Are Poor Souls Poor?
The month of November is dedicated to the Poor Souls. This year the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, November 2, lands on Sunday and preempts the Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time. That is how important our bishops consider that day in honor of our “Church Suffering.”
Poor Souls and Us
When I was writing a textbook series, one day a Jewish employee of the publisher called with an odd question. He asked, “How do you spell Poor Souls? Is it pour, poor, or pore?” Purgatory is pretty much a Catholic belief. In fact, it has long been Catholic doctrine. In the Creed, we profess that we believe in the Communion of Saints. This comprises three groups: the Saints in heaven, the people in purgatory, and the believers on Earth. As some wit put it: All Saints, All Souls, and All Sorts!
Notre Dame Recognition of Poor Souls
In our Province Center in Chardon we have a tradition of writing the names of our deceased loved ones on paper. Sometimes these are arranged artistically in our chapel and kept there all month.
In addition, we are invited to display photos of people we love who have passed into the next world. Usually I add this photo of my mom:
Suffering of Poor Souls
Our departed relatives and friends are still present and loving us, although they are invisible. They exist in another dimension, one that we too will be slipping into one day. As holy as these people were on earth, there is no guarantee that they are in heaven (unless the Church has canonized them). Therefore, we don’t call them saints, but poor souls.
Monsignor Moriarty, who was reader/censor for our Christ Our Life series, preferred the term “holy” souls. He pointed out that the people in purgatory were not really poor. Having run the race on earth successfully, they escaped eternal damnation. They are just undergoing purification before living with God in heaven. They were good people, holy people, who just needed to become more worthy of seeing God face-to-face. Their earthly prayers and penances hadn’t sufficiently atoned for their mistakes, their lack of love.
Some theologians propose that purgatory is not fire but the excruciating pain of realizing of our sinfulness once we are face-to-face with God. It happens instantaneously. I wouldn’t count on it.
Relief from Us
Because everyone in the Church is united and share in one another’s good works, we can pray for our brothers and sisters in purgatory that they maybe released. We offer Masses for them, light a votive candle for them, and pray the traditional prayer, “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.” One family I know prays this whenever they are traveling and pass a cemetery. Scripture supports praying for the dead. In Maccabees II, we read, “Therefore [Judas Maccabee] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.”
Likewise, the poor souls can pray for us.
It is a good practice to pray for certain groups: those who have no one to pray for them, those who died an early or unexpected death, first responders, priests and sisters, ancestors, and those who committed suicide.
Of course, all of these practices depend on the fact that there is life after death. We take Christ’s word for it. He promised it was true and rose from the dead himself to prove it.
A Surprise
The day after I flew home from a conference, I googled my name. A shocking notice appeared—an obituary for Kathleen Glavich! Did our plane go down? Am I in twilight zone? Am I dreaming? I didn’t feel dead. I clicked on the notice and it took me to the text. Kathleen Edith Glavich had died a few days earlier. My middle name is Ann. Whew! I’m not ready to go yet. Still have books to write on the back burner. Someday my obituary really will appear. Unless I am martyred, I will probably end up in purgatory, hoping that my friends and some strangers will be praying that my purification is over quickly.
Keep your eye on the grand prize and persevere. Remember we were born for another world. I look forward to meeting Kathleen Edith Glavich someday along with my ancestors, family members, and friends . . . but not real soon.
A Prayer
Here is the Litany for the Poor Souls, something I never knew existed:
The Rosary, Interesting Info
Last week I spoke about the Rosary at our Village because October is the month of the Rosary. In preparing, I came across information that I had not known or forgotten. I pass it on to you here.
What famous people prayed the Rosary?
Hadyn prayed the Rosary when he had trouble composing.
Martin Luther prayed it all his life.
Thomas Merton said, “I would ever do without the Rosary.”
Father Patrick Peyton is famous for promoting the Rosary, in particular, his slogan, “The family that prays together stays together.”
Saint Pope John Paul II said it was his favorite prayer. After 9/11, he asked families to pray it every day for peace.
How is the Rosary related to roses?
You hear that flower when you say “rosary.”
The rose is queen of all flowers, the most beautiful, most fragrant. It’s given to beloved ones.
Praying the rosary is like giving Mary a whole garland of roses.
One of Mary’s titles is Mystical Rose.
Why pray to Mary?
We are pleased when someone praises our mother. God is pleased when we praise his mother.
When we honor Mary, we honor her Son.
Mary is our mother Jesus gave us on Calvary.
Mary has power: She prays to Jesus for us like she interceded at the Cana wedding.
