  Before Mass. O merciful Lord, we offer Thee the precious blood of the spotless Lamb, in behalf of the suffering souls in purgatory, whose sole desire is to see and glorify Thee in heaven. Open to them, O Lord, the infinite treasures of Thy merits; apply to them the fruits of Thy Passion and death, and through the adorable sacrifice of the Mass, release them from the debt due to Thy sovereign justice. Amen. Confiteor. We confess our sins, O merciful God, in humility and sorrow of heart, and we acknowledge that in Thy sight no one living is justified. Woe to us, if Thou judge us according to Thy justice. To appease Thy anger, O Lord, we recur to the unbloody sacrifice of Him Who was nailed to the cross for our salvation, and who ceases not to intercede for us in heaven. O God of all clemency! forgive us our sins, we entreat Thee, and forgive also the sins committed by our deceased brethren, in the days of their mortal pilgrimage. Let Thy mercy prevail over Thy justice, and let the voice of the blood of Jesus plead more loudly for pardon than the voice of our iniquities cries for vengeance. Amen. Introit. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. “To Thee is due the hymn, O God, in Sion, and to Thee shall [pg 469] Kyrie. O Jesus, show that Thou art the God of mercy, and take pity on the suffering souls who sigh and weep for the day of their deliverance. Oh, admit them without delay into Thy bosom! Collect. O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired. Amen. Epistle. “And we will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again: even so them who have slept through Jesus, will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept. For the Lord Himself shall come down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead who are in Christ, shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord. Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.”—1 Thess. 12-17. [pg 470]Gradual. “The sorrows of death have compassed me: and the perils of hell have found me. I met with trouble and sorrow: and I called on the name of the Lord. O Lord, deliver my soul: The Lord is merciful and just, and now Our God showeth mercy. The Lord is the keeper of little ones: I was humbled, and He delivered me.”—Ps. cxiv. 3-6. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Amen. Gospel. “Martha, therefore, said to Jesus: Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But now also I know that whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee. Jesus saith to her: Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith to Him: I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection, at the last day. Jesus said to her: I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live: And every one that liveth, and believeth in Me, shall not die forever. Believest thou this? She saith to Him: Yea, Lord, I have believed that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, Who art come into this world.”—John xi. 21-27. Offertory. Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of the faithful departed from the flames of hell, and from the deep pit. Deliver them from the lion's mouth, lest hell swallow them; lest they fall into darkness. And let the standard-bearer, St. [pg 471] Secret. Have mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, on the souls of Thy servants [name them], for whom we offer this Victim of praise, humbly beseeching Thy majesty, that by this sacrifice they may arrive at rest eternal, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. Preface. It is truly just, and reasonable, and salutary, to return Thee thanks at all times, and in all places, O almighty Father, eternal God. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, and through His merits, we hope for a glorious resurrection; so that if the sentence of death alarm and deject, the promise of immortality consoles and animates us; for to Thy faithful servants death is only a passage from this life to a better. Therefore we unite with all the blessed citizens of the heavenly country in singing a hymn to Thy glory, and saying without ceasing: Holy, [pg 472] Canon. O Father almighty, Whose kind providence extendeth to all creation, cast an eye of pity on the souls that ardently love Thee, and whose greatest suffering is to be separated from Thee. Remember, O Lord, that they are the work of Thy hands, and that they have been purchased by the infinite merits of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. Oh, will not the sound of that sweet name move Thee to pity and forgiveness? We offer in their behalf, the precious blood which streamed from the sacred side of our dying Redeemer on the cross; we offer Thee the powerful intercession of the most blessed Mother of Jesus and Queen of martyrs; we offer Thee the prayers of St. Joseph, St. Peter, St. Paul, and all the saints, together with the earnest supplications of Thy Church on earth; and we beseech Thee to take pity on the souls Thou lovest so tenderly. Show them Thy glory, receive them into Thy heart, and inundate them with that torrent of bliss, of which Thou art the inexhaustible fountain. Amen. Elevation. O sacred Host! Victim of man's salvation! be propitious to us and hear our prayers. Precious blood of Jesus, shed to wash away the sins of mankind, sanctify our soul, and plead for mercy for the souls in purgatory! Amen. [pg 473]Pater Noster. O divine Jesus! at Whose name every knee doth bend, in heaven, on earth, and in hell! Sovereign Judge of the living and the dead! may Thy name be honored by the deliverance of the souls for whom we pray. May the gates of heaven be open to receive them, and may Thy will, which desires the salvation of all men, be this day perfectly done in their regard. Grant that, after having been fed on the bread of sorrow, they may be fed with the living bread of heaven in the possession of Thyself. We implore Thy forgiveness of the sins of our parents, friends, and benefactors, particularly of the sins to which we unhappily have been accessory. Preserve us from those avenging flames, which we have but too well merited by our repeated abuse of grace, our tepidity in Thy service, and our negligence in resisting temptation. Deliver us from sin, the greatest of all evils, and enable us to feel and understand that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Amen. Agnus Dei. Lamb of God, Who by death didst trample on the devil, about to seize his helpless prey, have mercy on the souls in purgatory! Lamb of God, Who wast offered as a sacrifice of expiation, that by Thy death we might be rescued from the slavery of sin, have mercy on the souls in purgatory! Lamb of God, Who wast immolated for love of us that we might pass from the region of malediction to the true land of promise, grant eternal rest to the souls in purgatory! Amen. [pg 474]Communion. May eternal light shine on them, O Lord, together with Thy saints forever, for Thou art merciful. Grant them, O Lord, eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Amen. Post-Communion. O God, Who willest that while we pray for the souls in purgatory, we should at the same time remember the most essential of our duties, grant us through Thy infinite merits and unbounded charity, the pardon of our past negligences. We will not defer the all-important duty of penance, lest it soon be too late to discharge our debts to Thee. We will fervently and perseveringly pray for the souls in purgatory, and apply to them also the fruits of our almsdeeds and exercises of mortification. O bountiful God! bless these resolutions, and strengthen us to observe them faithfully. Amen. Last Gospel. “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the Last Day I shall rise out of the earth: and I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see my God. Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. This my hope is laid up in my bosom.”—Job xix. 25-27. After having sat in darkness, and dwelt amidst the shades of death, we shall rise to the contemplation of eternal life forever! “In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped: let me never be confounded!” Amen. |
|
