November is coming up, and I was hoping there might be some information online connecting St. Dismas, the “Good Thief” with devotions for the dead. Alas, I couldn’t find any. I even asked ChatGPT, which came up with:
St. Dismas is primarily invoked for mercy and repentance due to his final act of faith on the cross, which aligns with the Church’s teachings on divine mercy extended to souls in Purgatory. His story reflects the hope for salvation even at the moment of death, mirroring the charitable act of praying for those undergoing purification.
St.Dismas probably skipped Purgatory, given that he was ther ecipient of the first ever plenary indulgence. You could argue that he might have been in Purgatory for a brief period, but after all this time, it is of no matter since he’s on the Church’s list of saints.
This post serves as a reminder that November is soon upon us, with its rich treasure of indulgences for practices and devotions for the dead; as well as that St. Dismas is a great intercessor for those who are at the moment of death, and who might be despairing of salvation. We are reminded in one Gospel account that both thieves mocked Jesu, and in another, Dismas appealed to Jesus for salvation. How can this be? Dismas experienced a deathbed conversion; quite possibly through the intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the Ven. Maria.de Jesus of Agreda, while at the Foot of the Cross, the Blessed Mother interceded for Dismas. A pious legend has it that Dismas was practicing his thieving livlihood decades earlier in the Egyptian desert, and came upin the Holy Family while they were fleeing Herod. He had a change of heart about robbing them, and whereupon the Infant Jesus predicted that they would be crucified together in Jerusalem, and that Dismas would accompany Him to Paradise.
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