GREGORIAN MASSES-WHAT THEY ARE AND WHY WE SHOULD HAVE THEM OFFERED!
THE MASS HEALS!
By Susan Tassone
We hear stories of people who have been healed in body and we are in awe! We seldom consider how much Jesus does to heal souls suffering on earth and more so the souls suffering in Purgatory. A place where none of us have seen to which many of us could go. We need to start acting on what Our Lord and the Saints are telling us about Purgatory.
Not to mention Holy Mother Church!
Jesus told St. Faustina, “All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer…”
We do not stop to think about the physical and spiritual healing through the Holy Eucharist. Today, many are discovering how the Eucharist for the deceased also heals the “living” as they come into deeper relationship with Jesus. Dr. Kenneth McCall has reported over 1000 cases of emotional or physical healing occurring with clients by offering a Mass for their deceased loved one! The Mass Heals!
“Remember your deceased. Give them joy with the celebration of the Holy Mass.” They become our nearest, sincerest, and dearest friends here on earth and in heaven.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest act of reparation, the highest form of prayer. It is the summit of our Faith. St. John Chrysostom says, “Christ is the victim that gives solace to the dead.”
So what are we doing for our dead? Who do you miss the most? Who do you wish you could have done more for? Who hurt you? Who are your enemies? Do you have family members that are into cults, not practicing their faith, do not have their children baptized? Have a Mass offered for them!
The Council of Trent states, “The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Perpetual Sacrifice, is the greatest of all suffrages for the holy souls.”
And remember to have Masses offered for yourselves as well! St. Anselm tells us that those which we hear or have offered during life are more profitable than those said for us after death.
A great avenue to have our Masses offered is through the Missions. Priests in mission territories need our Mass stipends to obtain bread and wine for the Eucharist to offer Mass in third world countries. In many cases, the people only hear Mass once a year, because the priests are so poor they cannot afford to buy bread and wine for the Eucharist.
When you have Masses offered through the Missions, they are said immediately. You do not have to wait for 6 months because many parish Mass Intention Books are filled years ahead and the donation for a Mass offered through the Missions is only $5.00!
We can continue to help Jesus Christ continue His mission here and beyond this earth! And when we do help we are being merciful to ourselves! We have this awesome opportunity to help our deceased loved ones and our missionaries throughout the world! Now is the time to act.
Remember, there is no greater pain or suffering on earth than what the souls in Purgatory experience. Their suffering is NOT the physical fire we know on earth. They suffer from the LOSS of the sight of God. Once the soul sees God it cannot bear to be apart from Him. So their loss is the loss of not being with Him. It is a “burning” desire and longing for God which far surpasses the heat of any earthly fire. And so we rightly speak of the cleansing fires of Purgatory. It is an “interior” burning or “thirst” for God. They saw the face of God, and they are unable to be with Him. "God! God! I must be with God!" is their constant Cry.
If you were visited by someone you had known in life who begged you to be mindful of what happened to them and what may be in store for you would you not act?
Here is how we can act now!
Arrange to have GREGORIAN MASSES offered for your deceased loved ones anytime of year. Pope John Paul II tell us that assisting the Holy Souls in Purgatory is “the most outstanding act of supernatural charity we can do.” We push the holy souls over the wall into Heaven with our Masses, Stations of the Cross, Rosaries, Indulgences, Holy Hours, Novenas.
So what are Gregorian Masses? The name is derived from Pope St. Gregory the Great who was first to popularize this pious practice. St. Gregory relates in his Dialogues how, when he had finished the series of 30 Masses for a departed monk, the monk appeared to tell he had thus gained entry into glory on completion of the Gregorian Masses. The hallowed tradition has been declared “a pious and reasonable belief of the faithful" on the authority of the Sacred Roman Congregation on Indulgences.
The Gregorian Masses can be offered only for ONE DECEASED SOUL. Not a couple or family. PUT THEM IN YOUR WILLS.
As you will appreciate, few priests by reason of their work are free and able to offer the 30 consecutive Masses of the Gregorian Series without interruption. Hence, it requires extra time to arrange to have them scheduled as this cannot be done usually in a place where there are only a few priests. That is why they are offered through the “Missions.” The customary offering for the uninterrupted series of 30 daily consecutive Masses is $130 through the following:
Catholic Mission Office
640 N. LaSalle Street
Suite 390
Chicago, IL 60610-4356
312-382-3328
And remember to have Masses offered for yourself, special occasions, during the Holidays. It is an awesome surprise to give someone the gift of a Holy Mass! Individual Masses are offered for a $5 donation. You cannot beat that!!!
Finally, remember to teach your children to pray for the dead. You will have planted the seeds in their hearts and when you are called home to God they will pray for you!
Our "mission" As Catholics has just begun. Pope John Paul II emphasized that the laity will be “missionaries” because contemporary man hears witnesses more easily than teachers. He exclaims, “You will be able to set the world on fire! The hour of the laity has struck!"
