Praying for people in Purgatory

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This topic has been gnawing at me for some time.

My Nanna died 4 years ago. She wasn’t in a state of mortal sin that I know of, but as we do not know God’s will, I am presuming she went to Purgatory.

As it is not known how long people stay in Purgatory, do I keep praying like I do that she is finally out of there and in Heaven?

I will never know of course when or if she gets out of Purgatory, so do I just keep praying for her to be let in to Heaven for the rest of my life?

Or is there a Catholic teaching on how long we are to pray for souls in Purgatory?

I hope that makes sense.
 
kellie said:
This topic has been gnawing at me for some time.

My Nanna died 4 years ago. She wasn’t in a state of mortal sin that I know of, but as we do not know God’s will, I am presuming she went to Purgatory.

As it is not known how long people stay in Purgatory, do I keep praying like I do that she is finally out of there and in Heaven?

I will never know of course when or if she gets out of Purgatory, so do I just keep praying for her to be let in to Heaven for the rest of my life?

Or is there a Catholic teaching on how long we are to pray for souls in Purgatory?

I hope that makes sense.
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Continue to pray for her. All who undergo purgation are helped by our prayers. And the purging is only temporary, there is no “IF she gets out.” You will see her in Heaven. Pray until then.
 
A similar question was asked at EWTN a few years ago, here

Your faithfulness in prayer is commendable. Continue as you are able. Your prayers are never wasted. If your Nanna can’t benefit from your prayers for her because she is in Hell or because she is already in Heaven, then your prayers for her are applied to someone in Purgatory who can benefit from them.
 
kellie said:
This topic has been gnawing at me for some time.

My Nanna died 4 years ago. She wasn’t in a state of mortal sin that I know of, but as we do not know God’s will, I am presuming she went to Purgatory.

As it is not known how long people stay in Purgatory, do I keep praying like I do that she is finally out of there and in Heaven?

I will never know of course when or if she gets out of Purgatory, so do I just keep praying for her to be let in to Heaven for the rest of my life?

Or is there a Catholic teaching on how long we are to pray for souls in Purgatory?

I hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...
Kellie,

Excellent question. If you go back and review the appearances of Mary at Fatima, you will find that she made a comment about purgatory. I haven’t looked this up so I am paraphrasing here. One of the children asked Mary if a 19 year old friend who recently died was in heaven. Mary responded by saying that she was in heaven but would be in purgatory until the end of time! This really got my attention because if a 19 year old will be in purgatory until the end of time…I hate to think of where I’ll be. So pray, pray and pray somemore for people in purgatory.

One thing I try to do for deceased family and friends is earn them a plenary indulgence by saying the rosary. The conditions to earn a plenary indulgence are printed in most rosary guides. You can also earn a plenary indulgence for a living soul (including yourself).

The power of the Rosary is incredible.

Iowa Mike
 
There is an excellent podcast about Purgatory at the link in my signature. It’s about 40 minutes long, and is one of the best explainations of Purgatory I’ve ever heard.

Yes - continue to pray for her, and for all those souls who have no one to pray for them. Those who have been forgotten or died alone and unknown. They all need our prayers.

EDIT: Use this link instead, it’s easier to find them: catholictelevision.org/

~Liza
 
I would also recommend that you enroll yourself and your loved ones in a Purgatorial Society, such as Friends of Suffering Souls: knocknovena.com/

You man enroll both living and deceased members of your family, and your only obligation is to have a mass said one time a year for each person you have enrolled. I know that having masses said for people in purgatory are the best ways to get them out of there. And as Mike mentioned in his post, gain as many indulgences, especially plenary indulgences, as you can. They really aren’t that hard to obtain, and offer as many as you can for the souls in purgatory. If you need help finding the norms for indulgences, let me know and I’ll hook you up with a link.
 
Talk to your spiritual director and see if it is acceptable to ask for a sign.
 
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