| Mary and the Holy Souls in Purgatory |
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by Roy Macintyr From the cross, Jesus gave all mankind to Mary in the person of St. John when he said, "Woman this is your son." (Jn 19:26). Mary fully accepted this responsibility to be mother to all her poor children. Being the mother of the Messiah, like all mothers, she knows how to take care of and protect her children. As a spiritual mother she never stops caring for her children until they are securely with the Lord in Heaven. But Mary s ability to help us depends to a great degree on our own efforts. There are three dispositions a person can take toward Mary as mother; first, one can refuse Mary s helps and refuse to join her in helping others. Secondly, one can accept her help and join in it in some limited fashion. Finally, a person can give oneself totally to Mary s protection and give her everything one possesses to help her in her motherly care of all her children. In the first case, that is, if a child refuses her help, Mary does not give up on this child. In fact, as long as there is life there is hope and the Holy Mother continues her work to bring each of us to conformity to her true Son, Jesus. With Mary there is only one death and that is when our life is over and we have chosen eternal separation from God. That is true death. Everything short of this allows Mary to mother us. If her child is on a certain road to destruction she asks her other children to pray for that poor child of hers "since many go to hell because there is no one to pray for them " (Our Lady at Fatima, 1917). So Mary asks all her faithful to pray for her children and offer their daily sacrifices for their conversion. More recently, she has asked more specifically for personal conversion or repentance including monthly confession, fasting on bread and water on Fridays and Wednesdays, and to live a life of peace in our hearts, homes and nations. It seems that in this latter request Mary has in mind something more global in caring for her children. Praying for the conversion of others evokes the whole idea that in so doing we are participating in a process of co-redeeming. St. Paul said that it is his joy to make up in the suffering in his own body what is lacking in the suffering of Christ for His Body the Church (Col 1:24). When Paul said this he did not imply that Jesus life, death and resurrection were insufficient to redeem all mankind. He meant that Jesus has left us a role to share in His redemptive act. As members of the Body of Christ we are royal, priestly and prophetic. In our priestly role we can offer to God our prayers, sufferings and sacrifices for our fellow human being and especially that they be converted. Conversion, is the most important event in anyone s life. Through it we gain eternal life. All the other sufferings of life including death itself rather that harming us are actually part of our journey to God and will bring us glory in heaven. Therefore, even physical healings, as wonderful as they may be, and other answers to prayer are not as important as conversion. Conversion takes away the block to God in our souls. Or to put it more positively, conversion opens our hearts to God and His life within us. Mary is our Queen and Christians are her princes and princesses. With Mary we are co-redeemers and together we constitute her army. She is the Coredemptrix and is head of her army of co-redeemers and through this army she directs her battle against Satan. Satan uses everything naturally occurs in the world, such as sufferings and pleasures, to prevent the conversion of sinners and the fall of believers. He is out to numb, blind, accuse and discourage every person on the face of the earth and lead them to hell by complacency, anger against God and despair. There is enmity between Satan and the Woman, between her offspring and his. Jesus is the Redeemer and His brothers and sisters are the co-redeemers that will crush the head of the serpent, Satan (Gen 3:15). But Satan has his offspring as well and they could be called co-conspirators with him against the Body of Christ. So our part in this battle between good and evil is to join with Mary and offer our prayers and sacrifices to God for the conversion of sinners. What about those who, by the grace of God, have won eternal life but must be purified before entering the perfection of God s presence? I mean the Holy Souls in purgatory. Does Mary continue to care for them? It is true that those who are in the purification of purgatory are saved and need only to reach a state of perfection before entering heaven. On the other hand there are many souls on earth who need prayer in order to avoid eternity in hell. Where does Mary stand on this dilemma of who to pray for? Who should receive prayer the most? Well, we should be assured that Mary, as the new Eve and mother of all the living in Christ will never overlook any of her children, especially those in need. Although saved, the souls in purgatory are in great need of prayer. They suffer an unimaginable pain despite the great comfort of knowing they will eventually be fully united to God. Mary s request of us to pray for the souls in purgatory also contributes to the whole plan of redemption for the human race as will be noted below. The souls in purgatory cannot help themselves they can only make justification through suffering for the imperfections of their souls. Mary is rich in grace and God is infinitely rich in grace, nevertheless justice requires that relief for the souls in purgatory come by means of faith. That means that in the darkness of not knowing but believing one can pray and sacrifice for the Holy Souls. Even the angels and saints in heaven do not help the souls in purgatory with two exceptions I will mention below. So, what does Mary do for the Holy Souls in purgatory? To answer the question posed at the end of the preceding paragraph let us consider a scenario. Suppose you are a mother who sees your only child suffering through some painful therapy but you know the pain could be lessened and the therapy shortened by obtaining sufficient money to purchase a more expensive but more effective therapy. What do you think you would do? Well, I believe you would go out and find others to contribute to the cost of the therapy for your child. Similarly, for the relief of the souls in purgatory Mary comes to us asking for our prayers, sacrifices and offerings of Holy Mass. The reason Mary comes to us is because we who now live by faith are the only ones who can help the