Before entering upon the subject
which is properly to engage our attention, it will not
be out of place to give the reader a general outline
of the manner in which we are enabled to exercise the
precept of fraternal charity towards the members of the
Suffering Church, the poor souls in Purgatory.*
From childhood, we have all
been taught that Purgatory is "a place of punishment
in the other life, where some souls suffer for a time,
before they can go to Heaven." We have also learned
that those only are condemned to Purgatory who die guilty
of venial sin, or who have not fully satisfied the temporal
punishment due to mortal sin, the eternal punishment
of which had been forgiven before death.
Of the location of Purgatory,
nothing is or can be known with certainty. It may not,
however, be uninteresting to the reader to give the following
from Cardinal Bellarmine, one of the ablest theologians
of the Church in any age; and the more so as it will
afford an idea, to be developed further on, of the pains
to which the poor souls are subjected.
"It was the common opinion
of the scholastics," says Bellarmine, "that
Purgatory is in the bowels of the earth, and near to
Hell itself. They hold that there are within the earth
four abodes, or one in four parts; of which one part
(Hell) is for the damned; another (Purgatory), for those
souls that are undergoing purification; a third, for
unbaptized infants; and the fourth (Limbo), for the souls
of the just who died before Christ." Bellarmine himself
embraces this opinion.*
The punishment due from the
holy souls is expiated in two ways:
- either by the patient suffering of the poor prisoners
themselves, or
- by the good works of the faithful in their behalf
"That there is such
a place (as Purgatory), and that the souls detained there
can be assisted and relieved in their sufferings by the
prayers or suffrages of the living, by their fasting,
almsdeeds, and other good works, particularly by the
oblation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is an article
of faith founded on the Sacred Scripture, the tradition
of the Fathers, the teaching of Councils, notably on
that of the Council of Trent."* "In
this the mercy and goodness of God shine conspicuous
and demand our grateful acknowledgments, that He has
granted to our frailty the privilege that one may satisfy
for another. . . . Those who are gifted with divine grace
may pay through others what is due to the divine justice,
and thus we may be said in some measure to bear each
other's burdens."*
The assistance which the living
offer the dead, by whatever means it is obtained, falls
under the general name of suffrages, Suffrages are divided
into common and private. Common suffrages are those which
are offered in behalf of the faithful, whether living
or dead, by priests, or others in holy orders, as ministers
of the Church; such as, celebrating Mass, saying the
Divine Office, whether in choir or in private, leading
processions, etc., in which they act in the person and
name of the Church, and not as individual Christians.
Private suffrages, on the other hand, are such as are
performed by Christians as private individuals, whether
alone or in company with others; as, prayers, fasting,
almsdeeds, or any other meritorious work. There is this
great difference between private and common suffrages,
that, while the former derive their value from the holiness
and devotion of the person performing them, the latter
have their value from the dignity of the Church, in whose
name and by whose authority they are offered.* As an
evidence of this. we have the following from St. Liguori,
in which he quotes the words of another saint in support
of his own: "Many private prayers," says the
saint, "do not equal in value only one prayer of
the Divine Office, as being offered to God in the name
of the whole Church, and in His own appointed words.
Hence St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi says that in comparison
with the Divine Office all other prayers and devotions
are but of little merit and efficacy with God."*
With regard to the manner in
which their effects are produced, suffrages are divided
into three kinds:
- the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
- prayers, and
- works of penance -- as fasting, almsdeeds, pious pilgrimages,
etc.
Prayer, although of such a nature
as to satisfy for temporal punishment, is yet to be distinguished
from other satisfactory works; for while the latter are
satisfactory only, prayer assists the souls as a penitential
exercise, and also as a work of impetration by which
it supplicates God for the release of His holy prisoners.
Supplication, or petition, is the proper object of prayer.
Indulgences are placed in the
third class of these good works, with this very great
difference, however, that while by fasting, almsdeeds,
etc., we offer the merit of our own poor works in behalf
of the souls, by Indulgences the merits of Jesus, the
Blessed Virgin, and the Saints are applied by the Church
herself to their relief.*
A word on each of these. Inasmuch
as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the subject of this
Essay, 1 shall say nothing of it in this place. Of prayer
I may be equally silent; for every Christian is familiar
with the many passages of Holy Writ in which our Divine
Redeemer Himself has been pleased not only to extol its
excellence, and promise it an infallible hearing, but
also to enjoin it upon us as a duty; as, for example,
when He says: "Amen, amen, I say to you: if you
ask the Father anything in My Name, He will give it you.
