Showing posts with label Purgatory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Purgatory. Show all posts

Friday, 27 March 2026

The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - Susan Tassone

The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
ISBN 9781592761418  
eISBN 9781612782836
ASIN B00ANTS1JU

The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - Susan Tassone

Every Friday during the year I try and pray a Stations of the Cross, and also each day through Lent. I am not sure I have every actually hit the whole year but I try. AT the beginning of lent in 2026 I went through my collection of Stations and found I had 10, I had not got around to praying yet. I have read 5 so far and now have 13 I have not read … I have a found a few others while researching reviews including this volume. I have only once previously read a volume by Susan Tassone, and it was excellent, I have several on my ‘to be read’ pile, but this one only grabbed my attention this year.  

The description of this volume states:

“Recall, reflect, remember, and pray.

Recall loved ones who have died and, in a spirit of true charity, keep in mind other departed souls who may have no one on earth to pray for them.

Reflect on the reality of purgatory and those who, though so close to heaven, must still prepare to enter it. These souls, the Church teaches, can benefit from your prayers for them and whose prayers, in return, can benefit you.

Remember, Station by Station, the Passion and death that Christ endured for those souls, for all souls, for your soul.

Pray that the same Christ, the One who conquered death, may soon welcome into the Eternal Banquet the souls of your loved ones, and the souls of all the faithful departed.

With its one-of-a-kind combination of the traditional prayers of the Stations of the Cross and scriptural reflections focusing on Christ's passion and death, The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory was an immediate best-seller when first published in 2000. The revised edition is expanded and features beautiful, four-color mosaics from Marytown, home of the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe.”

The chapters in the volume are:

Origin of the Way of the Cross
The House of Ephesus
The Importance of the Way of the Cross
An Act of Contrition
The Stations of the Cross
Closing Prayer
Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
Scripture Reflections
Seven Penitential Psalms
Reflections of the Saintly Ones
Gaining Indulgences With the Stations of the Cross

This volume has both:

Nihil Obstat: Rev. Michael Heintz
Censor Librorum

Imprimatur: 
John M. D’Arcy
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend
November 18, 2004

A sample day is:

“The Third Station
Jesus Falls the First Time

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
R. Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

O Jesus, through your weakness under the cross and the merits of this first fall, grant me perseverance in keeping my good resolutions, that I may always walk faithfully in your holy ways. The souls in purgatory now suffer because they neglected and abused your graces in this life. They now realize that no sin-stained soul can see God. Therefore, have mercy on them, and cleanse them from all sin.
Through the intercession of your sorrowful Mother, deliver them from purgatory.
My Jesus, mercy!

Our Father . . . Hail Mary . . .

V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.
Merciful Jesus, grant them eternal rest. Amen.”

I hope that sample station give you a feel for this version of this devotion. I was really blessed to pray this stations and know it will be one I use often. My only complaint is that the eBook edition is not available in Canada.

About the author we are informed:

“Susan Tassone has written several best-selling books for Our Sunday Visitor incuding: Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, Thirty-Day Devotions for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, Praying with the Saints for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and Prayers, Promises and Devotions for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory has sold more than 80,000 copies.
Susan has long been a passionate champion for the holy souls in purgatory and is recognized as leading the “purgatory movement” in the United States.”

This was a great volume to work through. It is a great version of this devotional practice. I can easily recommend it for personal or corporate devotion. 

The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - Susan Tassone sample 1

The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - Susan Tassone sample 2

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2026 Catholic Reading Plan! For all Stations of the Cross review click here. 

Books by Susan Tassone:
New Friends: Now and Forever
Praying with Jesus and Faustina during Lent and in Times of Suffering
Jesus Speaks to Faustina and You
Day By Day with Saint Faustina
St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration
St. Faustina Prayer Book for the Conversion of Sinners
St. Faustina Prayer Book for the Holy Souls
Day By Day for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
Prayers, Promises, and Devotions for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
Praying With the Saints for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
Prayers of Intercession for the Holy Souls
Thirty-Day Devotions for the Holy Souls
The Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
…

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Wednesday, 10 December 2025

Sermon Sunday November 2nd 2025 All Souls Day Father Jeff Bergsma

Sermon Sunday November 2nd 2025 All Souls Day 
Father Jeff Bergsma


First Reading: Wisdom 3:1-9.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23.
Second Reading:  Romans 5:5-11 or Romans 6:3-9.
Verse Before the Gospel: Matthew 4: 4b.
Gospel: John 6:37-40.

