By Alora Peters, Editor-in-Chief
November is a month commonly associated with Thanksgiving, harvest time, football, the end of the fall semester, and the coming of winter—but, did you know that November is also the month dedicated to praying for the souls of the dead?
In the Catholic tradition, November is often referred to as the Month of the Holy Souls. This is in reference to the souls of those who have died and gone to Purgatory, a place of purification where souls must be cleansed of every sin before being welcomed into the gates of Heaven.
“Purgatory is precisely what its name suggests: a process of purging,” said Dr. Thomas Humphries, who teaches theology and religion at Saint Leo University. “The basic idea is that we may need further preparation after we die and on the way to Heaven before we behold God face to face.”
Catholic teachings on Purgatory are intrinsically connected to the belief that life continues on even after bodily death.
“Christ connects us across space and across time,” said Humphries. “We can pray for anyone who has not yet made it to Heaven in hopes that our prayers further their sanctity. The idea of praying for souls in Purgatory essentially notes that life on Earth is connected to the afterlife.”
The practice of praying for the holy souls in Purgatory is also connected to Catholics’ understanding of the Church as a mystical Body of Christ.
“Praying for the holy souls in Purgatory is an important practice in our spiritual lives, because we are all one Church,” said Lucas Nocera, the music minister at Saint Leo. “On Earth, we are the Church militant, in Heaven there is the Church triumphant, and in Purgatory there is the Church suffering. Both the Church militant and triumphant are called to pray for the souls in the Church suffering.”
There are many different ways that Catholics utilize the Month of the Holy Souls as a time of prayer and reflection.
“There is another sense in which we pray in order to change ourselves,” said Humphries. “I can pray for my deceased aunt, asking for her to be taken swiftly through whatever purgation remains before she is ready to be face to face with the Trinitarian God of Truth and Love. But I can also meditate on my aunt’s life and death as a memento mori for myself.”
The Month of the Holy Souls is also seen as an opportunity to develop virtue.
“This is a wonderful time to grow in the spiritual virtue of charity, offering up small, or large things to suffer with the holy souls,” said Nocera. “By fasting from a meal, or praying an extra prayer just for them, we are able to increase our intentional prayers for our brothers and sisters in Purgatory.”
As both the calendar year and the liturgical year draw to a close, now is a perfect time for Catholics to reflect on the end of life and to strive to build up the Kingdom of Heaven through prayer and good works.
