Praying for people in purgatory

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MarianDreams

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Does each person in purgatory have a little “purg-o-meter” (so to speak) where people who pray for that person’s prayers go until they add up to enough to spring the soul into Heaven?

It seems unfair that prayer after death could mean the difference between staying in purgatory or going to be with God. What about people who don’t have a lot of friends or family praying for their soul?

It doesn’t seem very fair that God would say, “Sorry, Buddy - you’ve got to hang out here until enough people pray for you!” I mean, don’t you have to get to Heaven on your own merit? Should I go around now making sure everyone I know prays for me a ton if/when I die? How are the prayers valued? By length? By fervency? If I spend two hours praying for a dead relative, is that better than spending 20 minutes?

I am very confused how this whole “getting someone out of purgatory” deal works. It doesn’t seem very God-like that He would allow people to be there at the mercy of free-willed people on Earth.
 
MarianDreams said:
Does each person in purgatory have a little “purg-o-meter” (so to speak) where people who pray for that person’s prayers go until they add up to enough to spring the soul into Heaven? No. I mean really, no. And you do realize that everybody in purgatory does go to heaven? And that they aren’t exactly in a place where ‘time’ as we know it exists? IOW, you could die tomorrow, and between the time you die 5000 years could pass here on earth before you go to heaven from purgatory, but YOU YOURSELF would not be ‘aware’ that it has been 5000 YEARS. However, if after 4999 years Jesus returned for the Second Coming, well by golly, you would have been in purgatory from death until ‘judgment day’. But your stay would not have been predictated on the idea that, 'oh, you’re so evil, you have to stay here until the Second coming." And instead of feeling like you went through 100 lifetimes of torment- since time does not exist outside death–what you experienced might have seemed like an INSTANT when you had a flash of purging FIRE and then saw Jesus coming on the clouds.

It seems unfair that prayer after death could mean the difference between staying in purgatory or going to be with God. What about people who don’t have a lot of friends or family praying for their soul? So you think God is ‘unfair’ based on your misunderstanding of ‘purg-o-meters’. Hopefully now you have a better understanding.

It doesn’t seem very fair that God would say, “Sorry, Buddy - you’ve got to hang out here until enough people pray for you!” I mean, don’t you have to get to Heaven on your own merit? Should I go around now making sure everyone I know prays for me a ton if/when I die? How are the prayers valued? By length? By fervency? If I spend two hours praying for a dead relative, is that better than spending 20 minutes? With respect, you are REALLY off here. No one, but NO ONE, ‘merits’ or deserves heaven or gets there on his/her good deeds. And your somewhat ‘flippant’ questions are still based on your misunderstandings. PLEASE go to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and read about Purgatory so that you have a correct understanding.

I am very confused how this whole “getting someone out of purgatory” deal works. It doesn’t seem very God-like that He would allow people to be there at the mercy of free-willed people on Earth.
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Perhaps you would be kind enough to show us exactly where you got the ‘teaching’. Perhaps seeing what was said completely, and in context, would be better than reading some ‘cherry picked’ quotes followed by strawmen suppositions.
 
NOBODY gets to heaven on their own merit. The merit is all Jesus’.
 
This is why, every single time my husband and I, and our friends, say grace at meals, we always say the following prayer along with the traditional grace:

Eternal rest grant until all of our dead family and friends oh Lord, and may Your perpetual light shine upon them. May they and the souls of all the faithfully departed, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HAVE NO ONE TO PRAY FOR THEM, through Your sweet mercy Jesus, rest in peace.

No prayer is ever wasted. If a soul no longer requires prayers, don’t worry, God knows where to apply them. 🙂

~Liza
 
Tantum_ergo said:
Perhaps you would be kind enough to show us exactly where you got the ‘teaching’. Perhaps seeing what was said completely, and in context, would be better than reading some ‘cherry picked’ quotes followed by strawmen suppositions.
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Go easy, most people (even most Catholics) don’t understand much about Purgatory. She’s just asking questions.

~Liza
 
lizaanne said:
Go easy, most people (even most Catholics) don’t understand much about Purgatory. She’s just asking questions.

~Liza
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True. Sorry OP, I did not mean to come down too hard on you. I apologize for anything unkind or uncharitable in those last couple of sentences, and thank you Liza, for bringing it to my attention. 🙂
 
Tantum_ergo said:
True. Sorry OP, I did not mean to come down too hard on you. I apologize for anything unkind or uncharitable in those last couple of sentences, and thank you Liza, for bringing it to my attention. 🙂
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Thank you for that. Your first post really hurt my feelings. I actually teared up reading it because I was so taken aback at how angry and condescending you seemed. I accept your apology. It is as though it never happened in my mind, now.
 
OP - please consider watching this program, it will answer tons of questions about this:

click here>>> Purgatory

God bless!!

~Liza
 
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