The Heroic Act of Charity for the Souls in Purgatory

The Heroic Act of Charity is an offering, made once and renewable, by which a person gives to the souls in purgatory all the satisfactory value of their good works during life and of the prayers offered for them after death, placing it in Mary's hands to distribute as she wills. It arose among Theatine and Benedictine writers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and was formally approved and indulgenced by Pope Benedict XIII in 1728, with later confirmations by Pius VI and Pius IX. It is called "heroic" because the one who makes it keeps nothing in reserve. Three things are important to understand: it gives away satisfaction, not merit, which cannot be transferred; it does not oblige under sin and may be revoked; and it does not mean God abandons the giver, since the Church's prayers and the Mass remain. It is often made on All Souls' Day, in November, or at a retreat.