Prayers for the Souls in Purgatory

The simplest prayer for souls in purgatory is the Eternal Rest. Say it for one person or for all of them:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Catholics pray for the souls in purgatory because the Church teaches they are being made ready for heaven, and that our prayers help them along (CCC 1030-1032). You don’t need special words or a special time. If you have three minutes tonight, pray the Eternal Rest, the psalm below, and an Our Father for the person you’re thinking of.

For a longer prayer, pray the Rosary with our pray-along and add the Eternal Rest after each decade. In November, see our page on All Souls Day for the prayers and the indulgence for that week.

What happens when you pray for the souls in purgatory?

Purgatory is the final purification of people who died in God’s friendship but weren’t yet entirely free of sin’s effects (CCC 1030). The Catechism says it is “entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (CCC 1031). Everyone in purgatory is saved; they’re on the way in.

The Church teaches that we can help them with our prayers, and above all with the Mass (CCC 1032). The practice is older than Christianity: after a battle, Judas Maccabeus took up a collection for a sacrifice for the dead, “thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection,” and Scripture approves: “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins” (2 Maccabees 12:46).

People often ask how long souls stay in purgatory. The Church doesn’t say. The Directory on Popular Piety (no. 258) even warns against picturing the dead in terms of days and years, since they’re no longer in our time. So pray, and don’t worry about calculating.

The prayers

These are the prayers the Church itself uses for the dead. Every one of them is old, short and free to use.

The Eternal Rest (above). From the entrance chant of the Requiem Mass. For one person, say “him” or “her.” It’s the prayer the Church attaches to the Rosary, the Angelus and grace at meals in November (Directory, no. 260), and saying it carries a partial indulgence for the souls in purgatory. Read more on the Eternal Rest prayer page.

Psalm 129 (130), the De Profundis. The Church’s psalm for the dead. It begins:

Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it. For with thee there is merciful forgiveness.

Read the whole psalm in Psalm 129. When it’s prayed for the dead, finish with the Eternal Rest instead of the Glory Be.

The traditional collect for the faithful departed.

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon which they have always desired. Who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.

The Rosary. Pray it for the dead by adding the Eternal Rest after each decade. Many people choose the Glorious Mysteries, which are about the Resurrection, but any set is fine. Our guide to the rosary for the dead walks through it step by step.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet. About eight minutes on rosary beads. Jesus asked St. Faustina to bring the souls in purgatory to his mercy on the eighth day of the Divine Mercy Novena, and the chaplet is a good daily prayer for them all year.

The St. Gertrude prayer. The best known of all, and the one with the biggest claims attached. Pray it gladly, but read our St. Gertrude prayer page for what the Church does and doesn’t say about the “1,000 souls” promise.

What is the best prayer for the souls in purgatory?

The honest answer is the Mass. In the Mass, Christ’s own sacrifice is offered for the living and the dead, and nothing we say on our own compares with it. That’s why the Church has always had Masses said for the dead, especially on the third, seventh and thirtieth day after a death and on anniversaries (Directory, no. 255).

To have a Mass offered, call or visit your parish office and give the person’s name. There’s usually a customary offering set by your diocese, but don’t let money stop you: priests are encouraged to celebrate Mass for the intentions of people who can’t give one (canon 945).

After the Mass, the Church doesn’t rank prayers. Videos and posts promising that one prayer releases 10,000 or 50,000 souls are selling something the Church has never taught. Pray what you’ll actually keep praying.

Seven ways to help the holy souls

1. Have a Mass offered, or go to Mass and offer it for them.
2. Offer your Holy Communion for a particular soul.
3. Say the Eternal Rest often: at meals, passing a cemetery, at night.
4. Pray the Rosary or a single decade for them.
5. Offer sacrifices and works of mercy. A fast, an act of patience, money given to the poor in someone’s name.
6. Gain indulgences for them. Most indulgences can be offered for the dead (CCC 1471, 1479).
7. Visit a cemetery and pray. In the first eight days of November this carries a plenary indulgence (below).

How do I release a soul from purgatory?

You can’t do it by formula, and no prayer works like a key in a lock. What you can do is ask God’s mercy for that person, as often as you like, trusting that he hears you (CCC 1032). The release is his work. Your part is love expressed as prayer.

People sometimes worry about when to stop praying for someone. You never have to. If the person is already in heaven, God applies your prayer where it’s needed, and you lose nothing.

Do the souls in purgatory know we are praying for them?

The Church hasn’t said what the souls in purgatory know about us. What it does teach is that the living and the dead form one communion in Christ, and that our prayer for them “is capable” of helping them and of making their prayer for us effective (CCC 958). Many Catholics ask the holy souls for their prayers for that reason. If this question weighs on you, it’s a good one to bring to a priest.

The November indulgence

From November 1 to 8, a visit to a cemetery with a prayer for the dead, even a silent one, carries a plenary indulgence for a soul in purgatory. On November 2, a visit to a church with an Our Father and the Creed does too (Manual of Indulgences, grant 29). The usual conditions apply: confession, Communion and a prayer for the Pope’s intentions. The 2020 and 2021 extensions to all of November were for the pandemic only and have ended. Our All Souls Day page has the full details.

Who can I pray for?

Anyone who has died. Family, friends, enemies, strangers, people you read about, the souls no one remembers. The Church’s prayer for the dead reaches everyone whose faith is known to God, which includes people who weren’t Catholic or who left the Church (Directory, no. 251).

If someone you love died by suicide, pray for them with hope. The Church says plainly that “we should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives,” and that it prays for them (CCC 2283).

To start tonight, open the Rosary pray-along and offer it for one person by name.