Prayers for the Holy Souls

Susan Tassone, a woman on a spiritual mission to save souls in purgatory, has written another wonderful book about becoming an apostle of purgatory, Praying with the Saints for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The book begins with clear, well referenced answers to commonly asked questions; this reads quickly and provides a good introduction to the subject. Not only is the reader urged to pray for the souls in purgatory, but also stories of saints’ devotions are included for inspiration. My favorite one is that of St. Philip Neri who appeared to a priest praying at the saint’s tomb accompanied by many spirits. St.Philip Neri told the priest that these were the souls who had been under his spiritual direction during life and had attained heaven through the saint’s intercession. Upon Phil Neri’s death they appeared to usher him to the gates of paradise. Grateful for his intercession, the souls had prayed for him until the day he died. And the story of Our Lady of Knock’s connection to the holy souls is amazing too.

I received this book in November, the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, which lovely timing. While I would have liked to have reviewed it them for you all, I found this book to be overwhelming unless read only a little at a time. Just because this month has passed does not diminish the book’s applicability. At the end of the book there are guides of suggested “actions” for every season through out the year. I don’t appreciate that some of the suggestions refer the reader to one of Tassone’s other books for the indicated prayer or devotion. Don’t get me wrong there are many prayers and devotions included at the end of the book and available on the Internet, but it is slightly annoying to be told about a great prayer, novena, etc. that is found in another of the author’s books.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. I was given the book free in exchange for an honest review.