By Louise Merrie, Catholic Exchange, Nov. 2, 2023
Louise Merrie is a freelance writer on Catholic subjects. Her articles have been published in Catholic Life, Novena Magazine, and the Saint Austin Review. She is the founder of the Community of Mary, Mother of Mercy, an organization in which senior priests and Catholic laity support each other through prayer and friendship in living as disciples of Jesus.
I first learned of the importance of praying for the souls in Purgatory as a child from my mother. She prayed every day for all the people she loved who had died, for all the souls in Purgatory, and for the most forgotten souls who have no one to pray for them. She arranged for Masses to be offered for deceased relatives, and every November, she sent a list of the names of people to be remembered in the annual Masses for the poor souls offered by some of the religious orders she regularly supported. Whenever anyone she knew had a family member die, she would give them a Mass enrollment card. As an adult, I continue all these practices.
It is important to pray for the souls in Purgatory as they cannot pray for themselves. Our prayers can console them in their suffering and help shorten their time there. Another practice is to offer our indulgences for them. Unless a person has been beatified or canonized by the Church, we cannot know for certain whether he or she is in Purgatory or Heaven. Therefore, we should continue to pray for our deceased family members and friends for the rest of our lives. Our prayers will either assist them if they need it, or assist other souls if the people we are praying for are already in Heaven. I like to think that the people we pray for know that we pray for them and it is another way we can stay close to them until we are hopefully, one day reunited in Heaven. …
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