The Augustinian Septinarium for the Faithful departed

The Augustinian Septinarium
for the Dead

Seven days of prayer for the dead

The famous Augustinian, Saint Nicholas of Tolentine fostered a profound devotion of prayer for the faithful departed: so much so that he has merited, by the Church, the title "Patron Saint of the Souls in Purgatory".  He strongly encouraged the practice of having Masses Offered for the souls in Purgatory.  Further, it is to him that the Augustinian Tradition attributes the great devotion of the "Septinarium": the seven days of prayer for the dead.  We present this Augustinian devotion here.

FIRST DAY

Our Father,  Hail Mary, Glory Be.

St. Nicholas, Patron of the Holy Souls,

Pray for us

O good Jesus, mystically present upon our altars, renewing the oblation of Calvary for the sake of our salvation, we kneel in silence before thee, as Mary and John and Thy Blessed mother knelt in the silence of that awful moment when the Angel of Dead spread his wings around the cross.  We come to plead with Thee while our thoughts follow Thee down from Calvary to the prisons where the Holy Souls waited through the years of Thy coming.

We plead, dear Jesus, for the for the release of the poor souls now detained in the prisons of purgatory.  We plead through the memory of that moment when Thy agonizing Heart ceased to beat on the cross.  We plead through the merits of the angels that serve Thee, through the merits of the Saints who surround Thee, through the merits of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, the efficacy of whose great charity towards the poor souls is our encouragement to approach Thy Divine Bounty.

In Thy compassion and mercy for those whom Thou hast redeemed, deign, once again, through the intercession of Saint Nicholas, to open the gates of purgatory that the heavens may see the passing of multitudes to eternal happiness.

Glory Be…

Eternal Rest…

Let us pray:

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy Church, which is made illustrious with the glory of the prodigies and miracles of Saint Nicholas, Thy Blessed confessor, may, by his merits and intercession enjoy perpetual  unity and peace.

SECOND DAY

Our Father,  Hail Mary, Glory Be.

St. Nicholas, Patron of the Holy Souls,

Pray for us

Remember, O gentle and compassionate Lord, the mercy that stirred Thy heart when the cry of misery and sorrow came to Thine ears in Israel, how Thine eyes searched the rocks for the poor lepers who called out to Thee, how Thou didst reach out Thy hand to the daughter of Jairus, and the widow’s son of Naim, how tears came to Thine eyes at the tomb of Lazarus.  Look down upon the land of sufferings, where souls that love Thee await for the touch of Thy healing mercy.  Through the merits of Thine own great sufferings which appeased the Eternal Justice, reach out Thy Hand once more in its infinite power to save and relieve the Holy Souls in their sufferings.  O Lord, hear our prayers, unworthy though they be.  We unite with the prayers of Thy holy servant, St. Nicholas of Tolentine, in the grotto of San Angelo, with the prayers which he offered to Thee though the silent hours of the night, with the prayer with which he bless Thine infinite goodness and mercy for Thy miraculous aid in his ministry.  Hear our prayers for those who cannot plead for themselves, and grant to the poor souls in purgatory happiness and rest. .

Glory Be…

Eternal Rest…

Let us pray:

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy Church, which is made illustrious with the glory of the prodigies and miracles of Saint Nicholas, Thy Blessed confessor, may, by his merits and intercession enjoy perpetual  unity and peace.

THIRD DAY

Our Father,  Hail Mary, Glory Be.

St. Nicholas, Patron of the Holy Souls,

Pray for us

Remember, O Divine and merciful Lord, Thy compassion to the soul of the Gentile Jodiani, for whom Saint Nicholas besought Thy mercy.  Thou didst give the dying sinner the grace of repentance.  Though didst suspend the rigour of Thy justice, and, accepting the merits and suffrages of the Saint, Thou didst remit the punishment deserved by his sins.  Vouchsafe, O Lord, the same gentle pity to the poor penitent souls in purgatory, who, in human frailty, offended Thy majesty and holiness.  List once more to the prayer of Thy Saint, to which we, in our lowliness, unite our supplications, and grant the poor souls relief from their sufferings, so that, with the Blessed in Heaven, they may join their voices in exultant praise of Thy mercy.

Glory Be…

Eternal Rest…

Let us pray:

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy Church, which is made illustrious with the glory of the prodigies and miracles of Saint Nicholas, Thy Blessed confessor, may, by his merits and intercession enjoy perpetual  unity and peace.

FOURTH DAY

Our Father,  Hail Mary, Glory Be.

