How to Pray for a Soul in Purgatory?

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I am a Baptist and just started RCIA.

When I was an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State Univerisity, I was in the Roman Catholic Chapel Choir (I wasn’t a Roman Catholic then). Because you all have the best music. And Father May always had us do such beautiful music.

Father May died about eight years ago. Now I know that I can pray for him as a soul in purgatory, or I can pray to him as an unofficial saint. I’ll probably do both. Either way, Father May will know I am praying. And perhaps it will give him some joy.

Praying to him as a saint, I ask this: that I will be allowed to join and sing in Father May’s heavenly choir.

So my question is this. How do I pray for a soul in purgatory? If he isn’t there, then my prayers are used for somebody else in purgatory – is that right?
 
My daughter also sang in that choir at Penn State, we were so pleasantly surprised everytime we attended. I heard an interesting presentation of prayers for souls in purgatory by a Father Hughes during a parish mission, his source, he said was Thomas Aquinas. I hope I am summarizing accurately.

At the moment of death we leave the realm of earthly time and enter eternity, where all moments are one with God. It is then that we meet and know and are judged by God, making our once-for-eternity choice to Love Him or reject Him. Since that “confronation” is in eternity, the prayers of those who pray for us after death, and the grace they are pleading for, are with us at that moment supporting us. the purification we require to enter heaven is undergone in eternity, not in temporal constructs, so our heavenly happiness begins then, or our eternal punishment if we choose that way. It is almost impossible to wrap our earth-bound minds around the concept of eternity, but it is a starting point.
 
I found the best is to ask them to pray for your earthly needs. In this intersession of needs grace is given to all. I usually ask them to pray for my bible study.
 
One of the best ways to pray for the holy souls in purgatory–or indeed for a specific one–is to pray the de profundis:

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine ;
Domine, exaudi vocem meam. Fiant aures tuæ intendentes in vocem deprecationis meæ.
Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit ?
Quia apud te propitiatio est ; et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine. Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus ;
speravit anima mea in Domino.
A custodia matutina usque ad noctem, speret Israël in Domino ;
quia apud Dominum misericordia, et copiosa apud eum redemptio.
Et ipse redimet Israël ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

Gloria patri…

See Psalm 129 for the English. It is customary to follow a psalm with the “Glory Be”, i.e., “Glory be to the father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.”

A little-known and -practiced devotion is to sprinkle a bit of holy water downward when you use holy water. The holy souls in purgatory very much appreciate this alleviation from their sufferings.
By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. Jn 13:35
 
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Beaver:
I found the best is to ask them to pray for your earthly needs. In this intersession of needs grace is given to all. I usually ask them to pray for my bible study.
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Please don’t allow me to diminish in any way your devotion to the holy souls in purgatory. I just want to point out that they really need our prayers, as they are suffering. They are suffering in immense joy, because they know they will be granted the presence of God but must face the consequences of their sins first. After they are released from their needful penance, they can indeed pray for us, as they increase the glory of heaven and help us win the battle.

Also, add the holy souls in purgatory to your Rosary prayer intentions. That’s another good thing to do.
 
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csr:
One of the best ways to pray for the holy souls in purgatory–or indeed for a specific one–is to pray the de profundis:

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine ;
Domine, exaudi vocem meam. Fiant aures tuæ intendentes in vocem deprecationis meæ.
Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit ?
Quia apud te propitiatio est ; et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine. Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus ;
speravit anima mea in Domino.
A custodia matutina usque ad noctem, speret Israël in Domino ;
quia apud Dominum misericordia, et copiosa apud eum redemptio.
Et ipse redimet Israël ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

Gloria patri…

Also, add the holy souls in purgatory to your Rosary prayer intentions. That’s another good thing to do.
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Unfortunately, this is all over my head. I read a few Fulton Sheen books and just started RCIA.
At this time, speaking latin will be meaningless for me. And I do not yet know how to pray the Rosary very good – unless I’m praying with others in Church. And even there I am mostly just saying the Hail Marys and Our Fathers. I’ll look up the “Holy Souls in Purgatory” prayer.