Saint Padre Pio said, “In times of darkness, holding the rosary beads is like holding your blessed Mother’s hand.”
What is the origin of the Rosary?
John Smile’s cartoon here is title “the first Rosary.” In the Rosary we call on our blessed Mother no less than 53 times as we pray its Hail Marys.
The Rosary evolved. People have kept track of their prayers for ages using pebbles, notches on wood, knotted cords, and beads.
The word “bead” comes from Old English bede, which means “prayer.”
Muslim prayer beads have 99 beads, for the 99 names of God. When I was in Arabia, I purchased a smaller one. It has 33 beads, three sets of 11. The sets represent “Glory be to Allah,” “Praise be to Allah,” and “Allah is the greatest.”
The Church prays the 150 psalms, called the Psalter. Long ago illiterate people prayed 150 Our Fathers on circle of beads called paternosters. In 1075 Lady Godiva willed her paternoster of gems to a monastery.
Then in the 12th century people prayed 150 Hail Mary’s instead of Our Fathers, “Our Lady’s Psalter.”
What about Saint Dominic?
A legend holds that the rosary began when the Blessed Virgin gave it to Saint Dominic. However, he was born in 1170, after the first rosaries. The legend probably arose because Saint Dominic and his Dominicans promoted it. The mysteries were added in the 15th century by a monk 200 years after Dominic lived.
What are the mysteries?
Praying the rosary, we multitask, praying verbal and mental prayer at the same time—like patting your head and rubbing your stomach or eating while watching TV! The prayers are like background music.
For each decade we think about an event in Jesus’ life. There are four sets, five mysteries in each: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, Luminous. In 2002, Saint Pope John Paul II added that last set.
Where did the prayers come from?
The Rosary is “the gospel on beads.” Its prayers are Bible-based. The Hail Mary combines the words of Gabriel and Elizabeth. In 1569, the Church added the rest of this prayer and made it official. Jesus taught us the Our Father.
How did October become the month of the Rosary?
In 1571, the Ottoman Turks were sailing to Italy with 450 warships, aiming to take over Catholic countries. Pope Pius V, a Dominican, asked Catholics to pray the Rosary. The Christian nations won the Battle of Lepanto, and Europe was saved on October 7.
October 7 became the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which was changed to the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
How has Mary encouraged praying the Rosary?
In 1858, when Mary appeared in Lourdes, a rosary hung from her arm, and she and Saint Bernadette prayed it together.
At Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, Mary appeared to three children and called herself Our Lady of the Rosary. She told them to pray for peace. She also gave them this prayer to say after each decade: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Amen.”
How is Saint Pope John Paul II connected to Fatima?
He was shot by an assassin on May 13, Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, the anniversary of the first appearance at Fatima. The bullet took a zigzag path, avoiding vital organs. The pope attributed this to Mary. So he had the bullet placed in the crown of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.
What kind of rosaries are there?
There are rosaries made of jewels, metal, cord, and crushed rose petals.
There are rosary rings, bracelets, and strings. God also provided us with ten fingers for praying a decade.
As part of our habit, we used to wear a large rosary at our side.
A Story I Love
A university student on a train seated next to an old man praying the rosary remarked, “I don’t believe in such silly things. Take my advice. Throw the rosary out of this window and learn what science has to say.” “Science? I don’t understand,” replied the man. “Maybe you can explain it to me.” The student said, “Give me your address and I’ll send you some literature.” Fumbling in his pocket, the old man drew out his business card. The boy looked at it and burned with embarrassment. It read, “Louis Pasteur, Director of the Institute of Scientific Research, Paris.”
A Final Comment
You can pray along with the Rosary with EWTN or clicking this Internet address: https://www.mydailyrosary.com/daily-rosary
Sense of Smell, a Fantastic Gift
Our sense of smell is the topic of this week’s blog. This was prompted by an addition to my home. A friend gave me a diffuser that permeates my apartment with the fragrance of a sea breeze with lemon and lavender. Every few days I invert the reeds in the oil to renew the scent.
The Importance of Smelling
Dogs have keener noses than we have. This enables them to detect scents that are very old as well as those that are under water! However, we can still be thankful that our noses can sense almost 20,000 different smells, each with about ten levels of intensity. They warn us about dangers — something burning on the stove, a gas leak, or a skunk nearby. A foul smell also informs us when food, like milk, is spoiled.
Losing your sense of smell due to a cold or Covid, is a serious deprivation. It hurts the quality of your life. You are cut off from a bevy of pleasures, including a savory meal because smell and taste are entwined.