St. Nicholas, Patron of the Holy Souls,

Pray for us

O ever blessed and adorable God, we remember how Thou didst permit Thy servant Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, to see a multitude of the poor sufferers expiating their sins in purgatory, how the vision overwhelmed him with grief, and how his heart pour out its gratitude to Thee, when Thou didst accept the penances and prayers which He offered Thee in union with the infinite merits  of the Holy Sacrifice.  On the seventh day of his continual appeal to Thy mercy, Thou didst open wide the gates of purgatory and paradise, permitting his eyes to behold the great multitudes that were passing to their eternal rest with Thee.  Vouchsafe now, O Lord, to show forth the wonders of Thy mercy.  Grant, through the devotion of the Septenarium of the  Saint, that the faithful departed may pass, this day, from the plains of darkness and suffering to the light of the Beatific Vision of heaven.

Glory Be…

Eternal Rest…

Let us pray:

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy Church, which is made illustrious with the glory of the prodigies and miracles of Saint Nicholas, Thy Blessed confessor, may, by his merits and intercession enjoy perpetual  unity and peace.

FIFTH DAY

Our Father,  Hail Mary, Glory Be.

St. Nicholas, Patron of the Holy Souls,

Pray for us

O ever bountiful and merciful Lord, Thou hast glorified the memory of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine by countless and extraordinary miracles, giving to his prayers a wondrous efficacy, and to his hand an astonishing healing power.  Though Thee he solaced and healed the afflicted, through Thee, he restored the dead to a disconsolate mother’s embrace.  To Thy pitying mercy he led the despairing and the penitent.  Though the holiness, the virtues, and the miracles of Thy saints, may the poor souls be admitted to Thy mercies, and to the embrace of Thy compassionate love.  Grant them the solace of Thy clemency, and eternal happiness and rest, with Thy glorious saints in paradise.

Glory Be…

Eternal Rest…

Let us pray:

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy Church, which is made illustrious with the glory of the prodigies and miracles of Saint Nicholas, Thy Blessed confessor, may, by his merits and intercession enjoy perpetual  unity and peace.

SIXTH DAY

Our Father,  Hail Mary, Glory Be.

St. Nicholas, Patron of the Holy Souls,

Pray for us

Remember, O Lord, the cry of the poor victim who found no pity in the cruel human hearts but found pity in heaven, because he invoked Thy All-Holy Name, and venerated the name of the Saint of Tolentine.  Death or sin on the unshriven soul became no obstacle to Thy pitying mercy.  O Good Jesus, how wonderful are Thy ways in dealing with human souls.  A boundless ocean of merit and mercy surrounds Thy Calvary and Thy Cross, upon which Thou wert immolated by cruel hands.  Behold, we turn our eyes to Thee upon the Cross, and upon the altar, and our hearts overflow with a happy confidence.  In that confidence we appeal to Thee for mercy upon our own unworthy souls, and for the souls of all the faithful departed.  Hear our cry in the moment of death, hear our prayers for the souls in purgatory.  Let neither death nor sin, O good Jesus, be an obstacle to their enjoyment of the full blessings of Thy Redemption.  Let Thine own merits make amends for the their failings, and now, in death take them to Thy Heart in the land of eternal happiness.

Glory Be…

Eternal Rest…

Let us pray:

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy Church, which is made illustrious with the glory of the prodigies and miracles of Saint Nicholas, Thy Blessed confessor, may, by his merits and intercession enjoy perpetual  unity and peace.

SEVENTH DAY

Our Father,  Hail Mary, Glory Be.

St. Nicholas, Patron of the Holy Souls,

Pray for us

O blessed Mother of our Redeemer, remember that dark hour beneath the Cross when the dying lips of Jesus consecrated human souls to thy motherly love, and through the tender commiseration enkindled within thy heart at that moment,  bear to the Eternal Throne the supplications which we offer for thy suffering children in purgatory.  In humility we lift our mind to thy Divine Son.  We see Him through the eyes of faith in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or abiding in the hallowed shelter of the tabernacle, and we remember, dear Mother, that thine own pure heart  was the first altar upon which he reposed here on earth.

O, that we could bring into His presence, a faith and love like thine.  Help us, dear Mother, supplement our weak efforts, give thy powerful aid to our supplications for the release of the suffering souls in purgatory.  Though the merits of the Cross and the Blessed Sacrament, though thin own great pity for the souls of all thy children, through thine own love, and the love of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine for Jesus abiding in the adorable Sacrament of the Latar, we pray for the release of the souls in purgatory this day.

Glory Be…

Eternal Rest…

Let us pray:

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy Church, which is made illustrious with the glory of the prodigies and miracles of Saint Nicholas, Thy Blessed confessor, may, by his merits and intercession enjoy perpetual  unity and peace.