Since my wife, Karen, died in May, I have been praying much more for the holy souls in purgatory. Although I know how she lived and all she did. I wrote about my wife’s life- Now That She Has Died, What Do I Do. My wife and I had a “prayer deal” that whoever died first, the other one would pray for the dead spouse’s resting in peace in heaven. Even though I feel like I am almost insulting Karen, I am praying daily for her just in case I am wrong and she is not yet with God in heaven. To let God know how I feel about it, I say “If she is in purgatory.”
(To forestall the inevitable comments to this article about the truth of purgatory, suffice it to say that no matter how many protestant denominations there are – whether about 200, at least 22,000, 30,000, or over 47,000 depending on which authoritative protestant source you consult – many protestants agree with the Church’s teachings.)
But What If She’s In Heaven?
Then I got to wondering if she is already in heaven enjoying her mansion, her children and grandchildren whom I have never met, and the beatific vision, what happens to my prayers? Are they sent to the heavenly “dead prayer” office?
A good friend, who also happens to be a good priest, suggested I add a “secondary” intention. For example: “Eternal rest grant unto Karen, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her; and through the mercy of God may she rest in peace (and if she is already resting in peace, laughing, smiling and happy with You, please consider this as a prayer for all the holy souls still in purgatory, or for our friends Bart, Brendan and Bob, and for me a sinner who will probably, hopefully, be there someday) Amen.”
Can They Intercede For Us?
My particular question is one of several that I have not found much-discussed related to purgatory. Compared to other doctrines, dogmas, and teachings of the Church, there is relatively little addressing purgatory and various issues about it. For example, on the question of whether or not the holy souls presently in purgatory can now pray for us, there is no definitive Church ruling or teaching. This means we can have different views and opinions about these things. (And, no doubt, have some interesting comments below.)
Regarding the possibility of those now in purgatory interceding for us still on earth, different theologians, scholars, and thinkers have stated different opinions. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that the souls in purgatory “are above us on account of their impeccability,” but “are not in a condition to pray” for us still on earth. St. Robert Bellarmine had an opposing view, but he also believed that the holy souls are unaware of our earthly situation, unlike the saints of the Church Triumphant. St. Alphonsus Liguori said that:
[W]e should piously believe that God manifests our prayer to those holy souls in order that they may pray for us; and that so the charitable interchange of mutual prayer may be kept up between them and us… [I]n this state they are well able to pray, as they are friends of God. If a father keeps a son whom he tenderly loves in confinement for some fault; if the son then is not in a state to pray for himself, is that any reason why he cannot pray for others? And may he not expect to obtain what he asks, knowing, as he does, his father’s affection for him? So the souls in purgatory, being beloved by God, and confirmed in grace, have absolutely no impediment to prevent them from praying for us. Still the Church does not invoke them, or implore their intercession, because ordinarily they have no cognizance of our prayers. But we may piously believe that God makes our prayers known to them; and then they, full of charity, most assuredly do not omit to pray for us. St. Catharine of Bologna, whenever she desired any favor, had recourse to the souls in purgatory, and was immediately heard. She even testified that by the intercession of the souls in purgatory she had obtained many graces which she had not been able to obtain by the intercession of the saints.
Can They Pray With Us?
Since the Church had not taken an official position on many purgatory issues, and as I am wont to flit around in my empty brain spaces and daydream about such things, I wonder if when we pray we can have the holy souls in purgatory pray with us? I have been, tentatively and subject to correction, praying with them for them. I suppose that when I am doing this on my daily commute, praying with Karen, and with all the holy souls of the Church Suffering, my car must be spiritually overflowing, especially when I have also invited the entire Church Triumphant, with me as the unworthy single representative of the Church Militant.
I have also realized that holy souls are included in many, many prayers when we use “our” or “us,” and I try to consciously include all the holy souls whenever these words are said, especially during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. “Our Father” applies to all God’s children, including those not yet in heaven who have left this earth. And “Pray for us sinners” includes all sinners, living and dead.
