The man at the pool of Bethsaida whose limbs were lame with palsy said to Jesus: “I have no one to help me.” (Jn. 5:7). Some souls in purgatory, who have no one to pray for them, are in a similar situation like the man at the pool of Bethsaida. They cry out, “I have no one to help me.” While we cannot see their suffering, we can alleviate it through our prayers, almsgiving, and in the Holy Mass. Instead of praying to know the state of departed loved ones, it would be more beneficial to pray for their release from purgatory. In doing so, we not only help them but also gain merit for ourselves.

Souls in purgatory endure two types of suffering: the pain of loss and the pain of fire. The pain of loss stems from their separation from God and their intense longing for his vision. The temporary deprivation of God’s vision is the soul’s foremost pain in purgatory. The suffering souls’ thirst for God is more intense than the panting longing for water. Like the psalmist, the souls in purgatory cry out to God, saying: Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God. My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; when can I enter and see the face of God? (Psa. 42:2-3). The souls in purgatory yearn for God’s presence with a longing that surpasses all earthly desires. As St. Teresa of Avila observed, the souls in purgatory are like sponges thirsting for the water of divine grace.

The souls in purgatory also suffer the pain of fire. There is the pain of fire in purgatory by which souls therein are purified or purged of their sins. St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars, stated that the souls in purgatory suffer more in one hour than we do in a whole lifetime. However, God, in his mercy, does not treat us according to our sins nor does he repay us according to our faults (Psa. 103:10). To the souls in purgatory and to souls on earth, he grants to everyone different kinds of consolations, and he mitigates the pains of everyone; for if the Lord were to take account of our sins, who would survive it. (Psa. 130:3).

God grants to everyone the necessary strength to bear their pains with patience. These suffering souls, sure of their eventual union with God, bear their pain with resignation to the will of God. They are willing to suffer and to atone for their sins to be made worthy to be united with God for all eternity.

Let us pray. O Compassionate Jesus, we give you praise and glory that you took on our human nature in the womb of your Blessed Mother, Mary, ever-Virgin, and endured a most bitter death on the cross for our redemption. Have mercy on the souls in purgatory who have no one to pray for them. Mercifully hear their groanings, look with pity on the tears that they now shed before you, and by the virtue of your precious blood release them from the pains due to their sins. Stretch forth to them your strong right hand, and bring them forth into your place of refreshment, light, and peace. O let your precious blood reach down into purgatory, and refresh and revive the souls in purgatory, especially those who have no one to pray for them. We humbly entreat you to offer your sacred wounds, passion, blood, and death to our Eternal Father for their pardon and admittance to the glory of heaven forever and ever. Amen.