Those who die in God’s friendship may still need purification before they see Him face to face. Remember the holy souls with hope, learn what the Church teaches, and assist them through prayer and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Bring the person to mind before God and pray. We entrust the departed to His justice and mercy; these prayers make no claim about an individual’s eternal state.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Traditional prayer, Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Appendix: Common PrayersHail, Mary, full of grace! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Baltimore Catechism No. 4, Prayers, The Angelical Salutation; Rev. Thomas L. Kinkead, An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine
Historical English text in Project Gutenberg eBook 14554; the transcription reproduces imprimaturs dated 1891 and 1921 and does not identify a single physical source impression · Traditional English prayer; no translator named in this witness
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Hail our Life, our Sweetness, and our Hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
The Raccolta, no. 184, The Salve Regina and Sub Tuum Præsidium, Morning; complete English Salve Regina antiphon, printed p. 154
The 1910 Edition. London: Burns & Oates; New York, Chicago and Cincinnati: Benziger Bros. · Ambrose St. John (credited on the title page and in the translation approbation; later edition)
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.
Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it. For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word: My soul hath hoped in the Lord. From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord. Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
“It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.”
The traditional Four Last Things are Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven. St. Pius X names these four in his Catechism. Purgatory belongs within this consideration of our last end: it is the temporary purification of the saved before Heaven. It is not another eternal destination alongside Heaven and Hell. (Catechismo Maggiore, Part V, chapter VII, question 969; Catechism 1030–1031.)
At death each person receives a particular judgment from Christ. Those who die in His grace enter Heaven immediately if wholly purified, or after the purification they still require. Those who die in mortal sin without repentance are lost. Purgatory therefore gives no permission to postpone conversion until after death. Turn to Christ while the time for repentance remains. (Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus; Catechism 1021–1022, 1030–1035.)
St. Pius X · The Four Last ThingsBenedict XII · Benedictus DeusCatechism · Purgatory
Purgatory is the purification of those who die in God’s grace but still need to be made ready for Heaven. Their salvation is certain, and their purification involves real suffering. The Roman Catechism speaks of purgatorial fire and temporary punishment. The Church teaches that temporal punishment can remain after the guilt of sin and its eternal punishment have been forgiven. (Roman Catechism, Part I, Article V; Trent, Session VI, canon XXX.)
Forgiveness restores friendship with God, but the work of healing may remain. Aquinas explains that disordered dispositions formed by past sins can persist after their guilt has been pardoned, and that temporal punishment may still remain. Nothing unclean enters the presence of God. (Summa III, q. 86, articles 4–5; Apocalypse 21:27.)
Aquinas distinguishes the pardon of guilt from the removal of every consequence of sin. A person restored to grace may still owe temporal punishment and retain dispositions acquired through repeated faults. This is why sacramental forgiveness calls us onward into penance, restitution, and a changed life. Christ’s grace both reconciles us to God and heals the disorder sin has left. (Summa Theologiae III, q. 86, articles 4–5, answers.)
Roman Catechism · Purgatorial purificationCouncil of Trent · Justification and perseveranceSt. Thomas Aquinas · What can remain after forgiveness
St. Catherine of Genoa describes the soul’s intense longing for God and the pain of still being kept from full enjoyment of Him. Yet the souls being purified remain in charity and hope. Their suffering will end when their purification is complete. Her Treatise invites us to consider both the seriousness of purification and the love with which these souls await God. (Treatise on Purgatory, chapters I, III–IV, VII.)
St. Catherine describes these souls as united to God’s will and unable to turn away from charity. Their willingness to be purified does not make the pain unreal. Her account holds together intense suffering, acceptance of God’s just ordinance, and hope of coming to Him. (Treatise on Purgatory, chapters I–IV, VII.)
The Church teaches the reality of purification and commends prayer for the departed. She has not given us a timetable for an individual soul. The Council of Trent directs teachers to set aside uncertain speculation and curiosity that do not nourish faith or devotion. Our response is to pray faithfully and entrust the departed to God. (Trent, Session XXV, Decree Concerning Purgatory.)
St. Catherine of Genoa · Treatise on PurgatoryCouncil of Trent · Purgatory and suffrages
Second Machabees recounts Judas’s provision for an offering on behalf of fallen soldiers and connects prayer for the dead with hope in the resurrection. Saint Paul describes a person whose work is burned, who suffers loss yet is saved through fire. The Church reads these passages within the faith she has received concerning purification and the communion of saints. (2 Machabees 12:43–46; 1 Corinthians 3:12–15; Catechism 1031–1032.)
In the fourth century, St. Cyril of Jerusalem describes the remembrance of the departed during the Eucharistic sacrifice. He explains that this prayer benefits the souls for whom it is offered, because the Church offers Christ, sacrificed for our sins. Prayer for the dead belongs to the Church’s worship and charity from ancient times. (Catechetical Lecture 23, sections 9–10.)
