Suffering With Joy

Why the Catholic Church Prays for the Dead

November 4, 2011

Offering Mass for the Poor Souls

November is the month in which we Catholics especially remember those who have gone before us to eternal rest but who have need of additional purification before being admitted to heaven.  Monday is the weekday devoted to the Poor Souls throughout the year.

Newsflash: the Catholic Church didn’t invent purgatory.  God did. The practice of praying and offering sacrifice for the Poor Souls, called that because they cannot any longer help themselves to acquire that perfect charity necessary for the beatific vision, actually began among the Jews long before the birth of Christ.

The Latin “purgo” means “to cleanse morally, purify, expiate.” Purgatory refers to the process of final sanctification of the soul who has not been directly admitted to heaven upon death.

The Catholic Church teaches from Sacred Scripture and Tradition that:

1.  We would die separated from Holy God, except:

2.  Jesus died in our place, taking our sins to the cross. Then he rose from the dead, to give us a resurrected life in Heaven.

3.  Those who accept this and seek forgiveness will have their sins removed and will live united with Jesus in Heaven.

4.  Those who understand this yet reject it will die in their sins, unable to enter Heaven, thereby choosing Hell.

5.  The souls who die loving Jesus but have failed to love others fully (what we do unto others we do unto Jesus; see Matt. 25:40) must be purified before they can experience the fullness of Heaven because “nothing unclean shall enter into it” (Rev. 21: 27) When we incur a debt to God through sin, the debt must be fully discharged or we die unclean even though forgiven.

6.  We are all sinners; even after we’ve been freed from Original Sin in our baptisms. We cannot become holy by our own efforts.

The necessity of purgatory can be likened to a man who murders another person, whether in cold blood or by accident.  When he is caught, he either confesses and is sentenced or is tried and found guilty on the evidence.  Even if he apologizes to the family and friends of the one he murdered and is forgiven, he must still go to prison to make atonement for his sin under the law.  If we have not atoned for our sins in this life, God, in his mercy provides for that final purification when we die because Christ opened the gates of heaven for us and we must be in perfect charity with God to enter.

When did the belief in purgatory originate?

It is impossible to say exactly when the Jews began to believe the doctrine of purgatory, but we find references to it in the Old Testament.  In Wis. 3:1-7, God tells us:

“But the souls of the just are in God’s hand; no torment will touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to be dead; their departure was reckoned as defeat, and their going from us a disaster. But they are at peace, for though in the sight of men they may suffer punishment, they have a sure hope of immortality, and after a little chastisement they will receive great blessings, because God has tested them and found them worthy to be His. He put them to the proof like gold in a crucible, and found them acceptable like an offering burnt whole on the altar. In the hour of their judgment they will shine in glory and will sweep over the world like sparks through stubble.”

We find additional allegorical (see my post on How to Get More From Reading the Bible) or outright references to purgatory in Dan. 12:10, Zechariah 13:9, Malachai 3: 2-3, and 2 Maccabees 12: 43-46.  Each of these verses tells of the need for purification or prayers for the dead.

For the sake of validity, we must also say here that all the books of the Old Testament recognized by the Catholic Church were in use and accepted as the Word of God by the Jews a full 200 years before Christ was born. The final ratification of the complete books of the Bible that were in use from the Apostolic age on occurred at the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397).  The bishops and Fathers of the Church present discerned at those councils the canon of the inspired Word of God and so the Bible remained until the 1500s when various individuals under their own authority began excising books that did not support their new theologies.

Purgatory in the Jewish Tradition

The roots of Christianity are Jewish. Before Christ’s birth Rabbi Shammai (50 BC – AD 30), a key major teacher of early rabbinical Judaism, is on record as having interpreted Zechariah 13:9 as referring to a state of purification after death.  Rabbinic literature interprets Isaiah 66:15-16 and Malachi 3:2-3 as referring to the purgatorial process, and even the Talmud in Sabbath 33b mentions purgatory. [1]

The Jewish historian Josephus commented on the endurance of the Jews under siege in the year 63: “Just as if deep peace enfolded the city, the daily sacrifices, offerings for the dead, and every other act of worship were meticulously carried out to the glory of God” (The Jewish War).

