40 days after death

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divinefaith

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I belong to an Eastern Rite of Catholicism (Maronite Catholic). I am trying to figure out if it’s only Eastern churches that hold 40 day memorial masses for the deceased or if it is a general Christian tradition?

Secondly, is there any reason why there is such significance to the 40 day period? I have been told that the soul of the deceased remains on Earth for 40 days before they cross over to the afterlife. Is this belief grounded in any Christian tradition?

Many thanks
 
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divinefaith said:
I belong to an Eastern Rite of Catholicism (Maronite Catholic). I am trying to figure out if it’s only Eastern churches that hold 40 day memorial masses for the deceased or if it is a general Christian tradition?

Secondly, is there any reason why there is such significance to the 40 day period? I have been told that the soul of the deceased remains on Earth for 40 days before they cross over to the afterlife. Is this belief grounded in any Christian tradition?

Many thanks
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This is not correct. It is Church dogma that after death the soul immediately goes to Hell (if dying in a state of mortal sin) or is immediately saved if dying in a state of grace (Purgatory first or straight to Heaven).
The soul does not linger.
 
The 40 day tradition might come from Jesus being with his disciples 40 days after the resurrection until the ascension. Just a guess, though.
 
I don’t know the official explanation of why 40 even if 40 is a recurring number in the Bible - Ninive fasted for 40 days, so did Christ, 40 days He spent with the Apostles etc.
But as to why we hold the Liturgies for the dead after 40 days, and then 1 year, I understand that the lingering soul story is just a popular belief, not real Church teaching.
The Church teaches us in the East to hold Liturgies for the dead after 3, 9 and 40 days, and then 3, 6, 9, 12 months. The most important one is after 40 days because that is when the soul of the deceased stands the Personal Judgement or Trial in front of God.
 
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Sometimes in the Latin Rite, Masses are said for the dead for 30 consecutive days, called Gregorian Masses, a practice that dates back to the late 6th century.

A 40-day period of mourning appears to be common among the Orthodox churches.

Some online sources relate your 40-day period to the 40 days the Risen Jesus spend on earth before his Ascension into heaven. Perhaps it is also related to the 40 years the Israelites spent wandered in the wilderness after they left their life in Egypt before entering the Promised Land.
 
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[I’ve moved this to Eastern Catholicism]

I don’t know about Maronite and other Syriac, but there is not traditionally a Divine Liturgy at burial services, but later. I really couldn’t tell you whether the practice of doing so is an Americanization or a Latinization.

Also that 40 (and 7, for that matter) are symbolic and significant numbers, not exact counts.
 
It may, in a state of purgation. There are many accounts encounters with ghosts of souls undergoing purgation of some sort. St Padre Pio saw the ghost of a priest polishing the altar because he neglected that duty in life.
 
twf said:
It may, in a state of purgation. There are many accounts encounters with ghosts of souls undergoing purgation of some sort. St Padre Pio saw the ghost of a priest polishing the altar because he neglected that duty in life.
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No soul lingers. That is a Church teaching. They are IMMEDIATELY saved or go IMMEDIATELY to Hell depending on state of souls at death.
Being in Purgatory means you are immediately saved. It does not mean a soul is lingering.
 
divinefaith said:
Has this teaching been explicitly confirmed in CCC?
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Yes.

CCC 1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification or immediately, – or immediate and everlasting damnation.
 
divinefaith said:
I am trying to figure out if it’s only Eastern churches that hold 40 day memorial masses for the deceased or if it is a general Christian tradition?
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I can’t speak to the 40 days period for EC’s, but the Latin Catholics have Gregorian Masses, which were instituted by Pope St. Gregory the Great and are 30 consecutive Masses said on 30 consecutive days, usually by the same priest (I think if the first priest is unable to continue, like he gets sick or dies, it’s okay for a second priest to step in and finish the series), for one deceased soul. The teaching is that if you have Gregorian Masses said for a deceased person, then you can feel at peace that you did all you could to help their soul.

St. Gregory is said to have started the practice by having 30 Masses said for a deceased monk who had committed a serious sin (hiding away gold pieces which he was not supposed to have under his monastic rule) which he had confessed to a friend before death. After the 30th Mass, the monk is said to have appeared to his friend in a vision and explained that he was now released from Purgatory due to the Masses said for him.
 
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Moses was on Mt. Horeb (Sinai) 40 days & 40 nights before receiving the Ten Commandments. The Holy Prophet Elijah spent 40 days walking to Mt. Horeb (3 [1] Kings 19). Our Lord spent 40 days in the desert praying & fasting before beginning His Ministry. And as others posted, He spent 40 days on earth between His Resurrection and Ascension.

Finally, the soul goes immediately before God at the moment of death.
 
I think you’re getting hung up by terminology. The idea that souls in purgatory may “linger” on earth is testified to by many private revelations. You can reject the witness of St Pio and others… its not required belief… but nor is it contrary to Catholic doctrine. Of course such souls are destined for heaven eventually.
 
The Byzantine and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Churches also pray for the deceased on the 3rd, 9th and 40th days.
 
twf said:
I think you’re getting hung up by terminology. The idea that souls in purgatory may “linger” on earth is testified to by many private revelations. You can reject the witness of St Pio and others… its not required belief… but nor is it contrary to Catholic doctrine. Of course such souls are destined for heaven eventually.
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There are no souls that linger on earth after death. All souls immediately go to Hell, Purgatory or Heaven. None linger on earth. That IS contradictory to Church doctrine which I quoted above from the CCC.
 
twf said:
No it isn’t. It is not doctrine that purgatory is necessarily a particular place. The Catechism calls it a state.

Here’s a good article on it from right here at Catholic Answers: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/what-are-ghosts
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Wrong again! The Church does not discount people on Earth being allowed by God to see souls that are in Purgatory or Heaven for a particular reason but that is absolutely NOT souls lingering on earth with unfinished business.
It is the infallible teaching of the Church that at death souls IMMEDIATELY are saved (Purgatory/Heaven) or sent to Hell. There are no souls lingering on earth after death.
Your claim contradicts Church teaching.
 
Their purgatory may be on earth… that’s all I’m saying. The Catechism refers to purgatory as a state rather than as a place. I’ll cite my earlier example of the soul of the friar St Padre Pio encountered who was polishing the altar as he neglected it in life…
 
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twf said:
Their purgatory may be on earth… that’s all I’m saying.
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You’re correct. Even Fr. Amorth said that we cannot discount the possibility that God might allow some Holy Souls in Purgatory to be visible to those of us on Earth.

I seem to recall reading of at least one Priest who saw several Holy Souls in the pews during Mass.
 
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