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Dear catholic.com visitors: This Catholic Answers website, with all its free resources, is the world’s largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. We receive no funding from the institutional Church and rely entirely on your generosity to sustain this website with trustworthy, accessible content. If every visitor this month donated $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. If you’ve never made a gift, now is the time. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar this week only. Thanks and God bless.
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Q&A

Are prayers wasted on people who are already saved or damned?

Catholic Answers Staff

Question:

What happens to prayers that are offered on behalf of deceased who, unbeknownst to the one who prays, are already in heaven or hell? Are those prayers wasted?

Answer:

They are not wasted. Those in heaven don’t need our prayers, and those in hell are unable to profit by them. Only those who are undergoing purification prior to entering full union with God in heaven (1 Cor 3:12-15) can avail themselves of our prayers. When we pray for them we are asking God to mitigate their suffering. If the persons we pray for are not in purgatory and have already gone on to heaven, the Lord will apply our prayers to others in need of them.

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