When we began the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society four years ago, we really had no idea what success would look like. Frankly, we started it out of frustration and sadness, after watching yet another loved one "canonized from the pulpit" while the priest -- who was begged not to beforehand -- told our family and friends to rejoice, because the deceased was in Heaven. No one was asked to actually pray for the repose of their soul.
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| Priest says TLM for Souls in Afghanistan. |
If you want to see proof positive that the collapse of the liturgy led to the collapse of theology and faith you need look no further than your typical Novus Ordo funeral Mass. Purgatory went the way of Latin, communion on the tongue and altar rails.
When we first started the Society, so desperate for help, we even offered to pay priests for Masses and planned to go through family records just to enroll Souls. Who would have know that four short years later we would have over 50 priests saying weekly or monthly traditional Latin Masses (for free) for the Souls and roughly 100,000 Souls enrolled? God knew -- but we surely didn't.
Now to the change: Each month, our readers have been accustomed to seeing the long, long list of names published on this blog, along with a monthly call for more priests to volunteer and more names to be sent in. Each month, there's at least 1,000 names (usually many more) on that list, coming from hundreds of readers emailing. And, as our families grow, and work responsibilities increase, our personal time becomes ever more precious. And it's getting to the point that formatting these names and going through each email one by one has become too much for this group of volunteer bloggers to do and for our families to endure.
This became very evident during Christmas when our special call for names ended in thousands and thousands of names sent in -- a list that was just too daunting to even begin to tackle.
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| Priest says Dominican Rite Mass for Souls. |
After consulting with the Purgatorial Society Priest Chaplain, and knowing the public listing of the names have nothing to do with them being enrolled or prayed for (they are enrolled as soon as you hit send on your email, even if they're caught in spam), we have decided to cease posting the long list of names every month.
Nothing else changes -- only the public listing of names.
We will continue reminding you monthly to send in your names. And, dear priestly readers, we will keep harping on you monthly as well to join the Society! The Souls need you. And there's 100,000 of them pleading with you for help. Don't let them down. We don't get paid for our work on Rorate -- but we will be greedy with your time and Masses!
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| Priest says TLM for Souls in Alaska. |
How to enroll souls: please email me at athanasiuscatholic@yahoo.com and submit as follows: "Name, State, Country." Please follow this formatting strictly. If you want to enroll entire families, simply write in the email: "The Jones family, Ohio, USA". Individual names are preferred. Be greedy -- send in as many as you wish and forward this posting to friends as well.
Priests: We now have 50 priests in the Society -- why aren't you? Please email me to offer your services. There's nothing labor intensive involved: all you need to do is offer a weekly or monthly traditional Latin Mass with the intention: "For the Souls enrolled in the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society." This does not need to be a Requiem Mass -- only a traditional Latin Mass.
