Purgatorial society

Purgatorial societies are Roman Catholic Church associations or confraternities which aim to assist souls in purgatory reach heaven. The Catholic doctrine concerning purgatory, the condition of the poor souls after death (particular judgment), the communion of saints, and the satisfactory value of our good works form the basis of these associations. In the modern Church this role is fulfilled by the Purgatorian Archconfraternity which is run under the auspices of the Transalpine Redemptorists.

For centuries, associations praying for the purgatorial souls were common. The old religious orders, e.g. the Benedictine Order, especially the Order of Cluny which inaugurated All Soul's Day, also met some of this need. Religious confraternities are likewise distinguished in their early beginnings by a special devotion to the sick and burial of the deceased (e.g. the brotherhood of Constantinople which flourished in 336, and in the West the Confratriæ or Confraternitates of the Middle Ages.) Even the medieval guilds, established primarily for secular purposes, never forgot in their constitutions, to require charity for deceased members.

In Northern Europe, the medieval associations of prayer called "fraternitates", "societates", and "consortium" are not as well known, although some "Totenbünde" (German for associations for the dead) existed (affording one of the best proofs of the existence of lively faith, especially among the Anglo-Saxons, Franks and the Germanic peoples in general). They were founded chiefly, though not solely, to assist deceased members with prayers, Mass and works of Christian charity.

Ducange-Favre defines a Confraternitas "as ... a society formed between various churches and monasteries, abbeys, bishops and noblemen; later kings, princes, bishops, priests and the laity, especially ecclesiastical benefactors, were admitted". The admission papers or the constitutions of the brotherhood usually stated in detail how many Masses, what prayers, and good works would be offered on their death for the repose of the souls of deceased members, in the place of worship or by individuals. The members were enrolled in a registry (a Liber Vitæ or 'book of life'), a development of the ancient diptychs. Upon the death of a member, a messenger was immediately dispatched with a circular (rotulus) to announce the death to all the affiliated monasteries, where the name was inserted in list of the dead. These lists of the dead were also known as necrologies for constant commemoration; these lists were, like the earlier diptychs, read aloud so that special prayers might be said for the deceased mentioned, and a special commemoration made by the priest during the Eucharist.

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