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Leviticus on Tattoos & Poor Souls’ Help
Thank You
Re: Our Lady of Good Success, Our Hope for the Future
Thank you for this; thank you very much!
T.J.H.
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Can I Buy Your Video?
TIA,
Where can I buy an Our Lady of Good Success video?
We have a Statue of Our Lady of Fatima and move it around in the homes of our parish and would like to leave the video of Our Lady of Good Success while the statue is in the different homes.
Thank you it is a wonderful video.
God bless,
M.J.
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TIA responds:
M.J.,
Thank you for your amiable words.
If you send us your address we will send you a copy of the video free of charge. We just ask you to pay the shipping and suggest that you make a small donation.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
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Where to Go to Traditional Mass?
I recently found your site and had a few questions. I read that you criticize both the SSPX and FSSP. So do you think that we should go to diocese Latin Mass or another organization?
And do you view that the Novus Ordo Mass is fine to go to?
O.T.
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TIA responds:
O.T.,
Thank you for your inquiry.
We believe you will find answers to your questions on this page: N.O. Mass & Sacraments.
In particular, we suggest you read these:
- What Do I Do about the Novus Ordo Abuses I See?
The conciliar Popes approved them; you should stop going to N.O. Masses - Should I Go to Latin Masses Said by Compromised Priests?
If you have no other options, go, since at least you have the Sacraments - Which Mass Should I Attend - SSPX, Indult, SSPV or FSSP?
Go to the one more convenient for you, but do not engage in parish life - Given the Crisis in the Church, Should I Stop Attending Mass?
Please, give us more information (continued in the next question) - Should I Go to Masses Where the Priest Does Not Have Jurisdiction?
In times of crisis like ours, Faith takes precedence over Canon Law
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
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Can Souls in Purgatory Help Us?
There is some discussion on social media about whether or not the souls in Purgatory can help us. Surely we can and should pray for them, but can they reciprocate in any way?
Thanks for weighing in on this.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them,
D.F.T.
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TIA responds:
Hello D.F.T.,
The Holy Catholic Church is our Mother, and all the faithful are our brethren. Some of the faithful are already in Heaven. These are the Saints, with their great Queen, the most holy Mother of God, at their head. Some are still on earth. Others are in the prison of Purgatory; they are those who depart this life in venial sin or have not fully paid the debt of temporal punishment due to those sins, of which the guilt has been forgiven, before the soul left the body.
But we all – the Church Militant, the Church Suffering and the Church Triumphant – are united in the bonds of sincere affection. This union is called the "Communion of Saints." The "communion of saints" means that these three branches of the Church can help one another.
It is universally taught that we, members of the Church Militant, can help these Souls in Purgatory, the Church Suffering, through prayer, indulgences and good works, and especially by asking a priest to say the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for its members.
St. Thomas affirms that the Souls in Purgatory are not in a position to pray for us, but rather it is we who must pray for them. He states: "And, accordingly, they are not in the state of praying, but rather in the state of being prayed for." (Summa Theo. II-II. 83.11)
On the other hand, other renowned theologians and Saints have opined that the souls in Purgatory do pray for us.
The standard Baltimore Catechism, for example, summarizing the teaching of these Saints, affirms that Poor Souls can pray for us: "They will help you – though they cannot help themselves – by their prayers. And when they are admitted into Heaven, how they will pray for those that have helped them out of Purgatory. (The Baltimore Catechism Explained, Book 4)
Even if they were not to explicitly pray for us, it is certain that they can help us. We know of some Catholics who do not use alarm clocks because they ask the Poor Souls to wake them up at a certain hour, and they never fail to do so. The Poor Souls are also known to help Catholics to remember their commitments. Pope Pius IX, who is said to have had a bad memory, always asked the Poor Souls to remind him of his duties, which they did. They are also known for refreshing the memory of those who invoke them when they need information which they once knew but had forgotten. When they ask the help of the Poor Souls, they bring that datum back to the memory of the person who asks their aid.
These constant beneficial actions that the Poor Souls make for us are confirmed by several catechisms. Spirago-Clarke's highly regarded Catechism Explained concurs with this pious practice of asking their help: "The souls in Purgatory can also help us. Many Saints held that we can call on the Holy Souls to our help (St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Alphonsus de Liguori). St Catherine of Bologna (1463) used often to call upon the Holy Souls when the Saints seemed to fail in helping her and she wrote that she never asked them in vain." (Fr. Francis Spirago & Fr. Richard Clarke, The Catechism Explained, NY: Benzinger, 1899, p. 252)
The Oratory Catechism, in which Prof. Siebel denounces the New Rome and the revised Sacraments of Vatican II, repeats this teaching: "The Poor Souls can also help us. They will do this above all when, through our assistance, they have been freed from Purgatory and are among the Blessed in Heaven. ... All brothers and sisters in God's great family help one another, even beyond death." (SAKA-Verlag, 2000, pp. 84-85)
Thus, the direct answer to your question is this: While it seems that the Poor Souls can be aware of our requests and offer prayers for us, we know that they cannot offer any prayers for themselves. They rely on our prayers and works to mitigate their suffering and assist them.
Since, then, the Poor Souls in Purgatory have need of our prayers and assistance, our first and foremost concern should be to offer them that relief and aid so that they might leave Purgatory as soon as possible and might enter into the eternal happiness of Heaven. There they will not forget the good service we rendered them and will be always ready and able to come to our aid in all our needs.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
Re: Vatican promotes ‘blessed’ tattoos
In your writings on why a Catholic should not get a tattoo (here and here), I did not see the Levitical prohibition from the Bible, so I am passing it on to you in case you were unaware of this verse.
Leviticus 19:28 - You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh, for the dead, neither shall you make in yourselves any figures or marks: I am the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
T.W.