Can the Saints in Heaven pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory directly?

[Pythagoras]

I thought I read in some websites that only the Church Militant (those living on Earth) can pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Then I read in a website that the Saints in Heaven can pray for the Holy Souls. So which is really true?

 

[Neofight]

How could that be? If the Church Militants pray to the Church Triumphant to intercede on behalf of the Church Expectent that those prayers would be rejected?

I would think not.

 

[RosyAnne]

In general most theologians hold that once a person enters into the realm of the beatific vision, they do not have universal access to our thoughts or to earthly reality.

Any knowledge they gain is received directly from God, and God most certainly makes them aware of requests for their intercession in a way that we can only imagine but never fully grasp while remaining here below.

Therefore I believe we can confidently affirm that the saints intercede for the souls in purgatory in those cases when someone on earth requests that saint’s intercession for a particular soul.

The Church itself invokes the saints in this way, albeit in a universal manner, during the rite of final commendation at the graveside at the prayer of the faithful:

“V. Saints of God come to his/her aid! Come to meet him/her angels of the Lord!”
“R. Receive his/her soul and present him/her to God the Most High.”

Saints’ Prayers for Souls in Purgatory

The whole article I linked to is very interesting and has other angles to think about.

I personally like to think that if we have developed a devotion, a friendship, to a particular Saint during our lifetime, they will not forget us and there will be some assistance for us after death.

We know from visions that some saints have had that the Blessed Virgin Mary visits and assists souls in Purgatory, I don’t know if that is a singular ability granted to her or if it’s something all the Saints in Heaven can do.