The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-11-13
PRAYERS for the Dead.

November is the month of the Holy
souls. November is All Souls day,
Out me whole month is dedicated in
speclal manner to remembrance of our
departed ones, and the Church asks us
20 pray for them especially during this
time
Dr. Toner, writing in the Catholic
encyclopedia, says that Catholic teach
ing IN respect of prayers for the dead
Is bound up inseparably with the doc
trine of Purgatory, and is in keeping
with the teaching of the Council of
trent, namely, that "Purgatory exists.
and that the souls detained therein
are helped by the suffrages of the faith
lul, but especially by the acceptable
sacrifice of the altar
The Council of Florence in 1889 also
declared: I'VE define likewise that if
the truly penitent die in the love of
God, before they have made satisfac-
ton by worthy fruits of penance for
their sins of commission and omission.
their souls are purified by. purgatorial
pains after death. and that for relief
Tor those pains they are benefited by
the suffrages of the faithful in this
lie: that is. by masses, prayers and
aLmsgiving, and by the other offices
OF plety usually performed by the
faithful for one another according to
the practice of the Church"
Oh very few can it be hoped that they
nave attained perfect holiness at
death, and none but the perfectly holy
are admitted to the vision of God. OF
few, on the other hand, will they at
least who love them admit the de-
spalrlng thought that they are beyond
the palS of grace and mercy, and con-
demned Is eternal separation from
God, and from all hope to be with God.
On this ground alone it has been truly
SAID that Purgatory is a postulate of
the Christian reason, and that grant
ing the existence of the purgatorial
state, 1t is equally a postulate of the
Christian reason that the souls in Pur-
gatory should continue to share in
the communion of saints, or in other
words. be helped by the prayers of
their brethren on earth and in heaven.
For our own consolation as well as
for the dead, we want to believe in !
this living intercourse of charity with |
our dead. We would believe in Pur- |
gatory without explicit warrant of rev.
elation, on the strength of what is |
otherwise revealed, and in obedience |
TO the promptings of reason and nat |
ural affection
1t is for this reason that modern
Protestants are reviYing Catholic |
teaching and practice in the matter
There are some sayings of Christ |
recorded by the Evangelists which are
most naturally interpreted as contain
ing an implicit reference to a purga-
torial state after death, and in st.
PauPs Epistle a passage of similar i'm
port occurs, and other passages that
bear directly on the question of pray
ers for the dead.
When Christ promises forgiveness of
all sins that a man may commit. ex-
cept the sin against the Holy Ghost, |
which shall not be forgiven him in
this, life or in the life to GOMEZ is the
phrase nothing more than
a periphrastic equivalent for "never?''
Is the forgiveness of certain "sins in
the world to come" not implied?
No rational difficulty can be urged
against the Catholic doctrine of pray
ers for the dead; on the contrary, as
we have seem, the rational presump-
ton in its favor is strong enough to
induce belief in it on the part of many
whose rule of faith does not allow them
to prove with entire certainty that it
is doctrine. of Divine revelation
True Voice