The Chaplet of St. Gertrude for the Holy Souls in Purgatory is a wonderful prayer to pray in November, which is the month the Church has dedicated to remembering the holy souls in purgatory.
If you’d like to add a prayer request for our prayer community at the bottom of this page, we can join with you in praying the Chaplet of St. Gertrude for your deceased loved ones.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. AMEN.
The Holy Souls in Purgatory
What is purgatory? The Church teaches us that this is a place for souls who have died but who were not perfectly purified in order to enter into heaven. They have died in God’s grace, but their venial faults remained and they need to pay the debt owed for their transgressions.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,” which is experienced by those “who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified.”
St. Gertrude the Great and the Holy Souls
There is only one woman in the history of the Church who has received the title of “Great” and this is St. Gertrude. She was a 13th-century nun who, after being orphaned at age 5, grew up in a monastery in Germany with the Benedictine nuns.
Her entire life was ordered around prayer and encounters with Christ, who gave her a glimpse into His Sacred Heart and the plight of the holy souls in purgatory.
St. Gertrude the Great received many private revelations about purgatory while in prayer. She describes these visions in her book, The Life and Revelations of Saint Gertrude (audiobook). In St. Gertrude’s revelations, she tells us that our prayers for the souls in purgatory are very effective in lessening their time in purgation. She teaches that we must pray these prayers with charity for the souls who are suffering in the afterlife.
St. Gertrude the Great’s prayer for the holy souls in purgatory is the prayer our Church continues to pray each November, even after 800 years!
The Chaplet of St. Gertrude for the Holy Souls in Purgatory repeats this beautiful prayer for holy souls 50 times, making it a wonderful chaplet for November.
Purgatory in Scripture
In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus references purgatory when he says, “Amen I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny” (Matthew 5:26). We also see reference to it in the Old Testament as well, in the Second Book of Maccabees:
On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his companions went to gather up the bodies of the fallen and bury them with their kindred in their ancestral tombs.
But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had fallen.
They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden. Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.
He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice.
In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin.
The Chaplet of St. Gertrude
for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. AMEN.
OUR FATHER
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. AMEN.
HAIL MARY
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. AMEN.
GLORY BE
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. AMEN.
(On Each Decade)
OUR FATHER
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. AMEN.
PRAYER OF ST. GERTRUDE 10X
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home, and within my family. Amen.
SACRED HEART PRAYER
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, open the hearts and minds of sinners to the truth and light of God, the Father.
IMMACULATE HEART PRAYER
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for the conversion of sinners and the world.
GLORY BE
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
END OF THE CHAPLET OF ST. GERTRUDE FOR THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY
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