The Rev. Andrew Beerman of St. John Vianney in Fairmont said our prayers and sacrifices can be helpful for other church members in a message given on the first Sunday in November about All Saints’ Day. 

“During the month of November, we traditionally pray for our deceased especially from among our parish and family members who have passed away in the last year or previous years,” Beerman said in the church bulletin. “This tradition comes from the celebration of All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2.

He said at this time of year, we pray for those who are being prepared to enter into heaven and are in purgatory. This is something that we can see as a practice among individuals such as St. Gertrude, who prayed for souls that were part of the universal church and awaiting entry into heaven.

“One can gain a plenary indulgence, which is the complete remission of all temporal punishment, or time in purgatory, which can be applied to the deceased," he said. Traditionally it was obtained by visiting a cemetery and saying some prayers for the deceased between Nov. 1 and 8, but this year it has been extended to any day in November, and it can be obtained even without physically visiting the cemetery but having the intention of praying for the specific person.”

A number of prayers are recommended for this time, including the Morning or Evening Prayer from the Office of the Dead, the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet or a meditation on the Gospel passages for funeral Masses. Additionally, one can do a work of mercy in offering to the Lord. 

“Our prayers and sacrifices can be helpful for other members of the Church, and can be found in Scriptures in Colossians 1:24. St. Paul writes, ‘Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church,’” Beerman said in the bulletin.