Over the last few years we have been asked to re-establish the Purgatorian Archconfraternity proper to our Congregation. We have certainly seen the need for such a work, as faithful priests everywhere are burdened with too many Mass intentions. And since the individual secular priest thus overburdened, and also conscious that any day may be his last, has not been in a position to begin a traditional Purgatorian society, this work has always belonged to the religious orders, and in particular to the Redemptorists.

Today we have the moral certitude that there will be a succession of priestly vocations to assure the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on a perpetual and daily basis. Therefore on the feast of All Souls, 2003, here on Papa Stronsay, the Purgatorian Archconfraternity was re-established for the Church. Our principal motivation in taking up once more this fruitful Redemptorist apostolate, lies in the very real difficulties experienced by Catholics faithful to Tradition in trying to have the Mass celebrated for their family and friends, or for the repose of the souls of their departed loved ones. The Church Crisis is truly a Mass crisis.

Our model is the once-renowned Purgatorian Archconfraternity branch established in the United States of America in the 1870s, originally at the Redemptorist Mission Church in Boston and later moved to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, 150 East Street, New York.

The enrollment offerings have been adjusted to be of comparable value to those made to the Archconfraternity in former times. Your enrollment offering is your entitlement, as a member, to have the Holy Sacrifice offered for your soul: it obliges the monastery to offer Masses for you. It is the designated, approved and blessed way of joining the Archconfraternity and having others joined to it, to receive the fruits of the Mass.

When we first came to Papa Stronsay it was with the intention that this island would become a "Mass Island," a place where the Holy Sacrifice would be offered in a way that would have special significance. to us all. This holy ambition is fulfilled in the Purgatorian Archconfraternity. Through the Archconfraternity, Papa Stronsay has become a place where Holy Mass is specifically offered in perpetuity for certain souls from all over the world. The names of your departed relatives and friends will be recorded here. Papa Stronsay's altar, so far North and nearly on top of the globe of the world, has become a hill of Calvary, another Golgotha.

You, dear soul, who yourself cannot go to be present at Mass because of your health, can have the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary offered in your name here on the altar of Golgotha. You, for whom your Mass centre is perhaps too far away: know that as a member of the Archconfraternity you can receive the fruits of the Mass even though the very oceans and thousands of miles may distance you from it. If you would like Masses to be offered for you when you die, you need only enroll yourself now in the Purgatorian Archconfraternity. Do you wish to repay the kindness of your friends? You can do no better than enroll them as well.

O truly blessed Archconfraternity established on a little Mass Island far away from the world! May generation after generation of priests mount the altar steps to offer the Mass for your members, living and dead, even to the very Day of Judgment. Amen.

 

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