These terms are the terms I learned when growing up and learning about our Catholic Faith. Although not used in the modern Catechism, they are referred to by their meanings, not the terms.
The Church Militant is we who are alive and battling the battle, fighting the fight against sin each day. We are the part of the Church who can still intercede for those who have died and speed their entry into heaven.
The Church Suffering refers to those souls who have been saved but are suffering in Purgatory, waiting to be cleansed, longing for the day they can be united with God.
The Church Triumphant are those souls who have been purified and live in heaven praising God and interceding for those of us on earth and in Purgatory.
We are all united as a part of the Church, the Catholic Church, founded by Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Two days of the year are devoted prayer and thanksgiving for those souls who are saints. We celebrate the lives of the known saints who were canonized by the church and bear the title Saint before their names. We also celebrate the unknown saints who are in heaven. When we enter heaven, we will also be saints! Most of us will be unknown saints. Will that matter? No, we will be in the presence of God! What a joy to anticipate! November 1 is All Saints Day, and it is a holy day of obligation for us. Since the souls who have passed into heaven no longer need our prayers, we praise God for the gift of these souls who can now and do intercede for us. We praise God for the chance to join these souls one day and breathe in the presence of The Lord!
November 2, is All Souls' Day. This is the day we remember the suffering souls in Purgatory. The souls in purgatory can no longer help themselves, so we must pray for all the souls that their release from Purgatory will be fast and they will enter into the presence of God for which they long! How great is their longing for God! When we pray for these souls, we pray for those who will be intercessors for us in heaven, and they will greet us when we enter the Kingdom of God! Offer masses for these souls. Pray for these souls. Have masses said for your beloved dead. Have masses said for those who are not your beloved dead. Your love will reciprocated not only by the souls whom you help, but by our Loving, Generous God! He will not be out done in love, generosity, and graces!
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.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, told St Gertrude the Great, that this prayer will release 1,000 souls from Purgatory each time it is prayed. Make a novena of this prayer, and you will help to release 9,000 souls in one day!
Honor your dead! Love your dead! Pray for our dead! Our church gives us a chance to honor and remember our dead through the month of November! Let us use this chance to draw closer to God and to the souls who have gone before us into eternal life!
All Praise and Honor be to the Precious Blood of Jesus, for it wrought our salvation and our redemption. Amen
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