“Requiem aeternam done eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.“
Prayer for the faithful departed
“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.“
All throughout the month of November, Catholics can obtain partial indulgences for the holy souls in purgatory by praying this Requiem aeternum prayer. It is a prayer we should pray every time we pass by or cross over a cemetery throughout the year.
And on the 2nd November, on All Souls‘ Day, Catholics can merit a full indulgence for the holy souls in purgatory if they visit a church on this day, say an Our Father and a Hail Mary for the intentions of the Holy Father, an Our Father and the Creed, go to Holy Confession (which can happen 20 days before or after the feast), and worthily receive Holy Communion.
Full indulgences are also given from the 1st to the 8th November for devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead, saying an Our Father and a Hail Mary for the intentions of the Holy Father, and partaking of Holy Confession und Holy Communion.
Indulgences are a lessening of the temporal punishment for sins. Through prayers, almsgiving, sacrifices, and especially Holy Masses the Church Militant can help the holy souls in purgatory to be loosed from their sins and to finally enter heaven and enjoy the beatific vision of the Triune God.
We remember the departed souls in a special way in the month of November but should think of them all year long. Saint Gertrude the Great, who lived in the 13th century, left this prayer for us which can be offered up every day:
“Eternal Father, I offer You the most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said today, for all the Holy Souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.“
Prayer by Saint Gertrude the Great for the Holy Souls in purgatory
Let us take a closer look at what Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Church Fathers, and Jacobus de Voragine‘s Golden Legend have to say about purgatory, the pious practice of praying for the dead, and the feast of All Souls‘ Day.
Judas the Maccabee‘s offering for his departed brothers
Some soldiers of the army of the Maccabees died in sin – wearing pagan amulets. Pious Judas knew what to do, how to practice one of the spiritual works of mercy in the good hope that his brothers may be released from the punishment due to their sin:
“And the day following Judas came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers. And they found under the coats of the slain some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews: so that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain.
2 Maccabees 12: 39-46
Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden. And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain. And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,) And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.
It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.“
The Catechism on purgatory
“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1030-1032
The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come. (St Gregory the Great)
This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: ‘Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.‘ From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:
Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them. (St John Crysostom).“
Quotes from the Church Fathers
“A woman, after the death of her husband (…) prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that he may share in the first resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his death, she offers the sacrifice.”
Tertullian, in the year 216
“Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention also of the holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen asleep, for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while this holy and most solemn sacrifice is laid out.”
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, in the year 350
“Weep for those who die in their wealth and who with all their wealth prepared no consolation for their own souls, who had the power to wash away their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for them, let us assist them to the extent of our ability, let us think of some assistance for them, small as it may be, yet let us somehow assist them. But how, and in what way? By praying for them and by entreating others to pray for them, by constantly giving alms to the poor on their behalf. Not in vain was it decreed by the apostles that in the awesome mysteries remembrance should be made of the departed. They knew that here there was much gain for them, much benefit. When the entire people stands with hands uplifted, a priestly assembly, and that awesome sacrificial Victim is laid out, how, when we are calling upon God, should we not succeed in their defense?“
Saint John Crysostom, in the year 402
“But by the prayers of the holy Church, and by the salvific sacrifice, and by the alms which are given for their spirits, there is no doubt that the dead are aided, that the Lord might deal more mercifully with them than their sins would deserve. The whole Church observes this practice which was handed down by the Fathers: that it prays for those who have died in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, when they are commemorated in their own place in the sacrifice itself; and the sacrifice is offered also in memory of them, on their behalf. If, then, works of mercy are celebrated for the sake of those who are being remembered, who would hesitate to recommend them, on whose behalf prayers to God are not offered in vain? It is not at all to be doubted that such prayers are of profit to the dead; but for such of them as lived before their death in a way that makes it possible for these things to be useful to them after death.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo, in the year 411
