Father Andrew Pietraszko was brought up praying all the time for the souls in purgatory. Claiming to be “100% Polish,” Father Pietraszko brought his deep faith to my parish in Miami, Florida. I’ve written before on Catholic Exchange about the incredible difference he made in our community and the wisdom he shared with us. Given that it’s November—the month dedicated to the souls in purgatory—I remembered an astonishing story he once told us.
Towards the end of his life, Father Pietraszko transferred from working at the parish level to working as a hospital chaplain, becoming one of the only Catholic chaplains at his hospital who was willing to visit patients who had COVID-19 during the pandemic—a virus he would eventually succumb to. Father Pietraszko was juggling a heavy work schedule at the hospital and elsewhere, so much so that he was constantly sleep-deprived. However, he always stuck to the Polish tradition of regularly remembering the souls in purgatory in his prayers.
One day, he found out just how important this practice is. He was concerned about waking up for an important appointment the following morning. That night, as usual, he prayed for the souls in purgatory, specifically asking them to help him to wake up on time.
He was so exhausted that he accidentally overslept. But all of a sudden, he was jolted awake—it felt like someone had slapped his back! There was no one there. When he got up, to his amazement, he noticed there were red marks on his back.
“I might have missed the appointment if this hadn’t happened,” he told us, crediting the souls he’d prayed for as responsible for the none-too-gentle awakening!
As Catholics, I think we sometimes forget that we are connected as an entire Church, even to those who have passed away. We often talk about how we need to help the souls in purgatory, which is true! But did you know that the souls in purgatory don’t take your prayers lightly—and that once they’re in Heaven, they pray for you, too? We can begin making friends with the souls in purgatory now, friendships that will deepen once we reach Heaven.
Reading the new release, Pray with Us: A Saint for Every Day, author Belinda Terro Mooney inspired me to remember a prayer I loved as a kid:
Jesus reportedly showed Saint Gertrude many souls being released from purgatory when she said the following prayer: “Eternal Father, we offer you the most precious blood of your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all 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 our own home, and in our family. Amen.”
I love that Mooney provided this prayer because, although it’s primarily for the souls in purgatory, it seems to cover all the bases: we’re also praying for those of us on earth, for our imperfect selves, and imperfect families to be blessed. I’d never thought about how deeply this prayer highlights the links between all of us in the Church—it asks our Father in Heaven to embrace our brothers and sisters in purgatory and all of us here on earth, too.
Reminders like this—where we get to remember that the Church is a family and we’re all here for each other—is part of why the Liturgical Calendar is so special. As Mooney says, that’s why it’s important to stay attuned to the feast days and celebrations in the Church. We need to “focus on developing the habit of asking the saints to pray with us, much as we might grab the hands of a friend here and pray to God together.”
This November, let’s make it a point to pray for the souls in purgatory, perhaps saying St. Gertrude’s prayer, offering Masses for a deceased loved one, or praying at the cemetery. One day, those souls will be saints in heaven ready to “grab our hands”—or slap our backs, as the case may be—and welcome us into paradise.
Author’s Note: If you’d like to learn more about the saints and learn to live the Liturgical Calendar, check out Belinda Terro Mooney’s Pray with Us: A Saint for Every Day!
Photo by benjamin lehman on Unsplash
