Special Prayer for the Living and Deceased

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Special Prayer for the living and deceased

The Special Prayer for the living and deceased is a reminder to pray for ourselves, family and friends who are in need of prayers.  Also, as those living with us at this time we remember all the generations that have gone before us.  We are the product of many generations.  Consequently, we give thanksgiving for their contribution to our lives, to our well-being.  We have inherited their characteristics.

The special prayer for the living and deceased is compact and a handy size for placing anywhere on your person. Consequently, you can refer to it many times each day. The Holy Souls in Purgatory will be eternally grateful. They are very close to God’s heart and He wants them to be with Him in Paradise. Our prayers for them will bring them closer to that great day of being in His presence.

We pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, ourselves, our families, our friends, our ancestors and all those who have died in the mercy of God.

Customs and traditions of the Church

A happy death is one of the greatest and the last blessings of God in this life. The Church encourages us to prepare ourselves for the hour of our death. In the litany of the saints, for instance, she has us pray: “From a sudden death and unforeseen death, deliver us, O Lord,” to ask the Mother of God to intercede for us “at the hour of our death” in the Hail Mary; and to entrust ourselves to St. Joseph, the patron of a Happy Death.

St. Joseph is the Foster Father of our Judge and Savior. His power is dreaded by the devil. His death is the most singularly privileged and happiest death ever recorded as he died in the Presence and care of Jesus and Mary.

St Joseph and the Holy Souls

St. Joseph will obtain for us that same privilege at our passage from this life to eternity.

Every day more than 152,000 persons die worldwide and are judged. More people are dying at a faster rate than ever before. We are called through our prayers and sacrifices to assist these souls. Justice demands it if through our faults some souls are lost.

If by your prayers, sufferings or other good works, you have obtained a good death for a dying sinner, you shall look upon yourself as a mother or father to that soul. Their souls may be going the wrong way, but by your prayers you have saved them. You have placed their souls in purgatory. Now you can assist by all the means possible in obtaining the soul’s release from purgatory. To do this, you should be anxious to have Masses offered, pray the Rosary, do the Stations of the Cross, Eucharistic Adoration, and obtaining all the indulgences you can. These are the greatest devotions to help the souls reach Heaven.

St. Joseph repays us generously if we come to the rescue of the sufferings souls. Holy Communions offered to him for seven consecutive Sundays in honor of the Holy Souls is what pleases him most.