Act of Hope
My God, I hope in Thee, because Thou art infinitely good.

Act of Charity
My God, I love Thee with all my heart, and above all things,
because Thou art infinitely perfect;
and I love my neighbour as myself, for the love of Thee.

(Indulgence 7 years, 7 quarantines, each time.  Benedict XIV, Jan. 28, 1756.
Plenary once a month, if said every day.  Benedict XIII, Jan. 15, 1728)

How long do the pains last in Purgatory?  Nobody knows.  God has allowed some Souls to appear to their friends and benefactors to announce their departure for Heaven, but it seldom happened, and we cannot draw any conclusion from such cases.  The period of confinement in Purgatory is probably much longer than we are inclined to think.  Oh! how much combustible matter―how many imperfections, venial sins and temporal punishments due to mortal and venial sins―do you think they took with them to be cancelled in the flames of Purgatory?  Centuries may pass until Divine Justice is satisfied and the Poor Soul is so purified as to be admitted to the Vision of God.  The Venerable Bede relates that it was revealed to Drithelm, a great servant of God, that the Souls of those who spend their whole lives in the state of mortal sin, and are converted only on their death bed, are doomed to suffer the pains of Purgatory until the day of the Last Judgment.  Father Faber, commenting on this subject, says very justly: "We are not to leave off too soon praying for our parents, friends or relatives, imagining with a foolish and unenlightened esteem for the holiness of their lives, that they are freed from Purgatory much sooner than they really are!"

Let us consider the purity which is necessary to a soul, before being admitted into the presence of God!  Let us remember the multitude of our venial sins, and see what light penance we have done for them.  On the Day of Judgment the book of our deeds will be opened, and then we will be obliged to pay the last farthing.  How guilty we are in abandoning so easily the Souls who need our assistance so much!  The Saints are wiser.  St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, was dead for twenty years, and she was still remembered by her son in the Holy Sacrifice.  St. Ambrose promised solemnly and publicly to pray, during his entire life, for the soul of Theodosius the Great.

And supposing that we had delivered the Souls of our relatives and friends, have we emptied the prison of Purgatory?  How many poor, abandoned Souls linger in such horrible pains, imploring the assistance of some charitable heart.  St. Robert Bellarmine has affirmed that: "Some Souls would suffer in Purgatory till the Day of Judgment if they were not relieved by the prayer of the Church."  Therefore, he authorizes the foundation of Masses to be said in perpetuity.

Would it not be a holy thought to form, among relatives and friends, an association of seven members, so that each would employ a day of the week for the relief of the Poor Souls.

Each time I hear the clock strike, I will say:
V.  Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R.  And let perpetual light shine upon them.

Sister Denis, one of the first members of the order of the Visitation, was a zealous promoter of the devotion of the Poor Souls.  It was revealed to her that a prince, one of her relatives, had been condemned to suffer in Purgatory until the Day of Judgment.  She offered herself as a victim for the relief of this soul.  On her death-bed she said to the Mother Superior that she had obtained for the poor soul the remittance of some hours of his pain.  As the superior wondered at this fact, she replied: "O Mother, time in Purgatory is not counted as on earth; years passed here in sorrow, in poverty, in sickness, in suffering, are nothing, if we compare them with one hour in Purgatory!"

Psalmus 129.  De profundis

De profúndis  clamávi ad te, Dómine: * Dómine, exáudi vocem meam :
2  Fiant aures tuæ intendéntes: * in vocem deprecatiónis meæ.
3  Si iniquitátes observáveris, Dómine: * Dómine, quis sustinébit?
4  Quia apud te propitiátio est: * et propter legem tuam sustínui te, Dómine.
5  Sustínuit ánima mea in verbo ejus: * sperávit ánima mea in Dómino.
6  A custódia matutína usque ad noctem: * speret Israël in Dómino.
7  Quia apud Dóminum misericórdia: * et copiósa apud eum redémptio.
8  Et ipse rédimet Israël: * ex ómnibus iniquitátibus ejus.

Psalm 129.  De profundis

Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord; * Lord, hear my voice.
2  Let thine ears be attentive * to the voice of my supplication.
3  If thou, O Lord, shalt observe our iniquities , * O Lord, who shall endure it?
4  For with thee there is merciful forgiveness; * and by reason of Thy law, I have waited for Thee, O Lord.
5  My soul hath relied on His word: * my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
6  From the morning watch even until night, * let Israel hope in the Lord.
7  Because with the Lord there is mercy, * and with Him plentiful redemption.
8  And he shall redeem Israel * from all his iniquities.

V.  Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine.
R.  Et lux perpétua lúceat eis.

V.  Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R.  And let perpetual light shine upon them.

V.  A porta ínferi.
R.  Erue, Dómine, ánimas eórum.

V.  From the gate of hell.
R.  Deliver their souls, O Lord.

V.  Requiéscant in pace.
R.  Amen.

V.  May they rest in peace.
R.  Amen.

V.  Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam.
R.  Et clamor meus ad te véniat.

V.  O Lord, hear my prayer.
R.  And let my cry come unto Thee.

V.  Dóminus vobíscum.
R.  Et cum spíritu tuo.

V.  The Lord be with you.
R.  And with thy spirit.

V.  Requiéscant in pace.
R.  Amen.

V.  May they rest in peace.
R.  Amen.

Let us pray for a deceased woman:
We humbly request Thee, O Lord, to grant mercy to the soul of Thy servant, N. N., in order that, being delivered from the contagion of sin, she may enter into eternal salvation.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

V.  Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R.  And let perpetual light shine upon them.

V.  May they rest in peace.
R.  Amen.