Helpers of the Holy Souls - Early Church Fathers

Early Church Fathers (immediate disciples of the Apostles) and Historical tradition on Purgatory:

(Source: The Poor Souls in Purgatory, A Homiletic Treatise with some specimen sermons by Rev. P.W. Keppler D.D.)

Touching manifestations of this belief are found on the walls and tombs of the Catacombs. The souls of the departed are recommended to the holy Martyrs, near whom their bodies are buried. The object of the prayers is: peace and refreshment ("refrigerium" occurs innumerable times); the feeding of them by the "Ichthys," the light of the dead. The departed themselves are represented as requesting the intercession of the living faithful. On one on the tombstones of the catacombs, now in the Lateran Museum, a husband declares that he set this inscription for his beloved wife Lucifera " in order that all brethren who read it may pray for her, that she may reach God."

The whole series of invocations and acclamations preserved to us in those ancient Christian inscriptions undoubtedly bears the character of real prayers by which the living intended to help their departed brethren in the after life. The very requests for peace and refreshment, for admission amongst the Saints, etc., contained in the inscriptions of the second and third centuries, presuppose the conviction that the good desired for the departed souls will be granted to them by God in response to the prayer of the faithful. The petitions for the departed addressed directly to God, as found in the inscriptions of the second and third centuries, can be understood only on this supposition.

Scholars have proved that the many pictures in the Catacombs refer to Purgatory. One states,

"The faithful prayed for the dead, entreating God to protect their souls, as He protected Daniel in the lion's den, the three young men in the furnace, Noe in the ark, and Susanna against the two elders. With the same intention, and in order to invite the visitors of these subterranean cemeteries to pray for the dead, these biblical figures were depicted near the sepulchers -- Daniel and Noe in the hypogeum of the Flavii as early as the first century, and all four together at the beginning of the second century in the Capella Greca."

On the earliest epigraphical and sculptural documents of the Catacombs, the saints appear as the protectors of the Poor Souls, who are recommended to their intercession.

In the oldest liturgical prayers or "Sacramentaries" and in the earliest "Liturgies" (including that of the Testamentum Domini N.I. Ch., and the Apostolic Constitutions), the dead are remembered, not only to honor their memory and to comfort the mourning survivors, but in order to obtain for them forgiveness of their sins, remission of punishments, and their liberation from Purgatory.
Tertullian who lived from 160 to 250 AD tells us that prayer for the dead, and the making of oblations -- gifts for the Eucharist from which the elements for consecration were taken on the anniversary of their demise -- were, according to him, a generally recognized custom of the Church.
St. Cyprian of of Carthage who lived from 200 to 258 AD speaks of Purgatory as follows:

"It is one thing to hope for forgiveness, and another to enter into eternal glory; one thing to be cast into prison and not to go out from thence until the last farthing is paid, and another immediately to receive the reward of faith and virtue; one thing to be tortured for sins by long-lasting pains and purged by fire, and another to have already expiated sin [here below] by martyrdom."

St. Ephrem Syrus who lived from 306 to 373 AD emphasizes the usefulness of prayers for the dead:

"Instead of shedding useless tears over the grave, let them flow at prayers in church, for in these there is help and comfort for the dead as well as for the living." And ... "If the Jewish priests were able by their sacrifices to help those fallen in battle [2 Maccabees 12:38-45 ] , how much more will the priests of the Son of God by their Holy Sacrifice and prayers efface the sins of the departed!"

St. Cyril of Jerusalem who lived from 315 to 386 AD says the following:

"We pray for the deceased Fathers and Bishops, in short, for all who have departed this life in our communion, believing that the souls of those for whom prayers are offered, receive very great relief while this holy and tremendous Victim lies on the altar ... For those that have fallen asleep in the Lord we pray and offer Christ, Who is sacrificed for our sins, and Who reconciled the merciful God for them and for us. "

St. Ambrose who lived from 339 - 397 AD we have a beautiful prayer in the funeral sermon for the Emperor Theodosius:

"Grant, O Lord, to Thy servant Emperor Theodosius that rest which Thou hast prepared for thy saints. May his soul soar up to whence it came, where it can no more feel the sting of death, and where it will learn that death is not the end of life, but of sin. I loved him, and therefore I will follow him into the land of the living; I will not leave him, until by my prayers and lamentations he will be admitted unto the holy mount of the Lord."
Of the many sayings of St. John Chrysostom, who lived from 344 to 407 AD, the following deserve special mention. He traces liturgical prayer for the dead back to the Apostles, nay, to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and says:

"The Apostles knew full well that it works much good for the departed: for whenever all the people stand with hands raised in prayer, together with the whole assembly of the priests, and the tremendous Victim lies on the altar, should we not by our petitions in their behalf move the heart of God?"

and again:

"You ought to hasten to his aid, not by tears, but by prayers, alms, and offerings. For not without reason has this been introduced, not in vain do we remember the dead at the sacred mysteries, approach the altar for them, and implore the Lamb Which is present, and Which takes away the sins of the world, but in order that the dead may receive some alleviation ... Therefore we pray with confidence for the whole world, and remember the dead together with the martyrs and the confessors and priests. For we all constitute but one body, although one member is superior to another, and so it is possible that by prayer and sacrifice we may obtain full forgiveness for those whose names we mention."

St. Jerome who lived from 347 - 419AD in a letter to Pammachius (Epistle 66) says:

"Other husbands decorate the graves of their wives with violets, roses, lilies, and purple-colored flowers. By such tokens of love they relieve the grief of their hearts. Our Pammachius bedews the sacred ashes and the venerable remains with the balsam of alms; for he knows what is written: 'As fire is extinguished by water, so is sin effaced by almsdeeds.' "

St. Augustine of Hippo, who lived from 354 to 430AD, speaks repeatedly in his writings of the doctrine of Purgatory and intercession for the dead. Forty passages in his books treat of this matter. Dogmatically the most precise statement is found in the Enchiridion (c. 109; al.c.30), which reads as follows:

During the time which intervene between the death of man and his resurrection, the soul finds itself in certain hidden places, according to each soul's merits during its life in the flesh, either enjoying rest or suffering tribulations. Neither can it be denied that the souls of the dead are granted refreshment and relief through the piety of their beloved ones on earth, whenever the sacrifice of the Mediator is offered,or alms are distributed for them. But it will benefit only those who have lived so that it can benefit them afterwards. For there is a certain manner of living which is neither so good, that after death such would no longer be needed, nor so bad, that it could no longer be of any use. When the sacrifice of the altar or alms are offered for all the departed that had been baptized, they are thank-offerings for the very good, atonements for those not very bad; for the very bad, even though they do not help the dead, they afford consolation to the living."

Famous and admired even by Protestants is Augustine's touching profession of faith contained in the last request of his dying mother, St. Monica, and in his prayer for her, especially this beautiful passage:

"When the day drew nigh on which she was to be dissolved, she was not concerned about pompous funeral, nor that her body should be deposited with spices; she did not desire a grand monument, nor wish for a grave in here native land. None of all these things did she charge us with: one thing alone did she request and desire: that she be remembered at the altar, upon which, as she knew, the holy sacrifice was offered, which blots out the handwriting of the decree that stood against us (Col. 2:14) ... To the sacrament of Redemption Thy servant hath joined her soul by the bond of faith; no one shall tear it and deprive her of They protection."