prayers for the dead:

“O God of spirits and of all flesh, you trampled death and broke the power of the devil and granted life to your world. Now grant rest, O Lord, to the souls of your servants in a place of light, joy, and peace where there is no pain, sorrow, nor mourning. As a good and loving God, forgive every sin committed by them in word, deed, or thought, since there is no one who lives and does not sin. You alone are without sin; your justice is eternal justice; and your word is truth. For you, O Christ our God, are the resurrection, the life, and the repose of your departed servants, and we give glory to you, together with your eternal Father, and your all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and forever” (Panachida).

Few of us are perfect when we die, nor do we repent as we ought, therefore the Church in her love presribes that we pray for those Christians who have gone before us to judgment. Those who die in Christ, but still imperfectly purified, must undergo purification after death during their transition to heaven (CCC 1030). Nothing unclean may enter heaven (Revelation 21:27); therefore, “let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them” (St. John Chrysostom, Homily on I Corinthians).

Some have described this purification as Purgatory, involving a purifying fire. “The fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Savior. The encounter with him is the decisive act of judgment. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves” (Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi).

Others describe the soul’s passage to heaven as a journey through Aerial Toll Houses. “In short, in such manner each passion of the soul and every sin has its own toll-house and tax-collectors. The divine powers stand by, as well as the faces of the unclean spirits. The former present the soul’s good actions through words, deeds, thoughts, and ponderings” (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Homily on the Departure of the Soul).