This is one of the most solemn days in the Catholic Calendar. Unlike yesterdays celebration of All Saints Day, where we celebrate those who have gone through the great trial and succeeded. All Souls is when we pray for and with the souls in purgatory to help them along their path to heaven. Although they are destined for heaven and are part of the communion of saints as they have not yet achieved heaven they would not be considered Saints in the colloquial usage of the term to wit:
When we talk about Saints in terms of the communion of saints we refer to all souls in heaven. Any soul in heaven is by definition a saint. The only difference between canonized saints and all the others is the Church’s direct acknowledgment of their presence in heaven.
It should be mentioned that in the list of saints there are also some that may never have existed. When the initial lists of saints was compiled centuries ago they included names from various traditions and area. In the current lists such saints are marked as such.
Souls in purgatory are all destined for heaven and “sainthood” but are in the state of purification necessary for the presence of God, Isaiah gives a quick biblical example:
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” Isaiah 6:5-8
They combined with us on earth equal the Communion of Saints. Our combined prayers are a powerful resource for all. The Saints in heaven get no direct benefit other than the joy of helping those toward God, the souls in purgatory get the benefit of shortening the time to their destination and we on earth get the benefit of helping to find the way along that path.
The prayers and sacrifices of the canonized saints, uncanonized saints and the holy souls in purgatory are yet another example of the many tools available to Christians in general and Catholics in particular to steer one on the road to the salvation of Christ.
In my opinion the divorcing of so many Christians from the Church in general and these aids in particular constitutes one of the greatest victories by Satan over the last 500 years. Through the grace of Christ many have found salvation even without them, but how many more have been stolen away for the want of that extra help that was simply there for the taking?
As usual the anchoress puts it better than me.
