Julian 0404 already provided the location of the Book and Chapter - *2 Macabees:12 *, in post # 5.
The most pertinent part goes like this:
**2 Macabees 12:45 **
It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins
As already stated by Joe Kelly , our prayers for someone (who has died and) who was no longer in need of them (either already in Heaven … or sadly, already in Hell ) would be applied to another soul(s) who in turn would be forever grateful for them. Every prayer said for the dearly departed has value in God’s eyes*, and no one wants souls to get to Heaven more than He does. We can have no greater proof of this than that of His own Crucifixion.
As members have previously posted, in the case of praying for the dead, some of what we *don’t *know counts almost as much as what we
do know. We
don’t know about everyone who is in Heaven, but we
do know it is good to pray for those who have died. So it could never be a sin to pray for the spiritual well-being of one who is departed ; this is an act of charity. Definitive knowledge of whether they are in a position to directly benefit from our prayers is best left to the discretion of God.
At every single Mass, the Church also prays for the departed (there is a provision of intercession for those who have died in each of the 4 main Eucharistic Prayers).
- {This “value” involves “merit” and can’t be totally disconnected from “merit” - which is sometimes defined this way : “In the concrete, merit may be defined as a good work freely performed in favor of another and of its nature deserving of reward.” saints.sqpn.com/ncd05294.htm}
