02 November 2026
Summa Contra Gentiles, Book III: XXXIII That Human Happiness Is Not Seated in the Senses
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 7 March 1274), was a Doctor of the Church, Philosopher, Theologian, Jurist, Dominican Friar, and Priest. Known as Doctor Angelicus "Angelic Doctor," and the Doctor Communis "Universal Doctor" his writings serve as a defense and proof of the validity of Christ's authority over all. The Summa contra Gentiles (also known as Liber de veritate catholicae fidei contra errores infidelium, "Book on the truth of the Catholic faith against the errors of the unbelievers"). The Summa contra Gentiles consists of four books. The structure of Saint Thomas's work is designed to proceed from general philosophical arguments for monotheism, to which Muslims and Jews are likely to consent even within their own respective religious traditions, before progressing to the discussion of specifically Christian doctrine.
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All Souls Day Recalls All the Forgotten Souls Who Have Died
Many people have no one to pray for them. To pray for the living
and the dead is one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy.
℣. Réquiem ætérnam * dona eis, Dómine.
℟. Et lux perpétua * lúceat eis.
℣. Requiéscant in pace.
℟. Amen.
From Aleteia
By Philip Kosloski
While we may have a large number of friends and family who will pray for us when we die, not everybody has such a gift and some are forgotten by the world.
Many of us are surrounded by friends and family from birth to death and will never be forgotten by our relatives.
However, that is not always the case and there have been a countless number of souls who died in isolation, without anyone to comfort them.
These poor souls did not have any children or grandchildren or even any siblings.
They may have even been homeless, without the earthly comfort of any family or even any friends.
When they died, they may have been given a simple grave that nobody visits and which is overgrown with weeds.
The good news is that the Church has provided a day in the liturgical year that embraces all souls, especially those forgotten.
All Souls Day
Dom Prosper Guéranger highlights this reality in his Liturgical Year:
As [the Church] honored with thanksgiving the anniversaries of her martyred sons, so she celebrated with supplications the memory of her other children who might not yet be in heaven...Thus as, St. Augustine remarks, those who had no relatives and friends on earth were henceforth not deprived of suffrages; for to make up for their abandonment, they had the tender compassion of the common Mother.
While All Souls Day is certainly a day to remember our own relatives and friends who have died, we should also bring to mind these abandoned souls.
Nobody prays for them or offers Masses for them, and so the Church lifts them up on a single day.
Someday we may get to meet all those souls we prayed for, and they will express to us the gratitude they have for our prayers.
Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory With This Novena
Written by St. Alphonsus Liguori, this Novena is a powerful way to help thePoor Souls. It may be prayed for 9 days, or at a cemetery today.
From Aleteia
By Philip Kosloski
Written by St. Alphonsus Liguori, the novena asks for God's mercy upon the souls awaiting their final entrance into Heaven.
Written by St. Alphonsus Liguori, the novena asks for God’s mercy upon the souls awaiting their final entrance into Heaven.Based on various biblical passages the Catholic Church firmly believes in a final state of purification in the afterlife called purgatory. It is a place where our attachments to sin are purified before entering into the beatific vision of Heaven.
Connected to this belief is the Catholic teaching that we can pray to God for these souls in purgatory, asking God to have mercy on them and shorten their time of purification. The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy explains, “Hence derives the pious custom of suffrage for the souls of the faithful departed, which is an urgent supplication of God to have mercy on the souls of the dead, to purify them by the fire of His charity, and to bring them to His kingdom of light and life.”
There are many different ways to offer prayers to God on behalf of these souls, and one of them includes a novena written by St. Alphonsus Liguori. The novena recalls the suffering of Jesus and asks God to have mercy on these souls, admitting them into their final destination. This prayer can be prayed for nine consecutive days, especially for a particular individual or family member whom you wish to pray for.
O most sweet Jesus, through the bloody sweat which Thou didst suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane, have mercy on these Blessed Souls. Have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel scourging, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most painful crowning with thorns, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in carrying Thy cross to Calvary, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel Crucifixion, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most bitter agony on the Cross, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.O most sweet Jesus, through the immense pain which Thou didst suffer in breathing forth Thy Blessed Soul, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.(Recommend yourself to the Souls in Purgatory and mention your intentions here)
Blessed Souls, I have prayed for thee; I entreat thee, who are so dear to God, and who are secure of never losing Him, to pray for me a miserable sinner, who is in danger of being damned, and of losing God forever. Amen.
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Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | November
Traditional Catholic morning prayers to lay a strong foundation for the rest of your day! The month of November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. I hope these prayers increase your devotion to Our Lord and draw us closer to Him, Jesus Christ. Begin each day with morning prayer! This video is a compilation of many traditional evening prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office morning prayers.
The Truth About Indulgences
From I Miss Christendom
What are indulgences?
