Dear Friends in Christ

As we come to the end of the month of the Holy Rosary we approach the month of the Holy Souls. November begins with the upbeat celebration of All Saints this coming Friday: we rejoice that the great Family of God lives in Heaven and that they are at our side, encouraging us every step of our own pilgrimage towards Heaven. At the same time there is a certain melancholy about November, as we remember our Dead. Saturday is All Souls Day and traditionally Catholics will make an effort to offer Mass for the Faithful Departed - relatives, friends & benefactors - and also visit their final resting places. We could easily do this next weekend by making a visiting to the Memorial Garden on the north side of the church and pray for all those who have been buried there over the past five year: many of them known to us. The Church encourages us to gain the plenary indulgence for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. To obtain the plenary indulgence available November 1 - 8, we must receive Communion and sacramental Confession (and have no attachment to sin, even venial). Communion must be received each day we wish to gain the indulgence, but we only need to go to Confession once during the period. A good prayer to recite to earn the indulgence is Eternal Rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them; though any formal or informal prayer for the dead will suffice. And, as with all plenary indulgences, we must pray for the intentions of the Holy Father (one Our Father and one Hail Mary) each day we perform the work of the indulgence. Let us try to be generous in this work of charity, the great work of love, for the sake of those who depend on our prayer and sacrifice.

The Bible tells us that, "it is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins," (2 Maccabees 12:46) and especially in the month of November, the Church urges us to spend time in prayer for those who have gone before us. Prayer for the souls in Purgatory is an expression of Christian charity, and it helps us to call to mind our own mortality.

God bless you!

Msgr Kevin Hale

Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
The Sunday Homily is available as a podcast at LourdesLeigh.org