Teaching Children to Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
Why We Teach Kids to Pray for the Holy Souls
Teaching children to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory opens their hearts to mercy, hope, and love. In this family guide, you’ll learn how to explain the mystery of Purgatory in gentle, age-appropriate ways through saint stories, simple prayers, and meaningful November traditions. From Saint Gertrude’s powerful prayer to baking Soul Cakes together, this is a faith-filled way to help your family grow closer to the Communion of Saints—and to Jesus, who longs to welcome every soul into Heaven.
First: Understanding the suffering
Did you know that 5-year-old Saint Carlo Acutis had a vision of his grandfather in Purgatory? See the story below:
The souls in Purgatory are in agony. From what I can gather through my research, there seems to be a lot happening to them at once. While being purified for their sins committed on earth, which is, of course, agonising, they seem to also be at peace knowing that this purification is necessary. That doesn’t quite make sense to me, but then we are talking about the spiritual realm! Apparently, part of their agony is having the strongest desire to be in Jesus’ arms but still having to put up with being separated from Him! I am sure that we have all felt this longing to be with a loved one, but having to be separated from them – painful indeed! Unquenched yearning!
Flames are often used to depict the agony of these souls, either in paintings or in the mystical visions of the saints. The idea of flames pretty much terrifies me… but if there is a grace of peace at the same time…then that’s good. The good Lord and the prayers of the Holy Souls, whom we prayed for, will help us get through Purgatory. I have to remind myself that Purgatory is temporary. Heaven, on the other hand, is forever! Woo hoo! Alleluia!
Second: St. Gertrude the Great and her visions of Purgatory

In the 13th century, in Helfta, Germany, a young Benedictine nun, now called St. Gertrude the Great, started having visions. I find her visions and those of other saints fascinating. And how kind that God wants to give us information about the afterlife. I am so glad that I am Catholic and have access to all these wonderful visions from God!
In one vision, St. Gertrude the Great, saw a monk on fire, and he was holding a large, heavy bundle. He told the saint that he was in Purgatory for being lazy in his monastic duties while on earth, and also for being greedy for wealth. He told her how he had been secretly collecting money and possessions and hiding these away from his monastic brothers. These were sins as they were against the vows that each monk took on entering the order.
In another vision, she saw a sister from her order in Purgatory. She was there for having some inappropriate conversations with men while on earth. Gertrude prayed for this sister. Later, in another vision, Gertrude saw this same sister being taken into Heaven by Jesus and standing by His side.
It was to St. Gertrude the Great that Jesus gave this prayer below to pray for the Holy Souls. He promised her that He would release 1000 souls from Purgatory every time she said this prayer!
“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 within my own home and within my family.
Amen.”
You can encourage your child to learn about the life of St. Gertrude the Great by watching this child-friendly, 8-minute video with them. St. Gertrude’s prayer comes right at the end. Be sure to mention that this prayer was given to her by Jesus in a vision.
For a fuller account of the life of St. Gertrude, for adults, see this 25-minute video below:
Third: Our responsibility in the communion of saints
The Holy Souls are totally reliant on us! They long to be released and to join Jesus in the peaceful joy of Heaven. This is a huge responsibility! I have only been praying for the Holy Souls in my latter years. I tend to pray for them from my heart rather than saying set prayers. But when I heard that St. Gertrude’s prayer releases 1000 Holy Souls from Purgatory, I was blown away-and I wanted to be part of the release campaign! I am trying!
Catholic church teaching has always stated that the most powerful way to help the souls in Purgatory is to have a Mass said for them. The rosary, gaining an indulgence and acts of mercy or penance are also good ways to help these souls. In fact, any prayer said with devotion will be helpful to the Holy Souls. Perhaps one of the better-known prayers for the Holy Souls in Purgatory is the one below. This is the prayer I learnt as a child. Do you know this one?
“Eternal Rest give unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them,
May they rest in Peace. Amen.”
Fourth: Make Praying for the Holy Souls in November fun for kids
To make praying for the Holy Souls more appealing to children, we could use a part of the tradition that was used during Medieval times in the British Isles!
Then, it was common practice for the poor, children and adults to go ‘souling’ at ‘All Hallows’ Tide’. This encompassed All Saints' Eve on 31st October, All Saints' Day on 1st November and All Souls Day on 2nd November. The ‘soulers’ went from house to house, knocking on the doors of the rich of the parish. They would sing songs and promise to pray for the Holy Souls of that family. In return, they were given a Soul Cake…sometimes along with a script of the specific deceased person whom they were to pray for. I am not encouraging knocking on doors, but I am encouraging the making of Soul Cakes!
I am sure that you have already worked out that these Catholic traditions formed the basis of the current non-Christian Halloween practices.
I wondered if you would like to listen to one of the ‘souling songs’ that were sung way back in those times? I am so glad that music has moved on from these Medieval Times! Buckle-up for a very different style of music!
During your evening prayer time…
- Maybe light a special candle set aside just for the month of November. Perhaps have a photo of a loved one who has passed away on your prayer altar. This loved one can be enveloped in your prayers.
- Remind your child/ children why you are praying for these Holy Souls.
- Pray the St. Gertrude prayer together.
- As a thank you for praying the St. Gertrude prayer and releasing 1000 Holy Souls, offer your child/ children a homemade soul cake with a mug of hot chocolate and marshmallows. Delicious!

Making Soul cakes
Basically, these were small cakes made of wheat or oatmeal with dried fruits, spices and even alcohol. These varied from region to region in the British Isles. For example: In Yorkshire they were square with carrots in the centre. In Lancashire and Herefordshire, they were made with oatmeal, fat, ginger and brown ale. They are a bit like spiced shortbread.
It’s important to encourage your child to help you make these.
I found the recipe below on YouTube which uses wheat, spices and it doesn’t use alcohol - so very child friendly. Of course, you can make these to your own taste. When I tried making them, I added freshly ground cardamoms and turmeric to the mixed spice. I also used honey instead of sugar and einkorn flour instead of all-purpose flour. Einkorn flour is an ancient grain. The photos below are of my homemade soul cakes!
Traditional Soul Cakes Ingredients:
For those of us who use grams rather than cups for measurement and Celsius instead of Fahrenheit– please use the following measurements instead:
Preheat oven to 350 F/ 175 Celsius.
Roll out to ½ inch/12.7mm thick!! Makes 8 cakes
Cook for 15-20 mins
170g/ ¾ cup butter
150g /3/4 cup sugar (I used 75g honey)
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice (I also added 8 freshly ground cardamoms)
Some saffron/ 3 drops yellow food colouring (I used a pinch of turmeric)
375g/3 cups all-purpose flour (I used wholegrain Einkorn flour)
½ cup/ 120g currants
Milk if needed
How my Soul Cakes turned out!

You can see that each soul cake has a cross over the top of each ‘cake’. I made these with a knife. This signifies that the souls being prayed for are holy. They belong to Jesus and are simply going through their final purification before they can be with their Lord and Saviour forever. They are part of the Communion of Saints.
The cross could also be made by pushing currants into the top of the cake to form a cross. Maybe your child has a unique way of making the cross on top of each Soul Cake?
I hope that this enriches your November prayer times and draws the whole family closer towards the Holy Souls.