The reality of indulgences is a bit complicated. As such, we will need to discuss the development of penances and praying and offering suffrages for the dead We will also dispel a few myths on the way. Simply put, an Indulgence is a replacement for a penance. Or, rather, someone does the penance for you. You receive the benefit in exchange for a minor act.
6 Prayers for the Dead (That You Can Take to the Cemetery)
From the Enchiridion of Indulgences: 13. Visit to a Cemetery
Only applicable to the souls in Purgatory when one devoutly visits and prays for the departed. A plenary indulgence is bestowed for this work each day between November 1 and November 8.
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From Aleteia
By Kathleen N. Hattrup
Remember, O Lord, that they are Thy creatures, not made by strange gods, but by Thee ... Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat ei: Requiescat in pace. Amen.We are there principally to pray for the departed, confident in hope that God's mercy has been extended to them, but aware that few of us leave earth without the effects of sin still staining our souls.
Visits to the cemetery during the first week of November can bring a plenary indulgence.
It's helpful to take a few minutes to reflect on our own death, the fleeting nature of earthly possessions, of time on earth, and the eternity of eternity.
When we turn our hearts to prayer for the departed, any simple, spontaneous prayer will do. We can also use a treasured prayer such as the Hail Mary or Our Father.
The Church's tradition offers us this prayer:
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Of course RIP is itself a prayer.
And here are a few more.
The Lord bless him/her and keep him/her,
the Lord make His Face to shine upon him/her
and be gracious to him/her,
the Lord lift up His countenance upon him/her
and give him/her peace. Amen.
For those who have no one praying for them:
O merciful God,
take pity on those souls
who have no particular friends and intercessors
to recommend them to Thee, who,
either through the negligence of those who are alive,
or through length of time are forgotten
by their friends and by all.
Spare them, O Lord,
and remember Thine own mercy,
when others forget to appeal to it.
Let not the souls which Thou hast created
be parted from thee, their Creator. Amen.
A Byzantine Prayer for the Deceased
God of the spirits and of all flesh, who have trampled death and annihilated the devil and given life to your world, may you yourself, O Lord, grant to the soul of your deceased servant N. rest in a place of light, a verdant place, a place of freshness, from where suffering, pain and cries are far removed.
Do You, O good and compassionate God forgive every fault committed by him in word, work or thought because there is no man who lives and does not sin. You alone are without sin and your justice is justice throughout the ages and your word is truth.
Since you, O Christ our God, are the resurrection, the life and the repose of your deceased servant N., we give you glory together with your un-begotten Father and your most holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and always and forever and ever.
Another Byzantine Prayer for the Deceased
Give rest, O Christ, to thy servant with thy saints:
where sorrow and pain are no more;
neither sighing but life everlasting.
Thou only art immortal, the creator and maker of man:
and we are mortal formed from the dust of the earth,
and unto earth shall we return:
for so thou didst ordain,
when thou created me saying:
“Dust thou art und unto dust shalt thou return.”
All we go down to the dust;
and weeping o’er the grave we make our song:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
This beautiful prayer from John Henry Newman calls on many particular saints:
O GOD of the Spirits of all flesh, O Jesu, Lover of souls, we recommend unto Thee the souls of all those Thy servants, who have departed with the sign of faith and sleep the sleep of peace. We beseech Thee, O Lord and Savior, that, as in Thy mercy to them Thou became man, so now Thou would hasten the time, and admit them to Thy presence above. Remember, O Lord, that they are Thy creatures, not made by strange gods, but by Thee, the only Living and True God; for there is no other God but Thou, and none that can equal Thy works. Let their souls rejoice in Thy light, and impute not to them their former iniquities, which they committed through the violence of passion, or the corrupt habits of their fallen nature. For, although they have sinned, yet they always firmly believed in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and before they died, they reconciled themselves to Thee by true contrition and the Sacraments of Thy Church.
O Gracious Lord, we beseech Thee, remember not against them the sins of their youth and their ignorance; but according to Thy great mercy, be mindful of them in Thy heavenly glory. May the heavens be opened to them, and the Angels rejoice with them. May the Archangel St. Michael conduct them to Thee. May Thy holy Angels come forth to meet them, and carry them to the city of the heavenly Jerusalem. May St. Peter, to whom Thou gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven, receive them. May St. Paul, the vessel of election, stand by them. May St. John, the beloved disciple, who had the revelation of the secrets of heaven, intercede for them. May all the Holy Apostles, who received from Thee the power of binding and loosing, pray for them. May all the Saints and elect of God, who in this world suffered torments for Thy Name, befriend them; that, being freed from the prison beneath, they may be admitted into the glories of that kingdom, where with the Father and the Holy Ghost Thou lives and reigns one God, world without end.
Come to their assistance, all ye Saints of God; gain for them deliverance from their place of punishment; meet them, all ye Angels; receive these holy souls, and present them before the Lord. Eternal rest give to them, O Lord. And may perpetual light shine on them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.
Pictured: All Souls' Day by William-Adolphe Bouguereau