Any thoughts on the holy souls praying with us will be greatly appreciated, especially if I am wrong.
Specific Unnamed Souls
I have also been praying for specific, although unnamed, holy souls. For example:
- the most forgotten soul in purgatory, the 1,000 most forgotten, the 1,000,000 most forgotten, and all the forgotten souls in purgatory
- the most unknown soul . . .
- the most wretched soul . . .
- the soul who has just arrived . . .
- the soul just ready to leave . . .
Me Too, Lord
Finally, and this is purely out of selfishness, I ask God to please let all these holy souls know my name. When they are beholding God, long before I do, I want them to know the guy that prayed for them.
Yes, These Prayers Do Work
In checking out all these questions, I came upon a particularly poignant and insightful story of how our intercession for the holy souls is indeed effective. The author wrote about her prayers for her grandmother whom the author believed was in purgatory.
Before I give you all the official Church teaching on the souls in purgatory, I must tell you why this subject is close to my heart. I KNOW personally, the agony of a soul who is desperate for my prayers. I have learned through personal experience, that souls in purgatory, although they cannot pray for themselves, press in on the most sensitive of their relatives for prayer.
My Ukrainian grandmother, who had been in Canada for barely 15 years, died accidentally under extreme duress as a young mother of three boys when her husband was at war. Since this occurred in the 1940’s, she was denied a Christian burial in the Catholic church. When my grandfather returned from the war, the young family left the Catholic Church and my grandfather remarried a Protestant Presbyterian. In turn, I was raised in this church with no knowledge of any Catholic roots until I converted. My father pleaded with me to reconsider; his childhood memories of how the Church handled immigrants were horrific.
It took years before I understood that the emotional weight I carried like a rock in my chest was not mine but I what I felt was actually my grandmother’s guilt, shame and sense of unforgiven sin in my own emotions. I heard her negative words interiorly and again the words I heard seemed to condemn ME. These spiritual, emotional and even physical burdens were simply the only way my grandmother could get my attention. After two years of interceding for her, a priest (who in fact is the official exorcist of my diocese) was finally led by God to give this poor soul absolution in the name of the Church.
Instantly, I mean immediately, I was free and my grandmother was filled with joy as she literally flew into the arms of Christ. I still could burst out into songs of praise every time I think of my grandmother and in thanksgiving for the new joy which replaces the burdens I carried for years.
To use a modern phrase, the bottom line is that the Holy Souls in Purgatory are not able to pray for themselves or do anything at all to relieve their suffering. Period. The fact alone is enough to call us to pray because they rely on our prayers and efforts to help them.
The truth is we are all connected in the Body of Christ. The communion of saints, of all souls is real, a fact, My grandmother affected me, and I am still connected to her just as St. Paul tells us in his letters. So I would say that praying for the dead, especially for those we have known, is a not simply a requirement of Christian charity but essential to our own spiritual health and well-being (The Souls in Purgatory NEED Us: A Personal Experience; Melanie Jean Juneau).
Eternal rest grant to all the holy souls, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them, and through the mercy of God, may all of them rest in peace. Amen.
19 thoughts on “Pray It Forward, For the Purgatorians”
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Thanks for your post, I’ve been looking for this for a long time, just found it today. this post gives me loads of inspiration, to some extent it makes me feel great.
The most useful article of the day that I have read
Jesus said in John 3: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.”
On Pentecost (in Acts 2), Peter tells the Jews that David is not in heaven.
So where in the Bible does it say that souls go to heaven, hell, or purgatory upon death?
Something to consider.
https://youtu.be/-LjmwwL0kas
Louise,
Sorry for the delay in responding.
Again, I continue to question whether Jesus taught about purgatory. Does His parable in Luke 16 really have anything to do with purgatory? I think not.
So far, we have one passage in the OT about paying for the dead. Not a plethora of verses to support this practice.
Daniel is told in Chapter 12:13 “Go, take your rest, you shall rise for your reward at the end of days.”
