Visit a Cemetery Today to Pray and Send a Poor Soul to Heaven

Indulgence Requirements:

• To gain a plenary indulgence, in addition to excluding all attachment to sin, even venial sin, it is necessary to perform the indulgent work and fulfill the following three conditions: sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff.

Take Your Children to a Cemetery Today to Pray for the Dead!

Why are we here? Really? What is life on earth all about?

Some think it's to "eat, drink, and be merry", acquire as many toys as you can, seek power and prestige and the money that brings it (and surrounds you with sycophants who flatter and cajole).

Is that what it's all about? Is that ALL it's about?

HELL NO! (And I mean the hell part literally.)

How many are dancing merrily along the primrose path to perdition? It seems like a pleasant saunter, but those foolish souls who choose it are missing the big picture. They spend all their energy on what is essentially the first ten feet of the journey that ends here:

All Souls Day: Visit a Cemetery and Pray for the Dead

Today is All Souls Day when Catholics are encourage to pray for the dead. This is the one day of the year that one can gain a plenary indulgence only for someone else, i.e., a member of the Church Suffering in Purgatory. Anyone who visits a cemetery and prays for the dead there and performs the usual requirements (goes to mass on the day of the indulgence and confession within a week before or after, prays for the intentions of our Holy Father, and is detached from sin) can gain full remission of sins for someone in Purgatory. Wouldn't it be wonderful on Judgment Day to have numerous souls greeting you with joy and thanksgiving because you shortened their time of suffering? And wouldn't it be wonderful to think of those souls praying for you when you are in need?

No good deed, after all, will go unrewarded. And the best rewards are not tangible here on earth; they are the prayers and sacrifices that bring us closer to God.

So if you haven't visited a cemetery yet today, it's not too late. If you didn't go to Mass this morning, you can still gain this indulgence between All saints day and the octave, every day in fact. So take advantage of these days to pray for your loved ones who have gone before you in the sign of faith. And may God give us all the grace of final perseverance.

Correction: A partial indulgence is gained for visiting a cemetery and devoutly praying for the dead. To gain a plenary indulgence it's necessary to visit a cemetery each day within the octave of All Saints. If you are like me and consider cemeteries holy ground, it is an easy daily work to perform.

All Souls Day: Visit a Cemetery and Pray for the Dead

Larry and I always visit cemeteries on All Souls Day and pray for the dead. Today we said our rosary at four different cemeteries in Woodstock, dedicating each decade to a deceased group: to our parents, our grandparents, our aunts and uncles and their families, our siblings/in-laws and cousins and their families, and our friends and all those who have touched our lives and their families. We also prayed for all the souls of the people buried in the cemeteries which included some Civil War vets. One headstone commemorated a veteran of the Stonewall Brigade who survived that horrible war. So many didn't and we prayed for them as well. We wondered how many born before the war lived through the terrible days of "The Burning."

I find it sobering and instructive to visit cemeteries. One memorial plaque was dedicated to all our veterans. It said, "As you are, I once was. As I am, you will be." and sooner than you know. One thing you realize reading the dates on gravestones is how short this life is. What a tragedy to trade a few moments of sinful pleasure for an eternity in hell.