How We Detect Smells
The mechanism for smelling is another ingenious product of the Creator. Our olfactory system consists of thousands of sensory cells in our nasal cavity that detect odors and produce an electrical signal that travels to the olfactory bulb that relays it to our brain through special nerves. Odor molecules also may enter along a path connecting the roof of our throat to the nose. A stuffed nose blocks this path. The part of the brain that interprets these odors is linked to a part that processes emotions and memories.
Good Smells
Odors can release feel-good hormones like dopamine. They also evoke happy memories. The pungent odor of a permanent emanating from our Village salon takes me back home to my mother who gave Toni permanents to neighbors and us daughters. So does the smell of freshly baked bread that reminds me of her mouthwatering loaves and rolls.
Just thinking of an odor, we can imagine it. Because of our noses, we can enjoy these pleasant smells:
Food: an orange, bacon sizzling in a pan, fresh bread, apple cider, pizza, coffee and toast
In nature: Pine trees, a bonfire, a newly mowed lawn, flowers like lilacs and lilies. By the way, flowers have scents to attract bees and butterflies so they are pollinated in addition to making our world more pleasant.
New things: a new bar of soap, new books, new car
Other: perfume, incense, scented candles, talcum powder, hand lotion, shampoo
I especially like certain fragrances. One is occurring now because we are in the season of autumn, dead leaves fill the air with a musky aroma. Then there is the earthy scent of rain on dry soil that has its own name: petrichor.
When I have trouble sleeping, I spray lavender oil on my pillow. This scent’s calming power promotes sleep. As a child, I liked the smell of our garage.
Impaired Smelling
Loss of smell is called anosmia. Another affliction is parosmia in which the perception of odors is distorted, for example, a pleasant odor may smell foul. Then too there is the problem of phantosmia, sensing an odor that isn’t there.
Doctors test people’s sense of smell by using a booklet with beads filled with odors. Patients scratch each page and identify the odor. If you lose your sense of smell, it’s possible to restore it by retraining your brain and sniffing strong scents like peanut butter and peppermint and recalling what they smelled like.
A Poem
One of the poems In my book of prayers and fingerplays for little children titled Heartbeat of Faith, is this one:
My Nose
With my nose I smell things like these:
Bacon, popcorn, and Christmas trees,
Babies, roses, and apple pie.
And this is probably the reason why
My nose has a real important place—
Right in the middle of my face.
For Fun
I couldn’t resist posting this:
What are your favorite fragrances?
What smell triggers a memory for you?
Yes, we are wonderfully made. Here is a moving version of Psalm 139 which celebrates this fact:
Last Words, Sacred and Silly Ones
The Final Words of Jesus
The final words of a person who is dying can have special meaning. Preeminent of these are what are known as the Seven Last Words of Jesus that he uttered from the Cross. To refresh your memory, they are as follows:
- “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
- “You will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
- “Woman, behold your son!” (John 19:26-27).
- “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).
- “I thirst!” (John 19:28).
- “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
- “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46).
Some Dying Words of Humans
Those holy words are significant. At the other end of the spectrum are comical or ironic words some people said with their dying breath.
Moments before receiving a fatal gunshot would, during the American Civil War, General John Sedgwick is reported to have remarked, “Why, they couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.”
Some say that comedian Lou Costello’s commented, “That was the best ice-cream soda I ever tasted.”
Apparently when Bob Hope’s wife asked him where he wanted to be buried, his last words were, “Surprise me.”
Groucho Marx’s last words were, “This is no way to live.”
Dying Words of Some Saints
For my book I Am Going . . . : Reflections on the Last Words of Saints, I did a ton of research and uncovered some gems.
Hints of the Next World
As Steve Jobs, cofounder and CEO of Apple, Inc., left this world, he looked past those gathered around his deathbed, and mysteriously uttered, “Oh, wow! Oh, wow! Oh, wow!” Some saints’ last words indicate that death is only the door to the next life:
St. Anthony of Padua claimed, “I see my Lord.”
St. Dominic Savio said, “What wonderful things I am seeing!
St. Frederick said, “I will praise the Lord in the land of the living.”
St. Pope John Paul II said, “Let me go to the house of my Father.”
St. Charles Borromeo prayed, “Behold I come. Your will be done.”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity said, “I am going to Light, Love, and Life.”
The Blessed Virgin
Saints who, like us, prayed that Mary be with them at the hour of their death seemed to see her based on their dying words:
St. Elizabeth of Portugal instructed, “Draw up a chair for the radiant lady in white who is coming, Mary, Mother of Grace.”
St. Josephine Bakhita exclaimed, “I am so happy . . . Our Lady! Our Lady!”
