St Gertrude prayer?

[Monica4316]

Hi, I really want to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory… but I’m finding a way to do this.

I’ve read about the St Gertrude prayer but I’m hearing different things about it… some people say that the promise behind it is true, and others are saying it is not… my question is, where is this promise found? does it appear in her writings? where was it first written down? is it true?

thanks

 

[on_eagles_wingz]

Here is her page on wikipedia and it explains the Eternal Father prayer in the second section. It says the exact origin is unknown but the legend is that it was given to her by Our Lord who visited her often, and he promised that saying it would release a thousand souls from purgatory.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_the_Great

Here is the text copied from the site:

St Gertrude showed “tender sympathy towards the souls in purgatory” and urged prayers for them. She is therefore invoked for souls in purgatory.

Perhaps for that reason, to her name has been attached a prayer that, according to a legend of uncertain origin and date (neither are found in the Revelations of Saint Gertrude the Great), Our Lord promised to release a thousand souls from purgatory each time it was said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners as well.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, 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, for those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

(end of text)

I recommend praying for divine protection after praying for the holy souls only because I noticed what seemed to be a string of annoyances and bad timing in the days following the nights I prayed for them.

 

[JohnnyK]

Here’s a great website and the prayer again:

olrl.org/pray/stgertrude.shtml

 

[crystal_waters]

Hi, I really want to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory… but I’m finding a way to do this.

I’ve read about the St Gertrude prayer but I’m hearing different things about it… some people say that the promise behind it is true, and others are saying it is not… my question is, where is this promise found? does it appear in her writings? where was it first written down? is it true?

thanks

heres what it says about it in the read me or rue book available to buy from www.tanbooks.com or you can read it online at holysouls.info/free-books/88?task=view

Our Lord showed St. Gertrude a vast number of souls leaving Purgatory and going to Heaven as a result of this prayer, which the Saint was accustomed to say frequently during the day.

missionbell.homestead.com/Afavourgrantedbytheholysouls.html heres a great website about how to help the holy souls and how the holy souls are helping those who pray for them

 

[thistle]

Here is her page on wikipedia and it explains the Eternal Father prayer in the second section. It says the exact origin is unknown but the legend is that it was given to her by Our Lord who visited her often, and he promised that saying it would release a thousand souls from purgatory.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_the_Great

Here is the text copied from the site:

St Gertrude showed “tender sympathy towards the souls in purgatory” and urged prayers for them. She is therefore invoked for souls in purgatory.

Perhaps for that reason, to her name has been attached a prayer that, according to a legend of uncertain origin and date (neither are found in the Revelations of Saint Gertrude the Great), **Our Lord promised to release a thousand souls from purgatory each time it was said. **The prayer was extended to include living sinners as well.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, 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, for those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

(end of text)

I recommend praying for divine protection after praying for the holy souls only because I noticed what seemed to be a string of annoyances and bad timing in the days following the nights I prayed for them.

Just remember this is a private revelation and is not required to be believed. It is not a Church teaching. We should of course pray daily for those in Purgatory but we cannot say that 1000 souls are released each time the St Gertrude prayer is said. Only God decides who, how many and when souls are released. We do not determine that.

 

[SHoJjhmou]

olrl.org/pray/stgertrude.shtml

We absolutely CANNOT say a certain number of souls are freed from Purgatory from saying the prayer. That is apocryphal and false.

“Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Jesus, with all the Masses being said all over the world this day, for the Souls in Purgatory.”

 

[midori]

If you’ve read “The Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude the Great”, it’s not to be found there. What you’ll find instead is that they were in the habit of praying all 150 Psalms for the Souls in Purgatory. However, if you’ll check p. 525, it does make the point that a few earnest, devout prayers are of far more significance than lengthy prayers and vigils performed with an empty heart. p. 530 is another useful page dealing with fervor and devotion. p. 534 has the “real” St. Gertrude’s prayer from The Exercises of St. Gertrude, which is not for the feeble or short-of-attention.

I’ve never found the original citation to where the original promise is to be found in historical documents. In general, with any promises attached to prayers, it’s good to recite the prayers without any expectation of a guarantee of x.

I remember the anecdote of a great saint in Italy where there was a great crowd that had gathered in a plaza outside a particular church. If the crowd did x, y, and z, they would gain a certain indulgence. The saint was given to perceive that out of that vast crowd, there were maybe two people who were in the proper heart/mind/spirit to truly gain the fruits of that promise, although the entire crowd went through the motions. I wish I remember who that saint was.

 

[midori]

I wish I remember who that saint was.

A day late and a dollar short, but I found it.

The greatest hurdle is the last. Making a good confession is not particularly difficult, and going to Communion and praying for the Pope’s intentions are easier still. It’s being free from all attachment to sin that’s hard and it’s quite possible that even evi-dently good people, who seek plenary indulgences regularly, never, in their whole lives, obtain one, because they are unwilling to relinquish their favorite little sins.

There is an account of St. Philip Neri, who died in 1595, preaching a jubilee indulgence in a crowed church. A revelation was given to him that only two people in the church were actually getting it, an old char-woman and the saint himself. Not exactly encouraging, huh? But don’t worry. If you aren’t perfectly disposed and can’t get the plenary indulgence. you’ll at least come away with a partial.

 

[Casilda]

I recommend praying for divine protection after praying for the holy souls only because I noticed what seemed to be a string of annoyances and bad timing in the days following the nights I prayed for them.

Interestingly, a local parish, after the priest has processed out of the church, kneels and prays the prayer of St. Gertrude and then a prayer to St. Michael. I have not heard these prayers in any other parish in the diocese.