Mundabor has a beautiful meditation on All Souls' Day and prayer for the dead. It is, therefore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. 2 Machabees 12:46
From Mundabor's Blog
I have stated several times that, the next life being infinitely long, it is already a total success (sub specie aeternitatis) if one manages to make it to Purgatory, no matter how long or hard; then every finite suffering is infinitely small compared to the infinite joy in the company of God that will follow.
I have also stated several times that I do not belong to the army of those who – in pure V II, “heart in the right place” fashion – believe that most people go straight to heaven, basically meaning that the streets are full of living saints; something which, to be truthful, I never even vaguely noticed. No, I believe that most of the Elect still land in Purgatory, and I will count myself infinitely graced if I manage, as I hope, to get there one day. So much so, in fact, that I would prefer to die today and go to Purgatory than to live another 50 years with an even vaguely uncertain outcome at the end.
Still, it cannot be denied that Purgatory must be a rather difficult, painful affair, again according to individual degree, with physical suffering adding to the spiritual one. The Church has always presented to us the souls in purgatory as in dire need of our prayers, then the consciousness of having already won the Great Prize attenuates the suffering and makes somewhat sweeter the wait, but suffering it still is.
This is one of the ways in which, if we – Deo volente – manage to get to Purgatory, we will become aware of what a good deal it is to be a Catholic.
If we get there, we will notice that our formerly Protestant companions over there have no one praying for them, at least if all their loved ones are Proddies, too. Imagine their thirst for prayers, largely (not totally, I think, then at that point there are no Protestants anymore) left wanting, because their loved ones think that they are now singing happy songs accompanied by a lot of clapping, and playing baseball with the angels.
We, as Catholics, might not have the army of relatives praying for us that our ancestors had; but after decades of cafeteria Catholicism many of us will not deserve them, either, so it’s par for the course; plus, there will certainly be a generous treatment from the Catholic who, all over the world, pray for the dead. Still, we benefit from the prayers for the dead.
So, it’s All Souls again, and I will pray more for my dead and for all the others, and see if I can visit a cemetery at lunch time.
We live in disgraceful times.
But it’s still good to be a Catholic.
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