Articles

A Reflection on the Importance of offering Suffrages

Opinion | Articles | Penny Rose Chinir | 04-Dec-2022

According to the Catholic faith, suffrages are intercessory prayers in the form of holy mass and other prayer services, beseeching the repose of the departed souls. For example in the FMA family – a family of over 12,000 nuns across the globe, of which this author is a member, the practice of offering suffrages is an inherited tradition. Not only are requiem masses offered when a Sister dies, but it is supplemented by offering suffrages because it is believed that departed souls cannot help themselves. Those living can be taken from the state of mortal sin to that of grace, which is not possible for the dead. The offering of mass therefore, is a petition to God to shorten the period of stay in the purgatory, which is a transit for purification, before a soul could finally enter into heaven.

Unfortunately however, the importance of offering suffrages, which is an important tenet of the Catholic faith, is not so well understood by the faithful. To cite a personal example, when my parents left us – my father in 2010 and my mother in 2017, leaving us siblings realise that death after all was inevitable, fulfilment of the social commitments such as the customary rituals by way of feeding friends and relatives, gifting of souvenirs etc., got the better of the need to fulfil the solemn and sacred rites of holding requiem mass and offering suffrages. On being pointed out, my siblings countered that such was the concern of the Nun in the family. The realisation dawned upon them only when pointed out that these religious observances were needed by the souls of the departed parents. When the requiem masses were ultimately organised, relatives and friends took part with absolute devotion, irrespective of their denomination affiliations because the prayers were offered not only for the departed souls of our parents, but for all the relatives who left this world.

Similar to what I experienced when my father died, who not only was a prominent member in the clan, but also a pioneer Catholic in the community, I also found that there were lack of awareness on the importance of offering requiem mass for  departed souls in other families too, particularly in the states of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. My interaction with bereaved families in recent times is the basis of this assertion. The same however, cannot be said about some parts of the Northeast, where offering masses for the departed souls are considered necessary, therefore taken seriously. For example, in parts of Meghalaya and Assam, the practice of offering masses for the departed souls are not limited only to requiem mass or the annual rituals of death anniversaries. They also offer novena and Gregorian masses. A novena is a series of nine successive masses, while a Gregorian mass is an ancient tradition of offering thirty consecutive masses in 30 days for the soul of a deceased person as a petition to God for an early exit from purgatory.

There is also a prevailing mind set amongst Catholics that since the Eucharist is said to be infinitely valuable and sufficient act of worship, the need for additional offering of masses was not necessary. This actually is a misplaced understanding of the practices what Catholic faith calls for. No doubt the mass is the revisiting and celebration of Christ’s sacrifice of atonement at Calvary, therefore has infinite value as worship. But since our participation in it is never perfect, it is necessary that we keep coming back to it so that we come closer to perfect love and prayer of Christ, to ensure that his grace flows into our lives and to this world, until everything is finally completed with “the summing up of all things in Christ” (Eph. 1:10). The silver lining however is, once made to understand the purpose of offering suffrages, most Catholic families are prepared to fulfil them, particularly when in moments of grief and sorrow.

Offering suffrages for the departed souls has roots in the Old Testament. Judas Maccabees offered prayers and sacrifices for the Jewish soldiers who died wearing pagan amulets which were forbidden by the law. Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. Thus, he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from sin (Cf. IIMac.12:43-46). We also see evidence of prayers for the dead in the early history of the Church and from inscriptions uncovered on tombs in the Roman catacombs of the 2^nd century. St Cyril of Jerusalem said, “At mass both the living and dead are remembered, and the Eucharistic sacrifice is of benefit to sinners, the living and the dead”.  St Ambrose preached, “We have loved them during life; let us not abandon them in death”.  St Gregory said, “Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them”. Therefore, we find the origins of this practice dating back to the Old Testament, with the early Church recognizing its importance and ensuring the continuity. The practice of offering suffrages for the departed souls, therefore, must not be ignored in our life time so that the living does it for us when we are gone.

One of the famous prayers for the departed souls is the prayer of St Gertrude, a Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in the 13^th century. It is believed that Jesus promised her that 1000 souls would be released from purgatory each time this prayer is said devoutly: Eternal Father, I offer thee the most precious blood of thy divine son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen. More than teaching or preaching, praying the prayer of St Gertrude together with the family members, at least a decade on the rosary beads, even if it takes time initially is very experiential and comforting.

 While we rue the ignorance and lack of awareness among Catholic families on the importance of offering suffrages, the blame must not entire go to the faithful for the shortcoming. We the religious leaders too must take part of the blame, because there appears to be insufficient sensitisation to the faithful. Better way of ensuring awareness will be to encourage prayer services in honour of the departed souls within families and groups from time to time, and during such services, the importance of offering suffrages could be explained. In every family, there are departed souls and when people are nudged into realising the need to fulfil these spiritual obligations on their behalf, it would naturally become a routine sacred commitment. Most importantly, the living and the dead shall remain emotionally connected through fulfilment of these spiritual obligations.

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The writer is a FMA Nun, and she could be reached on pchinir@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal

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