Christians have been praying for their departed brothers and
sisters since the earliest days of Christianity. Early liturgies
and inscriptions on catacomb walls attest to the ancientness of
prayers for the dead, even if the Church needed more time to
develop a substantial theology behind the practice. Praying for
the dead is actually borrowed from Judaism, as indicated in 2
Maccabees 12:41-42. In the New Testament, St Paul prays for
mercy for his departed friend Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:18).
Early Christian writers Tertullian and St. Cyprian testify to
the regular practice of praying for the souls of the departed.
Tertullian justified the practice based on custom and Tradition,
and not on explicit scriptural teaching. This demonstrates that
Christians believed that their prayers could somehow have a
positive effect on the souls of departed believers. Closely
connected to the ancient practice of praying for the dead is the
belief in an explicit state called purgatory. The New Testament
hints at a purification