Purgatory

What do Christ and His Church teach us about Purgatory? That there is a place called Purgatory is certain because Holy Mother Church has already declared such a belief a dogma of our Faith. In the fifteenth century the Councils of Florence and Trent solemnly declared this belief of all the faithful children of the Church.

Looking into the Old Testament we find Judas Machabeus sending to Jerusalem and asking that sacrifice be offered for those of his soldiers who had died in battle with idols on their persons because he believed they would have to be purified in the other world. (2 Mach. 12:43).

In the New Testament we find Our Lord's Own words: "He that shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come." (Matt. 12:32) And in another place He compares Purgatory to a prison when He says: "Amen, I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing." [Matt. 5: 25, 26]

Holy Mother Church calls Purgatory the "gates of Hell" when in the Mass of Burial, she prays: "From the gates of Hell, deliver him, O Lord."

The Council of Trent, SESSION XXV, December 8 and 4, 1568, DECREE CONCERNING PURGATORY

The Council of Trent, called to defend and vindicate the Holy Catholic Faith, cited the innovators of the Protestant sects and some of those still calling themselves Catholic, as excommunicated, condemning their doctrine, and once anew teaching the Catholic belief in Purgatory.

By the declaration of this dogma the Church did not invent a new doctrine, but simply restated what had always been believed and taught-----an authentic declaration of the faith founded on ancient tradition and on Holy Scripture. She set the seal of her Divine authority on it, sustained it by her infallible declaration on the existence of Purgatory.

In the Old Testament we find evidence of Purgatory in the very beginning, in the Book of Genesis. Moses, the human author of Genesis, instructs us that Joseph, on his father's death, ordered the Egyptians to hold a mourning celebration of seventy days, and a funeral celebration of seven days.

In the First Book of Kings we read that the inhabitants of Jabez Galaad fasted seven days at the death of Saul, Jonathan and Abner. The eminent theologians Suarez and Bellarmine declare in conformity with the holy Fathers, that these practices are not to be understood simply as expressions of mourning alone, but must be regarded also as suffrages for the dead.

If fasting was nothing but an expression of sorrow, then how would it be explained why David fasted during the illness of his child, but stopped fasting immediately after the child's death? It is obvious that he thought a continuance of his fast was no longer to any purpose, because the child, having died in innocence, no longer needed his prayers and good works.

The prophet Micheas takes comfort in the consolation of Purgatory when he tells us: "I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He judge my cause and execute judgment for me. He will bring me forth into the light." [7:9] Thus the declaration of Ecclesiasticus [7:37]: "A gift has grace in the sight of all the living; and restrain not grace from the dead."

Our Lord Himself, though He was most zealous in correcting abuses, and well knew that the Jews prayed for the dead, not only did not interfere with this practice, he confirmed it. He said, "And whosoever shall speak a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world, nor in the world to come."

Now if there are sins that can be forgiven in the next world, although not the sin mentioned, then we know that there is a part of the next world that does not include Heaven because those in Heaven have no need of forgiveness. [Matt. 12:32]

From these words Sts. Augustine, Gregory the Great, Bernard, the Venerable Bede and others conclude as follows: Whatsoever may be the nature of this speaking against the Holy Ghost mentioned here as an unpardonable sin, whether it be understood as referring to the obstinacy of the Jews or of the unbelievers in resisting the acknowledged truth: one certain, clear and indisputable fact follows from this passage of the Gospel by the very exception made in it: it proves convincingly that certain sins are forgiven in the next world.

Now this forgiveness is not obtainable in Heaven, because sin does not gain admittance there, nor in Hell, whence there is no redemptien. There is only one possibility: these sins are forgiven in another place, the name of which the Church has given as Purgatory.

PLACE OF PURIFICATION

Why are souls sent by God to suffer in Purgatory? The Council of Trent answers our question by saying that whoever does not satisfy completely for his sins on earth must do so in Purgatory.

Theologians distinguish between the eternal and the temporal punishment due to sin. The man who commits a mortal sin deserves Hell because he has cut himself off from all friendship with Almighty God. In sinning gravely he at the same time acquires the eternal punishment of Hell. However, if he confesses his sin, or if confession is impossible at the time, he has perfect contrition and the intention of going to confession as soon as possible, the eternal punishment is removed. But even after the eternal punishment is removed theologians say that there remains a temporal punishment. In other words, friendship with God is re-established but not perfectly because some stain of sin remains and must be removed either in this life or in the life to come.

That is to say, we have two ways of removing temporal punishment:
1) by making use of indulgences, by mortification and charitable works, or
2) by suffering for a time in Purgatory.

In case of venial sins theologians teach practically the same thing. Although there is no eternal punishment attached to them, there is a temporal punishment which must be removed before the soul is able to enjoy the Vision of God in eternity.

What are the punishments of Purgatory? There are two: the pain of loss and the pain of sense. It is easy to understand the pain of loss because the soul has been freed from the body and would normally go directly to its God, but because it is not fit to appear before God and enjoy His Presence, it must remain in Purgatory until it is ready. The pain of sense is understood to be a fire similar to the fire found in Hell.

We are not considering the pains of Purgatory in order to convince ourselves that it is futile to fight against sin, or to frighten ourselves. Rather, we consider Purgatory and its pain because such knowledge will develop in us a healthy hatred for every sin, even the venial sins we so often ignore. Knowing the frailty of our nature, we know how difficult it is to avoid every venial sin, but remember that we have the answer; we know how to remove the temporal punishments due to sin by making use of the many indulgences given by Holy Church.

www.catholictradition.org/Mary/purgatory2.htm