A sculpture of souls in purgatory at the back of the church. 

(Note: This sermon really struck me. It was an excellent sermon. It is posted here with permission.)

Yesterday we celebrated All Saints Day. Those were for the saints that are in heaven. Today we celebrate all souls.

And All Souls Day is for those saints, or those who have died, who are in purgatory, who have not yet made the journey to heaven. And it's a day we come to, yes, as we know, we mourn for the dead. And we also know that when we celebrate funeral masses, it's mourning for the dead as well.

So there is that part of mourning, where we mourn for their loved ones that have gone before us, but there's also something else that we do on All Souls Day and during funerals. It's not just mourning, but rather All Souls Day and funerals are about hope. It's about hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

It is a day, especially today, All Souls Day, where we remember those who we are mourning for. We remember those who had influence in our lives that have gone before us, and we help and support those who mourn for the death of a loved one. That is what we do at funerals.

That is what we do at All Souls Day, is we mourn. We are there for each other and to help each other. But there's more to that, as I said.

Hope. This feast is about hope. It is about the hope we have in the promises of Jesus Christ.

It is about the hope we have in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Paschal Mystery, that our hope is that Jesus died for us so we may be with him in heaven. This is what this day is about. It is about the victory of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

His victory over death. That death is not the last word, that life is. And this is what we celebrate on All Souls Day, and this is what we celebrate at funerals.

Yes, at funerals, yes, we mourn for the dead, there's no doubt about that. But if we ever really noticed what the funeral liturgy is about, it's about hope. It's about the resurrection of the dead.

It's about understanding that life is changed, not ended. That when someone dies, life is changed, not ended. And this is that hope we have in the promises of Jesus Christ.

The hope we have as Christians, as Catholics, is that Jesus' victory over sin and death has given us the gift of heaven. And that is the great hope we have in the gift of heaven. So as I said, we pray today for those souls in purgatory that they may finish their journey to be with God in heaven.

And that would this is what prayer is about. As we talked a little about, the Mass is the greatest prayer we have as Christians, as Catholics. And we pray for the dead, not only in the Eucharistic prayer, but we pray for the dead in the prayers of the faithful.

We pray that those who've gone before us may be ready to see the face of God. Those souls in purgatory who are waiting to be with God in heaven. And purgatory is an interesting thing, right? It's an interesting thing to try and explain.

So what is purgatory? This is how I usually explain purgatory to students and that. Who here knows what summer school is? Why do you go to summer school? You go to summer school either because you failed, or you go to summer school because you've passed, but you need your grades to get up. So you need higher grades.

This is purgatory. You haven't failed. You haven't failed, but you haven't loved.

We haven't loved perfectly. So like summer school to get our grades up, what happens in purgatory, we remove all those things that stop us from loving each other perfectly, from loving God perfectly. All those things are removed so we can be with God in heaven.

And the second way I explain that only as with summer school is, how many here have gone to the doctor's office? What's the first thing you do when you go to the doctor's office? You go to the reception and say, I'm here. And then you go get to sit down. For how long? Who knows? But you will see the doctor that day.

This is purgatory. You have checked in. We'll use St. Peter at the gates.

Why not? And he goes, okay, just hold on a sec. We will be with God in heaven. We just need to wait to be purified.

And this is what purgatory is. Learning to love perfectly, taking away those things that stopped us from loving perfectly. We will be able to see God.

We'll get into heaven. We just need to wait a little bit. And it's through ancient times that's been prayers for the deceased.

Where do we as Christian Catholics, where do we get this notion of purgatory? We get it from the Old Testament, from the second book of Maccabees chapter 12 44 to 46. For if we were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that was laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.

Therefore he made atonement for the dead so that they may be delivered from their sin. This is why we pray for the deceased. This is where our hope lies.

In praying for the deceased so they may be with God in heaven. Some of you may have heard of Dante and the Divine Comedy. And the Divine Comedy is the Aferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.

What Dante says about Purgatorio, he meets one of his friends or better yet frenemies. They were good at doing that in the Middle Ages. They would put their frenemies or enemies in interesting places.

If you ever go to Sistine Chapel, there's a couple of cardinals that Michelangelo put in hell. But what Dante was saying is he met his frenemy and he was surprised that he was progressing so quickly through purgatory to be with God in heaven. So he asked his friend, how are you progressing so much in this? And he just said, I think it's my wife praying for me to get me to heaven.

Now, the Divine Comedy is not scripture. It is not this is how it happens. But in many ways this is how it happens.

