20 Ways to Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

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From the Catholic Company blog:
catholiccompany.com/blog/20-ways-to-pray-for-the-holy-souls-in-purgatory

20 Ways to Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

“The devotion to the memory of the dead is one of the most beautiful expressions of the Catholic spirit.”

– Pope Saint John XXIII -

The Catholic Church dedicates the entire month of November to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. November 2nd is All Souls Day, sometimes called the Day of the Dead. During this entire month we pray for the souls of the faithful departed, especially those whom we have known and loved.

Those in purgatory die in the mercy of God; however, because they still had attachment to sin at the time of their death, they must undergo the spiritual purification of their souls before they are able to fully love God with their whole heart, mind, and soul for all eternity. For more information, read What Do Catholics Really Believe About Purgatory?

Those in purgatory cannot pray for themselves, this is why they are called “poor”. They can no longer merit anything for themselves and rely entirely on others to pray and make sacrifices on their behalf. As they are nevertheless part of the communion of saints, they depend upon us to help ease their suffering and quickly advance them through their purification so that they can join the saints in heaven.

Prayers for the faithful departed pleases God, who makes use of our prayers to help purify these souls that He loves. It is an act of charity that we can give for those we have known and loved, for our ancestors who gave us life, for those souls whose memory is lost, and for those who have no one else to pray for them.

Here are some ideas for praying for these suffering (and often neglected) souls, especially during the month of November dedicated to their memory:

20 WAYS TO PRAY FOR THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY
  1. Pray the Novena to the Holy Souls.
  2. Offer up your Holy Communions for the souls in purgatory.
  3. Have Masses said for your departed loved ones, especially on the anniversary of his or her death.
  4. Pray The Way Of The Cross for Souls in Purgatory.
  5. Pray the special Holy Souls Rosary. After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Holy Rosary is the most powerful prayer.
  6. Obtain indulgences: Indulgences reduce or cancel the temporal punishment that we incur through sin. There are many ways to obtain indulgences through pious actions, and we can apply their merits to the dead.
  7. Give alms: The giving of material assistance to the poor has always been considered a penance that can be offered for the Holy Souls. “For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin”(Tobit 12:9).
  8. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
  9. Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great: tradition holds that St. Gertrude was told that piously reciting this prayer releases 1,000 souls from purgatory.
  10. Sprinkle holy water on the ground: St. John Macias, a great friend of those in purgatory, would often sprinkle holy water on the ground for the spiritual benefit of the suffering souls.
  11. When passing by a cemetery, pray the short Eternal Rest prayer:“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let the perpetual light shine upon them. And may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
  12. Practice the tradition of praying the Eternal Rest prayer (above) before and after your meals as an easy way to pray for the holy souls daily.
  13. Visit a cemetery: Pray over the graves of your departed loved ones, or visit a random graveyard and pray for those who may have no one to pray for them. Sprinkle holy water on their graves.
  14. Eucharistic Adoration: make reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for those in purgatory.
  15. Sacrifices: practice acts of self-denial and offer these penances up for the poor souls.
  16. Pray the Office of the Dead. You can find this in your volume of the Liturgy of the Hours or online.
  17. Ask for the intercession of saints who were known to be great friends of the Holy Souls during their lifetime: St. Nicholas of Tolentino, St. Gertrude the Great, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Padre Pio, St. Philip Neri, St. John Macías, St. Faustina Kowalska, St. Joseph, Our Lady, and others.
  18. Special prayers: Throughout your day, offer up short and spontaneous prayers for the holy souls. Consider buying purgatory books with more prayers and special devotions for the Holy Souls.
  19. Repent go to confession: Confessing your own sins makes your prayers for souls more effective.
  20. Spread devotion to the Holy Souls: Make others aware of the great need these suffering souls have for our prayers.
 
Thank you for the reminder to pray for all souls…

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace. Amen.
 
Wow, nice list there, thanks. I can only imagine what people might say for #10: “what are you doing there?” “Oh, just sprinkling holy water on the ground for the Holy Souls.” 😛 I feel like beautiful flowers should grow in that spot though.
 
Thank you for this list. I’m also a little curious about #10, it seems a little odd. Why the ground? Any ground or church ground? #13 mentions sprinkling holy water on a grave.
 
Question, are prayers for a departed loved one effective if offered by someone of a different faith?

I mean if someone who was not Catholic, and may not understand or believe in purgatory, says or does some of the above things, out of love for a deceased relative, or because the relative DID believe those things, will they still be accepted?

Thank you
 
Pax Christi!

Wonderful post. I’ll keep this in mind! The Poor Souls are dear to me.

God bless.
 
schaeffer said:
Question, are prayers for a departed loved one effective if offered by someone of a different faith?

I mean if someone who was not Catholic, and may not understand or believe in purgatory, says or does some of the above things, out of love for a deceased relative, or because the relative DID believe those things, will they still be accepted?

Thank you
Click to expand...
YES! 🙂
 
schaeffer said:
Question, are prayers for a departed loved one effective if offered by someone of a different faith?

I mean if someone who was not Catholic, and may not understand or believe in purgatory, says or does some of the above things, out of love for a deceased relative, or because the relative DID believe those things, will they still be accepted?

Thank you
Click to expand...
YES! 🙂
 
We’ve been to the family grave plots now each day offering a Pater Noster, and a Creed. Prayed for the Holy Souls at Mass and made confession and communion. Now to keep this up through the 8th. Sung Requiem Mass tonight. 👍
 
Thanks for the list! 🙂
thereseozi said:
  1. Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great: tradition holds that St. Gertrude was told that piously reciting this prayer releases 1,000 souls from purgatory.
Click to expand...
About this one, we’ve had a good recent discussion about this on this thread here: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=902217. Basically, this belief of releasing 1,000 souls is one which we ought not to belief (it’s like 1,000 plenary indulgences with a 10 second prayer which is impossible). But the prayer itself, should be fine.
 
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