Tag: Purgatory

1 min read

Eternal Life

What Is Purgatory?

Father Reginald Martin

April 17, 2023 7:10 am April 17, 2023

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1 min read

Popular images of purgatory are probably inspired by Dante and expanded upon by imaginative artists, often with an aim to thrill or horrify their audience. As a result, Catholics lose…

Popular images of purgatory are probably inspired by Dante and expanded upon by imaginative artists, often with an aim to thrill or horrify their audience. As a result, Catholics lose sight of what ought to be a consoling article of faith, and Protestants are confused or scandalized by what appears to be a jumbled scam devised to subvert or avoid God’s justice.

What the Church teaches about purgatory is very simple: “The souls of the just which, in the moment of death, are burdened with venial sins or temporal punishment due to sins, enter purgatory.” Our belief in purgatory is based on a passage from 2 Maccabees, in which the Jewish hero, Judas Maccabeus, orders prayers and sacrifices for slain patriots, that their sins might be forgiven. Jesus, too, speaks of the possibility of forgiveness after death when he teaches, “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven … in this age or in the age to come” (Mt 12:32).

We must remember one thing: purgatory is not a “second chance”; it is the final step for righteous individuals who, before death, lacked an opportunity to atone for venial sins or do sufficient penance for serious sins already confessed.

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2 min read

The Church

The Church: Triumphant, Militant and Suffering

Msgr. M. Francis Mannion

February 15, 2023 9:01 am February 15, 2023

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2 min read

What you were taught in your catechism classes is indeed still valid, although it is not commonplace today to hear the description of the various states of the Church as…

What you were taught in your catechism classes is indeed still valid, although it is not commonplace today to hear the description of the various states of the Church as you describe them.

The church triumphant describes the Church in heaven. In the kingdom of God — the realm in which the holy Trinity, the angels and saints, and the abode of all those who have reached the fullness of salvation in Christ — the Church already exists. But it will have its fullest being at the end of time, when all of creation and (we hope) all human beings will be conformed to Christ and all reality will be one of divine praise and glory.

The term “church triumphant” underlines the truth that in the glory of heaven all human sin will have been transformed, death and suffering will be no more, and the glory of God will have triumphed over all the imperfections of human history.

The church militant refers to the Church on earth. The term “militant” can suggest an antagonistic relationship between the Church and the world. Nevertheless, it refers to an authentic reality: that the Church on earth works to overcome the imperfect and sinful dimensions of human existence.

The Church’s mission is not to oppose the world and society, but to work for their transformation by the convincing preaching of the Gospel and by the edifying power of the good works and example of those who are baptized into Christ. The Church’s best asset is the saintly activity and example of those who have chosen the Christian way of life.

The church suffering refers to the church in purgatory. Purgatory is not a kind of temporary hell. It is rather the threshold, the antechamber of heaven. In purgatory, all those — whether Christian or not — who have reached the gates of death without reaching the full perfection of life represented in Christ are cleansed in a kind of ongoing baptism and are purified by the enlightening fire of the Holy Spirit. The suffering of purgatory is not one of destruction, but the suffering that comes from leaving the old self behind and taking on the new.

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1 min read

Eternal Life

What Happens In Purgatory?

Father Reginald Martin

February 7, 2023 7:46 am February 7, 2023

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St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the souls in purgatory can expect a twofold pain: the pain of loss, which is the delay of the Beatific Vision, and the pain of…

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the souls in purgatory can expect a twofold pain: the pain of loss, which is the delay of the Beatific Vision, and the pain of sense, which is the fire of purgatory. Aquinas observed in his Summa Theologica: “With regard to both the least pain of Purgatory surpasses the greatest pain of this life. For the more a thing is desired, the more painful is its absence” (Appendix 1, 2). St. Thomas also taught that the fire of purgatory is the same as the fire of hell. This is, unquestionably, quite frightening, but at least St. Thomas assured us the souls in purgatory will not be tormented by demons, as that punishment is reserved for the damned. Those in purgatory have resisted demonic temptation, so do not deserve to be plagued after death by forces over which they have triumphed in life.

Saints who have written on purgatory are nearly countless. They include John Chrysostom, Augustine, Nicholas of Tolentino (the patron of souls in purgatory) and, in more present times, St. Faustina. Those wishing to consider concise reflections on purgatory from these and other holy souls may be interested in a book by Father F.X. Schouppe, S.J., titled “Purgatory Explained.”

