November is dedicated, in a special way, to praying for Holy Souls in purgatory
LINCOLN (SNR) - In the Catholic Church, the entire month of November is dedicated, in a special way, to praying for the Holy Souls in purgatory.
During this blessed time, the faithful are encouraged to ask God to purify the souls of the faithful departed.
While most petition God to deliver their friends and family from the bonds of purgatory, there are many other souls who are in need of prayers. Some of these souls may be the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
A new apostolate to pray for the victims and families of 9/11 has been launched by Cheryl Winter, a member of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln. Winter said she hopes to encourage many people to pray for the nearly 3,000 souls that were lost that day, and to pray for the families who were left behind. With such sudden loss, the surviving parents, siblings, spouses, children, and other family members, have undoubtedly suffered very much.
“I remember exactly what I was doing on September 11th, 2001, when I heard the news that a plane had crashed in to the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City,” Winter said. “I watched the news reports as the terror of the day unfolded on the world’s stage: the burning North Tower; the South Tower hit by a second plane; the western side of the Pentagon hit by a third plane; the collapse of the South Tower; the hijacked fourth plane crashing near Pittsburgh; the collapse of the North Tower.
“I sat, almost unbelieving,” she continued, “that these cruel events had even happened, and felt helpless to aid any one of the people who struggled on that day. But my faith told me that I could help. I could pray for the people involved, and that is what our family did in those very hard moments and in the days following.”
Several years ago, Winter happened to see a book at the library entitled “Portraits 9/11/01,” the collected “Portraits of Grief” from the New York Times. It was September, and the book was prominently displayed on a library table. Winter said she was immediately drawn to the manuscript which contained photos and short summaries of most of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. She took the book home and began to pray for some of the victims at random; there were so many people—she knew she couldn’t pray for them all. She kept the book through the month of November (the month of the Holy Souls), and then returned it to the library. But the desire to pray for each person who was lost, and their surviving family members, never left her.
In August, with the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks once again looming upon the United States, Winter started going through the “Portraits 9/11/01” book sequentially, praying for five victims and their families at a time. In September, she began asking family and friends to pray for the victims and families, too. So far, more than 200 of the victims and families have been remembered either in prayer, at Mass, through almsgiving, or through sacrifices.
How participants pray for the victims and family members, and how long they decide to pray for these souls are unique to each participant. Some people pray for the souls for a day, others a week, others more. There are no set prayers nor set amount of time to pray.
Winter described her own approach to the task: “I look at their photos, read their stories, and pray,” Winter explained. “I ask the Holy Spirit to help me. I don’t always pray the same way. Sometimes I remember the victims/families during the day and offer sacrifices for them, sometimes I offer my Masses for them, or a chaplet, or a decade of the rosary.
“Sometimes I feel moved to pray for one more than others,” she explained. “Every day is different. And I ask the holy souls to pray for the United States and for the respect for all life. I also ask them to pray for other intentions that surround me at that moment. Usually I pray for each set of five victims/families for about a week, then pray for another five.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds the faithful on earth that we are united to the saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory as the body of Christ: “In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and ‘because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’ she offers her suffrages for them…. Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.” (CCC 958)
Tim Staples of Catholic Answers said that, as the souls in purgatory cannot pray for themselves because their time of merit is over, they depend on our prayers. But they can pray for people on earth. Like the saints in heaven, the holy souls get no merit for themselves for praying for us. The saints and holy souls pray for us because they love us.
“I want to love them back,” Winter said.
At the present time, there is no way of knowing if the departed souls from 9/11 are in heaven, Winter said, but assured, “if they are in heaven, prayers for them will not be wasted. The idea is that to pray for the dead is to love them, and love is never wasted.”
“The holy souls in purgatory,” said St. Josemaria Escriva, “out of charity, out of justice… they have such powers with God! Remember them often in your sacrifices and in your prayers. May you be able to say when you speak of them, ‘My good friends the souls in purgatory.’”
To join in prayer for some of the victims and families of 9/11, email Cheryl at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and she will send a page from the “Portraits of 9/11/01” book.
