Yesterday was All Saints’ Day, a day to honor the church triumphant. Today we pray for the church penitent, those who’ve died and are in purgatory. My mother was always adamant about that after her death we should pray for the repose of her soul, not assume she was already in heaven. These days, most people who believe in an afterlife do think that everyone is in heaven, but we don’t know that for sure and so we pray for them: Eternal rest grant unto them of Lord and let the perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.
My mother is one of those souls who has people to pray for her, but, as the church teaches, there are many in purgatory who’ve got no one to pray for them. Maybe they’ve been in purgatory for so long that they’ve no longer got any living family members or friends to remember them. Maybe they were so lonely in life that after their deaths they were quickly forgotten. Maybe they didn’t know anyone who prayed and so those friends left behind think of them but do not pray. For those souls, we can say some prayers, such as this one. Here’s another that I especially like:
We all remember our loved ones in different ways. I particularly remember my parents today. I’ve written a few poems and essays about them. You can find them here, here, here, here, here, and here.