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1 min read

Saints

Purgatory Needed for Saints?

Msgr. Charles E. Pope

January 18, 2023 9:10 am January 18, 2023

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When the Church canonizes a saint, we are confirming they are in heaven. The pope does this based on the supplied evidence of a holy life, and also the evidence…

When the Church canonizes a saint, we are confirming they are in heaven. The pope does this based on the supplied evidence of a holy life, and also the evidence of miracles credibly attributed to the prayers of the saint. Canonization says they are in heaven now and that any purification they might have needed is complete. The Church is not thereby indicating that the saint needed no time in purgatory, only that their purgation is now complete and they are in heaven, as seen by the evidence of the miracles wrought by God through their prayers. Though we cannot know if or for how long a canonized saint might have needed purification in purgatory, it seems likely that even most canonized saints would need some purgation after death. Jesus promises us that when he is finished with us we would be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (see Mt 5:48). Even very holy people probably need some final purification for the Lord to finish and perfect this awesome promise in us.

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2 min read

Saints

What is St. Gertrude’s Prayer?

Msgr. William J. King

November 12, 2022 11:25 am November 12, 2022

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2 min read

Pious tradition holds that Jesus promised St. Gertrude that a thousand souls would be released from purgatory each time the following prayer is said devoutly: “Eternal Father, I offer You…

Pious tradition holds that Jesus promised St. Gertrude that a thousand souls would be released from purgatory each time the following prayer is said devoutly: “Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.”

In His revelation to St. Gertrude, Jesus did not attach conditions to the recitation of this prayer, and He did not specify added requirements. In fulfillment of His promise, the mercy shown to sinners in response to this intercessory prayer is a direct gift from God.

An indulgence, on the other hand, is an action of the Church in fulfillment of the promise of Jesus in Matthew 18:18: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” An indulgence is remission of the temporal punishment due to sins. According to Pope Paul VI in Indulgentiarum Doctrina (an apostolic constitution discussing indulgences), indulgences are either plenary or partial. There are four conditions for receiving a plenary indulgence: to have an interior disposition of complete detachment from sin; to have sacramentally confessed sins; to receive the holy Eucharist; and to have prayed for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. According to the Vatican’s Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, which has competence, or jurisdiction, regarding indulgences, these conditions must be met within a period of “about 20 days.”

Devout recitation of the above prayer does not convey an indulgence, but instead invokes the mercy of God directly, and therefore it does not require the fulfillment of conditions attached to an indulgence. The prayer, devoutly offered, is sufficient in itself.

Rev. Msgr. William J. King is a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg.

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3 min read

Eternal Life

How To Pray For Those In Purgatory?

Msgr. Charles E. Pope

November 2, 2022 6:45 am November 2, 2022

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3 min read

Any prayer or pious act applied to the souls in purgatory can be a way to pray for them. The most effective manner of praying is to have Masses offered…

Any prayer or pious act applied to the souls in purgatory can be a way to pray for them. The most effective manner of praying is to have Masses offered for them or to apply the fruits of your own attendance at Mass. The Rosary, too, is a wonderful way to pray for them.

We pray for the souls in purgatory because they are undergoing the final purifications that are necessary for most of us after we die. This is because Scripture says of heaven: “nothing unclean will enter it” (Rv 21:27). Jesus also made a promise to each of us when he said, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

Most of us realize that few leave this world as perfect or pure, even if they are in friendship with God and in a state of grace. Some final work must be done to take away any final attachments to sin, any rough edges, any sorrows, regrets or hurts. These things are surely disclosed when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ (see 2 Cor 5:10).

How this purification is done is mysterious, but Scripture gives two images, one consoling and the other more vigorous. The Book of Revelation supplies the consoling thought that, regarding the dead, Jesus “will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away” (Rv 21:4). The more vigorous text comes from St. Paul, who speaks of a fiery purgation the dead will pass through on the day of judgment: Each one’s work will become manifest, “for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:13-15).

So on account of this judgment and purification (that seems necessary and is taught), we pray for the dead that this process be swift and that they be in the full glory of heaven soon.

It is the instinct of the Church that our prayers help, which is an ancient practice, stretching back into the Old Testament (see 2 Mc 12:40-46). It is our wish to assist these souls and speed their purifications that may be necessary and that they may be undergoing. We are not always sure of how time here relates to time there, or even if they experience time as we currently do. Yet, still, it is our instinct to pray and assist them in those final finishing touches, as the Lord completes His masterpiece.

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