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Praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory is an ancient practice of the Church.
But how do we know if our friends or loved ones are in Purgatory?
The Church teaches that unless a person has a “ST.” (as in Saint) in front of their name (i.e. St. Juan Diego, St. Jose Maria Escriva, etc.) - that is, unless they have been officially canonized by the Church - we should not assume that they are already enjoying the Beatific Vision in Heaven and because of that we should continue to offer our assistance to them to aid them in their journey to full union with God. In other words, we should assume that they are in purgatory.
The Holy Souls in purgatory are traditionally called the “Church Suffering” because they are truly suffering as they are going through this purification process. However, they can do nothing to lessen their own suffering. This is because, at the moment of death, their time for obtaining merit with God was brought to an end. The only way they can advance in this process of purification and reach the glory of Heaven is by the prayers and sacrifices offered on their behalf.
It is a dogma of the Catholic Faith that those on earth can bring relief to the pains of the souls in purgatory. The Church uses the word “suffrages” to designate the assistance that we give to the Holy Souls. These are prayers, penances, and other acts of piety done with the special intention of consoling them in their suffering.
The souls in purgatory are undergoing purification because they “have not made satisfaction for things they have done or omitted by fruits worthy of penance” (Council of Florence).
In His mercy, God allows the souls on earth (on behalf of the dead) to do what they had not done for themselves while they lived; we complete, for them, the penance that they lacked.
"The work of suffrage that is done for another…is counted as belonging to the person for whom it is done…." (Saint Thomas Aquinas).
This holy exchange is possible because of the power of God’s eternal charity. The bond that unites the Church Militant (the Pilgrim Church) to the Church Suffering is Christ’s love that dwells in all souls in a state of grace. His charity acts as a conduit of spiritual goods between all His members.
To apply our spiritual goods to the Holy Souls, we simply remember them and unite this special intention to our acts of charity.
Here are five acts of charity that we can offer for them:
Here are some suggestions:
For starters, you can offer your daily duties according to your state in life (e.g. married, single, student, job, family, etc.), especially the ones you do not enjoy. Do them with all the love, devotion, professionalism and diligence that you are capable of and pull a bead as you offer them to God as a prayer for someone you love who has died.
After that, you can offer what you:
You can pull a bead each time you experience a difficulty as you do your best to accept each difficulty with trust and offer it with love as a prayer of intercession for a deceased friend or loved one.
It might be helpful to make a prayer list and keep it in your pocket or purse with your sacrifice beads. Read your list as often as needed to remind you of the soul in purgatory you are praying for and offering your sacrifices and suffering for.
I offer my whole day, every day for my deceased son and all the Holy Souls in Purgatory – every prayer, work, joy, sorrow and suffering; every difficulty – traffic, weather, rudeness from other people, difficult situations at work, headache, etc. I try to bear each one patiently, do my best and offer each one with love to God for them.
In short, we can offer any prayer, penance, sacrifice, suffering, or good work to ease the pains of the Holy Souls simply by directing the intention of our action towards them. Jesus who sees our good works and knows the intention of our hearts, will apply it to them.
It's a Win/Win
But not only are we helping them, they can intercede for our needs too and they will if we ask them. There can be a very real exchange of spiritual goods between us and them.
We pray and offer our good works for them and they pray for our needs; in this way our relationship with them continues but in this new way.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church #958 says that “Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.” The closer they come to God the more their intercessory power increases.
The Communion of Saints is a beautiful thing!
I am a daughter of the Most High and of His Catholic Church. I introduce myself that way because I am so grateful for that! I have been married to Dan for 36 years and we have three young adult children - Brett, Nicole and Eryn - and three grandchildren - Cash, Bowie and Indy. I was employed as the Adult Faith Formation Coordinator at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City, Georgia for 14 years from December of 2008 to January of 2023. I earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology from Catholic Distance University and a certificate as a Catholic Spiritual Mentor from the Catholic Spiritual Mentorship Program.
I left fulltime ministry in the parish to concentrate on organizing events. I would like to extend my outreach to other parishes and organizations who would like to host a wonderful Adult Faith formation event but might not have the experience or confidence to do that on their own. I offer various services including but not limited to (fees are charged hourly for most services):
+ Event Planning: event planning from start to finish,
+ Consultation: consultation about an event,
+ Consultation about running a successful Adult Faith Formation Program.
+ I also offer different Adult Faith classes and courses that can be accessed by an individual or a group or can be taught by me via zoom or locally in person.
Website https://www.catholiceventplanning.com/ or www.redemptivesuffering.net
