If any man's work burn, he shall
suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as
by fire. - 1 Corinthians 3:15
The first motive for assisting
the souls in Purgatory that presents itself to the reflecting
mind, is the nature of Purgatory; the question, What
do the souls detained there suffer?
We know that Purgatory is a
place of temporal punishment, but in what that punishment
precisely consists, the Church has not explicitly defined.
but we have been taught to regard it as the pain of fire;
and that this is the almost universal opinion of the
Saints and Doctors of the Church will not for a moment
admit of dispute. The Church herself favors this opinion,
as well by the tacit approval she gives to the writings
of these Fathers, as by the express words of the Catechism
of the Council of Trent, a work of the highest authority.
Speaking of the different abodes of the departed, the
Catechism [of the Council of Trent] says (13. 63):
"Among them is also the
fire of Purgatory, in which the souls of the just are
cleansed by a temporary punishment, in order to be admitted
into their eternal country, ‘into which nothing defiled
enters.' The truth of this doctrine, founded, as holy
Councils declare, on Scripture, and confirmed by apostolic
tradition, demands diligent and frequent exposition,’ etc.
In the discussion of this question,
where so much is shrouded in impenetrable mystery, I
shall present the reader with some points freely translated
from the works of the learned Cardinal Bellarmine; which
if they appear somewhat dry and uninteresting, are yet
worthy of his attentive perusal, as tending, as far as
may be, to elucidate our subject, and furnish material
for fuller development as we proceed.
In regard to Purgatory, Bellarmine
[renowned Catholic theologian and Doctor of the Church]
says, some things are certain while others are doubtful.
In the first place, it is certain that despair and the
fear of Hell form no part of the sufferings of the souls
there detained; for their eternal salvation is placed
beyond doubt by the very fact of their being in Purgatory.
Secondly, it is certain that
one of the pains of Purgatory is the temporary deprivation
of the beatific vision of God; for these souls cannot
but grieve when they see that, through their own fault,
they are hindered for a time from enjoying the Supreme
Good. This suffering is called the pain of loss.
Thirdly, it is certain that
besides this pain of loss, there is another, which theologians
call the pain of sense, which consists in something more
than being deprived of the consoling presence of God;
for, since he who sins not only turns himself away from
the Supreme Good but also turns inordinately to creatures,
it is fitting that he should be punished not only by
being deprived for a time of the vision of God, but also
by afflictions from creatures.
Fourthly, it is certain that
in Purgatory, as well as in Hell, there is the pain of
fire, whether this is to be understood in a literal or
a figurative sense, whether it is a pain of sense or
a pain of loss. That there is a fire in Purgatory as
well as in Hell, is evident from these words of St. Paul: "He
shall be saved, yet so as by fire"; as also by the
testimony of the Fathers, all of whom call the pain of
Purgatory fire.
These things being stated, upon
which all agree, certain other questions naturally follow:
First, whether the fire of Purgatory
is material fire or not.
Secondly, if it be material
fire, how can it act upon souls separated from their
bodies, which are spiritual substances?
Thirdly, by whom is this fire
administered, or made to act upon the souls; by demon
or by angel, or does it act of itself, by its own innate
power?
And fourthly, are the pains
of Purgatory greater and more acute than any pain that
could be suffered on earth, or are they not?
As regards the first of these
questions, all the Fathers call the pain of Purgatory
that of fire; and they adduce such authorities and reasons
as prove, if not to a demonstration, at least to a very
high degree of probability, that it is a material fire,
and not at all to be understood in a figurative sense.
As to the second question: if
the fire be material, and such as we have here upon earth,
how can it act upon disembodied souls? This we cannot
tell; but, although it is beyond the reach of our comprehension,
it may yet be true. "For why," as St. Augustine
asks, "may we not assert that even immaterial spirits
may, in some extraordinary way, yet really, be pained
by the punishment of material fire, if the spirits of
men, which also are certainly immaterial, are both now
contained in the material members of the body, and in
the world to come shall be indissolubly united to their
own bodies."*
It is wholly uncertain with
regard to the third question. But it is not by demons
or by angels, say the scholastics, that the souls are
tormented; for, having been victorious over the demons
in the last struggle upon earth, it does not seem fitting
the divine justice that the souls should again be subject
to them. Yet some of the revelations of the saints would
go to show that certain souls in Purgatory are tormented
by demons. I shall have occasion to return to this subject
when treating of the condition of the souls in Purgatory.
It is most probable that the fire acts of itself, by
a special power that God has given it. But the question
must remain a mystery so long as we are in this mortal
life.
With regard to the fourth question:
that the pains of Purgatory are most acute, and so far
transcend all the pains that can be suffered in this
mortal life, is the unanimous teaching of the Fathers,
the revelations of the saints, and reason.*
The remarks that I shall have
occasion to make as we proceed will tend still further
to confirm this opinion, and give the reader matter for
serious and salutary reflection.
