Twenty-first Day
It has always been a doctrine of the Church, no less than a practice, that by our prayers and good works we can help the souls in purgatory. For the Church not only taught the doctrine, but from the earliest times encouraged the faithful to offer up the holy sacrifice for them. It was at the great Council of Trent that the doctrine became an article of faith. We are united to them in the communion of saints. This community is like the members of one body. As in the body all the members help each other, so in the communion of saints all have a share in the common goods, as the Psalmist says, “I am a partaker with all them that fear Thee.” If Christ could make vicarious atonement to His heavenly Father for our sins, and the eternal punishment due to them, then, also, the members of the community founded by Him can, through His power and merits, assist and make satisfaction for one another as regards the temporal punishment due to their sins. So that, as the Apostle says, the abundance of one may supply the want of the other, so that there may be an equality. The souls in purgatory, then, since they are souls departed in the love of God, belong with us to that great brotherhood, the communion of saints. So we can come to their assistance, and by our efforts help to discharge the debt they are still owing to God’s justice. Or united to them by the bonds of love, we form as it were one person. We pass the value of our good works to them, and our heavenly Father looks upon the price we pay for them as if paid by themselves.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.