VALUE OF GOOD WORKS OFFERED FOR THE SUFFERING SOULS
St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, affirms that the succor and suffrage given to the departed are more acceptable to God than that which is bestowed upon the living, because the former are more in need and unable to obtain help for themselves as the living can. The revered Louis Blosius, a great master of the spiritual life, says: "Our good and merciful Lord loves the souls of His elect, who must be purified after death, and desires their release so ardently, that whenever in Christian charity we set free, by our suffrages, any soul from Purgatory, we do a thing as acceptable to God as if we had delivered the Lord Himself from a hard captivity. He promises to give us as full a recompense as such a work of mercy practised towards Himself would deserve; for He Himself has said: "Amen, I say to you: as long as you did it to one of these, My least brethren, you did it to Me” (Matth. xxv. 40.)
The same is affirmed by St. Ambrose: "Whatever we do for the suffering souls, with a pious intention, will revert to our own merit, and will be returned a hundred fold, at the hour of death.”
Prayer : O God of love and mercy! animated with charity and compassion for our departed brothers and sisters, we offer Thee our prayers and good works, and supplicate Thee to accept them as a propitiatory sacrifice in their behalf. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Special Intercession : Pray for the souls of those who were negligent in offering good works for the suffering souls.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them; may they rest in peace. Amen.
(Three times)
Practice : Bear your sufferings with patience, and offer them for the holy souls.
Invocation : My Jesus, mercy!