The different opinions that
have been held by saints and ascetic writers in regard
to Purgatory, and the extent to which they have been
carried, are fitly set forth in the following extracts
from the writings of Father Faber:
"There have always been," says
this distinguished author, "two views of Purgatory
prevailing in the Church, not contradictory the one of
the other, but rather expressive of the mind and devotion
of those who have embraced them.
One is the view met with in
by far the greater number of the lives and revelations
of Italian and Spanish saints, the works of the Germans
of the Middle Ages, and the popular delineations of Purgatory
in Belgium, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, and elsewhere.
The other is the view which
has been made popular by St. Francis de Sales, though
he drew it originally from his favorite treatise on Purgatory
by St. Catharine of Genoa; and it is also borne out by
many of the revelations of Sister Francesca of Pampeluna,
a Theresian nun. Each of these two views, though neither
denies the other, has its own peculiar spirit of devotion.
"The first view is embodied
in the terrifying sermons of Italian Quaresimali (Lenten
sermons), and in those wayside pictures which so often
provoke the fastidiousness of the English traveler. It
loves to represent Purgatory simply as a Hell which is
not eternal. Violence, confusion, wailing, horror, preside
over its descriptions. It dwells, and truly, on the terribleness
of the pain of sense which the soul is mysteriously permitted
to endure. The fire is the same fire as that of Hell,
created for the single and express purpose of giving
torture. Our earthly fire is as painted fire compared
to it. Besides this, there is a special and indefinable
horror to the unbodied soul in becoming the prey of this
material agony. The sense of imprisonment close and intolerable,
and the intense palpable darkness, are additional features
in the horror of the scene, which prepare us for that
sensible neighborhood to Hell, which many saints have
spoken of as belonging to Purgatory. Angels are represented
as active executioners of God's awful justice. Some have
even held that the demons were permitted to touch and
harass the spouses of Christ in those ardent fires. Then,
to this terribleness of the pain of sense is added the
dreadfulness of the pain of loss. The beauty of God remains
in itself the same immensely desirable object it ever
was. But the soul is changed. All that in life and in
the world of sense dulled its desires after God is gone
from it, so that it seeks Him with an impetuosity which
no imagination can at all conceive. The very burning
excess of its love becomes the measure of its intolerable
pain. . . To these horrors we might add many more which
depict Purgatory simply as a Hell which is not eternal."*
This view, it may be remarked,
was rather that of the early and middle ages than of
recent times. We are unfortunately deficient in the courage
and spirit of self-denial necessary for contemplating
this picture of Purgatory as the probable future lot
of our own poor souls for a longer or shorter period
of time. Yet it is a true picture, although unaccompanied
by those touches of love which tone down its terrible
aspect in some degree.
Says Fr. Faber:
"The spirit of this view
is a holy fear of offending God, a desire of bodily austerities,
a great value put upon Indulgences, an extreme horror
of sin, and an habitual trembling before the judgments
of God. Those who have led lives of unusual penance,
and severe Orders in religion, have always been impregnated
with this view, and it seems to have been borne out in
its minutest details by the conclusions of scholastic
theologians, as may be seen at once by referring to Bellarmine,
who in each section of his treatise on Purgatory compares
the revelations of the saints with the consequences of
theology. It is remarkable also that when the Blessed
Henry Suso, through increased familiarity and love of
God, began to think comparatively lightly of the pains
of Purgatory, our Lord warned him that this was very
displeasing to Him. For what judgment can be light which
God has prepared for sin? Many theologians have said,
not only that the least pain of Purgatory was greater
than the greatest pain of earth, but greater than all
the pains of earth put together. This, then, is a true
view of Purgatory, but not a complete one. Yet it is
not one which we can safely call coarse or grotesque.
It is the view of many saints and servants of God: and
it is embodied in the popular celebrations of All-Souls'
Day in several Catholic countries "
The other view of Purgatory
is stated by the same writer, in the following few words:
"The second view of Purgatory
does not deny any one of the features of the preceding
view but almost puts them out of sight by the other considerations
which it brings more prominently forward. It goes into
Purgatory with its eyes fascinated and spirit sweetly
tranquilized by the face of Jesus, its first sight of
the Sacred Humanity, at the Particular Judgment which
it has undergone. That vision abide, with it still, and
beautifies the uneven terror of this prison, as if with
perpetual silvery showers of moonlight which seem to
fall from our Savior's loving eyes. In the sea of fire
it holds fast by that image. The moment that in His sight
it perceives its unfitness for Heaven, it wings its voluntary
flight to Purgatory, like a dove to her proper nest in
the shadows of the forest. . . .