It is through our prayers for the deceased, through our hope in the promise of Jesus Christ that all those who have died may be with God in heaven. That is why we pray. Yes, we mourn.

But we mourn with hope. We mourn with trust. And that what Jesus Christ did in his mission to die for us so we may have life in heaven, that is what we're celebrating today.

We are celebrating that hope, that certainty. But those who have done their best to live in the light of the gospel, live out their faith in life, may be with God in heaven. They may need a little bit of our prayers to get through.

I know I'm going to need a lot of your prayers when I get the purgatory. But as we help each other, that is community. That is the community of saints, if you will.

That is the community of our faith. So we trust that Jesus is the atonement for our sins. And Jesus is.

It is through Jesus' atonement by dying on the cross that we have life with God in heaven. It is through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection through the Paschal mystery that we have the certainty of the promise of heaven. And that, as I said, life is changed not ended.

Our bonds with those who have deceased have changed not ended. They've entered a new version, if you will, a new way. For us, it's praying for them to be with God in heaven.

And God willing, there with God in heaven, they pray for us here on earth to help us to say yes to the hope that we have in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That indeed, death is not the end, but the beginning of new life. That indeed, through Jesus' death on the cross, death has been conquered and life for us with God in heaven has been given to us because of the love of God.

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Tuesday, 9 December 2025

The Wait - F.C. Ribeiro

The Wait
F.C. Ribeiro
ISBN 9798898354572
eISBN 9798898354589
ASIN B0FY41SPXF

The Wait - F.C. Ribeiro

This was a very interesting story. There were a couple of twists that took me by surprise, but I had figured a bunch of it out. As a debut novel it is very impressive. It does a great job of blending faith, the story and opening our eyes to see more. 

The description of this story states:

“There is only one way out, and it's hopelessly locked. How deep would you be willing to dig for the key?

Two strangers meet in a curious waiting room, with only themselves and a goldfish named Jonah for company. As they get to know each other, they discover that the room's only door won't open. They must work together to unearth an explanation before it's too late. One man, who's lost his faith, must find it again. The other will have to lean on his own like never before. It's a high-stakes spiritual journey, and there's only one way to the other side.”

About the author we are informed:

“F. C. Ribeiro is a devout Catholic, writer, and part-time woodworker. He lives in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley, where he roots for the Dodgers with his wife Michelle and a border collie named Daisy. This is his first novel.”

Stuck in a waiting room with goldfish named Jonah; Will and Pete begin a conversation. They soon discover there are a lot of similarities between their lives. Their likes, teams they cheer for, even baseball games they have attended. They also soon realize that the room is no ordinary waiting room. The door seems to have seamlessly sealed in the wall. It is nondescript, other than couches and the fish tank. After a brief period of panic and trying to find a way out of the room they settle down into a theological discussion.  And soon things really shake up.

Slight spoiler: While reading this I kept thinking about the book Between Heaven Hell by Peter Kreeft. A volume I read many, many year ago. The story moves at a good pace, the plot is interesting and the characters excellently written. For a debut novel it is an impressive offering. The one think I found off was footnotes at the end of chapters usually in reference to films or songs mentioned in the chapter. 

This was a very intriguing read. And it is well written. As a Catholic it was great reading it over All Saints day and All Souls Day. The author bio states that Ribeiro is Catholic, but I believe any Catholic or Christian could benefit from reading this volume.  I can easily recommend it and would give the next offering from Ribeiro a try! 

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!

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Thursday, 4 December 2025

A Very Jurassic Hallowtide - Corinna Turner - An unSPARKed Story

A Very Jurassic Hallowtide
An unSPARKed Story
Unseen Books
eISBN 9781917628044
ASIN B0FY3TYHBC

A Very Jurassic Hallowtide - Corinna Turner - An unSPARKed Story

I read this story in the anthology Shadows Visible & Invisible from the Catholic Teen Books Anthology. When writing a review of that anthology I wrote a paragraph for each story. For this story I wrote:

“Anytime there is a new story in the unSPARKed world my son and I get terribly excited. I have read unSPARKed stories 39 times not counting a number of times for each anthology they appear in. This was a deeply moving story about friends, a tragedy from long ago, and maybe surprising repentance. Harry has a surprising dream and a vision. This Hallowtide will not soon be forgot.”

The description of this volume states:

“Trapped in the mountains by a blizzard and a pack of T. rex, Darryl, Joshua, and Harry's All Hallows' Eve is looking dangerous enough, even before things take an eerie turn.

