Today, November 2nd, is All Souls Day. It is the day when Catholics remember and pray for the souls of all the faithful departed. Please note the emphasis on "for".
We do not pray to our ancestors, but for them. Some of them are already in heaven, and we venerate them on All Saints Day, November 1st. Prayers are not needed for them, and prayers cannot hlep those in hell. Some, however, are languishing in purgatory, paying the price for their transgressions on this earth. It is for them we pray.
"It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from their sins." (2 Macc. 12:46)
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