souls in purgatory. God knows the suffering of the souls in purgatory. The angels and saints know the suffering of the souls in purgatory. Mary knows the suffering of the souls in purgatory. They knew this suffering when each soul entered purgatory. If they were permitted to relieve those souls they could have done so immediately as each soul was judged. However, it is precisely that they know that limits their ability to spontaneously help the souls in purgatory. In fact, to begin to intercede for them could seem to challenge the mercy of God who justly places them in the fire of purification. Think about it if all the angels and saints in heaven turned their total intercessory prayer to the souls in purgatory they would all be immediately released. However, God s justice required the soul be purified from their imperfections and that prevents the saints and angels from directly intervening. Therefore, the only relief for the souls in purgatory is through the prayers and sacrifices of those who offer in faith, those who do not see, yet believe. It is a mystery why God allows those of us still alive in the flesh to bring relief to the souls in purgatory. Nevertheless, we are given this opportunity which can satisfy God s justice in a way that not even the saints and angels can do. Since Mary depends on us to help her suffering children in purgatory she insistently asks us to pray, sacrifice and especially to have the Holy Mass offered. Through these means the souls, to continue the analogy, receive quicker therapy; they are relieved of pain and sooner enter the glory of heaven. As noted above the saints and angels do not help the souls in purgatory unless they are asked by us who live by faith on earth. In the same way we can ask Mary to pray for a soul or the souls in purgatory but that too comes through our own place of faith. There is another way we can be helped by the angels and saints should we be in purgatory that is by asking them ahead of time when we are still alive on earth. Certainly, our guardian angel would comply with such a request. Also if we pray for a soul in purgatory don t you think out of gratitude that soul would return the favour in kind. God would certainly permit it even if we did not specifically ask since it would be just for the soul to do so. The intercession of the souls we have prayed for will help us here on earth and continue for us, should we enter purgatory. This highlights the fact that the Holy Souls can intercede for us right now as they suffer in purgatory. I believe the intercessory prayer of the souls in purgatory is an immense untapped resource for the faithful on earth. Great things have been accomplished by the intercession of the souls in purgatory. We should ask for their help. In her plan of attack against Satan, Mary asks us to pray for three things, that the good will triumph, that evil will be defeated and the relief of the souls in purgatory. To assure the good succeeds we pray for the pope, the bishops and priests and all believers. To defeat evil we pray that sinners will be converted and that evil will do no real harm. The reason for the first two intentions is obviously part of the spiritual battle between good and evil. The reason for prayer for the relief of the souls in purgatory is threefold. First, charity requires that we help anyone in need including the members of the body of Christ alive by conversion and grace. The souls in purgatory may not be in need of conversion but they still require our care in charity. The Holy Souls are among those in need. Secondly, as the soul enters heaven it is perfected and thereby able to pray more effectively for the conversion of those still living in the body on earth. Therefore, their intercession will provide a greater benefit in the battle on the side of the Church on earth against Satan. It will also be greater for us. Thirdly, as we think about the souls in purgatory and pray for them we grow spiritually ourselves because all prayer leads us to God. What a privileged place we hold in being the only ones able to intercede on behalf of the souls in purgatory. Mary looks with sadness on the suffering of the souls in purgatory and she asks us to pray for them. She even asks us to ask her to pray for them. Yes, it is a great privilege to be the only ones able to pray for the Holy Souls. However, with this great privilege comes a grave responsibility. So let us exert ourselves on behalf of Mary s suffering children in purgatory. This will also contribute to the coming triumph of Mary s army against Satan. So, what about our second category of individuals, those who accept Mary s help and join her in some limited fashion? I believe this group includes most Catholics. These people work with Our Lady in varying degrees to bring about the Kingdom of God by conversion to Jesus Christ and a life of prayer and sacrifice. They follow the teachings of the Church including prayer for those who have died in Christ and endure their purification in purgatory. According to a number of private revelations including reported messages from the Blessed Virgin Mary the majority of these people spend some time in purgatory at the end of their lives on earth. There are two calls to those people, first, prepare for heaven through daily conversion and secondly, pray for their brothers and sisters in purgatory as well as those still living in the body. Preparation for heaven means dying to self and living to God in Christ Jesus. Dying to self is a lifelong process of letting go of the things of the world so that we desire only God and what God wants. The normal process of attaining this is a difficult one. It means having our stony hearts replaced by the hearts of Jesus and Mary. We can pray for this as Mother Teresa of Calcutta once prayed, "Jesus give me the heart of your Mother." Preparation for heaven is accomplished mostly by our own prayer of the heart. What prayer of the heart means has filled many volumes and could fill many more. However, put simply, it means three things, being totally conscious of our prayer, praying with the deepest faith we can muster and having our deepest conviction as we pray. Being totally conscious of our prayer is an activity of our mind that means not just saying but praying our prayers. Praying with faith is an activity of our mind and our heart or emotions. In this, we really believe what we pray as we pray. Having our deepest conviction is an activity of our mind and our heart and our will. That means praying consciously with faith, real feeling and all our will or