An unSPARKed short story about a future halloween that does not go according to plan!”

And hear more than a year later and rereading the story as a standalone short I still completely agree. And the author chose to use that blurb when marketing the volume which is a great honour. This is really a very moving story. Over the last several years Hallowtide and purgatory have both been themes in my reading and my personal devotional practices. And even though this is a fictional story, it really had a lasting impact upon me. I have never had an encounter with a soul visiting from purgatory, and to be honest hope I never do. But this story written based on a true event is moving and challenging. 

It is a story that will move you to have a deeper appreciation for how God can work in mysterious ways, and it will challenge you to pray more for holy souls in purgatory. Turner states in the author’s note:

“Aspects of this story are based on real events. A lady from my church lives in a manor house that has a priest hole dating back to the Elizabethan penal times, when Catholics were persecuted in Britain. One day, two guests staying in the room with the priest hole woke up in the night to find a figure standing at the end of the bed, staring silently at them. They said that there was nothing at all frightening about the experience, despite the figure’s sunken, red-rimmed eyes and general emaciation. When they told the lady who owned the house, she was shocked, because she knew what the couple did not: that during the penal times, a priest had starved to death in the priest hole after the lord of the manor was arrested. The figure described had all the physical symptoms of someone who had died of starvation, and a modern-day priest explained to her that the dead priest’s soul was probably seeking prayers from purgatory.

The interesting things about this are:
  · The couple both saw the figure, so they weren’t asleep.
  · Neither of them knew the history of the house or the priest.
  · Neither of them found the apparition frightening.

All these things are included in this story.”

It is a great little story. If you are fans of the unSPARKed stories it is a must read. And if you want a great story to read over Hallowtide or to be honest at any point in the year, it is worth picking up.  I first read a story by Turner in 2015, and read the first in this series in 2017. Since then, I have read books by her a total of 77 times, and unSPARKed stories 42 of them. I have also read a number of the unSPARKed stores in Anthologies. This story is available in the Anthology, Shadows Visible & Invisible, or as a standalone eBook. This story and series are excellent for teens, young adults and adults. The series keeps getting better and better! It has real staying power. My son and I have read most volumes at least three times each.

When I am recommending this series, which happens often, I frequently describe it as a mashup of Mad Max, Lost World, and Jurassic Park, and I have recommended it to many, all who have enjoyed them. In many ways it is like 50 years after Jurassic World Dominion. We have even bought a full set for my son’s school library and know from the Librarian that they are very popular.

unSPARKed is a series set in a not-too-distant future. Dinosaurs once again roam the earth. Just because a scientist could do something, did not mean they should have done it. Most people live SPARKed, in cities with walls and electrified fences. There are two groups of people who live unSPARKed, farmers who have electric fences around their farms and live in community with their close neighbours. The other are Hunters who live most of the time out on the road or off road in HabVI’s Habitat Vehicles. 

If you want an excellent short story I can easily recommend this story! And to be honest anything from Turner’s masterful pen.  

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books by Corinna Turner:
I Am Margaret Series:
0.0 The Underappreciated Virtues of Rusty Old Bicycles (A prequel)
0.5 Brothers (Prequel)
1.0 I Am Margaret
1.5 How Snakey Got His Name (Short Story)
2.0 The Three Most Wanted
3.0 Liberation
4.0 Bane's Eyes
5.0 Margo's (Attempted) Diary & Notebook
5.5 An Unexpected Guest
6.0 The Siege of Reginald Hill
6.5 Buttons (Short Story)
7.0 A Saint in the Family
I Am Margaret The Play - Fiorella de Maria
...

Yesterday and Tomorrow Series:
Someday
Tomorrow's Dead
...

unSPARKed Series:
Prequel Short Stories:
0.1 Breach
...
 7.0 FEAR

Mandy Lamb Series:
Mandy Lamb and the Full Moon
Contributed to:
Secrets: Visible & Invisible 7 Amazing Stories - Catholic Teen Books
Gifts Visible & Invisible 8 Christmas Stories for Teens
Treasures: Visible & Invisible 8 Stories for Teens


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A Very Jurassic Lent - Corinna Turner - An unSPARKed Story


Three Clawful Tales - Corinna Turner - An unSPARKed Anthology










What's Done is Done - Corinna Turner - unSPARKed Book 10

Weigh the Odds - Corinna Turner - unSPARKed Book 11

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Monday, 17 November 2025

A Pocket Guide to Purgatory - Patrick Madrid

A Pocket Guide to Purgatory
Patrick Madrid
Our Sunday Visitor
ISBN 9781592762941

A Pocket Guide to Purgatory - Patrick Madrid

This is the third offering in this series I have read. I have been able to track down all but one. The three I have read are excellent, and I look forward to reading the others in the series. This one is now be out of print and I was unable to determine if there was every an eBook edition, on Goodreads there are 2 editions both paperbacks. It is a great pity this book and series are out of print. The description of this volume states:

“Certain beliefs make us uniquely Catholic one of which is purgatory.

