Wasn’t Jesus’ Suffering “Enough”? Why Do We Need Purgatory?
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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. Teresa of Avila, 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 in Heaven (the Church Triumphant), and the Church on Earth (the Church Militant - the Pilgrim Church) to the Church in Purgatory (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. This is called the Communion of Saints.
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 nine acts of charity that we can offer for them:
1. Join the Association of the Holy Souls.
The conditions are easy.
Association of the Holy Souls
Approved by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, June, 1936
The members are asked to fill out the form on this page: Association of the Holy Souls
2. Mass
The greatest gift the Church possesses is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, the most beneficial thing we can do the Faithful Departed is to have Masses offered for the repose of their souls. In addition, we can attend Mass ourselves and offer our Holy Communion for them.
3. Indulgences
The Church also provides generous indulgences that can be gained for the Holy Souls in purgatory. There are so many to choose from. Indulgences enable us to at least double our gift - our acts of love - for the souls in purgatory. They greatly increase the value of our good works but sadly, indulgences get a bad rap because of Martin Luther and therefore are, for the most part, completely overlooked and forgotton. That is so unfortunate! We need to form the habit of helping the souls in purgatory by gaining daily, weekly, monthly, and/or yearly indulgences. This will add so much grace to our poor good works on their behalf. In order to form this habit with confidence we need to understand what indulgences are and what they are not and how to gain them in the most efficacious way. You can learn all of this and more here.
Learn about a special opportunity - 8 days in a row of plenary indulgences - to help the holy souls in purgatory - November 1-8 here.
Numbers 4-9 all can be offered as indulgences and therefore increase their value in God's eyes and the help they give to the holy souls in purgatory.
4. Prayers
There are countless examples of indulgenced prayers that can be offered for them. Some powerful examples:
5. Almsgiving
Giving alms is also an action that can be offered as an indulgence and is powerful for the remission of sins, which means that we can offer alms to the poor on behalf of the dead. St. Martin gave half of his cloak to a poor beggar, only to find out afterwards that it was to Christ he had given it. Our Lord appeared to him and thanked him. Blessed Jordan of the Dominican Order could never refuse an alms when it was asked in the name of God. One day he had forgotten his purse. A poor man implored an alms for the love of God. Rather than refuse him, Jordan, who was then a student, gave him a most precious belt or cincture which he prized dearly. Shortly afterwards, he entered a church and found his cincture encircling the waist of an image of Christ Crucified. He, too, had given his alms to Christ. We all give our alms to Christ.
6. Fasting
Fasting can also be offered as an indulgence and is an efficacious sacrfice that we can offer for the holy souls in purgatory. For example, we can choose a day each week and fast from something we enjoy like coffee or sweets and offer it for them. We can choose to take it the next level and eat only bread and water for a day or fast from eating or drinking anything until noon. We can forego a meal out or an amazon purchase and offer that act of self denial for them, in reparation for their sins.
7. Offer it up!
Offering up to God our suffering and daily difficulties for the souls in purgatory as an indulgence is a powerful and efficacious action.
From from Father Jacques Philippe:
"It is beneficial for us to train ourselves not only to put up with difficulties but in a certain sense to choose them. That doesn't mean provoking them! But it means that when they do arise, we accept them with all our hearts, by a positive act of freedom, impelling us to move quickly from disappointment to acquiescence based on trust and love for God and as a sacrifice offered for others. Saint Therese of Lisieux did not like having her work interrupted. Sometimes she was asked to do work requiring quite a lot of concentration. The schedule of the Carmelite community was so intense that she had very little time at her disposal. When she finally found an hour or two to devote to the job she applied herself in the following spirit: "I choose to be interrupted." If a sister came by to ask her for some little service, instead of coldly sending her away, Therese made the effort to accept the interruption with good grace and offer it up as a sacrifice for souls. And if nobody interrupted her, she considered that a charming present from her loving God and was very grateful to him. In everything she could do her will, because her will was to accept everything with love and offer it for souls.
"Consider Jesus' words: 'No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.' Here is a paradox. His life was certainly taken from him: he was put in chains, condemned, led to Calvary, and crucified. But this was a death he freely accepted. In his heart was deep acceptance of what his Father wanted. Jesus remained supremely free in his death, because he made it into an offering of love for God and us. He "offered it up." By his free and loving consent, the life that was taken became a life that was given in love.
"Our freedom always has this marvelous power to make what is taken from us - by life, events, or other people - into something offered up as a sacrifice for others. Externally there is no visible difference, but internally everything is transfigured: fate into free choice, constraint into love, loss into fruitfulness. Human freedom...does not confer the power to change everything, but it does empower us to give a meaning to everything, even meaningless things; and that is much better. We are not always masters of the unfolding of our lives, but we can always be masters of the meaning we give them. Our freedom can transform any event in our lives into an expression of love, abandonment, trust, hope and offering. The most important and most fruitful acts of our freedom are not those by which we transform the outside world but those by which we change our inner attitude in light of the faith that God can bring good out of everything without exception...Positive things become a reason for gratitude and joy, negative things an opportunity for abandonment, faith and offering of love for others."
8. Sacrifice Beads.
Using sacrifice beads can help us to make our whole day into a prayer and offering for our loved ones who have died. Sacrifice/Virtue Beads can keep us aware of our union with Christ throughout our day especially when we are experiencing difficulties. It helps us to remain in Him…“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4).
Pull a bead whenever a sacrifice or difficulty presents itself and silently pray a prayer or a Scripture verse for your deceased loved one as you pull it. If you do not have a set of sacrifice beads, then keep your rosary beads handy and use them to count your sacrifices. All of these sacrifices can be offered as indulgences which will greatly increase their spiritual value.
Here are some suggestions:
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 try to 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, headache, etc. I try to bear each one patiently, do my best and offer each one with love to God for them.
9. The Heroic Act
The Heroic Act consists in offering to God in favor of the Souls in Purgatory all the works of satisfaction we practice during life and all the suffrages that will be offered for us after death. This act is intended to help these souls by allowing the Virgin Mary to distribute the benefits as she sees fit. If God rewards so abundantly the most trifling alms given to a poor man in His name, what an immense reward will He not give to those who offer all their works of satisfaction in life and death for the souls He loves so dearly? This Act does not prevent priests from offering Mass for the intentions they wish, or lay people from praying for any persons or other intentions they desire. We counsel everyone to make this act.
A common formula for the Heroic Act includes:
"O my God! For Thy greater glory, and to imitate the generous Heart of Jesus, I place in the hands of the Blessed Virgin all my satisfactory works, that she may apply them to the Souls in Purgatory according to her wisdom and good pleasure. Amen."
This practice reflects a deep commitment to charity and the belief in the communion of saints, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the faithful, both living and deceased.
Conclusion
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
As we are helping them, we grow in charity but not only that, 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. Learn "What the Holy Souls in Purgatory Do for Those Who Help Them" here.
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 (see image below) 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
