Purgatorian Archconfraternity; Advantages available to Members of the Archconfraternity

Annual and perpetual membership

As has been already explained before, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered daily for all Archconfraternity members as long as the membership lasts. Now there are two main types of membership: Annual and Perpetual. Each member will receive a membership certificate.

With an annual membership, Holy Mass will be offered every day for one year, starting on the date shown on the certificate. Annual memberships may be renewed. After 9 renewals (ten annual contributions) the membership becomes perpetual automatically and no further renewals are necessary.

With a perpetual membership, Holy Mass is offered daily for each member forever¹. No renewals are needed and, subject to God’s will, Holy Mass will never cease to be offered for all souls who are perpetually enrolled.

Individual and family membership

Anybody can be enrolled. That means it is possible to enroll people other than yourself. It is also important to note that the membership is open to the living and the deceased. It is perfectly acceptable to enroll oneself or some friend who is still alive.

The enrollment of people can happen either on an individual basis or can happen by enrolling a whole family. So what should one choose? The contributions are different, so it is left for you to decide which option is best suited to your needs. The contribution for an individual enrollment is quite low but is limited to only one person. The contribution for the family enrollment is higher but allows someone to enroll a large amount of family members.

The individual membership is only applicable to one person. That means that only one name can be given on the application. This can be anyone. It does not have to be a family member. However it is not permitted to include several people in an individual membership such as Mr. G. Smith and family or Mr. and Mrs. G. Smith, since then more than one person would be enrolled.

The family membership is applicable to several persons belonging to one family. It is important to note that a family membership does not include every member of a family, but is limited to a certain group of people. Only the following people are eligible for one family membership:

Relations other than those listed cannot be included in the family membership. This is quite important to remember, for it means that those who are entered as husband and wife may NOT include their grandchildren, brothers or sisters, nieces or nephews, uncles or aunts, etc. They may only be enrolled by a new, separate application.

If you neglected to include some eligible name(s) when submitting your application, you may still send them to us. We’ll issue them their certificates as soon as possible.

In the following example, Mr. & Mrs. George Smith are enrolled in a family membership. As you can see, the application can only include three generations. The grandchildren of George and Jane Smith are not included since they belong to the fourth generation. Also, the membership only includes family members in a direct line, which means that brothers and sisters (or any other relatives such as uncles, aunts, etc.) cannot be accepted.

Under these special circumstances people may enroll the names of their stepfather/stepmother as well as those of their natural parents, as part of the same family membership.

This also counts for children who are adopted. These children are an integral part of the family who adopts them. Therefore it is permitted to enroll these children as part of the family membership. Adopted children may enroll their natural parents (if known) as well as those of their adopted family.

Due to the exceptional circumstances of our faithless world, we are permitting the enrollment of grandchildren in order that they may benefit from the daily Masses offered for the members. Many grandparents suffer to see their grandchildren being brought up without the Faith, but lack the means to enroll each grandchild individually.
With a ‘grandchildren application’ a grandparent may enroll all his/her grandchildren. How does it work?

For example, George Smith is a member of the Purgatorian Archconfraternity [CONDITION].
He has 5 grandchildren: 3 from his son Thomas Smith and 2 from his daughter Julie Brown.

The names of future grandchildren may be added to the existing grandchildren membership by sending their names to the Archconfraternity.

The Purgatorian Arch-confraternity is open to all. There is no impediment for anyone, since all are in need of graces. Baptism is not a condition for enrollment. Non-Catholics and non-practicing Catholics may be enrolled. No distinction need be made for these souls on the application form or in an accompanying letter.

A ‘partner,’ i.e. the person with whom someone lives in an unmarried state, cannot be accepted as a member of a family membership. There is no impediment to enrolling the ‘partner’ since membership is open to all, but he or she can only be enrolled by an individual membership.

The same holds for children that came forth from such a relationship. The Archconfraternity cannot accept them as part of a family enrollment. Individual memberships are in these cases the only option.

In the case of people who are single, or married couples who do not have any children, the Archconfraternity has decided that they may still apply for a family membership. In this case, the following people are eligible for one family membership:

In these cases, we are still unable to accept nieces/nephews or uncles/aunts as part of the same family membership. Do also note that the acceptance of brothers and sisters and their spouses in the application is to be considered as an exception granted to those who are single, or to married couples who are unable to have children (and have not adopted any children), and CANNOT be granted to anyone who falls outside of these special circumstances.

Members of the Purgatorian Archconfraternity may upgrade their memberships. Annual memberships may be upgraded to perpetual ones by sending us, together with the annual certificate, a request for an upgrade and the perpetual contribution (minus what you already have contributed towards the annual membership). After we have received your annual certificate and processed your upgrade-request, we will issue you a new, perpetual certificate.

Individual memberships may also be upgraded to a family membership. The individual must be a member of the family to be enrolled. Please make sure that you clearly indicate that this person was already individually enrolled. There is no need to send back the individual certificate since nothing really changes to his or her membership. The contribution for this upgrade is the usual contribution of a family membership (minus what you already contributed for the individual membership).

Finally it is clear that a combination of both upgrades is possible. An individual, annual membership can be upgraded to a perpetual family one. What we require in that case besides the request is the return of the annual certificate and the contribution for a perpetual family membership (minus what you already contributed for the individual annual membership). In all three cases it is of great importance first of all to state the current membership and secondly, to clearly state which kind of upgrade is requested.

Relatives or friends are kindly asked to notify the Archconfraternity when one of its living members passes away. This should be done by returning the certificate of the deceased. We will register this person then as a perpetual member (even when he or she was only an annual member) and send a new perpetual certificate with the initials R.I.P. after the name of the deceased. A monthly Requiem Mass will be offered for the repose of the souls of all Catholic members that pass away during their membership³. Please note that these advantages only apply when the person was a member of the Archconfraternity at the time of death.

After one year, those who have an annual membership may renew their membership. This renewal is optional. Simply send us the old certificate(s) together with a request and the new annual contribution. The secretariat of the Purgatorian Archconfraternity will then issue a new, updated certificate. Please be sure to include a written request for the renewal when you return your old annual certificates. Too often we receive outdated certificates but with no instructions. Therefore always make sure you clearly specify what you require.

On the form you will fill in the names of the people you want to enroll. Before starting be sure to read the Practical Guidelines paragraph found on the back of the application form. Please write all names and surnames clearly and in BLOCK CAPITAL letters. Very often people write illegibly, which makes it very difficult for the secretariat to record the names, causing serious delays. Also, don't forget to give all surnames, especially of the male spouses. If any members are deceased, please indicate by adding the initials R.I.P. after their names. Members for whom certificates are not needed should be marked with an asterisk (*).

New application forms may be obtain by posting a request to our monastery address, or may be downloaded from the Internet. (Note: Applications are NOT permitted by email, phone or fax).

1 . Or for as long as God wills the existence of our humble institute.
2 . Revised for applications after September 2006.
3 . Not applicable to members of a grandchildren membership.