We do a great favor to poor souls with our prayers and good deeds to speed up their journey to heaven.

“This mountain is such a mountain that it is very difficult to climb it in the beginning; But as we rise, the intensity of the slope decreases.”

The speaker is the Roman poet Virgil, who is Dante’s companion and guide as he climbs the high mountain of Purgatory in the second book of Dante’s tour de force narrative of the afterlife. Divine Comedy. They have already made a harrowing visit to Hell. Now it’s time PurgatoryThe place where souls in need of purification are cleansed from the stain of sin. From now on – heaven.

Note the beautiful teaching (one of many catechisms) that Dante casually quotes through Virgil: The great mountain of Purgatory that souls must climb becomes easier the higher they go.

It is good to think about Purgatory as we approach All Souls’ Day – on November 2, the day after All Saints’ Day, the Church reminds us to take special note of it. my loved onesFamily and friends who may currently be in Purgatory long to depart for heaven. We do them a great favor through prayers and good deeds in order to reduce the time they have to stay in between and speed up their journey to heaven.

Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about Purgatory:

All who die in the grace and friendship of God, and yet are imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification in order to attain the holiness required to enter the joy of heaven. …The church gives its name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.

And the text then speaks warmly of the Sacraments, alms, indulgences, and acts of penance offered to help “holy souls” go to heaven (1031, 1032).

All Souls’ Day, together with Halloween (All Saints’ Eve) and All Saints’ Day, formerly formed a triduum dedicated to the memory of the dead (Allhallowtide). While Halloween has now largely been taken over by secularism, All Saints is firmly established as a holy day.

That leaves All Souls Day. Praying for souls in Purgatory also dates back to ancient times.

But St. Odilo, abbot of the great monastery of Cluny, did so only in the 11th century.

In France, establish All Souls as the November celebration, making this date normative for other monasteries affiliated with Cluny. Later the tradition spread widely in the Western Church.

The literary milestone of All Souls’ Day, Purgatorylike his friends, Hell and heaven is filled with brief portraits of souls, unique descriptions of Dante, and many teachings. Part of Virgil’s speech on love in canto xvii:

As long as it is directed towards the First Good
and moderately turns to secondary goods,
It cannot be the cause of bad taste;
but when he turns to or participates in evil
to do good with more or less care than is necessary,
His creation worked against their Creator.
From this you see that – necessarily –
Love is the seed of every virtue in you
and from all actions deserving of punishment.

It’s too late for this year, but you can pray for the souls in Purgatory at any time. Well before next year’s All Souls, I recommend getting a good translation of this: Divine Comedy (mine is Allen Mandelbaum’s) with good explanatory notes. Read the text while reviewing the notes, then read the text alone.