The doctrine concerning purgatory (the term for the intermediate state in Roman Catholicism), 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.
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,[2] and in the West the Confratriæ or Confraternitates of the Middle Ages).
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.
Alcuin worked in the west of the Frankish Empire, and before him St. Boniface had sought with eager zeal to establish and foster in Germany such unions and brotherhoods with England and Italy.
[11] Individuals of every station, rank, and sex eagerly joined these associations, while numerous rich persons funded monasteries to insure a special share in their suffrage after death.
At the beginning of the 11th century, the friends of Knut the Great erected in his honour a confraternity at Abbotsbury, according to the statutes of which each member should on the death of another contribute a penny for the repose of his soul.
[14] In 1220 Peter, Bishop of Sens ratified a confraternity formed by thirteen clergy who bound themselves to celebrate annually four anniversaries for the benefactors and members.
[15] In 1262 twenty-four secular priests united to practice works of mercy for the dead, read Masses for the repose of their souls, et cetera.
[21] Although it has undergone many changes, this confraternity still exists, joining at the end of the 19th century with a special Requiem Mass Association for assisting souls of deceased members,[22] and it is the first purgatorial society according to the present meaning of the name.
Founded in 1488, the Black Penitents, who marched in procession through Rome under the gonfalone of mercy,[vague] aimed to assist, before execution, those condemned to death, and afterwards to provide for their burial, exequies, and Requiem Mass.
[23] The Confraternity of Our Lady of Suffrage (Santa Maria del Suffragio) existed in Rome from 1592, expressly for the relief of poor souls.
[24] The Archconfraternity of Death and Prayer (mortis et orationis), founded at Santa Maria dell’Orazione e Morte in Rome in 1538, to provide for the burial of the poor and abandoned, still exists.
[25] About 1687 the rules for a special confraternity "for the relief of the Most Needy Souls in Purgatory" were approved in Rome under the sacred names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
[26] The confraternity of Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary and the Sorrowful Mother sponsored processions of the Way of the Cross in the Roman Colosseum and enjoyed special popularity, having been inaugurated September 8, 1760, and having St. Leonard of Port Mauric among its illustrious members.
[27] In 1726, local Franciscans formed the Ingolstadt Mass Association, that aimed to procure for all members the grace of a happy death and for those already deceased speedy assistance and liberation from the pains of purgatory.
At the close of the Middle Ages, the old confraternities which were generally confined to a town or small district gradually disappeared or preserved only a semblance of continuation.
In 1818, Pius VII endowed the Archconfraternity of Our Mother of Sorrows and the Poor Souls in Purgatory,[29] housed in Santa Maria in Trastevere, with rich indulgences.
[30] The largest of the later confraternities is the Archconfraternity for the Relief of the Poor Souls in Purgatory under the title of the Assumption of Mary (founded 1841) in the Redemptorist church of Santa Maria in Monterone at Rome.
In 1877 the Archconfraternity of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament under the protection of St. Benedict for the Poor Souls in Purgatory was erected with the right to aggregate other confraternities of the same name and object in Austrohungaria.
[35] A work of atonement to obtain liberation for the most needy and abandoned souls in purgatory by the celebration of many Masses was founded in 1884 in the parish of La Chapelle-Montligeon, France.
The formation of the "Catholic League for Constant Intercession for the Poor Souls in Purgatory" was proposed by certain pious citizens of Rome, approved by Leo XIII in the last years of his reign, and enriched with indulgences.
[40] Members of the Central Ohio Purgatorial Society, a lay apostolate, pray a First Tuesday Devotion every month after Black Fasting until sunset around 7 pm.