Do the souls in Purgatory know we pray for them?
Common teaching
This is not a matter of defined doctrine, but the common opinion of theologians and the consistent witness of the mystics is that yes, the holy souls are aware, at least in some manner, of the prayers and Masses offered for them, and that they are consoled and relieved by them. Many saints report that the holy souls expressed gratitude for the suffrages of the living. Whether this knowledge is direct or mediated through the angels is debated.
Private revelation What the saints and mystics add
Who prays for them, whether they pray for us, warnings, help and gratitude.
Accounts that bear on this
- UMP-R5Sr Mary of the Cross (the Manuscript): What they know: only what God wills; who prays for them; most are totally abandoned; God grants more through them …
- MED-68Mary Villani: a worldly woman's soul complains that "all have forgotten me"
- VIS-10The Portuguese visionary: An elderly nun: no one prays for her because she died with a reputation for holiness; "Pain is our joy in purgatory"
- MOD-16Malines (Sr Mary Seraphine): Sr Mary Seraphine (Malines, 1870): an invisible presence pulls her scapular, a weight presses, a voice pleads; her …
- SIM-R5Maria Simma: Knowledge and help: they know almost everything of their families, but not their thoughts; they foreknow some …