Jesus tells his closest followers in John 14: (Last Supper Discourses.) 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.
Since we pray at mass for His return, I am confident that Jesus has not come back yet.
So where do you think Daniel, or the apostles, are right now?
I suspect that they are in their graves, awaiting the first resurrection as described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:20-58.
Robert, I get the feeling that we’re not necessarily talking about the same things even though we’re using the same terms. So please allow me to define a few things from the Catholic point of view and forgive me if you know all this. Heaven is the permanent place/state after death of perfect communion with God for all eternity. Hell is the permanent place/state after death of absolute separation from God for all eternity. Purgatory is a temporary place/state of the soul’s purification after death; it is not a “destination” in itself but is more like a layover or detour on the way to heaven. So no one will be in Purgatory forever. If a soul enters Purgatory, the time will come when that soul is freed and goes to heaven. The following quote is from Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Catholic Doctrine (entry on Purgatory, pages 550-551):
“This is a teaching rooted in the twofold recognition of divine justice and mercy. On the one hand, the order of justice requires reparation on the part of all who violate it. And if reparation is not made before death, then surely it must be made after, in the refining fire that burns away the accumulated dross of sin, whether unrepented venial sin and/or the temporal punishment due to mortal sin repented of and forgiven. If God be perfect justice, then to stand before him without shame we must exist in a certain relation to justice. Failing that, suffering proportionate to the penalty of sin is necessary to bring us to that condition. Some law of expiation must accordingly be found and applied. Hence the praise of 2 Maccabees for the Jewish military leader Judas Maccabee, who ‘made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin’ (2 Mc 12:45). ”
The article continues:
Purgatory “is not, as Joseph Ratzinger reminds us, ‘some kind of supra-worldly concentration camp where man is forced to undergo punishment. . . .Rather is it the inwardly necessary process of transformation in which a person becomes capable of Christ, capable of God and thus capable of unity with the whole communion of saints. . . .Man is the recipient of the divine mercy, yet this does not exonerate him from the need to be transformed. Encounter with the Lord IS this transformation. . . .Purgatory follows by an inner necessity from the idea of penance, the idea of the constant readiness for reform which marks the forgiven sinner.’ ”
As to where the Prophets and Apostles are right now, our faith tells us that their souls are in heaven while their bodies are in their graves awaiting Christ’s return at the end of the world (the Second Coming). But that’s a topic for a different day 🙂 The upshot of all this is that you and I don’t seem to disagree on what the Bible SAYS, we disagree on what the Bible MEANS. And I do not believe that these differences can or will be reconciled in this forum.
Louise,
Here’s the the scriptures and footnotes from my Catholic Bible. Please take note of the last sentence.
I would also like to point out that it was almost 1,200 years before the RCC defined its teaching about purgatory.
Finally, did Jesus specifically teach this doctrine? I think not.
2 Maccabees 12:39-46
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
39 On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his companions went to gather up the bodies of the fallen and bury them with their kindred in their ancestral tombs. 40 But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had fallen. 41 They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden. 42 [a]Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. 43 He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind; 44 for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. 45 But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. 46 Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin.
Read full chapter
Footnotes
12:42–45 This is the earliest statement of the doctrine that prayers (v. 42) and sacrifices (v. 43) for the dead are efficacious. Judas probably intended his purification offering to ward off punishment from the living. The author, however, uses the story to demonstrate belief in the resurrection of the just (7:9, 14, 23, 36), and in the possibility of expiation for the sins of otherwise good people who have died. This belief is similar to, but not quite the same as, the Catholic doctrine of purgatory.
