His
apostles in the New Law taught, the existence of this middle state. In
the Second Book of Machabees, quoted above, we read that the pious
general Judas Machabeus having made a collection, "sent twelve thousand
drachmas of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifices to be offered for the
dead [soldiers], thinking well and religiously concerning the
resurrection [for if he had not hoped that they that were slain should
rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the
dead], and because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with
godliness had great grace laid up for them. It is, therefore, a holy and
wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from
their sins." If prayers were not beneficial to the dead, God would not
have sanctioned them.

This is exactly the practice of the Catholic Church. We pray and offer
sacrifices for the souls in purgatory, just as Judas Machabeus did. Even
if the Books of Machabees were not inspired, it is historically true
that the Jews and almost all nations of antiquity believed in the
existence of purgatory and the utility of prayers for the souls detained
there. This universal consent is the voice of nature and of God. Hence
we see that the practice of praying for the dead is reasonable.

This practice is in accordance with the teaching of Christ. In the 12th
chapter, 32d verse, of St. Matthew, He says: "He that shall speak
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world nor in the world to come."

These words teach us that some sins will be pardoned in the life to
come. They can not be pardoned in heaven, since nothing defiled can
enter heaven; nor can they be pardoned in hell, out of which there is no
redemption, for "their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be
quenched." Therefore, there must be a state in the next world where sins
will be forgiven, and we call that place or state purgatory. And the
existence of purgatory implies the necessity of praying for those
detained there. The belief in the existence of purgatory and the
practice of praying for the faithful departed have existed in the Church
from the time of its foundation.

Tertullian, who lived in the second century, considered it a solemn
duty, whose obligation came down from the apostles, to offer sacrifices
and prayers for the faithful departed. St. Augustine says: "The whole
Church received from the tradition of the Fathers to pray for those