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Happy November! November is the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory! It is a dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church that a type of purification after death, which we call purgatory, exists. What it looks like, where it is, what happens when you’re there, none of that is defined. But we know that, certainly, some of our loved ones are there. We call those in purgatory “holy” souls, because we know for sure that they will get to heaven some day. We also refer to them as the “poor” souls, because they can no longer pray for themselves, nor can they make sacrifices, or do good deeds, or merit anything for themselves. They rely completely on us to make sacrifices and pray and obtain indulgences on their behalf. They depend on us to help ease their suffering and quickly advance them through their purification so that they can join the saints in heaven.

All month, and especially between November 1 and 8 we can make a point of praying for the Holy Souls. From the fourth edition of the Enchiridion of Indulgences, 1999: “A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted to the faithful who, on any and each day from November 1 to 8, devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, if only mentally, for the departed; on All Souls’ Day, devoutly visit a church or an oratory and recite an Our Father and the Creed.”