Susan Tassone - The Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

The Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory The Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory Susan Tassone Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750 With Ecclesiastical Approbation Archdiocese of Chicago
July 16, 2002 The Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, copyright 1965 and 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission of the copyright holder; all rights reserved. The author and publisher are grateful to those publishers and others whose materials (particularly the ones mentioned in the Acknowledgments), whether in the public domain or protected by copyright laws, have been used in one form or another in this volume. Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly. Copyright 2002, 2003 by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. All rights reserved.

With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from the publisher. Write:
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
200 Noll Plaza
Huntington, IN 46750 ISBN: 978-1-931709-42-2 (Inventory No. T25)
eISBN: 978-1-61278-261-4
LCCN: 2002107483 Cover design by Monica Haneline
Cover photo depicts painting displayed in La Chiesa del Sacro Cuore del Suffragio, Rome; interior section illustration by Monica Haneline, based on a painting of St. Bernards vision of souls being accompanied by angels from purgatory to heaven; the painting is displayed in La Chiesa della Santa Maria Scala Coeli, Rome Interior design by Sherri L. Hoffman PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To my mother and father,
Mary and Joseph Tassone,
who gave me the gift of life,
the gift of faith,
and my first holy Rosary. Acknowledgments T his is the first Scriptural Rosary book for the souls in purgatory. In preparing this book I relied on a number of resources that played a key part in making this work what it is.

The following were invaluable references: The Devotion of the Holy Rosary and the Five Scapulars, by Michael Mller, C.SS.R., copyright 1876 by Benzinger Brothers; Meditations on the Rosary, edited by Rev. Wilhelm Schaffler, translated by Silvia M. Welsh, copyright 1929 by Verlag Ars Sacra and Joseph Mueller; Our Ladys Rosary, by Fathers Callan and McHugh of the Order of Preachers, copyright 1939 by P. J. Kenedy and Sons; Purgatory and theMeans to Avoid It, by Rev. Martin Jugie, translated by Malachy Gerard Carroll, copyright 1949 by The Newman Press; St.

Gertrude the Great, copublished by Sands and Company and B. Herder Book Company, no date; Calls from the Message of Ftima, by Sister Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart, translated by Sisters of Mosteiro de Santa Maria and Convento de N.S. do Bom Sucesso, Lisbon; distributed by The Ravengate Press, 2001. The University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein (Illinois) and Loyola University Chicago provided outstanding collections of works on purgatory. I was moved by the works of Bishop Keppler, Very Rev.

Dean Kinane, and Fathers Jugie, Lasance, Nageleisen, Sadlier, and Thurston, all of whom I call the Purgatory Fathers. They guided me to the passages in Scripture, the understanding of purgatory, and the infinite mercy of God. To these authors I am most grateful. I want to thank Jackie Lindsey, Our Sunday Visitors Editorial Development Manager, who gave me the great privilege and honor of composing a Rosary for the holy souls and for the great Mother of God. As always, Steven Jay Gross provided his special unending support. Special thanks to Alida Antinori and Marcello Selmi, my tour guides in Italy, who led me to the church in Rome known as Sacro Cuore del Suffragio (as shown on the cover).

The Rosary is eternal. May God be praised and glorified, and Our Lady honored, forever. Foreword Foreword W hen I joined the Oblates of Mary Immaculate as a young man, Our Lady became, in a special way, part of my priesthood. Over the years, I am certain that it was Mary who guided me to a closer relationship with her Divine Son and the Church. There have been many occasions too numerous to count where Mary has interceded for me or for those whom I have entrusted to her care. Sometimes one hears that Catholics do not know the Scriptures well enough.

Yet, one of the ways in which we can best come to learn the Scriptures and meditate on them is through a Catholic method of prayer the holy Rosary. The Rosary takes us on a tour of the Old and New Testaments, giving us the opportunity to call to mind the events that shaped the earthly life of Jesus and His mother, as well as those events that gave birth to the Church and changed the course of human history. These are the mysteries of the Catholic faith to which Holy Scripture gives written witness. This little book will be an invaluable tool for those who have had a lifelong devotion to the Rosary, as well as for those who are learning the Rosary for the first time. The Scriptural meditations draw readers into a deeper experience of prayer, leading them beyond their intentions for personal needs to include petitions for the holy souls in purgatory, for the Church, and for the world. It is my hope that all who use this book will be profoundly changed through the Rosary.

May Our Lady intercede for you and for your families. F RANCIS C ARDINAL G EORGE , O.M.I. Archbishop of Chicago July 16, 2002 Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Introduction Introduction O Virgin! Take this Rosary,
more precious far than gold;
Tis woven with the life of Christ,
in holy gospels told. (Lady Hungerfordes Meditations upon the Beads, quoted by H. B. Feasey in The Reliquary, Vol. V, 1899) T he Rosary is one of the most beloved prayers of Catholics.

When we pray the most holy Rosary, we enter into the mysteries of the life, death, and resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Saying the Rosary for the souls in purgatory is offering up to God all the merits, joys, sufferings, and death of our dear Savior for their relief. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest act of worship and highest form of prayer. Among private prayers and devotions, the Rosary is the greatest and most powerful form of mental and vocal prayer to assist the holy souls in purgatory to attain heaven. During the Protestant Revolt in the sixteenth century and the French Revolution in the nineteenth century, when a priest was not available, a prayer service took the place of the Mass. The Offertory, Canon, and Holy Communion were omitted.