On my first visit to the Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (I was somewhat divinely guided to go there that day) it was so beautiful. Others were praying the rosary when I walked in. So I sat down towards the front and joined in prayer. For a few minutes I even thought I might be dead and in purgatory. For a little while, I thought all you Catholics were wrong about purgatory being a place of suffering. To me it seemed a place of preparation through prayer. I didn’t think about purgatory and being alive or dead too much because if I was in purgatory I didn’t want to be distracted from what I was supposed to do. Silly me. When Mass started, it was more obvious that I was still in the land of the living.

So my question really is this: how do I pray for a soul in purgatory? Last night, not really knowing how, I prayed anyway. God is merciful.
 
When we cannot find the words to pray, the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with “inexpressible groanings”. Open yourself up in any mode of prayer that has always been comfortable for you, use the time to praise God, to thank God, to ask his help in forgiving anyone who has injured you, in asking his forgiveness for your sins, and in asking him to take care of the needs, which He alone knows completely, of yourself, those close to you, those in purgatory, and all those in need.
 
Below are two of the prayers often used to pray for the souls in purgatory. The Communion of Saints is merely a belief in the power of prayer continuing on beyond earthly death. We can pray for a particular soul, as you have in mind, but also can pray for any soul who needs prayers, but has no one to pray for him.

Also, I highly recommend praying a Scriptural rosary as a way of helping to stay focused on the mysteries of the rosary. A nice one that has been updated to include the new Luminous Mysteries can be found in an inexpensive paperback prayerbook, “The Gold Book of Prayers,” published by Queenship Press, I think. (It cost me $3.50) when I bought the updated version. The version that is updated for the Luminous Mysteries is stamped "Revised " on the cover in the upper right hand corner.

Welcome Home to the Catholic Church. You will be so blessed by reaching out to the saints and souls of Purgatory. As we pray for them, of for them to pray for us, they will also remember us in their prayers!

In Christ’s peace and joy,

Robin L. in TX

The Eternal Rest Prayer
V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.

And may their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

(Note: You can get a partial indulgence for the Souls by saying this prayer.)

Petition to Mary for the Suffering Souls

O Immaculate Mother, Queen of Heaven, hear the cries of your suffering children in purgatory and intercede for them at the throne of the Almight. Behold in them, O Mother most faithful, the image of your Divine Son Who offered Himself in their behalf. Recall His bitter passion and death, and see in them His very sufferings. We feel confident, then, O Mother of Mercy, that you will obtain their liberation; so that they, in union with you and the choir of Heaven, may contemplate the Beatific Vision in heaven forever. Amen.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Amen.
 
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jmm08:
So my question really is this: how do I pray for a soul in purgatory? Last night, not really knowing how, I prayed anyway. God is merciful.
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You can say the Rosary or any of the prayers you have memorized with the intention of the souls in purgatory in mind. You can also speak to God in your own words, asking Him to have mercy on a particular soul, or all of them, or the one most in need or the one most forgotten, or whomever. You can also offer your work and/or your daily sufferings for the souls in purgatory. Just say something like, “Dear God, I offer You this hour of work for So-and-so,” or “Dear God, I offer You this headache for the souls in purgatory.” You can pray for the living in the same way, by the way.

Betsy
 
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baltobetsy:
You can say the Rosary or any of the prayers you have memorized with the intention of the souls in purgatory in mind. You can also speak to God in your own words, asking Him to have mercy on a particular soul, or all of them, or the one most in need or the one most forgotten, or whomever. You can also offer your work and/or your daily sufferings for the souls in purgatory. Just say something like, “Dear God, I offer You this hour of work for So-and-so,” or “Dear God, I offer You this headache for the souls in purgatory.” You can pray for the living in the same way, by the way.

Betsy
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Thanks Betsy,

I think your answer is what I needed to hear. It is also what I did last night. I just said “Jesus, these prayers are for Father May if he is still in purgatory otherwise they are for Larry if he is there”. And prayed an Our Father and ten Hail Marys. What you say is easy to do and doesn’t require me to memorize any more than what I already know right now.
 
