Prayers concerning the deceased

[dizzy_dave]

How do you pray for a person if you are not sure if they are in Heaven, Hell or purgatory? What if you think the person you are praying for in Purgatory is actually in Hell? How are we supposed to know? Do we still pray for them if they are in Hell or are these prayers wasted? Does anybody know? Thank you!

 

[JustSomeGuy]

wow, that’s a tough one for me too. i know some people who died and apparently weren’t in good standing.

1. you don’t stop hoping in God’s mercy until He tells you to stop. we don’t really know anything.
2. prayer is never wasted! the Lord may not grant whatever you ask, whenever you ask, but an unfulfilled request isn’t wasted. even if you pray for the impossible. remember that your prayers affect you too, even when you aren’t praying for yourself. you are being who you should be and getting better at it, whenever you are turning to God. He’ll feel a little used if you only turn to Him when you know you’re going to get what you ask for.
3. if you insist on being absolutely accurate in all your prayers, then the only thing you’ll ever be able to say to Him is “Thy will be done.” you should make that prayer first and foremost, and then tell Him if He is willing to make things go your way, you have a list for Him. if it is your special day of getting your friends anything you ask for, it would be pretty bad if you talk yourself out of asking.
4. if i were in hell, i’d want you to pray for me. it may not help, but it can’t hurt. keeping the damned in mind can remind you of what’s right. in a indirect way, they can lead you to heaven. it’s like you’re making points for them. maybe that’ll be some weird loophole at the final judgement that Jesus uses to help them out. (probably not, but maybe, just maybe…)

 

[turboEDvo]

When one of my friends died, I couldn’t really be sure about it, so I just prayed for him. I prayed that no matter where he was/is, that he makes it to Heaven. There isn’t any certitude, I’m just praying that it will make a difference. Remember, it doesn’t really matter where souls go, they are still in God’s dominion. He has control, so I’ll ask Him no matter what.

Eamon

 

[jrabs]

No prayer is wasted. If you are praying for a soul who has already been received into heaven or hell, then Jesus and The Blessed Mother will give the prayers to those in need.

Your prayers will be used so keep on praying and hoping. And since we cannot be sure where the soul is, then keep right on praying for them.

 

[JimG]

You can’t possibly know the state of a person’s soul or his eternal destiny. It is never wrong to pray for the deceased, and our prayers are never wasted. God puts them to use in any case. Who is to say that the prayers you say for many years after the death of a person might not all be applied at the instant of that person’s death when they really needed it? Our duty is only to pray. God decides how to apply the prayers.

 

[Tintin]

I am reminded of a story I once heard about Padre Pio.

A visitor came to Padre Pio and found him at prayer. When Padre Pio stopped so as to give attention to his visitor, they had a conversation, which I reproduce (heavily paraphrased due to my poor memory) below:

Visitor: What were you praying about?
Padre Pio: I am praying for my father to have a holy death.
Visitor: But your father died many years ago!!
Padre Pio: What’s that got to do with it?

 

[mpav]

I like the Padre Pio story. It reminds me of something I read years ago about a society dedicated to Richard III, which celebrates a mass for him every year, and tries to rehabilitate his memory. A nun who taught me at the time pointed out that as God exists outside of time, all events are seen as happening at once, so prayers are what we might call retroactive. He perceivesthe prayers we say for the good of the soul of Richard III or any deceased as happening before, during and after their death.

It also reminds me of Padre Pio saying that during the Consecration he would see the souls of departed brother monks gathered around ythe altar begging for his prayers and offered Communions.

 

[Marysgirl]

I wasn’t raised Catholic and of course the protestant churches that I attended didn’t believe in praying for the dead. However, from the time I was a teenager, I felt led to pray for certain individuals after their death. I still to this day pray for the same individuals adding additional names to my list as God puts them on my heart. I believe if we are faithful to listen to Gods direction we are helping them. I always believed this because God put it in my heart. One of the persons that I pray for took me awhile to start praying for him because I couldn’t see how he would be anywhere but hell. Then one day I felt convicted because I was judging him and started including him in my prayers for mercy and to ease his suffering. So I pray for all souls in purgatory and I have a list of those that God specifically leads me to pray for individually. The fact that God is outside of time so our prays can affect more than we know is a real comfort to me.

 

[Fashina86]

Well, we never really know if they are actually in Heaven. The Church canonizes saints because they believe that these people are in Heaven. My family and I keep the intentions of poor souls in purgatory every time we pray, and pray for diseased loved ones for a year and a day after their death… Then, we also pray on the anniversaries of deaths… but we aren’t dead, in Heaven, or God, so we can never really know!

God Bless–JMJ
Laura