In this quick and insightful guide, discover the important role of purgatory in your personal faith journey as well as those who have gone before you.

Best-selling author, noted defender of the Faith, and EWTN host Patrick Madrid, uses an easy Q & A format to clear up common misconceptions about the doctrine of purgatory.”

About the author we are informed:

“Patrick Madrid, a noted apologist whose books include Where is That in the Bible?, Why is That in Tradition?, Answer Me This!, and A Pocket Guide to Catholic
Apologetics (Our Sunday Visitor), is the editor of Enviy magazine.”

The chapters and sections in this volume are:

Introduction
1. Purgatory: What It Is (and Isn’t)
2. Purgatory and the Bible
3. Purgatory and the Early Church
4, Purgatory and You
5. Purgatory and Others
Notes
About the Author

I highlighted numerous passages that really struck me while reading this volume, some of them are:

“God is a Father who loves us far beyond our ability to imagine, and he wants what’s best for each of us. In some cases, what’s best involves the suffering that necessarily comes with the healing purification, or purging, from sin and its effects on the soul.”

“This little book will take you on a guided tour of the scriptural evidence for purgatory and will consider what the early Christians believed on the subject. But before we delve into the finer details of what this means, let’s first step back and get a “big picture” look at what purgatory is (and isn’t).”

“The Catholic Church teaches that purgatory is a temporary state of purification for those who die in the state of grace and friendship with God (cf. Rom. 11:22), but who still have the vestiges of temporal effects due to sin, inordinate attachment to creatures, and whose will is not fully united with God’s will.”

“This purification involves suffering (St. Paul uses the analogy of fire to emphasize this), as God’s fiery love “burns” away all impurities that may remain. Once this is complete, the soul enters into God’s presence, the beatific vision, in which the perfect bliss of beholding Him face-to-face lasts forever.”

“Is purgatory biblical? Yes. Evidence for it is wide and deep in Scripture, as we shall soon see. The belief is also wellattested to over the course of the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, in particular in the writings of the early Christians, including many of the early Church Fathers.”

“First, purgatory is not a place where people go to get a “second chance” from God, as Hebrews. 9:27 makes clear: It is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment. In addition to being a good verse to bring up when someone poses the possibility of reincarnation, it’s also a good clarification of the fact that purgatory doesn’t involve some kind of “second chance.””

“Second, purgatory is not a place where the soul works, earns, or in any other way does something to cleanse himself; all purification that takes place in purgatory is done by God to the soul. Those who go to purgatory are assured of their salvation; there is nothing for them to do — Christ does it all in His merciful act of preparing His beloved to enter into the wedding feast.”

“Third, purgatory is not where people end up who are “too good” to go to hell and “not good enough’ to go to heaven. This is a third common misunderstanding of this doctrine. There is no such thing as a “middle ground” when it comes to salvation.”

“Since there are only two ultimate destinies possible for all human beings, heaven or hell, the issue of purgatory must be understood as simply a part of the process for some souls destined for heaven. If you die unrepentant in the state of mortal sin, you will go to hell. If you die in the state of grace and friendship with God, you will go to heaven. You may first need to be purified of any lingering sins or selfishness, however minor, that would block your complete union with the all-holy God, but that purification — purgatory — is simply a temporary prelude to your receiving your eternal reward.”

“Purgatory is a finite process" of purification, carried out by God, through His fiery love, on the soul of one who has died in the state of grace and is destined for heaven. It has no connection with the infinite penalty (hell) merited by our sin”

“Purgatory is a formally declared doctrine of the Catholic Church. It has been part of the deposit of faith “once for all handed down to the holy ones” (Jude 3) since the time of the Apostles. Purgatory is part of the Sacred Tradition of the Church; it is clearly taught in Scripture; and it was clearly taught by the early Church councils and the early Church Fathers."”

