If you are praying for someone who may have gone to hell, where do those prayers go? Should you keep praying for them even though you don’t really know where anyone goes? Only God knows for sure.
No prayer is ever wasted. (See the second Q&A in this column.)When I was in grade school in the ’50s and early ’60s, the sisters said that prayers for someone no longer in purgatory would benefit someone else there. A soul in hell isn’t going anywhere but would certainly be extremely uncomfortable in heaven where everything reflects the ultimate triumph of God’s values. Genuine prayer always changes the person praying.