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Pete_1
Guest
What happens if you pray for a dead person and they are in Hell?
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Della
Guest
Firstly, we cannot know who is in hell and who isn’t. The Church doesn’t ever say who is there because it has not been revealed to us.
Any prayers we offer for others is good. No prayers “go to waste”. If we pray for an individual who is in hell, those prayers will help those who are not there yet.
It’s why we often pray for “poor sinners”, to pray especially for all those who are in danger of going to hell.
The Fatima Prayer we pray at the end of each decade of the rosary addresses this:
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
Any prayers we offer for others is good. No prayers “go to waste”. If we pray for an individual who is in hell, those prayers will help those who are not there yet.
It’s why we often pray for “poor sinners”, to pray especially for all those who are in danger of going to hell.
The Fatima Prayer we pray at the end of each decade of the rosary addresses this:
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
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Chaldean_Rite
Guest
Praying FOR a dead person versus praying TO a dead person are not the same.
You cannot pray TO anyone unless He/She is a Cannoized Saint. So if you have a loved one who went to their maker, you have no authority to ask for their intercession since we do not know where they are, but a Cannoized person, we know their location: Heaven.
If you pray for the repose of a soul who, God forbid, merited Hell, those prayers do not go in vain since they go to the treasury of the Church.
God Bless
You cannot pray TO anyone unless He/She is a Cannoized Saint. So if you have a loved one who went to their maker, you have no authority to ask for their intercession since we do not know where they are, but a Cannoized person, we know their location: Heaven.
If you pray for the repose of a soul who, God forbid, merited Hell, those prayers do not go in vain since they go to the treasury of the Church.
God Bless
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lizaanne
Guest
I don’t believe either of the previous posters said anything about praying TO a person.
~Liza
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Chaldean_Rite
Guest
Yea, I think I answered a little more than the OP asked: only for completness.I don’t believe either of the previous posters said anything about praying TO a person.
~Liza
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CentralFLJames
Guest
It is actually possible to pray for a dead person be granted supernatural mercy at their hour of death. This is a prayer-warrior tactic I use that takes advantage of the theological fact that God is outside of Time and Space and is omniscient. God can hear all our prayers spoken “now” in our time in the context of Eternity - which is always “now”. So what I am saying is if you pray for a dead person you can ask God to grant that person mercy at the time right before their death - essentially a death bed conversion or confession and repentance.
There are of course no guarantees but it can not hurt. And as one person mentions no prayer goes to waste - ever. Prayers are eternal before God and in heaven there is no corruption. If God does not grant you your prayers He will use them at His discretion for the highest and best usage. For example he might perhaps offset some of your temporal debts for forgiven sins (to reduce your purgatory time), or apply them to some other deserving soul - perhaps within your own famly or ancestor etc.
James
James
There are of course no guarantees but it can not hurt. And as one person mentions no prayer goes to waste - ever. Prayers are eternal before God and in heaven there is no corruption. If God does not grant you your prayers He will use them at His discretion for the highest and best usage. For example he might perhaps offset some of your temporal debts for forgiven sins (to reduce your purgatory time), or apply them to some other deserving soul - perhaps within your own famly or ancestor etc.
James
James
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