Souls in purgatory

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AndrewRuki

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Peace be with you.

I have been asking this question a few times and have received mixed answers. Some say yes and the others no. Someone even threatened to demonstrate rigor mortis on his middle finger when I challenged him. 😃

Simply: Can the Souls, in Purgatory, pray for us?

Please do enlighten me.

Dominus vobiscum.
 
AndrewRuki said:
Peace be with you.

I have been asking this question a few times and have received mixed answers. Some say yes and the others no. Someone even threatened to demonstrate rigor mortis on his middle finger when I challenged him. 😃

Simply: Can the Souls, in Purgatory, pray for us?

Please do enlighten me.

Dominus vobiscum.
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We certainly should pray for them, because we know they cannot pray for themselves. But, there’s actually no official position, or even a real definitive answer to that question, coming from the Church. But, the Church doesn’t condemn the practice, either. There has been some discussion by theologians, who have given conflicting opinions about it in the past. But, there are many saints who’ve had a devotion to the souls in Purgatory, who also prayed to them for their assistance. Many have also encouraged us to pray for them, as well as to them.

Since the Church refers to them as the Holy Souls in Purgatory, we know that they are holy and are assured of Heaven. Personally, I have no problem believing that they can assist us in our needs. The teaching of the Church on the Communion of Saints would also seem to support that position.
 
This is what I found in the Catechism:

958 Communion with the dead. “In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and ‘because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’ she offers her suffrages for them.” (498) ** Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.**

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2B.HTM

amsjj 🙂

+++
Jesus, God and man,
imprisoned by love in Thy most holy Sacrament,
have mercy upon us.
  • Blessed John Henry Newman, December 22, 1851
TĂș y yo sabemos por la fe que oculto en las especies sacramentales estĂĄ Cristo,
ese Cristo con su Cuerpo, con su Sangre, con su Alma, y con su Divinidad,
prisonero de amor.
  • San JosemarĂ­a EscrivĂĄ, 1 junio 1974
God loves to be resisted in His displeasure, and to be restrained by the humble from inflicting punishment
 One saint will often save a nation; so true is it that humble souls are the hinges on which God moves the world.
  • Abp. W. B. Ullathorne, The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues, 1882.
 
I once read an article that someone wrote, she had committed suicide and her near death experience sent her to purgatory. She said while there, that the people were so engrossed in them selves that they had no perception of anybody around even being next to them. So, I don’t think that they would be aware enough to pray for anybody if this is true.
 
Why does it matter? I don’t mean to pick on the O.P. specifically, because it’s a question that gets kicked around quite a bit – obsessing IMO over Purgatory and interfacing with them. For example, who sets out the math that X prayers can “help” Y people in Purgatory? (Personally I think it’s all just made-up anyway by theological minds that are trying to connect dots beyond where they have any experience or reliable knowledge.

I think we pay entirely too much attention in worrying about Purgatory and the souls that may or may not be in it, and how we can or can’t contact those spirits and/or do stuff on their behalf, or them us, and other theological endeavors and inquiries into whether there really is an answer. Because there isn’t. We’ve heard from saints who have had visions and they are just that – visions intended for the saint to have seen.

Drawing conclusions from them is no better than making up your own fantasy. So make up how you think it works, and so what if you’re wrong? Sure, why not? If it makes us feel better to think they are praying, who cares if you’re wrong? Nothing you do on this earth should depend on it, unless it becomes an obsession or bone of contention, in which case it might be working against you. Or distraction, which isn’t so far fetched.

God isn’t going to care how much Catholic theology we know when we die. Nor does He care how much Catholic theology we know now.

God spoke to us through His Son, who taught almost no theology although since he was as child He knew theology as well as anyone around. He put love, and unconditional mercy, and failure to rate this person better than that person, as His very first agenda – and since the theology was too arcane for the people to understand, He had to break it down for them until one of them finally figured out what He was getting at. Love of ourselves and neighbor is what it boils down to.
 
truthquester said:
I once read an article that someone wrote, she had committed suicide and her near death experience sent her to purgatory. She said while there, that the people were so engrossed in them selves that they had no perception of anybody around even being next to them. So, I don’t think that they would be aware enough to pray for anybody if this is true.
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Am I missing something? If someone committed suicide they are dead. How could tell anything to anyone?
 
I am certain that they can pray for us but the real point is that WE should pray for them without expecting anything in return. I cannot even imagine the loss they feel

 
asia53 said:
Here’s a video answer (3 minutes, 15 seconds) to the question from Tim Staples, Catholic Answers, Director of Apologists:

Can the souls in purgatory pray for us?

Yes, they can pray for us, and do pray for us.
/QUOTE]

It’s really kind of weird, how much detail this man presumes to know about the souls in Purgatory. And how they think and feel – like at 1:20 whereas they love us more than we love them? How is any of this tied to teachings of Jesus?
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