strength. As we practice this daily prayer our hearts will become more and more conformed to the hearts of Jesus and Mary until we come to the full stature of Christ (Eph 4:13). Our efforts to imitate the Holy Hearts can also help us in our prayer of the heart. In sum, pray of the heart is willing, loving and believing or prayer with all our mind, all our heart and all our strength. A heart truly conformed to the hearts of Jesus and Mary also behaves and lives out a life in conformity to those hearts. The fervent prayer of such a person is powerful (Jas 5:16). Therefore, since prayers of the heart are so powerful they greatly assist the Holy Souls in purgatory. Such prayers will not go unrewarded and as noted above they satisfy our need to be charitable to the souls in purgatory and assist Our Lady in the battle against evil. Since, the souls described in this second category, those who in varying ways ask for Mary s help and join her in helping others, know their responsibility their judgment will be consistent with the knowledge given them by the Lord. On the one hand, they can avoid purgatory altogether by following the teachings of the Church while on the other they can face a more difficulty judgment before Jesus when they die. Jesus, has warned us, those who do wrong (or fail to do right) will be punished but those who do wrong but have been given the gift of knowing the truth will be punished more severely (Lk 12: 46-48). This is another matter of God s justice. Finally, what about the third category of individuals, those who believe and give themselves totally to Mary and her plan to bring all her children to her Son Jesus? At this point in history, these people are relatively few but St. Louis de Montfort predicts the few will lead the whole world to this devotion in time. However, in the meantime these children of Mary are likely to experience the most concerted assault from Satan and even from their own brothers and sisters in Christ. As St. Louis de Montfort points out, they are like the heel of the body of Christ that will eventually crush the head of the serpent but they are also abused by the weight of the other members of the body. Be that as it may, let s turn to their part in the process of co-redemption and intercession for the Holy Souls. Those who practice the total giving of self to Mary do not claim anything for themselves. They do not offer their spiritual goods for their own good nor even the good of their loved ones. They give all to Mary trusting they will be well looked after by her. Mind you they do pray for the pope, the souls in purgatory, world peace, the coming of the Kingdom, etc. but for the most part they give all their spiritual goods to Mary for her to distribute as she desires. All their goods include the temporal and the spiritual both from time and eternity. The prayer of such a soul might be, "I know that you, Mary will use my paltry fruits of prayer and works to assist the souls in purgatory, the Holy Father and those who depend on my prayer or who have asked for my prayer. Nevertheless, I give all to you from time and eternity to use as you see fit without any reservation." When such a child of Mary offers in humility, without possessiveness and complete faith, Mary can do great things with these goods. She in fact can magnify them beyond our comprehension. Thus, through her own place in God s plan of redemption she is able to accomplish great things from our small offerings. Through our total consecration to Mary she not only advances the work of God s plan to overcome evil in the world but she magnanimously grants gifts to those who are close to us. These gifts include release of our loved one s from purgatory as well as the release of those in most need of prayer in purgatory. How quickly Mary comes to the aid of the one who is truly consecrated to her who says, "Mother all I have is yours. Please remember my loved one in purgatory." When we become adept at living the total consecration we come to know that we don t even need to ask because we know Mary looks after everything. Nevertheless, we must be mindful of the poor souls in purgatory and love them and have compassion for their suffering. In deed, we can suffer in solidarity with them as we study about them and contemplate their suffering. Most importantly, we will have Holy Masses said for the souls in purgatory. I can personally attest to great gifts obtained by Our Lady for those truly consecrated to her. For instance, I know a woman who lived a life of total consecration to Mary. Her life was not extraordinary but simple, imperfect and humble. The father of this woman lived a life essentially without God. Nevertheless, on the day of his death he surprisingly if not miraculously had a visit from a priest who administered the Last Rights including a special, papal plenary indulgence. What can I say, the power and the mercy of God manifested through the hands of His handmaid, Mary from the fruits of her little ones. Mary, the good steward, knows the best way to distribute her graces to the souls in purgatory and sinners in need of conversion. So those who are consecrated totally to her have no worry about who to pray for. Everything is given to Mary and she looks after what needs to be done and she does so perfectly. This way of total consecration to Mary is also a simpler way to perfection. It is less difficult than the normal process of us trying to let go of the things of the world that can be a daily struggle. With total consecration to Mary we give everything to her anyway so we need not worry about letting go. Also if we have some carnal attachments, Mary will take them away as we live the life of total consecration. So if you are not converted to Jesus Christ, I invite you to accept Jesus into your heart and make him Lord of your life. Begin a life of prayer of the heart and pray for the souls in purgatory and ask them to pray for you. Come to his Church and begin living with His Life in your soul. Those of you who are believers I offer the same suggestion but I remind you that you bare a greater responsibility. To all I invite you to study the way of total consecration because I believe this is the best route to helping the souls in purgatory, the conversion of sinners and your own path to perfection. Those who wish to pursue this latter suggestion can find the practice of total consecration to Mary in St. Louis de Montfort s treatise, True Devotion to Mary, published by the Montfort Fathers in Bay Shore, New York. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
