Anyone in Heaven has no need of prayers FOR them. Prayers should be said for souls in Purgatory as that might reduce time spent there.I know that we are encouraged to pray to saints for their intercession.
Is it appropriate to pray for saints, given that they are already in Heaven and don’t need prayers anymore?
Yet as we are unable to judge the souls of anyone we have no idea who is there so should still pray with subjective hope even for those we fear may be there.Prayers are wasted for those in Hell.
I agree that we should pray for people we might think, but don’t know, are in Hell but on a general level someone simply saying “I pray for all the souls in Hell” is a complete waste of time.Yet as we are unable to judge the souls of anyone we have no idea who is there so should still pray with subjective hope even for those we fear may be there.
Part of canonization is declaring that the person is in heaven, and this declaration is held to be infallible. But if a given person is simply admired and not canonized, by all means we should pray for their eternal rest.On the other hand, might it be possible that someone thought to be in Heaven is actually doing time in Purgatory, in which case they would certainly benefit from prayers?