“Why can nothing unclean enter heaven? The prophet Habakkuk says it’s because God is all holy, and He will not allow anything in heaven with Him to be less than holy and spotless: Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil [O Lord], and the sight of misery you cannot endure (Hab. 1:13). What eliminates that impurity is what the Church calls purgatory — entirely different from the punishment of the damned.”

“The temporal effects due to sin extend, sadly, far beyond just physical illness and death.” They include the spiritual impurities and weaknesses that cling to the soul. So, in addition to being purged of these impurities, we may also have to make restitution as well.”

“The most explicit extra-biblical evidence for the belief in the doctrine of purgatory in the ancient Church is found in its liturgies. Without exception, in the East and the West, the various eucharistic liturgies contained at least one memento mori, “remembrance of the dead.””

“The reason Christians have always prayed for the dead is because they have known, having learned it from the Apostles themselves, that many — perhaps most — who die in a state of friendship with God still must undergo a purification that involves suffering. Prayers on behalf of our deceased brothers and sisters in the Lord can help alleviate and even shorten that suffering.”

“But perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from these facts is that we can avoid purgatory altogether, or at least an extended stay there, by offering to the Lord our daily trials and pains. These sufferings are purgatorial in themselves, if they are offered to God with a loving and contrite heart. In this way, our suffering is purified and elevated. It becomes a participation in the redemptive sufferings of Jesus Christ (cf. Col. 1:24).”

I hope those quotes give you a feel for this volume. This is an excellent little volume. Over the last few years I have read several volumes on Purgatory and Holy Souls there, this is a great starting point for those who have not read much, or as a refresher for those of us who have. I really enjoyed working through it, and will likely return to it again. It has been a while since I had read a volume by Patrick Madrid, I have a few I have picked up over the years I have not got to, that will need to jump up in my ‘to be read’ pile.

This volume could be read by a secondary school student, or a grad student, but a theologian or a new convert and they will all get something out of it. It is an excellent volume that any Catholic or any Christian would benefit from reading. 

It is a great read, thank you Patrick Madrid and Our Sunday Visitor.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!  

Our Sunday Visitor Pocket Guide Series

Books in the OSV Pocket Guide Series:

Books in the Handy Little Series from OSV:
The Handy Little Guide to Confession - Michelle Jones Schroeder
The Handy Little Guide to the Holy Spirit - Michelle Schroeder
The Handy Little Guide to the Lent - Michelle Schroeder
The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours - Barb Szyszkiewicz
…

Handy Little Guides - Our Sunday Visitor

Books in the OSV Companion in Faith Series:
For Those Who Grieve - Jeannie Ewing
Living in Peace - Father Jeffrey Kirby
The Beatitudes - Kathleen M Basi
The Power of Forgiveness - Patrice Fagnant-Macarthur
…

Companion in Faith Series Our Sunday Visitor

Books by Patrick Madrid:
Any Friend of God's, is a Friend of Mine: A Biblical & Historical Exploration of the Catholic Doctrine of the Communion of Saints
Answer Me This!
Where is That in the Bible?
Why Is That in Tradition?
A Pocket Guide to Catholic Apologetics
A Pocket Guide to Purgatory
The Godless Delusion: A Catholic Challenge to Modern Atheism
Search and Rescue: How to Bring Your Family and Friends Into or Back Into the Catholic Church
Pope Fiction: Answers to 30 Myths & Misconceptions About the Papacy
Why Be Catholic: Ten Reasons Why It's Not Only Cool but Important to Be Catholic
150 Bible Verses Every Catholic Should Know
Does the Bible Really Say That? Discovering Catholic Teaching in Scripture
Life Lessons: Fifty Things I Learned in My First Fifty Years
On a Mission: Lessons from St. Francis de Sales
More Catholic Than the Pope: An Inside Look At Extreme Traditionalism
A Year with the Bible: Scriptural Wisdom for Daily Living
How to Do Apologetics: Making the Case for Our Faith
Now What? A Guide for New (and Not-So-New) Catholics
Catholics and the Rapture: Will You Be Caught Up Or Left Behind?
Scripture and Tradition in the Church
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Books Edited by Patrick Madrid:
Surprised By Truth: 11 Converts Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons for Becoming Catholic
Surprised by Truth 2: 15 Men and Women Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons For Becoming Catholic
Surprised by Truth 3: 10 More Converts Explain the Biblical and Historical Reasons for Becoming Catholic
Surprised by Life: 10 Converts Explain How Catholic Teachings on Life led Them to the Church
...

Related Posts about Purgatory:
Prayers:

Books:

Fiction:
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Picture Books:
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