All Souls Day is transferred from Sunday to Monday, November 3 this year. There will be three Masses that day:
7:00 a.m.,
11:00 a.m. and
7:00 p.m. (sung).
The founding father of St. Mary’s on Broadway, Rev. John Quinn, DD, (b. November 6, 1828 – d. June 8, 1873), is interred in front of our church. You can read the announcement of his death and about his Requiem Mass in this article published in 1873.
The Catacombs of Rome show evidence that praying for the holy souls in Purgatory was an Apostolic custom because the early Christians believed in praying for the dead going by their own writings. The Catacombs of St. Calixtus outside the walls of Rome has inscriptions by the early Christians asking for prayers for their loved ones who died either naturally or through martyrdom. One inscription says,
“In your prayers remember us who have gone before you.”
“I implore you, brothers to pray whenever you come here and invoke the Father and Son in all your prayers so that they might save Agape (the person in the tomb) forever”
The first century Jewish historian, Josephus, describes the Pharisees understanding of life after death in his “Discourse to the Greeks Concerning Hades” http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/hades.htm
His discourse is similar to what Catholics have always believed about Sheol/Hades/Purgatory.
In paragraph 1 of his discourse, Josephus speaks of Hades and the “temporary punishments, agreeable to every one’s behavior and manners.” Compare to 2 Maccabees 12:42-45; 2 Samuel 12:13-14; Matthew 5:24-25; Matthew 12:32; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; Hebrews 12:5; and Saint Augustine’s The City of God, 21:13 [A.D. 419].
Purgatory and Praying for the Dead – There are several Catholic commentaries and videos that are very good at explaining Catholic teaching on Purgatory and Praying for the Dead. Here are a few….
I. All Souls Day by the Benedictine Monks of Buckfast Abbey (Homiletic & Pastoral Review, November 1921)
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7196&repos=1&subrepos=0&searchid=2575889
II. 4 Biblical Proofs For Prayers To Saints And For The Dead
https://ewtn.co.uk/article-4-biblical-proofs-for-prayers-to-saints-and-for-the-dead/
III. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Prayers For the Dead – General statement and proof of Catholic doctrine; Questions of detail
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04653a.htm
IV. Purgatory (Biblical verses, teachings from Tradition and the Church Fathers)
https://www.scripturecatholic.com/purgatory/
V. Did St. Paul Pray for the Dead? Yes! by Steve Ray, convert to the Catholic Church, author and speaker
https://catholicconvert.com/did-st-paul-pray-for-the-dead/
VI. Helping the Poor Souls
by Fr. Joseph Stang (The Ecclesiastial Review, November, 1942) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=6204&repos=1&subrepos=0&searchid=2575889
VII. (video) Purgatory is 100% BIBLICAL!! [14 Verses Every Catholic Should Highlight] by Kenny Burchard, a former Protestant pastor
https://youtu.be/kC2fzKLuBb4?si=LXuzBaWCrDWfzRix
VIII. A STUDY OF THE EIGHT LAST THINGS: CROSSING THE THRESHOLD TO ETERNITY Part V: PURGATORY
https://www.agapebiblestudy.com/EightLastThings/ELT_Purgatory.htm
IX. Handout Part V: Purgatory
https://www.agapebiblestudy.com/EightLastThings/Lesson%205%20Handouts%20Eight%20Last%20Things.pdf
X. PURGATORY: In this article, Fathers Rumble and Carty answer many of the objections which are raised against Holy Mother Church by non-Catholics.
https://web.archive.org/web/20090123063818/http://catholicapologetics.net/
XI. Purgatory according to the Church Fathers
https://catholicbridge.com/catholic/purgatory-church-fathers.php
XII. The Church Fathers on Purgatory
https://web.archive.org/web/20170421100131/http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/apologetics/a105.htm
XIII. Article 1. Whether there is a Purgatory after this life? By Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor of the Catholic Church
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/7001.htm#article1
XIV. Praying for the Dead and the Requiem Mass by Fr. William Rock, FSSP
https://fssp.com/praying-for-the-dead-and-the-requiem-mass/
XV. A Primer on Indulgences
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/55999/a-primer-on-indulgences
XVI. Tract – Myths about Indulgences
https://www.catholic.com/tract/myths-about-indulgences
XVII. Catholic Encyclopedia – Indulgences
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm
XVIII. Baltimore Catechism On Indulgences
https://www.virgosacrata.com/baltimore-catechism-on-indulgences.html