"In that moment the soul
loves God most tenderly, and in return is most tenderly
loved by Him. To the eyes of those who take this view,
that sou1 seems most beautiful. How should a dear spouse
of God be anything but beautiful? The soul is in punishment,
true; but it is in unbroken union with God. 'It has no
remembrance,' says St. Catharine of Genoa, most positively,
'no remembrance at all of its past sins, or of earth.
Its sweet prison, its holy sepulchre is in the adorable
will of its Heavenly Father, and there it abides the
term of its purification with the most perfect contentment
and the most unutterable love.'"*
Contrasting this picture of
Purgatory with the other, Fr. Faber says:
"The spirit of this view
is love, an extreme desire that God should not be offended,
a yearning for the interests of Jesus. It takes its tone
from the soul's first flight into that heritage of suffering.
As it took God's part against itself in that act, so
is it throughout. This view of Purgatory turns on the
worship of God's purity and sanctity. It looks at things
from God's point of view, and merges its own interests
in His. It is just the view we might expect to come from
St. Francis de Sales, or the loving St. Catharine of
Genoa. And it is the helplessness rather than the wretchedness
of the souls detained which moves those who take this
view to compassion and devotion; but it is God's glory
and the interests of Jesus which influence them most
of all."
How sweet the spirit of love
with which he exclaims: "Oh how solemn and subduing
is the thought of that holy kingdom, that realm of pain!
There is no cry, no murmur; all is silent, silent as
Jesus before His enemies. We shall never know we really
love Mary till we look up to her out of those deeps,
those vales of dreadful mysterious fires. 0 beautiful
region of the Church of God! O lovely troop of the flock
of Mary! What a scene is presented to our eyes when me
gaze upon that consecrated empire of sinlessness, and
yet of keenest suffering! There is the beauty of those
immaculate souls, and then the loveliness, yea, the worshipfulness
of their patience, the majesty of their gifts, the dignity
of their solemn and chaste sufferings, the eloquence
of their silence; the moonlight of Mary's throne lighting
up their land of pain and unspeakable expectation; the
silver-winged angels voyaging through the deeps of that
mysterious realm; and above all, that unseen Face of
Jesus which is so well remembered that it seems to be
almost seen!"*
Enumerating the points of agreement
between these two view's, - for it must not be forgotten
that they do not contradict each other, - the writer
just quoted remarks:
"Both these views agree
that the pains are extremely severe, as well because
of the office which God intends them to fulfil, as because
of the disembodied soul being the subject of them. Both
also agree in the length of the suffering. . . . Both
views agree again in holding that what we in the world
call very trivial faults are most severely visited in
Purgatory. St. Peter Damian gives us many instances of
this, and others are collected and quoted by Bellarmine.
Slight feelings of self-complacency, trifling inattention
in the recital of the Divine Office, and the like, occur
frequently among them. Sister Francesca mentions the
case of a girl of fourteen in Purgatory because she was
not quite conformed to the will of God in dying so young;
and one soul said to her: 'Ah! men little think in the
world how dearly they are going to pay here for faults
they hardly note there.' She even saw souls there immensely
punished only for having been scrupulous in this life;
either, I suppose, because there is mostly self-will
in scruples, or because they did not lay them down when
obedience was commanded. . . . Then, again, both views
agree in the helplessness of the holy souls."*
It is wholly unnecessary to
add more to this picture, drawn by a writer as remarkable
for the precision and extent of his knowledge as for
the beauty and eloquence of his language. If, along with
the excruciating pain which the souls are forced to endure;
their longing to repose in God, their last end; their
utter inability to help themselves, or even to cry to
us for aid, anything further was necessary to excite
our compassion and zeal in their behalf, it is found
in a consideration of the length of time during which
these poor prisoners of Jesus Christ are forced to remain
in Purgatory, buried in that lake of fire. Let us pause
for a moment and reflect on the nature of fire and the
pain it causes. Nothing is so universally dreaded as
fire; it is in vain that the wealth of nations would
be offered to the starving beggar, trained in the severe
school of privation and suffering; to win it all he would
not permit his finger to be held in the flame of a candle
for five short minutes. Yet we are assured by authority
the most deserving of credit, that many souls languish
in Purgatory, wholly submerged in fire, for fifty or
a hundred years, and that not a few will be there, in
all probability, until the Day of Judgment. The consideration
of this shall form a second motive to excite our zeal
and cause us to pour the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ,
mystically shed in the Adorable Sacrifice of the Altar,
on those purifying flames.
1. The City of God, B. XXI, Chapter 10.
2. Bellarmini, The Purgatorio, L.II, cap. 10-14.
3. All for Jesus, pp. 378-379.
4.
All for Jesus, pp. 380-382.
5.
All for Jesus, pp. 383-384.
6.
All for Jesus, pp. 394-396.
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