Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 3-10-24:
I would like to know if the deceased in Purgatory can pray for us. I know that we can assist them with prayer, and that they cannot pray for themselves. But can those reaching Purgatory pray for us on earth?
When I went online to research this topic, I found several articles that attempted to answer this question. All of them essentially made the same comments, referenced the same Church figures, used the same quotes, and had the same conclusion. The following is what they had to say.
- St. Thomas Aquinas had a negative response to this question. He writes in the Summa: “Those who are in Purgatory though they are above us on account of their impeccability, yet they are below us as to the pains which they suffer: and in this respect they are not in a condition to pray, but rather in a condition that requires us to pray for them.” But he seems to be the only major figure to have this opinion.
- St. Robert Bellarmine disagreed with Aquinas. Several of the articles stated: “Bellarmine taught that precisely because they are secure in their salvation, and permanently united to God, that they have a greater love for Him than the wayfarers, although he did not concede that they are aware of our particular circumstances.” His contemporary, Francisco Suárez, went further. He wrote: “The souls in purgatory are holy, are dear to God, love us with a true love and are mindful of our wants; that they know in a general way our necessities and our dangers, and how great is our need of divine help and divine grace,”
- St. Alphonsus also had a positive opinion to the question. He wrote: “So the souls in purgatory, being beloved by God and confirmed in grace, have absolutely no impediment to prevent them from praying for us. Still the Church does not invoke them or implore their intercession, because ordinarily they have no cognizance of our prayers. But we may piously believe that God makes our prayers known to them.” He also cites St. Catherine of Bologna stating: “Whenever she desired any favor [she] had recourse to the souls in Purgatory, and was immediately heard.”
- All the articles stated that there is no definitive Church teaching with regard to the question. But I didn’t take them at their word. I went to the Catechism and found this statement in the section concerning the Communion of the Saints: “Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective” (CCC #958). Apparently, if I am reading this correctly, the Church does teach that the souls in Purgatory can intercede for us. I wanted to make sure that our English wording in the Catechism was not a poor translation. And so, I went to the official Latin text and put it in Google Translate and got essentially the same response: “Our prayer for them can not only help them, but also make their intercession effective for us.” Pray for the souls of your deceased loved ones. If they are in Purgatory, your prayers will help them and, in turn, they may be able to intercede for you. If they are in Heaven already, they can definitely pray for you and your prayers can be redirected to benefit another soul who may have no one to pray for them.