September 24, 2026 Anna Neal

Praying for the Dead: A Catholic Look at the Church Suffering and Church Triumphant

November is Dedicated to Praying For All Souls

In the Catholic Church, the month of November is dedicated to the souls who have passed on to their heavenly reward. The month begins with All Saints Day on November 1st, a Holy Day of Obligation. This day is set aside for honoring the saints in heaven, both those who have been canonized by the Church and those who have not been recognized (including, hopefully, our loved ones). All Saints Day (also called the Feast of All Hallows) has its origin in the earliest Christian communities, who would commemorate the sacrifice of the martyrs with their own feast day. Eventually, there were so many martyrs under the Roman persecutions that Christians started celebrating a feast for all martyrs. By the end of the 9th century, the Church had declared November 1st the day for commemorating all saints in heaven, not just the martyrs. All Saints Day is the perfect time to not only honor those holy men and women, but also recognize their power as heavenly intercessors and draw inspiration from their lives.

The very next day, November 2nd, is All Souls Day, which begins the month-long focus on praying for the dead. Since the saints are already in heaven with God, they do not need our prayers; however, the souls in purgatory do benefit from our prayers, and so we spend All Souls Day specifically praying for those souls, that they may be purified and reach heaven as well. We are encouraged to continue this observation throughout the month.

Because November is dedicated to those who have passed on, let's have a short refresher on the Communion of Saints, which is the spiritual unity of all the faithful, both living and dead.

The Three States of the Church

The Communion of Saints, as professed in the Creed, refers to all Catholics, both living and dead, whose spiritual unity creates the mystical body of Christ, joined with Jesus Himself at the head. The Communion of Saints has traditionally been divided into three states: the Church Militant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Triumphant.

The Church Militant refers to all those living, who are currently waging a spiritual battle here on Earth. Every baptized Catholic alive is part of the Church Militant, and it is our duty to fight against sin and for the spread of the Gospel during our time on Earth. We pray for the relief of the souls in purgatory, as well as for the intercession of the saints for our own salvation. When our time comes and we enter into eternity, we hope to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

The Church Suffering (or Church Penitent) refers to the holy souls in purgatory. These souls have died with the assurance that they will reach the Beatific Vision, but their soul needs to be purified of past sins before reaching Heaven. For more on the Catholic teaching on purgatory, keep reading below.

The Church Triumphant refers to those souls which have been purified and have reached full communion with God in Heaven. They experience the fulfillment of the Beatific Vision, or what the Catechism calls the "contemplation of God in his heavenly glory" (CCC 1028), something so transcendent that we cannot yet fathom it. Because the Church Triumphant is in full communion with God in a way we are not, we ask for their intercession for our spiritual and physical needs.

The three states show that death does not break the bond of the mystical body of Christ, but rather strengthens it. The Catechism has this to say on the three states: "When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating 'in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is'" (CCC 954).

The Catholic Teaching on Purgatory

One of the major Catholic teachings rejected by Protestants is the teaching on purgatory, making it quite the controversial subject in the larger Christian arena. Yet purgatory is an ancient teaching, grounded in Scripture, and frankly, quite logical. The Catechism teaches,

"All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven." (CCC 1030)

This means that though someone may have died in a state of grace, with no mortal sins on their soul and the assurance that they will not go to Hell, their soul may still be 'unclean', with the stain of past sins still present. And because "nothing unclean may come into" Heaven (Rev 21:27), these souls must be purified before entering God's Kingdom. This is what we call purgatory - the state of purification after death. No one knows quite what it will be like, but traditional descriptions don't sound pleasant, with cleansing fires burning and cries of agony rising up to Heaven. But whether or not purgatory will be literally painful as we detach from our sin, should we reach purgatory, we will have the joyful knowledge of eventual communion with God, rather than eternal separation from Him.

The practice of praying for the dead is as old as the Church itself and because the saints in Heaven don't benefit from our prayers, the only conclusion is that that there are souls after death who would benefit from our prayers - those whose souls still need to finish purification. This speaks to the teaching of purgatory being an original Christian belief, though they may not have yet called it purgatory. Click here for a fuller discussion on purgatory.

References to a process of purification after death are numerous in Scripture, including Matthew 12:32, 1 Corinthians 3:15, and the aforementioned Rev 21:27. For a more in-depth reading on the biblical foundations of purgatory, click here and here .

C.S. Lewis envisioned the journey through purgatory in his beloved work, The Great Divorce. Though not official Catholic teaching (remember, no one really knows what the experience of purgatory is like), his vision of purgatory does help us to conceptualize what it may feel like to purify our souls and break away from the chains of sin.

Ways to Pray for the Dead in November

What are some specific ways you can pray for the dead this November? Below are some helpful ideas.

Say the Eternal Rest (or Requiem) prayer. This simple prayer can be said at any time of the day, but is often tacked onto grace before meals: Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Say the St. Gertrude prayer. 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, for those in my own home, and in my family. Amen.
Visit the graves of deceased loved ones.
Have a Mass said for a deceased loved one.