Robert, I did not mean to imply that the doctrine of Purgatory was completely developed in the Old Testament. My point was that even in the OT there was an awareness that prayers and sacrifices could efficaciously be offered for people who had already died. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 1031) states, “The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire” and then goes on to quote Pope St. Gregory the Great: “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that before the final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.” The existence of Purgatory is indicative of the great mercy of God, really. If the only two options after death were heaven or hell, how many of us would actually make it to heaven, given that no one impure may see God or stand in His presence? Also, you say that you don’t think Our Lord taught specifically about Purgatory, but 1) He did speak in parables (meaning He taught many things non-explicitly); and 2) you didn’t explain what you thought Luke 16: 27-28 meant. It certainly seems to me to refer to a place/state after death which involves great suffering but is not hell, so if you disagree I’m curious to know what you think it does refer to.
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I pray for my late wives and have mass offered on their necro anniversaries. I am completely confident that my prayers and masses are not wasted in any manner. As I look back, I can cite a number of occasions when I felt that someone was advocating for me in situations where I was in need. I do not know the methods by which the Almighty handles these things but I am quite confident it is most appropriate.
My late mother who had an insomnia problem used to pray to the “poor souls” to help her sleep, I intervened and said, “Mom, the poor souls can’t pray for us; you have to pray for them; they need your prayers.” But I don’t think she ever changed. I pray for her now, every day.
Mr. McClung, my condolences. There is a good Purgatorial Society at Rorate Caeli, with (iirc) ~110 priests offering the Mass for those on the rolls, at least monthly. Found here: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2021/09/reminder-rorate-caeli-purgatorial.html. I’m adding the repose of her soul to my Rosary intentions, as well as your (and your family’s) consolation.
I pray for my mother and father in purgatory. If they are already in heaven, I pray that my prayers be directed to whatever they are praying for. I trust that they are still watching over our family and have intense, specific prayers for each of us … for more intentions than I know about … and will be praying until we are all safely in heaven. At which time, we will be praying for those we have have had to leave behind on earth, et cetera, et cetera ad infinitum.
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The term ancestor worship designates rites and beliefs concerning deceased kinsmen. Rites of ancestor worship include personal devotions, domestic rites, the ancestral rites of a kinship group such as a lineage, periodic rites on the death day of the deceased, and annual rites for collectivity ( All Souls Day) of ancestors.
This, from a religion many centuries older than Catholicism. So, it seems it’s either theological plagiarism or the fact that apples don’t fall very far … .
These days I find myself searching for answers in the Bible. The more that I read, the more I question the explanations given by the Catholic Church on several issues. One is the concept of purgatory, since there is nothing in scriptures about it.
I did find an interesting Catholic prayer of committal at the grave site:
“Lord Jesus Christ,
by your own three days in the tomb,
you hallowed the graves of all who believe in you
and so made the grave a sign of hope
that promises resurrection
even as it claims our mortal bodies.
Grant that our brother (sister) may sleep here in peace
until you awaken him (her) to glory,
for you are the resurrection and the life.
Then he (she) will see you face to face
and in your light will see light
and know the splendor of God,
for you live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.”
According to Paul (in 1 Corinthians 15), this takes place at His coming.
Then there is John 11, which deals with Lazarus. Jesus, at first, states that his friend is asleep, but then makes it clear that he is dead. When Jesus arrives at his grave, He calls him out of the grave after 4 days in the tomb. No mention of the soul of Lazarus going to heaven, hell, or purgatory.
Pray for the Holy Souls. Bottom Line. All of your “questions” will not be answered by your finite mind.
Robert, it is good that you are asking questions and seeking deeper understanding because that is how faith grows. However, your first rule should be to reject any answer that contradicts Church teaching because otherwise you will very quickly go off the rails. Our Lord is EXTREMELY concerned about our salvation and would not leave the interpretation of Scripture up to each individual person to figure out on his/her own. Purgatory is not mentioned by name in Sacred Scripture, but that doesn’t mean it’s not referenced. How else do you read the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, specifically Luke 16:27-28? If the rich man were in hell, he surely would exhibit no charity toward his brothers who were still living–or anyone else, for that matter. He would want them in hell with him. Also, please see 2 Maccabees 12:38-46. The last verse reads, “Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.” How could anyone be freed from sin after death unless Purgatory exists?