The Council of Trent reaffirms both the existence of Purgatory and the help given to the souls there by the faithful’s suffrages, especially the sacrifice of the altar. “Suffrages” here means the prayers and other works offered to God for the departed. This teaching calls us to remember them with real acts of love. (Session XXV, Decree Concerning Purgatory.)
Scripture · Prayer for the dead and purificationSt. Cyril of Jerusalem · Prayer for the departed at the EucharistCouncil of Trent · Purgatory and suffrages
The faithful departed can be helped by our suffrages, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. St. Cyril of Jerusalem witnesses to the Church’s prayer for the departed during the Eucharistic sacrifice; Trent confirms this duty of charity. Remember them in prayer, request Masses for them, and offer penitential and charitable works on their behalf. (Catechetical Lecture 23, §§9–10; Trent, Session XXV, Decree Concerning Purgatory.)
Ask a parish or priest to offer Mass for a departed person, or for the faithful departed. When you attend Mass, join your prayer to Christ’s sacrifice and remember those who have died. The Eucharistic sacrifice holds the foremost place among the Church’s suffrages.
Council of Trent · Purgatory and suffragesSt. Cyril of Jerusalem · Prayer for the departed at the Eucharist
Remember departed relatives, friends, priests, and benefactors. Pray also for the forgotten dead. Use the received prayers on this page, pray the Rosary for them, or read Psalm 129, traditionally called De profundis. Let remembrance become a steady practice of charity.
Council of Trent · Purgatory and suffragesPsalm 129 · De profundis
Offer an appropriate act of self-denial or a work of mercy for the departed. Give alms to someone in need and unite your offering to Christ. These works belong to the help which the Church encourages the living to give the dead.
Council of Trent · Purgatory and suffragesCatechism · Purgatory
The Church permits indulgences to be applied to the faithful departed by way of suffrage. Learn the prescribed work and its conditions, and undertake it with faith and charity. Read the explanation below and follow the Church’s actual grant.
Indulgences · Code of Canon Law 992–997Apostolic Penitentiary · The Gift of the Indulgence
An indulgence remits temporal punishment before God for sins already forgiven. The Church grants it from the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. A partial indulgence remits part of this punishment; a plenary indulgence remits all of it. The faithful may apply indulgences to the departed by way of suffrage. (Code of Canon Law, canons 992–994.)
To seek a plenary indulgence, perform the prescribed work with the intention of gaining it, be in the state of grace, and have complete detachment from every sin, including venial sin. The usual conditions also include sacramental Confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions. Follow the Church’s current grant and conditions; ask your priest for guidance when needed. (Canons 996–997; Apostolic Penitentiary, The Gift of the Indulgence, §§3–7.)
An indulgence concerns punishment for sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. It does not replace repentance or sacramental Confession. The Church’s grant specifies the work to be done; the prayers on this page carry no promise of a particular soul’s release.
The Church’s general conditionsThese grants are applicable only to the souls in Purgatory. Undertake the prescribed work with the dispositions and conditions below.
On each of these days, visit a cemetery devoutly and pray for the departed, even silently. The grant is plenary when the ordinary conditions are fulfilled.
On All Souls’ Day, make a devout visit to a church or oratory and recite the Our Father and the Creed there. The visit may be made from noon on 1 November through 2 November. With the local Ordinary’s consent, the observance may instead be made on All Saints’ Day or the Sunday before or after.
Throughout the year, a devout cemetery visit with prayer for the departed, or the devout recitation of Eternal Rest, carries a partial indulgence applicable only to the souls in Purgatory.
If a legitimate obstacle prevents the work or conditions, ask a confessor about the provisions for those who are impeded.
Our Father · Apostles’ Creed · Hail Mary
Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, fourth edition (1999), grant 29; norms 14, 17–20 and 24; Code of Canon Law, canon 996.
Apostolic Penitentiary, The Gift of the Indulgence (29 January 2000), General Remarks, 3–6.
Take purification seriously during this life. Resist a deliberate venial sin you have grown accustomed to excusing, complete your sacramental penance, and practice the virtue opposed to a recurring fault. Alphonsus directs us toward doing God’s will in the circumstances He permits. (Preparation for Death, XXXVI; Summa III, q. 86, articles 4–5.)
Do not treat Purgatory as permission to settle for a divided heart. The soul in grace is called to grow in charity and to prepare for the sight of God. Make the restitution justice requires, forgive the injury you keep nursing, and offer the trials you cannot remove in union with Christ. The purpose of penance is a heart more wholly His. (Summa III, q. 86, articles 4–5.)
Charity for the dead should become a faithful habit. Pray for departed relatives and benefactors, and for those who have no one to remember them. Include Masses for the departed in the care you give your family. The Council of Trent teaches that the faithful’s suffrages help the departed, especially the sacrifice of the altar. (Trent, Session XXV, Decree Concerning Purgatory.)
Consider the joy of Heaven