SANFORD | The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, commonly known as All Souls Day, is set aside to pray for those who have died and are undergoing purification before entering the beatific vision. This year, two local parishes started new ministries specifically dedicated to praying for souls in purgatory, bringing the core emphasis of All Souls Day year-round.

For Milenie Thompson, parishioner of All Souls Parish in Sanford, the call to begin this new ministry came in prayer. She had prayed for the souls in purgatory for many years, so she understood the voice was calling her to do something more.

“I heard very clearly that I need to pray for the holy souls,” Thompson said. “I took it like, okay, I need to look (for) some kind of (a) more organized form. I started researching and I found this group.”

She discovered Holy Souls Apostolate, a lay organization of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, whose mission is to provide a coordinated means for laypeople to dedicate themselves to regularly pray for those in purgatory.

As she became more familiar with the Holy Souls Apostolate, Thompson discerned God was continuing to lead her forward. She questioned this voice, wondering if she was ready to undertake such a big commitment.

“This voice kept telling me that I needed to talk to Father Jeremiah (Payne) about this,” Thompson said. “This took a couple of weeks of me going back and forth with God about this, going to Adoration.”

She asked God repeatedly “Are you sure?” The answer was clear. “I kept getting back ‘yes and yes and yes,’” she recalled.

Thompson set up a meeting with Father Payne, pastor of All Souls Parish, to discuss the possibility. “He said that he’s been wanting to have a ministry for the Holy Souls. I guess it was waiting for me.”

With Father Payne’s blessing, Thompson started the process of organizing the new group. “It is the first time that a person from another state (brought) the group to a parish,” said Thompson. Holy Souls Apostolate provided prayer resources for the local meetings.

In his letter welcoming their parish community into the apostolate, Robert Overkamp, Apostolate Administrator of Lincoln’s Holy Souls Apostolate, extols the mission the group has undertaken. “By offering your prayers, sacrifices, and moments of adoration for the Holy Souls in purgatory, you are performing one of the greatest acts of supernatural charity possible,” he wrote. “Every rosary said, every smallest prayer offered, every sacrifice made, etc. echoes into eternity.”

The group first gathered last April and meets on the last Tuesday of the month. Before they begin praying the rosary, each member can offer the name of someone recently deceased to keep in mind.

Instead of praying the traditional mysteries, each decade of the rosary has intentions related to the souls in purgatory. First, for family and relatives, then friends, acquaintances and benefactors, followed by the deceased of the diocese and one’s parish, those who suffer the most and longest in purgatory and who have been forgotten, and concluding with all souls in purgatory. Those who have nobody to pray for is Thompson’s favorite intention, “because it breaks my heart,” she said.

Lori Browning also attends All Souls Parish and joined the group after her father died. “It’s been immense, and I would say intense as well,” Browning said.

Although the group meets once a month, the meetings have placed the faithful departed in purgatory at the forefront of her mind.

“We need to be constantly praying for them,” Browning said. “Every day I think about the souls in purgatory.”

She says the list of people she prays for has grown. She now remembers deceased family members, ancestors she never met, and people from her past in her prayers because it is likely no one has prayed for their souls in years.

Thompson hopes to offer resources for the Spanish-speaking community at All Souls. She encourages other parishes to start their own chapters of the Holy Souls Apostolate because it is uniquely Catholic expression of our faith.

In September, two parishioners of St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church in Orlando began Hearts of Mercy. The ministry is dedicated to praying for the holy souls in purgatory and aims at building a supportive community built on faith and friendship.

Raised Roman Catholic, Myrla Cromer was away from the Church for 47 years before she came back to her faith. She found a spiritual home at St. Jude with her late husband after moving from New York.

“About two years ago, one of our parishioners was going around the church handing out cards with the prayer of St. Gertrude,” Cromer said.

She prayed with it regularly for a while but then stopped. A YouTube video from a Catholic priest reignited her interest in St. Gertrude. She was struck by the significance of praying for those in purgatory.

“The further I read and researched, the more I realized how important it really is,” Cromer said. “I thought to myself, you know, if you started a ministry at the church, and even if I got 10 people to come in. … I just thought it would be a wonderful thing.”

She met with Father Elie Abi Chedid, pastor of St. Jude, to discuss her plan. “He was very supportive and he said, ‘Absolutely, I’m very much for that.’”

The St. Gertrude prayer remains the foundational prayer for the ministry. Cromer plans to introduce the rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet as well. Although a new group, praying for the holy souls has profound impact. “Sometimes I get goosebumps when I think about it,” she said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s an overwhelming feeling.”

By Lucas Blackwell of the Florida Catholic staff, October 30, 2026