The Power of the Mass for the Holy Souls

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a very efficacious prayer and in the month of November it can especially be applied to help the souls in Purgatory obtain their release. There are many stories of the power of Masses said for the souls in Purgatory, and one involves St. Padre Pio. One night while praying in the friary, an old man appeared and sat down beside him. After Padre Pio had asked him who he was and what he wanted, the old man said, “Padre Pio, I am Pietro Di Mauro, son of Nicola, nicknamed Precoco.” He went on to tell Pio that he had died in the friary on September 18, 1908 in cell number 4, when it was still a poorhouse. He fell asleep with a lighted cigar and it ignited the mattress, suffocating and burning him. “I am still in Purgatory. I need a holy Mass in order to be freed,” he told Pio. A few days later, Padre Pio and a fellow friar went to the town hall to look up the statistics for the year 1908 and found that everything was exactly as Pietro had told Padre Pio.

Another example involves a pious woman named Eugenie Van de Kerckove, who had a servant named Barbara Vennecke. After her death, Eugenie appeared to Barbara and asked her to use the 500 francs that she was to find under a heap of sand in a room in the house to have Masses said for her release from Purgatory. While the Masses were still being celebrated for this purpose, Eugenie once again appeared to Barbara, this time in the midst of a bright light, and thanked her for helping to deliver her from the place of purification.

These are just a couple of the many examples of souls being ushered into Heaven from Purgatory because of the Mass. Masses have the power to deliver souls from Purgatory because the Mass is the highest form of worship and so when we offer them to God for such a charitable purpose, it pleases Him and He is eager to grant our request. And this is not just for the month of November; it should be done all year. If you are concerned about the state of a loved one’s soul (and even if you’re not), have Masses said for them! They’re counting on you and they will thank you.