By Purgatory we mean a place where souls suffer for a time after death on account of their sins, "Some shall be saved, yet so as by fire (1 Cor. iii. 15).'' We are In communion with the souls in Purgatory by helping them with our prayers and good works.--Catechism
O Spirit of grace! O Consoler divine!
See how for Thy presence they longingly pine;
Ah, then, to enliven their sadness, descend;
And fill them with peace, and with joy in the end.
O Mother of mercy! dear soother in grief!
Lend thou to their torments a balmy relief;
Attemper the rigor of justice severe;
And soften their flames with a pitying tear.
All ye who would honour the Saints and their Head,
Remember, remember, to pray for the dead;
And they, in return, from their misery freed,
To you will be friends in the hour of need.
An Intercessory Prayer of the Church Militant for the Church Suffering in Purgatory 1881
"It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins (2 Mach. xii. 46)."
Ye souls of the faithful! who sleep in the Lord;
But as yet are shut out from your final reward!
Oh! would I could lend you assistance to fly;
From your prison below, to your palace on high:
O Father of mercies! thine anger withhold;
These works of Thy hand in Thy mercy behold;
Too oft from Thy path they have wandered aside:
But Thee, their Creator, they never denied.
O tender Redeemer! their misery see;
Deliver the souls that were ransomed by Thee;
Behold how they love Thee, despite of their pain;
Restore them, restore them to favor again.
See how for Thy presence they longingly pine;
Ah, then, to enliven their sadness, descend;
And fill them with peace, and with joy in the end.
O Mother of mercy! dear soother in grief!
Lend thou to their torments a balmy relief;
Attemper the rigor of justice severe;
And soften their flames with a pitying tear.
All ye who would honour the Saints and their Head,
Remember, remember, to pray for the dead;
And they, in return, from their misery freed,
To you will be friends in the hour of need.