Praying a Holy Name
Many saints died with the name Jesus on their lips: St. Francis de Sales, St. Francis Xavier, St. Gemma Galgani, St. Joan of Arc, and St. Paschal Baylon.
Others invoked Jesus and Mary, praying “Gesu, Maria”: St. Pio of Petrelcina and St. Rose of Lima.
A few called on the Holy Family:
St. Gabriel Possenti prayed, “Jesus, Mary, Joseph. Jesus, Mary Joseph, I offer you my heart and soul. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, assist me in my last agony. Jesus, Mary Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul with you in peace.”
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne said, “Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I give you my heart, my soul, and my life—oh, yes, my life, generously.
St. Ignatius’s last words were “Oh, God.“
Traditional Prayers as Last Words
St. Hugh prayed the Our Father.
St. Julie Billiart prayed the Magnificat.
St. Bede the Venerable prayed a Glory Be.
St. Peter Verona prayed the first article of the Apostles’ Creed.
St. Bernadette said, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me, a poor sinner, a poor sinner.”
Profession of Love
St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you.”
St. Pope John XXIII said, “Lord, you know I love you.”
St. Therese of Lisieux exclaimed, “My God, I love you!”
St. Jeanne Jugan prayed, “O Mary, my dear Mother, come to me. You know I love you and how I love to see you.”
St. Kateri Tekakwitha prayed, “Jesus, I love you.”
Surrender to God
Saints echoed Jesus by saying “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” These include St. John of the Cross, St. Angela, and St. Vincent Ferrar.
St. Agatha prayed, “Lord, my creator, you have protected me since I was in the cradle. You have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Now receive my spirit.”
Others
After singing Psalm 142, St. Francis of Assisi left an instruction: “I have done what was mine to do; may Christ teach you what you are to do.”
My favorite dying words are those of St. Clare of Assisi: “Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.”
Recently I received a booklet to help me plan my funeral. One thing it didn’t ask was “What will your last words be?” That is something for me and you to ponder.
Which saint(s) do you look forward to being with in heaven?
Here is a lovely Litany of Saints:
Angels, Our Powerful Friends
Feasts for Angels
Angels have feasts on September 30 (the Archangels St. Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel) and on October 2 (the Guardian Angels), so I was going to blog about angels this week. However, then I discovered I already have seven blogs about angels! These contain several fascinating stories about how they came to the rescue for various people as well as information about them. Consequently, after a list of angel facts, you will find the links to a few of these blogs. Click on the title to open the blog.
The digital editor of the National Catholic Reporter posted this today:
“St. Michael is one of my patrons (my Confirmation Saint!), so I am celebrating today’s feast by making my blackberry cobbler. Why blackberries? According to an ancient tradition, St. Michael’s Day is the last day that blackberries can be picked and eaten because when Michael cast out the “evil one” from Heaven, he apparently landed in a blackberry bush.”
Ten Facts about Angels
- Angels are pure spirits. They are not bound by time or space. Although they are invisible, they can assume human form. G.K. Chesterton wittily noted, “Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.”
2. The main job of angels is adoring God. Some of them also serve as God’s messengers.
3. These heavenly spirits play important roles in Scripture stories, for instance, St. Gabriel at the Annunciation.
4. The nine choirs of angels is deduced from Scripture references to them.
5. From the book of Revelation we learn that some angels rebelled and a war broke out in heaven. The conquered angels we know as devils were consigned to hell. Jesus said, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning” (Luke 10:17). The devils still war against God by trying to turn us humans against him.
6. Artists depict angels with wings because Scripture describes them this way. Plus wings symbolize that angels can travel swiftly.
7. Often the holy spirits in artwork are playing instruments. As the most disembodied of the arts, music is fitting for angels.
8. The Sadducees denied any sort of spiritual beings, while the Pharisees, like Jesus, believed in angels.
9. Seraphs have visited a number of saints. Among them are Saints Frances of Rome, Joan of Arc, Teresa of Avila, and Padre Pio.
10. The appearance of an angel to a human being is called an angelophany.
One Rescue Story
This Monday, Bishop Robert Barron recounted this story in his daily email: A man was flying a single-engine plane during a severe storm. At one point, his communication system failed, and he had no means to make it to the airport. Just as he was about to give up hope, a strong voice came through the radio. It gave directions to an airport the pilot knew nothing about. The voice guided him to its runway. When he landed, he realized that the airport was abandoned. No personnel were on the ground or in the tower.
More Blogs about Angels
Have you ever had a close encounter with an angel?
Has a person been a good angel to you?
Do you pray the “Angel of God” prayer? If so, when?
