St. Vincent - Crookes, Sheffield at 40 Pickmere Road, Crookes, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 1GY UK - Purgatory (Fr Paddy's Teaching)

'There are some who depart this life not so bad as to be deemed unworthy of mercy – not so good as to be admitted to the immediate happiness of heaven' (St Augustine).  Eternal life is deferred until one has undergone a prior period of purification and penance.  We should use this present world as an outpost of purgatory.  Purgatorial pain is far more intense than anything to be experienced here on earth.  There is pain as well as pathos in the twilight world of purgatory.
 
The pain is a temporary loss of God.  These souls are much more aware than we are of the distance between the goodness and beauty of God for whom they suffer an ardent longing. and their own imperfect state. They see now that there is a God and realise more clearly how much they have hurt Him, how many times they have disregarded Him and how many opportunities they have wasted.  Purgatory is like a divine crucible in which the dross of sins effects are consumed.  Scripture tells us that nothing defiled can enter Heaven.

In one of the Second Vatican Council documents it reads: 'We accept with great devotion the venerable faith of our ancestors regarding this vital fellowship with our brethren who are in heavenly glory or who, having died, are still being purified'.

The catechism states that all who died in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.  The Church gives the name Purgatory to the final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.  The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent.  Pope St Gregory the Great teaches: 'as for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgement, there is a purifying fire.  He who is Truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come.  From this sentence we understand that certain offences can be forgiven in this age, but certain other in the age to come'

This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture in the book of the Maccabeus where it reads: 'it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins'. 

The Holy souls are crying out for our prayers.  The Mass is the most effective suffrage we can offer them.  St John Chrysostom says that the Mass is the best way of bringing relief to the Dead.  The catechism says: 'from the beginning the Church has honoured the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice of the  Mass so that, thus purified they may attain the beatific vision of God, which is Heaven.  The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:  If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring any less consolation.  Let us also offer our prayers for the faithful departed. (Job 1:5).

St Thomas Aquinas says about the pain of purgatory that it is more severe than anything our Lord suffered during his better passion.  The seventeenth-century Carmelite, St Mary Magdalen of Pazzi said that words failed her in describing the torments of purgatory.  In comparison with them, she said, 'the dungeons of the martyrs are gardens of delight'. 

Catholic traditional teaching is that in purgatory there are degrees of suffering, measured as well in terms of duration as of intensity.  These degrees correspond to the amount of penance and purification required of each soul by the God of justice and holiness. 

Purgatory is particularly relevant for those people, who while on Earth, have not taken responsibility for their day to day sins and failings.  We're not talking here about mortal sins but venial.  Even though forgiveness is readily available by the merits of Christ's death and resurrection, the inhabitants of Purgatory have chosen to ignore this.  We also feel the need to make up for our sins.  If we stole something from someone, for instance, it's not enough to say sorry.  To show true repentance, we would want to return the item stolen or its equivalent.  How much more is this true of God who is infinitely just?  

What then would these holy souls in purgatory be telling us:  'Avoid sin at all costs.  For it not only displeases God but wounds the soils us in our deepest self. It necessitates a drastic process of healing and cleansing.  It delays our admission into the glory of paradise'.

Upon reflection we see the faces of our own departed loved ones smiling at us through the mists of memory, and we mourn them deeply.  But, thank God, far from being cut off entirely, we can build a bridge of faith, dialogue, love and solidarity to them in their helpless condition as holy souls.  Above all, the sacrifice of the Mass sends a refreshing stream of solace and relief into the bitter pains they are enduring.

But there is a paradox.  Though healing pain is writ large across the landscape of purgatory its inmates are also bathed in peace as they become more and more united with God.  The Holy Souls, as they a commonly called, purify themselves willingly and lovingly.  St Francis says that the bitterest anguish experienced by the holy souls is shot through with a profound peace.

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