SEPTEMBER 2026

Dear Rev. Fathers, Religious, and People of God,

On the 1st of November, we celebrated the Feast of All Saints. I wish you all a blessed Feast of All Saints. This celebration should help us revive our desire for personal sanctification and renew our hope for heaven, where our holy brethren await us.

Having honoured the triumphant Church in heaven on November 1st, the Church honours the members of the suffering Church in purgatory on November 2nd, thereby demonstrating the supernatural bond of the communion of saints. The Church teaches us that the souls in purgatory are helped by our daily prayers, our charitable actions toward the poor, and the offering of Holy Masses. History shows us that praying for departed souls, giving alms in their names, and offering Masses has existed since ancient times, as recorded in the Book of Maccabees.

The souls in purgatory, being unable to help themselves, depend on the prayers of the pilgrim Church for their redemption. Let us be generous in helping them through our prayers and works of charity, for whatever is given to them will return to us a hundredfold. The day will come when we and they will stand together in the heavenly court, beholding the face of God in the glorious company of the angels and saints, and joining in their unending hymn of praise.

Please advise your parishioners to offer Masses, prayers, and alms for the departed souls, and encourage them to visit cemeteries during this month. It is our sacred duty to pray for our deceased bishops, priests, and religious who faithfully exercised their ministry in our diocese.

May God bless our country and its people,

Yours devotedly in Christ,

+L. Thomas Aquinas

Bishop of Coimbatore