211. How can we help the souls being purified in purgatory?
(Comp
211) Because of the communion of saints, the faithful who are still pilgrims on
earth are able to help the souls in purgatory by offering prayers in suffrage
for them, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice. They also help them by
almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance.
“In brief”
(CCC 1055) By virtue of the "communion of saints,"
the Church commends the dead to God's mercy and offers her prayers, especially
the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, on their behalf.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 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" (LG 50; cf. 2 Macc 12:45). Our prayer for them is capable not
only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.
(CCC 1032) 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" (2
Macc 12:46). 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 (Cf. Council
of Lyons II (1274): DS 856). 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 Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor.
41, 5: PG 61, 361; cf. Job 1:5).
On reflection
(CCC 1371) The
Eucharistic sacrifice is also offered for the
faithful departed who "have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified"
(Council of Trent (1562): DS 1743), so that they may be able to enter into the
light and peace of Christ: Put this body anywhere! Don't trouble yourselves
about it! I simply ask you to remember me at the Lord's altar wherever you are
(St. Monica, before her death, to her sons, St. Augustine and his brother; Conf. 9, 11, 27: PL 32, 775). Then, we
pray [in the anaphora] for the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep,
and in general for all who have fallen asleep before us, in the belief that it
is a great benefit to the souls on whose behalf the supplication is offered,
while the holy and tremendous Victim is present…. By offering to God our
supplications for those who have fallen asleep, if they have sinned, we… offer
Christ sacrificed for the sins of all, and so render favorable, for them and
for us, the God who loves man (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. myst. 5, 9. 10: PG 33, 1116-1117). (CCC 1479) Since the
faithful departed now being purified are also members of the same communion of
saints, one way we can help them is to obtain indulgences for them, so that the
temporal punishments due for their sins may be remitted.
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