Mass for the dead

[abinjoy]

Will the purgatory stay of a soul be reduced by offering many masses for them?

 

[Vico]

Will the purgatory stay of a soul be reduced by offering many masses for them?

Catechism of the Catholic Church

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY
…
1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."609 From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.610 The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.611

609 2 Macc 12:46.
610 Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 856.
611 St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor. 41,5: PG 61,361; cf. Job 1:5.
DS Denzinger-Schonmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum (1965)
PG J.P. Migne, ed., Patroligia Greaca (Paris, 1867-1866)​

 

[Tis_Bearself]

It’s traditional to have 30 Gregorian Masses said for the dead person. I do this for my close relatives and in other cases where a friend has died with his status in some doubt (i.e. potential suicide).
When I do this along with attempting to obtain a plenary indulgence for a dead person in one of the ways permitted by the Enchiridion, I feel I can have confidence that I have done all I can do for that particular soul and that they should be in Heaven.

ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur267.htm

 

[Gorgias]

Will the purgatory stay of a soul be reduced by offering many masses for them?

Can you put a length of ‘time’ on purgation? If not, then what does it mean for the “length of time of a purgatory stay to be reduced”?

We pray for the souls of the departed, that God’s will might be done and they attain to heaven. I’m not sure “length of time” or even “diminishing of suffering” is what we should be praying for…

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Can you put a length of ‘time’ on purgation? If not, then what does it mean for the “length of time of a purgatory stay to be reduced”?

We pray for the souls of the departed, that God’s will might be done and they attain to heaven. I’m not sure “length of time” or even “diminishing of suffering” is what we should be praying for…

It’s understood that God’s time is not the same as our time. However, the Catechism (CCC 1032) indicates that our prayers bring the souls in Purgatory some “consolation”, which could be interpreted as either lessening their suffering or bringing them to Heaven faster. Although we’re not obligated to believe in private revelation, it seems like the private revelation from saints who reported about Purgatory also expressed the effect of prayers on souls in Purgatory as lessening their torment and ultimately helping them somehow get to Heaven, in some cases more quickly than they would have got there without the prayers.

The one “time” mistake people make is in relation to the old manuals of indulgences that would give you 300 days indulgence for saying a certain prayer. People would take that to mean it was 300 days off your purgatory stay, which was wrong as it was supposed to mean the equivalent of 300 days of penance on earth, from back in the days when sinners were assigned very long penances. They now don’t state any specific number of days, just partial or plenary.

 

[Vico]

It’s understood that God’s time is not the same as our time. However, the Catechism (CCC 1032) indicates that our prayers bring the souls in Purgatory some “consolation”, which could be interpreted as either lessening their suffering or bringing them to Heaven faster. Although we’re not obligated to believe in private revelation, it seems like the private revelation from saints who reported about Purgatory also expressed the effect of prayers on souls in Purgatory as lessening their torment and ultimately helping them somehow get to Heaven, in some cases more quickly than they would have got there without the prayers.

The one “time” mistake people make is in relation to the old manuals of indulgences that would give you 300 days indulgence for saying a certain prayer. People would take that to mean it was 300 days off your purgatory stay, which was wrong as it was supposed to mean the equivalent of 300 days of penance on earth, from back in the days when sinners were assigned very long penances. They now don’t state any specific number of days, just partial or plenary.

To be precise, Pope Paul VI wrote:

1. … The aim pursued by ecclesiastical authority in granting indulgences is not only that of helping the faithful to expiate the punishment due sin but also that of urging them to perform works of piety, penitence and charity—particularly those which lead to growth in faith and which favor the common good.(39)

And if the faithful offer indulgences in suffrage for the dead, they cultivate charity in an excellent way and while raising their minds to heaven, they bring a wiser order into the things of this world.
…
12. … Regarding partial indulgences, with the abolishment of the former determination of days and years, a new norm or measurement has been established which takes into consideration the action itself of the faithful Christian who performs a work to which an indulgence is attached.

Since by their acts the faithful can obtain, in addition to the merit which is the principal fruit of the act, a further remission of temporal punishment in proportion to the degree to which the charity of the one performing the act is greater, and in proportion to the degree to which the act itself is performed in a more perfect way, it has been considered fitting that this remission of temporal punishment which the Christian faithful acquire through an action should serve as the measurement for the remission of punishment which the ecclesiastical authority bountifully adds by way of partial indulgence.

w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_01011967_indulgentiarum-doctrina.html

 

[poche]

Will the purgatory stay of a soul be reduced by offering many masses for them?

yes

 

[Liturgy_Geek_1]

I pray for all my deceased ancestors and my parents at the elevation of the chalice at every Mass I attend. Does this practice benefit my deceased loved ones in purgatory?

 

[reggieM]

It’s traditional to have 30 Gregorian Masses said for the dead person. I do this for my close relatives and in other cases where a friend has died with his status in some doubt (i.e. potential suicide).
When I do this along with attempting to obtain a plenary indulgence for a dead person in one of the ways permitted by the Enchiridion, I feel I can have confidence that I have done all I can do for that particular soul and that they should be in Heaven.

ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur267.htm

That is a beautiful practice.

 

[reggieM]

I pray for all my deceased ancestors and my parents at the elevation of the chalice at every Mass I attend. Does this practice benefit my deceased loved ones in purgatory?

Yes

 

[poche]

yes

There is a beautiful story that I heard related to this. Around 1871 an atheist from France immigrated to Brazil with his wife and two young daughters. He openned a pharmacy. One day when he went to work he dropped dead. His widow sold the pharmacy and moved back to France. One of her daughters entered a convent which sent her to live in the United States. One day during the 1930s she was at mass and she heard a voice. “Reejoice and be glad. Great is teh mercy of God. This is the day that your father enters Heaven.”
You see, every day at teh elevation at mas this sister prayed for the the repose of teh soul of her father.

 

[Liturgy_Geek_1]

There is a beautiful story that I heard related to this. Around 1871 an atheist from France immigrated to Brazil with his wife and two young daughters. He opened a pharmacy. One day when he went to work he dropped dead. His widow sold the pharmacy and moved back to France. One of her daughters entered a convent which sent her to live in the United States. One day during the 1930s she was at mass and she heard a voice. “Rejoice and be glad. Great is the mercy of God. This is the day that your father enters Heaven.”
You see, every day at the elevation at mas this sister prayed for the the repose of the soul of her father.

Thank you. I am glad to know that my practice will benefit my ancestors, my husband’s ancestors and my parents. You all have brought comfort to me. I hope that someday I hear the same wonderful news about my parents.Thank you again.