SANFORD | “(On) All Souls Day we pray for the suffrage and the happy repose of the souls of those who are in purgatory” said Father Jeremiah Payne, pastor of All Souls Parish in Sanford. “The day is set for us (to) pray for all of those (souls), especially the ones who’ve been forgotten. So, the Church gives us a day where all the Masses (are) centered on praying for all the souls still in purgatory.”
The parish Father Payne has been pastor of since 2022, is named after this day on the Catholic liturgical calendar. “It is, in a way, within our diocese the purgatorian parish,” added Father Payne.
To understand the Catholic conception of purgatory, one must first understand what sin is. “In both Hebrew and Greek, it’s a word that simply means to miss the mark,” Father Payne said. He described four major effects of sin Catholics need to be aware. “A sin, especially a mortal sin, is an offense against God’s infinite justice, and so we seek forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Sin also is a wound to the body of Christ. The third effect is the way that that my sin defrauds or hurts or deprives others and affects others,” he explained. “We have an obligation to make that right as best as we can.”
Making reparation for sin is often neglected. “I have a duty and justice to repair what my sin has defrauded or wounded or hurt,” Father Payne said. “Sin is an exterior manifestation of vice, and so when I commit a particular sin, it drives the root of that vice deeper into the soul.”
“Say I die in a state of grace, but I have not yet made full reparation for my sins, and I have not yet pulled up the roots of the deadly vices that were the cause of my sins,” shared Father Payne. “I can’t enter Heaven, but I’m now dead, not living in this life, and I can’t do meritoriously for myself anymore,” he continued. “The prayers of the faithful who are (still) living can aid me in my suffering in purgatory and advance me forward along the path of purity and holiness, to attain the life of heaven more expeditiously.”
The fire of purgatory, a commonly used depiction throughout Church history, is rooted in God’s love. “Those fires are a gift of love from God to perfect us,” says Father Payne. “I enter into the fire of God’s love. And that fire begins to burn away from me the roots of vice. And suffering is meant to make reparation for that which I didn’t make reparation for,” he said. “While we experience suffering (in purgatory), it’s a suffering that knows that at its end is the beauty of beholding His Majesty in Heaven.”
One topic that is unsettled is whether the souls in purgatory can pray for us. “That’s a matter of what we call speculative theology, said Father Payne. “We don’t know.” However, he says it does not hurt to ask them to intercede for us. “The worst effect (is) they can’t, and we ask, and they don’t.”
As Catholics take time to reflect this All Souls Day, Father Payne hopes praying for souls in purgatory becomes a regular part of his parishioners’ lives. He believes it is important people are “showing Christian love to their brothers and sisters in purgatory, praying for them regularly, (and) helping them because one day we’re going to be in need of that.”
“Secondarily, I’d like for them to be contemplating the complexity of sin in their own life in a more nuanced manner,” said Father Payne, who encouraged the faithful to engage regularly in examination of conscience that does not simply identify sins committed but helps individuals recognize what to make reparation for so they can continue to pursue a life of virtue.
Father Payne said Catholics should always hold before them the last four things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. “Our death and judgment and desire for heaven should be the motivating factor of every moment of our life,” he shared. “We have a destiny, and that destiny should be the principal focus of our lives through which we see and do everything else in our life,” he recalled. “If heaven is the lens through which I see the world, I’m going to choose heaven.”