Observant Jews today chant the Kaddish for their loved ones.  The Mourner’s Kaddish asks God’s forgiveness for any sins the departed may have committed, begging Him to grant the departed eternal peace.  The Jews also offer alms and good deeds for the dead as is tradition in the Catholic Church. [2] We can see from this that the belief in purgation after death is very ancient. Jesus and the apostles would have considered the doctrine of purgatory a given and all Jews hearing their words would have understood the meaning just as today nobody needs explanations of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

The New Testament on purgatory

If the Jews were wrong about their belief in a place of purification, Jesus would have surely corrected this in His preaching. However, He reinforced it, as did Matthew, Paul, Peter, John, and the writer to the Hebrews. In Matthew 5: 26 Jesus says:  “Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.”

Note that Jesus does not say “until I pay the last farthing for you.”  He justifies us with His blood, and without Him nothing we do of ourselves will merit heaven, but we must take responsibility for our actions and be cleansed before entering the presence of our heavenly Father (Rev. 21: 27).  This cleansing may take place on earth or it will take place after death.

St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 says:

“Every man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.”

The quote is in concordance with the verses of Zechariah and Malachai cited above regarding the refiner’s fire.  Other New Testament references are: Timothy 1:16-18, Hebrews 12:14, Hebrews 12:22-23, 1 Peter 4:6.

Early Christian practices expressing belief in purgatory

Church doctrines derive from the written Word and oral Tradition handed down from the Apostles, the last of whom was John and with whom revelation ended.  The tombs and catacombs of the early Christians contained graffiti or inscriptions with words of petition for peace and rest.  It is also known that the practice in Apostolic times was to use a diptych at the altar which contained the names of the dead to be remembered at Mass.  These practices of the early Church show belief in purgatory because those in heaven have no need for our prayers of supplication on their behalf.

Purification

Saint Catherine of Genoa is known for her treatise on the Poor Souls.  In Fire of Love!: Understanding Purgatory she documents her understanding of the state of souls awaiting the beatific vision.  In a similar mode, Pope Benedict XVI writes of purgatory in Spes Salvi #47 clearly in reference to 1 Cor.:

“Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Savior. The encounter with him is the decisive act of judgment. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away…. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love. Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ’s Passion. At the moment of judgment we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of his love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves. The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy.” [3]

From both Scripture and Tradition we can say confidently that the doctrine of purgatory is true; some souls do endure a state of final purification because they have not died in perfect charity; it is temporary; the people in this state have been assured of salvation; and we can help them in their purification with our prayers, almsgiving, sacrifices, and good deeds on their behalf.  By remembering the Poor Souls this way, we are exercising charity and participating in the communion of saints which we profess in the Apostles’ Creed.

The Church prays in the Tract of All Souls Day (1962 liturgical books):

Absolve, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sin.  And by the help of Thy grace may they be enabled to escape the avenging judgment and enjoy the bliss of everlasting light.

[1] http://www.fisheaters.com/purgatory.html

[2] http://www.yahrzeit.org/qak.html#Catholics%20do

[3] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi_en.html

Tags: Bible, Catholic Church, doctrine, poor souls, purgatory

5 Comments to Why the Catholic Church Prays for the Dead

1. 

   Great post.

   God bless.
   Victor S E Moubarak recently posted..Neighbor Jeremy.
Victor S E Moubarak on November 4th, 2011
2. 

   Thanks for this explanation of purgatory. I learned a lot! You put so much into it!

   Thanks also for your great comments on my blog. I always look forward to them. And your comment on the Community blog about spiritual direction was wonderful. You put it better than I did. God bless!
   Colleen recently posted..Thankful for Blessings- Books, Birds & Rainbows
Colleen on November 4th, 2011
3. 

   Colleen, this post took hours of research so I’m glad it was helpful. Regarding spiritual direction, you’re really the expert on the topic so thanks for the compliment.
barb on November 4th, 2011
4. 

   Barb, this article on Purgatory is excellent!! I’ve read St. Catherine’s Fire of Love but I’ve never read Pope Benedict’s words on this topic. Fascinating stuff!

   Imagine if there was no Purgatory? Scary thought! Yes, we are aiming for heaven but it sure is nice to know there is a safety net if we cannot complete our purification here on earth.
   Mary recently posted..My Dog is Buzzed
Mary on November 4th, 2011
5. 

   Mary, that safety net is something I’m counting on. I hope it won’t be necessary, but I don’t know that I will be in that place of perfect charity in my heart at the time of death so praise God’s mercy for purgatory!
barb on November 5th, 2011