O most merciful Jesus, Lover of souls, I pray Thee, by the agony of Thy most Sacred Heart, and by the sorrows of Thy Immaculate Mother, cleanse in Thine Own Blood the sinners of the whole world who are now in their agony and to die this day. Amen.

Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation. Jn 5:25-29

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Sermon by St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Doctor of the Church for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Memento Mori!

Though the Church permits cremation under limited circumstances, permission is not endorsement. The allowance was born of pastoral concession, not doctrinal approval, a gesture toward human frailty, not a rewriting of divine order.

From the earliest centuries, Catholics buried their dead in imitation of Christ, who was laid in a tomb and rose again in the flesh. Burial affirms the sacredness of the body, that temple of the Holy Spirit, and proclaims the resurrection with silent confidence.

Can We Avoid Purgatory? Yes.

Many think that it is practically impossible for the ordinary Christian to avoid Purgatory. Go there we all must--so they say...

They laughingly remark: "It will be well for us if we ever get there" Alas! When too late they will recognize how terribly rash their words were. As a consequence of such fatalistic ideas, many make no serious effort to avoid Purgatory, or even to lessen the term they may have to pass there. Thank God all do not hold such gloomy views.

The fact is that a great number of souls go to Purgatory and remain there for long years simply because they had never been told how they could have avoided it.

The means we suggest are easy, practical and within the reach of all. We will briefly enumerate some of the principal means by which we can avoid Purgatory-or at least lessen its severity and duration.

What happens when we die? Discover the true meaning of death, judgment, and eternal life. Drawing on Scripture, the wisdom of the saints, and the Carmelite tradition of Memento Mori, this video explains why death is both a punishment for sin and a gift that leads us back to God. Learn the difference between the death of a sinner, the lukewarm, and the just and find practical steps to prepare your soul now through prayer, confession, and devotion to the Sacred Heart.

This Radio Immaculata Tea with Mary episode shares some astonishing examples of Our Lady's intercession for souls at the point of death.

St. John Vianney's sermon on the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.