My Protestant Grandmother Thelma McClarey, on my Father’s side, was one of the three individuals I have known personally who I regard as living saints by the sheer goodness they seemed to radiate. Once during a conversation on Purgatory, she said that though she wasn’t a Catholic, she hoped I would pray for her after her death, and I said that I would. She passed away 42 years ago and I have prayed for her, along with many other of my Protestant relatives who I loved while they were with us here on Earth, including my Uncle Ralph who carried a rosary given to him shortly before his combat service during the Korean War.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen
O Lord, who art ever merciful and bounteous with Thy gifts, look down upon the suffering souls in purgatory. Remember not their offenses and negligences, but be mindful of Thy loving mercy, which is from all eternity. Cleanse them of their sins and fulfill their ardent desires that they may be made worthy to behold Thee face to face in Thy glory. May they soon be united with Thee and hear those blessed words which will call them to their heavenly home: “Come, blessed of My Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
I think we should pray for repose of the souls of all the dead.
Prayers for your grandma Thelma. She sounded like a beautiful lady. We don’t know where anyone ends up. Only God does. God sees our hearts and judges them and cannot get it wrong. It’s always good to pray for all the Souls in Purgatory. Especially our relatives.
Greg: Concur. My wife is Buddhist and she asks me to pray for her deceased friends and relatives when they pass.
So do the Protestants who have no one to pray for them suffer forever in Purgatory in Catholic teaching?
St. Gertrude’s Prayer Feast NOV 16th
Eternal Father, I offer you the most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home, and within my family. Amen.
According to legend this prayer was given to Saint Gertrude the Great and Jesus promised that every time it was said, a 1,000 souls would be released from Purgatory and allowed into God’s Presence.
(.despite the fact that practices relative to alleged promises to free one or more souls from Purgatory by the recitation of some particular prayer were prohibited by Pope Leo XIII.)
Beautiful post!
“The Christian Teacher”: like anyone, the souls of those who were Protestant in life remain in Purgatory until the debt of sin is paid (and the guilt of lesser or “venial” sins). How long that endures or how much it is relieved by the prayers of the faithful is, in the ordinary way, unknowable by us, for it is all disposed by the divine justice according to His good pleasure (as we say). There is, in other words, no condign merit that we can apply infallibly to the souls in Purgatory; we can only beg the divine mercy to accept our prayers and sacrifices for them.
By the way, prayers for the Holy Souls (along with the necessity of good works) is a doctrine accepted in practice by virtually all Protestants, even if some deny it in words. There are always “Prayers for him–or her–and his family” whenever someone dies, just as everyone who has been “saved” is expected to act in accordance with God’s law, i.e. perform good works.