All Souls’ Day

November 2, 2004

Today, on All Souls’ Day, we pray for the dead. Praying for the dead is as old as the Church. In fact, archeologists have found early Christian graffiti on tombs in the ancient catacombs under Rome and elsewhere which attests to the belief of the Church in prayer for the dead and for the Communion of Saints. This kind of graffiti is found throughout the Roman Empire, so belief in prayer for the dead was not just a local belief, but a universal one.

And why should we pray for the dead? If a person is in heaven, the prayers obviously are not needed. If a person is in hell, the prayers aren’t going to do any good. It makes sense, then, that praying for the dead is testimony to the Church’s constant belief in Purgatory, a place where the souls of the just may be detained before they are worthy to enter heaven. These souls can no longer help themselves, but we can benefit them by means of our prayers.

But why would souls need a stopover in Purgatory? Because when our earthly life is over and we stand before the Lord, we see ourselves with total and stark clarity. We no longer hide behind our body or our ego or any number of earthly concerns, distractions and excuses. The soul knows that she must be squeaky clean—perfect—to look God in the face—to stand in His presence. If a person has unforgiven or unsatisfied venial sins from life, he will flee from God’s presence to clean up first. It’s like standing outside the door to a fancy party and realizing that you have a smudge on your face or a spot on your clothes; you’ll want to head for the washroom to fix it before going inside. It’s the same with heaven.

So while it’s true that Christ earned salvation for all of us, and more than made satisfaction for all of man’s sins, still Christ wills that in our individual lives, we share in penance to make satisfaction for sin.

As much as we’d like to believe that all our family members and friends who have died are safely in heaven, it is good and prudent and even holy to act as though they are in Purgatory. Prayers are never wasted. If, please God, our loved ones are safely in Paradise, then God will use our good prayers to benefit other poor souls in Purgatory. But if they themselves are there, wouldn’t it be tragic not to use our powerful prayers to help them get out faster?

All Souls’ Day is a good time to remind ourselves that only the perfect shall enter heaven. Let us strive not only for the avoidance of mortal sin, but for perfection in every aspect of our lives. If we leave this world with imperfections, with venial sins, and without penance for all our sins, we shall need the prayer of others.

While we are able, then, let us resolve to pray for the dead and do penance in this life so we may avoid Purgatory in the life to come.