I would like to say that you can very much pray the Rosary and dedicate it to the souls in Purgatory.

I would attach the Eternal Rest prayer after each mystery.

Or I would pray 3 or 10 Hail Mary’s and add the Eternal Rest Prayer.

Prayer is certainly up to you. We have all the tools we need. You can put them together the way you see fit. What’s important is your intention because it is what God will see and He will manage your prayers.
 
It is also acceptable to offer up your daily sufferings for the souls in purgatory.

For example, you are feeling miserable because you have a cold…offer it up by simply saying, “Holy Spirit, I offer up my cold (my suffering, my illness, etc.) for the souls in purgatory.”

You can offer up anything from a good happy moment, to a grumpy mood, a traffic jam or sickness.

God Bless you for helping out the souls. They will, in turn, pray for you.
 
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jmm08:
Unfortunately, this is all over my head. I read a few Fulton Sheen books and just started RCIA.
At this time, speaking latin will be meaningless for me. And I do not yet know how to pray the Rosary very good – unless I’m praying with others in Church. And even there I am mostly just saying the Hail Marys and Our Fathers. I’ll look up the “Holy Souls in Purgatory” prayer.

On my first visit to the Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (I was somewhat divinely guided to go there that day) it was so beautiful. Others were praying the rosary when I walked in. So I sat down towards the front and joined in prayer. For a few minutes I even thought I might be dead and in purgatory. For a little while, I thought all you Catholics were wrong about purgatory being a place of suffering. To me it seemed a place of preparation through prayer. I didn’t think about purgatory and being alive or dead too much because if I was in purgatory I didn’t want to be distracted from what I was supposed to do. Silly me. When Mass started, it was more obvious that I was still in the land of the living.

So my question really is this: how do I pray for a soul in purgatory? Last night, not really knowing how, I prayed anyway. God is merciful.
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Here is the english of what csr posted.
1 Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. 3 If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it. 4 For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word: 5 My soul hath hoped in the Lord.
6 From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord. 7 Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption. 8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
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You can follow the other things csr said also.
 
Dear Friend

You may also offer up to God our Father any sufferings you endure for the Glory of God and for the Holy Souls in Pergatory for their raising into Heaven.Also at the end of every prayer you make ask for them to be united with God our Father in heaven and call on His mercy upon them.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
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jmm08:
So my question is this. How do I pray for a soul in purgatory? If he isn’t there, then my prayers are used for somebody else in purgatory – is that right?
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Mother Angelica addressed this question and I wish I could remember her exact words it amounted to ‘extra glory’ for that soul in heaven…it was the first time I had ever heard of this…did anyone else happen to catch this program…it was on last week?
Annunciata:)
 
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baltobetsy:
You can say the Rosary or any of the prayers you have memorized with the intention of the souls in purgatory in mind. You can also speak to God in your own words, asking Him to have mercy on a particular soul, or all of them, or the one most in need or the one most forgotten, or whomever. You can also offer your work and/or your daily sufferings for the souls in purgatory. Just say something like, “Dear God, I offer You this hour of work for So-and-so,” or “Dear God, I offer You this headache for the souls in purgatory.” You can pray for the living in the same way, by the way.

Betsy
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I’ve been a Catholic for over 30 years and here’s how I see Purgatory:

I am in purgatory right now. I spend each day sinning and repenting. My soul is sick and needs healing and so much preparation for my journey to my Lord. I pray that people are sending prayers to God on my behalf so that when I am called to final atonement God will recognize me and take me to Him.

Maybe it’s my good ole Presbyterian background (the frozen Chosen) that makes me think this way. If purgatory is a holding tank for Heaven or Hell then what better place to test our worthiness and our desire to be with Him than on this earthly plain full of so many chances to practice our Faith.

He has prepared a place for me in Heaven. Not in purgatory. Purgatory is right here. Please pray for me that He will know me when He takes me.

You are all in my daily prayers.

Peace to all,
Terry
 
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