Holy water on the ground for the souls in purgatory?

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Guest1

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Can anyone explain this further to me please?
Is this something the church is okay with/teaches?

What if someone you know has died far away and you’re not able to reach their gravestone?

Do you just pour some holy water for them outside your home on the grass?
 
NO

Stick to what you learn in RCIA.
Where ever you are reading this stuff, or making it up, it’s not helpful when you are just beginning the path to full communion
 
Curious where you heard this?
Prayers, Masses, alms and fasting are the ordinary offerings for our departed loved ones.
Anyway, best of luck on your RCIA journey and God bless you!
 
It is a pious custom to sprinkle holy water on the graves of the faithful departed to bring them some relief from the fires of Purgatory. I heard a sermon on this exact subject not long ago. Father specified that the holy water must be sprinkled on the actual gravesite.
 
This is a superstitious understanding.
Holy water does no such thing.
However if the ceremony elicits sincere prayer from the Church miliant then that can be effective.
 
Holy Water, because it has been blessed, has efficacy independent of the faith of the one using the sacramental. Of course, the efficacy of the Holy Water does not come from the water itself but from the prayers attached to it. Using Holy Water, for example by sprinkling it on the grave of a departed loved one, is not necessarily superstitious if one understands that the water itself is not helping the person but the prayer of the Church that the water has been imbued with.
 
The Prayer of Saint Gertrude the Great frees 1,000 souls in Purgatory. If you have a concern, pray this prayer. I would pray it on the Sabbath as the prayer states the prayers said on that day assist in performing the task. You may also ask at the end of a Penance to say 5 Our Father prayers for the souls in Purgatory, but it is up to your confessor.
 
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Likewise there is no magical mechanical efficacy that comes from saying any particular prayer by any particular saint at any particular time or day. This too is a little superstitious.

What moves God to gratuitously help the souls in purgatory is when he sees his living faithful do the same to each other and petition for their deceased loved ones. It is what comes from our hearts that moves God not sacramentals which have absolutely no authority, power or magic in them whatsoever despite TV series and PC games to the contrary.

Obviously such rituals, especially communal ones, can help us focus, increase our desire, remember and contemplate more deeply and strongly what we seek for them from Our Lord. This is the only “magic” there is really - its the Spirit in us not the sacramental/ritual/prayers themselves.
 
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A prayer card I have states “offer these prayers at 3:00 pm if possible.” That is why the suggestion was made.
 
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