Thy scourging,**
Through Thy crowning with thorns,**
Through Thy carrying of the cross,**
Through Thy most cruel death,**
Through Thy five holy wounds,**
Through Thy most bitter cross and passion,**
Through Thy holy Resurrection,**
Through Thine admirable Ascension,**
Through the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete,**
In the day of judgement,**


We sinners,
we beseech Thee, hear us.***


Thou Who forgavest Magdalen and didst hearken to the prayer of the thief,***

Thou Who savest freely Thine elect,***

Thou Who hast the keys of death and hell,***

That Thou wouldst be pleased to deliver the souls of our parents, relations, friends, and benefactors from the pains of hell,***

That Thou wouldst be pleased to have mercy on those whom no special remembrance is made on earth,***

That Thou wouldst be pleased to grant them all the pardon and remission of their sins,***

That Thou wouldst be pleased to fulfill all their desires,***

That Thou wouldst be pleased to receive them into the company of the blessed,***

King of awful Majesty,***

Son of God,***


Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Grant unto them rest.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Grant unto them rest.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Grant unto them rest everlasting.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
From the gates of hell,
Deliver their souls, O Lord.
O Lord hear my prayer.
And let my cry come unto thee.


Let us pray

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all faithful, grant unto the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins; that, by pious supplication, they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired. Grant this, O God, Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

O eternal God, Who besides the general precept of charity, hast commanded a particular respect to parents, kindred, and benefactors, grant, we beseech Thee, that, as they were the instruments by which Thy Providence bestowed on us our birth, education, and innumerable other blessings, so our prayers may be the means to obtain for them a speedy release from their excessive sufferings, and free admittance to Thine infinite joys. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Amen.