As I have mentioned, I lead the discussion of Fr. Mike Schmitz’s Catechism in a Year podcast here at St. Therese. There, we gather twice per month to dig deeper into all of the topics that have been covered since we last met. Many insightful conversations have come out of our discussion, and one of the ideas that we were batting around lately was the concept of whether the souls in purgatory can pray for us. I mean, we all knew that we can, and should, pray for the souls in purgatory, but could those souls pray for us? We wanted to know!
In searching for answers, I came across an article published by Ascension Press. In the article, Nicholas LaBanca discussed several aspects of purgatory, including the following quote:
“Can we ask for the intercession of the souls in purgatory as we would the saints in heaven?
We must first remember that there are three divisions that make up the Communion of Saints, as we mentioned above: the Church Triumphant (those in heaven), the Church Suffering (those in purgatory) and the Church Militant (those among the living on earth). What this means is that all three divisions are one in the Body of Christ. We are in communion with each other, even after death in this world. This is why we are able to ask for the intercession of the saints, as we often do in both private devotion and in public prayer such as the Mass. And of course, as we just covered, we can pray for the souls in purgatory (as can those in heaven), as those in the Church Suffering can no longer pray for themselves.
Once we die, we are unable to merit anything for ourselves. While we can make reparation for our own sins on earth, we can no longer do so once we die, exactly in the same way that we cannot repent after death. We must reconcile ourselves to God before death. This is why the Church Militant must pray for the Church Suffering, because the Poor Souls can no longer act on their own behalf. But does it follow that the souls in purgatory cannot pray for you and I on earth?
…The Church has not ruled definitively on this matter. The faithful are allowed to have differing opinions one way or the other” (Can Souls in Purgatory Pray for Us?, Nicholas LaBanca, Nov. 2, 2018).
Heck! Even Church scholars disagree. St. Thomas Aquinas said they cannot because they “are not in a condition to pray” for those on earth. St. Robert Bellarmine, on the other hand, said that those in purgatory would be “more than capable of praying for us, as they have greater love for God than we possibly can on this earth, given their close proximity to heaven, not to mention that they are ensured that they will enter heaven eventually. However, he denies that the Church Suffering are aware of our condition and circumstances on earth as the Church Triumphant are” (De Purgatorio, Book 2, Chapter 15). If I am choosing which I’d like to believe, I am going to hang my hat on St. Robert. After all, don’t we all want more people in our corner?