Holy Souls of Purgatory

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DLedoux

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Is it alright to pray for intercession to the Holy Souls. I heard miracles happening and how different kinds of saints prayed with good results.
 
You can but I prefer the intercession of Saints. Because it is debatable whether suffering souls can help you while in Purgatory, while it is sure that souls already in Heaven can help you.
 
Arghhhh. First off, Purgatory is Heaven, too. It is the mudroom just inside the door.

Second, it is not debatable. The souls in Purgatory can pray for us, and want to do so. It helps them cooperate in the purging and cleansing. They are living in Christ, so of course they can “hear” us pray, and their prayers are heard and answered.

So of course we should pray for them, but we should also ask them to pray for us. Just like we ask any other Christian.

We believe in the communion of saints, don’t we? That does apply to the good souls in Purgatory, as well as to us here on Earth.
 
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Absolutely, ask for their prayers— but pray with love and enthusiasm on their behalf as well.
 
First of all, Purgatory is not Heaven. The souls in Purgatory suffer in a similar manner as the souls in Hell with the one exception that they know that they will one day be in Heaven.
It is true that the souls in Purgatory can pray for us it is better to pray for the repose of their souls that they can sooner be relieved of their sufferings. This will incline them to pray for us.
 
I believe I heard a priest on Sensus Fidelium say that the holy souls in Purgatory are helpless and that is why they are in need of our prayers, basically they can’t even help themselves.
 
Yes, the holy souls in Purgatory are helpless, but only with respect to their own situations. They have already been judged and cannot, through their own spiritual power, reduce their own purgation. This, however, does not mean that they cannot intercede like other souls. All soul may ask intercession for others. The ones in hell do not, as in their torment they refuse to turn to the God whose justice they have called upon themselves through their actions. We have evidence of purgatorial societies which not only pray for the souls in purgatory but also pray to them for intercession going all the way back to 336 AD (the Brotherhood of Constantinople). It is not the same as asking a Saint or even one of the unrecognized souls in heaven for intercession, but asking those holy souls in Purgatory for intercession is akin to asking your next door neighbor to pray for you, just on a much larger scale. You can only reach so many people in your life to personally ask for prayers. By praying to those in Purgatory, you have access to an untold multitude of intercessions with our Lord.

God Bless,
Br. Ben, CRM
 
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