Word of the Day: Heroic Act of Charity

HEROIC ACT. An act of charity by which a person offers to God, for the benefit of the souls in purgatory, all the works of satisfaction he or she will perform during life, and all the suffrage that will come to him or her after death. It is not a vow but an offering that can be revoked at will. Its heroism consists in the readiness to undergo sufferings here and in purgatory in order to relieve others of their purgatorial pains. The Church has more than once approved such a heroic act of charity.

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Text of an Heroic Act of Charity:

O MY GOD! for Thy greater glory, and to imitate as closely as possible the generous Heart of Jesus, my Redeemer, and also to testify my devotion to the Blessed Virgin, my Mother, who is also the Mother of the Souls in Purgatory, I place in her hands all my satisfactory works, as well as the fruit of all those which may be offered for my intention after my death, that she may apply them to the Souls in Purgatory according to her wisdom and good pleasure. Amen.