“That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo, in the year 421
“The time which interposes between the death of a man and the final resurrection holds souls in hidden retreats, accordingly as each is deserving of rest or of hardship, in view of what it merited when it was living in the flesh. Nor can it be denied that the souls of the dead find relief through the piety of their friends and relatives who are still alive, when the Sacrifice of the Mediator [Mass] is offered for them, or when alms are given in the Church. But these things are of profit to those who, when they were alive, merited that they might afterward be able to be helped by these things. There is a certain manner of living, neither so good that there is no need of these helps after death, nor yet so wicked that these helps are of no avail after death.“
All Souls‘ Day and teachings on purgatory according to Jacobus de Voragine‘s Golden Legend
“The commemoration of all the faithful departed was instituted in order that those who have no special suffrages offered for them may be helped by this general memorial (…). Peter Damian says that Saint Odilo, abbot of Cluny, learned that voices and howls of demons were heard near a volcano in Sicily, and that the souls of the dead were being snatched from the demons‘ grasp by the power of alms and prayers. The abbot ordered that after the feast of All Saints a commemoration of the dead be made in his monasteries. Later this practice was approved throughout the Church. (…)
Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend. Readings on the Saints, Princeton University Press 1993, p. 666-675
Those who are to be purged fall into three classes. The first consists of those who die before they have completed the penance imposed on them. However, if while on earth they had contrition of heart great enough to erase their sins, they would pass freely to heavenly life although they had not completed satisfaction, because contrition is the greatest satisfaction for sin and the best way to be cleansed of sin. (…)
There are, in fact, three kinds of penalty or penance: personal, i.e., borne by the sinner himself and voluntarily, and this is the most satisfactory; penance borne by the person himself but not voluntarily, because it is done in purgatory; and penance borne voluntarily by someone else, and this is less satisfactory than the first kind because it is not done by the sinner himself, but more satisfactory than the second kind because it is voluntary. (…) Thus if the person owed a penance of two months in purgatory he could, due to suffrages offered by others, be freed in one month; but he is never released from purgatory until the debt is paid in full. Once it is fully paid, the payment belongs to the one who made it and is credited to him. If he does not need it, it goes into the Church‘s treasury or benefits the souls in purgatory.
The second class of those who go down to purgatory comprises those who indeed have completed the satisfaction imposed upon them, but that satisfaction was not sufficient, due to the ignorance or carelessness of the priest who imposed it. Unless the depth of their contrition supplies the difference, these souls will make up in purgatory what was lacking in the satisfaction they offered in this life. God, who knows how to match punishments to sins in right proportion, adds a sufficient penalty lest some sin go unpunished. The penance enjoined by the priest is either too much or just enough or too little. If it is too much, the excess is credited to the doer for an increase of glory; if it is just right, the whole debt is discharged; if it is not enough, what is left is made up according to the demands of divine justice. (…)
The third class of those descending into purgatory includes those who take wood, hay, and stubble with them, in other words, who are bound by a fleshly attachment to their earthly goods although they love God more than wealth. (…) That fire, as Augustine says, though it is not eternal, nevertheless is so fierce, so hot, that it is more painful than anything anyone suffers in this life. (…)
It is, however, believable that the good angels frequently visit and console their brothers and fellow citizens in purgatory and exhort them to suffer patiently. The souls also have another consoling remedy in that they await with certainty the glory to come. Their certainty about glory is less than that of the souls who are already in heaven, but they are more certain than those still living on earth. The certainty of those who are in heaven waits for nothing and fears nothing. They already possess all they might expect of the future, and there is nothing they can be afraid of losing. The certainty of those still alive on earth, on the contrary, is mixed with expectancy and fear, but that of the souls in purgatory is midway between: they are expectant because they await the future glory, but have no fear because, while they are confirmed in freedom of choice, they also know that they cannot commit sin. They too have another consolation, knowing that prayers and sacrifices are being offered for them. (…)
