After college, I served as a SOLT missionary. Behind the parish and school where I served, there was a large cemetery. Its presence, and those buried there, did not cross my mind in the first few months I was settling into mission life.
Then, the first week of November rolled around, and the priests invited the volunteers to accompany them nightly to the cemetery to pray for the souls buried there. I was vaguely aware of the tradition of praying intentionally for the souls in Purgatory on November 2, All Souls Day, but I had never heard about the custom of praying for them during the first nine days of November.
From All Saints Day on November 1 until November 8, a plenary indulgence is granted when someone prays at a cemetery for the souls in Purgatory. As with any indulgence received through prayer, pilgrimage, or works of mercy, the usual conditions apply:
- Being free from attachment to sin
- Confessing sins within twenty days
- Receiving Holy Communion
- Praying for the intentions of the Holy Father
However, this specific indulgence can only be applied to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
What is an Indulgence?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines an indulgence as “a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints” (§ 1471).
In simpler terms, there are two consequences to our sin:
- The first is a disruption of our relationship with God. This is restored through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
- The second consequence is temporal punishment. This can be satisfied here on Earth or after death in Purgatory.
An indulgence can be applied to the temporal punishment of ourselves or those in Purgatory. However, the particular indulgence during the first days of November is only for the souls in Purgatory.
What is a Novena?
A novena is a nine-day period of prayer. This practice dates back to the nine days between Jesus’ Ascension and the arrival of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, during which Mary and the Apostles prayed. We pray novenas for nine days in imitation of their devotion.
Returning to my time as a SOLT missionary, when we joined the priests in praying in the cemetery, we were saying a special novena to gain an indulgence for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Each day for nine days, we walked the snow-covered grounds of the cemetery to pray. We walked by graves old and new. For example, we visited the grave of Fr. J.B. Malo, who built the first log church at the mission in 1884.
It’s important to note that this particular indulgence does not require a novena. We can gain this indulgence by visiting and praying at a cemetery on any day during the first nine days of November.
Praying as the Communion of Saints
There was something sacred about praying in that cemetery. I did not personally know anyone buried there, but praying there each day for nine days connected me to the Communion of Saints in a way I hadn’t experienced before.
Scripture points us to the tradition of praying for the dead—those souls we describe as being in Purgatory. Saints, particularly Saint Gertrude, have also encouraged this practice throughout history.
The Church teaches that the souls in Purgatory, having died “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” (§ 1030). I once heard the souls in Purgatory described as the happiest they can be because they know that the next step is Heaven, but also the saddest they could be because they are not there yet. Those souls in Purgatory are the Church Suffering: They are being purified and are grateful for our prayers. Our prayers have eternal effect.
As part of the Church Militant, I can offer an indulgence for the Church Suffering, in hope that we will all be part of the Church Triumphant at the end of time.
As I walked through that snowy cemetery and other cemeteries in the following Novembers, I did not know those buried there. However, these were still not anonymous, generic prayers I was offering. They were for my brothers and sisters in the Communion of Saints who have gone before me. I now pray for them in Purgatory, and hopefully, they will pray for me when they reach Heaven. What a reunion in Heaven that will be! The merciful Lord will show us how our prayers have been connected, and a friendship rooted in faith was formed.
Sr. Mary Claire of the Holy Family is a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) and currently serves in Corpus Christi, TX. She loves Jesus and Mary, and her students would say every Saint is her favorite. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and is currently working on a Masters in Theology from her Alma Mater, Franciscan University. A Tennessee girl who could live off Dr. Pepper and popcorn, she loves road trips, especially this one we are on to Heaven.
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