Suffering With Joy

Easy Chaplet for the Poor Souls

November 4, 2010

Every time we pray the Apostles’ Creed we say, “I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints…“.

Perhaps the most overlooked members of the communion of saints are the souls in Purgatory, yet offering prayers for their release into heaven is one of the easiest ways of  gaining fellow prayer warriors to help us in our daily life.

Imagine the joy of the soul who can do nothing for herself but who is released to the Beatific Vision through our intercession. Will she not plead to God on our behalf for the graces to remain faithful to Him in this life and join her in praise of the Trinity at our death?  What greater return of charity for charity can there be?

Praying for the Poor Souls is a kind of almsgiving open to all and one which will bring down great blessings on us. Since November is the month dedicated to the Poor Souls, I present the following from a post I wrote last November.

Chaplets and rosaries are particularly useful to people who aren’t well enough to get to Mass, and who feel just too weak or tired to do any other devotions or read the Bible.

On the large beads:

V. Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Thy Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb without blemish or spot (1 Ps 1:19)

R.  For the refreshment and deliverance of the souls in Purgatory

(One can add here, especially those of my family, or of my ancestry, or of priests.  The Holy Spirit sometimes moves one to pray for particular groups of Holy Souls.)

Ten times on the small beads:

V. By Thy Precious Blood, O Jesus –

R.  Purify and deliver their souls.

After having said five decades, one concludes with:

V.  Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.

R.  And let perpetual light shine upon them.

V. May they rest in peace.

R. Amen.

How easy is this?!  Please spread this devotion.  Also, Monday is the day of the week dedicated to the Poor Souls.  We can pray this chaplet every Monday throughout the year in memory of the faithful departed.  “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” (2 Maccabees 12:46)

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Tags: poor souls

10 Comments to Easy Chaplet for the Poor Souls

1. 

   Oh! This is a beautiful chaplet, Barb! Thank you. I will start praying it!
Mary333 on November 6th, 2010
2. 

   Mary, you are such a great prayer warrior! I wish we could meet someday in this life and pray together.
barb on November 6th, 2010
3. 

   This is beautiful! I will help spread the word and share it with my blog readers this week.
Carol@simple_catholic on November 7th, 2010
4. 

   Thanks for sharing this. Know of any other chaplets? (I’m really only familiar with the chaplet of divine mercy.)
Evan on November 7th, 2010
5. 

   Carol, I found this originally at Father Mark Kirby’s Vultus Christi blog and thought it was great. Glad you are going to spread this around.
barb on November 7th, 2010
6. 

   Evan, there are quite a few chaplets. Off hand, I can think only of the Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel and the Chaplet of the Holy Spirit. If you get a chance to go to a Catholic book store there are usually racks of chaplets where you can find nearly all the ones commonly prayed.

   The Divine Mercy is a particularly great gift to the Church because the architects of the Novus Ordo stripped the Good Friday liturgy of the Greek/Latin litany: “Holy God, Holy mighty (strong) One, Holy immortal One, have mercy on us! This was chanted repeatedly during the Adoration of the Cross as part of the Reproaches. In most parishes today you do not year the Reproaches sung at all, even though they are still part of the liturgy, and they do not have the “Holy God” litany in them. Christ, of course, knew this was going to happen, and asked St. Faustina to spread devotion to this chaplet.

   With the help of Pope John Paul II the Chaplet of Divine Mercy has become very popular. The world today is in dire need of mercy and so the Good Friday litany is now a daily prayer for many. I love when God has the last laugh. One way or the other we are given the means to humble ourselves before Him and plead for what the world needs.
barb on November 7th, 2010
7. 

   I agree! God does get the “last laugh”! I’m not familiar with the “reproaches” that you mentioned. For that matter, I’m not familiar with a lot of the pre-Vatican 2 practices.

   Anyway, thanks again for this post!
Evan on November 7th, 2010
8. 

   Evan, the Good Friday Reproaches are supposed to be sung even in the Novus Ordo during the adoration of the Cross, but most parishes use non-liturgical music at this time from the missalettes. In any case, the Reproaches are never omitted in the Traditional Liturgy.
barb on November 7th, 2010
9. 

   Whoops, Evan. I was wrong about the Novus Ordo omitting the “Holy God” part in the Reproaches. Sorry about that. Father Samuel Weber, O.S.B. is a great priest who knows the liturgy inside out. Here is the link to his page on Good Friday: http://www.wf-f.org/GoodFriday.html#anchor115147. I can tell you that if you live anywhere near a Benedictine monastery and can go there for the Holy Week services, you will be struck to the heart by their performance of the Good Friday liturgy. Here’s some of what you’d hear in the Novus Ordo in English:

   My people, What have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me!
   I led you out of Egypt; but you led your Savior to the Cross.
   For forty years I led you safely through the desert,
   I fed you with manna from heaven,
   and brought you to the land of plenty; But you led your Savior to the Cross.
   O, My people! What have I done to you that you should testify against me?

   Holy God. Holy God. Holy Mighty One. Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.

   They make for great meditation.
barb on November 7th, 2010

10. [...] your convenience, I am posting the prayer here, but Barb has a short reflection on the holy souls that I encourage you to [...]
Chaplet for the Poor Souls in Purgatory | Simple Catholic Living on November 8th, 2010