(…) where purgatory takes place, be it said that the souls are purged in some place located near hell and called purgatory. This is the opinion held by most learned men (…). (…)
Regarding the sacrifices offered in aid of the souls in purgatory, know that there are four kinds which are of maximum benefit, namely, the prayer of the faithful and of friends, almsgiving, the sacrifice of the mass, and the observance of fasts. (…) Treating of fasts along with the other three kinds of suffrage, (Saint Gregory the Great) says: ‘The souls of the dead are released by four means – offerings by priests, prayers of the saints, alms given by friends, and fasting by kinsmen. Penances performed by their friends also are helpful.‘ (…) The Church‘s indulgences also help the dead. (…)
(…) Augustine says that those who depart this life are either very good or very bad or mediocre. Therefore the suffrages done for the very good are acts of thanksgiving, those done for the very bad are in some way consolations for the living, those for the middling have the value of expiation. The very good are those who fly heavenward immediately and are free of both fires, hell and purgatory. The very good fall into three classes – the newly baptized, the martyrs, and the perfect. This third class consists of those who have built perfectly with gold, silver, and precious stones – i.e., with love of God, love of neighbor, and good works – to such a point that they had no thought of pleasing the world but only of pleasing God. They may have committed venial sins, but the fervor of their charity burned away the sin in them like a drop of water on a hot stove. Thus they never take anything with them that needs to be burned away. (…) To these same three kinds of very good persons heaven is opened immediately upon their death, nor do they have to suffer any purgatorial fire. (…)
The very bad are those who sink at once into the depths of hell. (…) They cannot be freed from their pains; their punishment cannot be mitigated or lessened. Their damnation cannot be suspended for a time or even for a moment. They cannot be strengthened to bear their suffering more lightly. In hell there is no redemption.
The mediocre are those who take with them some inflammable materials – wood, hay, stubble – or who, caught unawares by death, cannot complete the sufficient penance imposed upon them. They are neither so good that they do not need our help nor so bad that suffrages would not benefit them. The sacrifices made for them are their expiation. (…) In instituting such suffrages the Church has usually observed three orders of numbers of days, namely, the seventh, the thirtieth, and the anniversary. (…) The seventh day is observed so that the souls of the departed may arrive at the eternal Sabbath of rest, or so that all the sins may be remitted which they committed in life, life being lived seven days at a time, or that they may be forgiven for the sins they committed with the body, which is composed of four elements, and with the soul, which has three powers. The thirtieth day – the number thirty being composed of three decades – is singled out so that their offenses against faith in the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity and the ten commandments of the Decalogue may be purged in them. The anniversary is observed so that from the years of calamity they may come to the years of eternity. Thus, as we celebrate the anniversary of the saints to their honor and our own profit, we mark the anniversary of the departed to their benefit and our devotion. (…)
Next we asked why suffrages offered for the dead actually help them. There are three reasons for this. The first is unity. The dead are one body with the Church militant, and the goods of the latter must be common to all. The second is their dignity. While they were living on earth, they merited to have suffrages benefit them, and it is right that since they helped others, they should be helped by others. The third reason is their need, because in their present state they are unable to help themselves. (…)
Can the dead know that sacrifices have been made to help them? According to Augustine there are three ways by which they may know this. The first is by divine revelation: God himself may reveal it to them. The second is that the good angels may make it known. These angels, who are always with us and observe all our actions, can descend to the souls in an instant and notify them of our aid. The third is through notice brought by souls leaving this world, because they can make this and other things known to the souls in purgatory. There is also a fourth way, namely, by what their own experience reveals to them, because when they feel relief from their suffering, they know that suffrages have been offered for them.“
Pope Leo XIII named him the patron saint of the holy souls in purgatory in the year 1884.
Post scriptum: The Catholic gravesite
Catholic customs concerning the gravesite of loved ones include sprinkling the grave with holy water, and putting up votive candles and flowers.
The following fifteen pictures were taken on a Catholic cemetery in Berlin that was established in the year 1834.
