PRAYERS AT FRANKFORT CEMETERY : 11 a.m. each day, November 1-8 in Cemetery Chapel building (which now has heat and lights).

The Church offers a plenary indulgence on the first 8 days of November for going to a cemetery and praying. Our parish goes to the Frankfort Cemetery each year. Each day we will pray a Litany for the Souls in Purgatory and a Rosary with meditations focusing on the needs of the "Poor Souls." Prayers last about 30 minutes.

Why do we call the people in Purgatory "poor souls?" They are truly poor in Spirit. They depend on the prayers and merits of those on earth and in heaven to help them. They are on their way to heaven. Their eternal destination was decided as they entered Eternal Life, but God is still forming them to be able to enter into God's own life, which is perfect Love. The Church teaches us that we can help--by prayers and acts of mercy. We, the souls undergoing purification, and those in heaven are all united in the "Communion of the Saints." Each time we offer something for someone who has died, we can gain an "indulgence" for them--it is like giving spiritual alms. ANY and EVERY prayer offered for a poor soul does good for those who have died. However, a PLENARY INDULGENCE is gained for certain prayers and actions. Among them is going to a cemetery and praying for the dead the first 8 days in November. To gain a plenary indulgence, in addition to the prayers, you must: be free from attachment to sin, go to confession within a couple of weeks of the prayers, and go to communion on the same day or "as soon as possible." You can gain one plenary indulgence each day.

Prayers for the dead remain a part of Catholic teaching. Perhaps you might even "adopt" a person who died in your family or in the parish EACH DAY during the first 8 days in November, pray for that person in particular, and offer whatever merits or indulgences you can gain for that person. You do not have to do the prayers with us at the cemetery to gain the indulgence. If the times chosen are not convenient for you, choose another time. If you have loved ones in another cemetery, you can go there to pray. Any prayer in any cemetery can help any person who has died. To pray for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy.

For more information about Church teaching on these matters, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030- 1032 and 1471-1479.