"The devotion to the memory of the dead is one of the most beautiful expressions of the Catholic spirit."

- Pope St. John XXIII

Dear Administrator,

The Church designates the month of November as a time for us to pray for our dearly departed loved ones as well as to consider our own mortality by reflecting on the Four Last Things - Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

For our deceased loved ones and someday us, too, this is a great blessing. In a world that is quick to "canonize" the deceased, the ancient devotion of praying for the dead is often completely set aside or soon forgotten. But, recall the words of St. Ambrose. Of our dead loved ones he reminds and exhorts us, "We have loved them dearly during life, so let us not abandon them until we have conducted them by our prayers into the house of the Lord."

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest and most efficacious prayer we can offer for our dearly departed.

For this reason, we invite you to give your dearly departed the best gift you can during the month of November – a Novena of Masses.

St. Thomas Aquinas said, "Of all prayers, the most meritorious, the most acceptable to God are prayers for the dead, because they imply all the works of charity, both corporal and spiritual." As we pray for our dead, God will be blessing us through their intercession.

This Novena will begin on All Souls' Day, November 2nd, and will conclude on November 10th. Our dear friend, Reverend Msgr. Sebastian Odong, a priest of the Archdiocese of Gulu, Northern Uganda, will be the celebrant of this special Novena of Masses. Simply click here to submit the names of your dearly departed to be included in this special spiritual opportunity.

With gratitude,

Johnnette and the Staff of Women of Grace

P.S. In gratitude for your Novena stipend, I would like to send you a small token of thanks, a link to our television series, "Purgatory, the Holy Souls, & a Future Full of Hope" with Karlo Broussard.

P.P.S. Also available are Gregorian Masses and single Masses for your special intentions. These Masses are personally arranged by Monsignor Matthew Odong, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Gulu in Northern Uganda. What greater gift could you offer your deceased loved one than the gift of Holy Mass?

PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SOULS

Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious blood of thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today,

for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere,

 for sinners in the universal church, 

for those in my own home and in my family. 

Amen.

Image credit: Jakub Schikaneder: All Souls' Day