Hitherto, you have asked nothing in My Name. Ask, and
you shall receive, that your joy may be full."*
In another place the Sacred
Scripture sums up the advantages of good works in these
comprehensive words:
"8 Prayer is good with fasting and alms more than to lay up treasures of gold: 9 For alms delivers from death, and the same is that which purges away sins, and makes finding mercy and life everlasting.."*
The following, from Fr. Maurel,
will be sufficient for our present purpose to show the
great value of' Indulgences, and the correct doctrine
of their application to the holy souls in Purgatory: "These
holy souls," says this learned divine, "can
be aided and succored in, as well as totally released
from, their pains by means of Indulgences. . . . If our
prayers and good works, taken separately in themselves,
are beneficial to the souls in Purgatory, are we not
warranted in the belief that Indulgences, which are an
application of the satisfaction of Christ, of the Blessed
Virgin and Saints, will be much more profitable to them,
since the Church herself makes this application? . .
. The Church, however, does not apply Indulgences to
the dead by way of judgment or absolution, as it does
in the case of the living, but by way of suffrage, or
intercession, or succor, or offering. Being no longer
under her jurisdiction, as they are not subjects of her
realm, but belong only to the empire of the Eternal King,
she cannot release or deliver them directly from their
pains, but only indirectly, that is to say, in consequence
of an Indulgence gained by the living, and applied by
there to the departed, the Church takes out of her Treasure
a portion of the merits and satisfactions which may correspond
to that Indulgence, and presenting it to God, supplicates
Him to vouchsafe so much relief to the suffering souls.
If, then, the Almighty accept the offering thus presented
to Him by Holy Church, the souls in Purgatory, to whom
the Indulgence shall have been applied, will receive
either a total or partial remission of the temporal punishment
which they would otherwise be obliged to undergo. And
we have every reason to believe that He really does accept
it. Is not the dogma of the Communion of Saints a guarantee
for this belief? . . . Nevertheless, our Lord is not
bound by any formal express promise to accept the offered
price, and hence this acceptation depends altogether
on His adorable will, and perhaps, also, on the amount
of care which the dead may have taken during life to
render themselves worthy of such relief. On the other
hand, the person desirous to gain the Indulgence for
the souls, may, through ignorance or forgetfulness, omit
one or more of the prescribed conditions, or fulfil them
negligently. Therefore, we have no absolute certainty
that an Indulgence applied by us to such or such a soul
in Purgatory has had its full effect."* The same
author remarks that several distinguished theologians
are of a different opinion, and maintain that the effect
of Indulgences in regard to the souls in Purgatory is
infallibly certain. Bellarmine styles this opinion a
very pious one; but the other, set forth in the foregoing
extracts, a well-grounded opinion.
In view of the great value of
Indulgences and the fact that many of the prayers daily
recited by pious Christians have been enriched with them,
and especially with such as may be applied to the souls
in Purgatory, it is advisable for all persons to make
with the morning prayers of each day a general intention
of gaining all the Indulgences they can during that day.
It is we11 to apply them at the same time, if such should
be the person's charity, to the souls in Purgatory, or
to such of the souls as the piety of each person may
prompt him to relieve. I regard this as very important,
because great treasures might be laid up in this manner
without additional tax upon Christians. The intention
might be put in the form of a prayer, in words like these:
O my God, I desire to gain all the Indulgences that are
granted to the prayers and other pious exercises that
I may perform this day, and to apply them to the souls
in Purgatory, particularly to . . .
Another powerful means of assisting
the souls in Purgatory is that of receiving Holy Communion
in their behalf, of which Fr. Coleridge says:
"No act of religion can
be imagined more fruitful of benefit to the soul, or
of delight and joy to our Lord, than that of Holy Communion.
It is the highest act of faith that me can perform; it
expresses and embodies hope in its most perfect aspirations;
it is the consummation and crown of charity, of personal
devotion and love to our Lord, and to all who belong
to Him in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth. . .
. It cannot then be imagined, but that this act of Communion,
so full of acts on our part which give pleasure to God,
and so rich in the spiritual benefits which it brings
home to the soul, must be an act which, if offered like
any other act of religion, for the holy souls in Purgatory,
must turn upon them very powerfully the streams of divine
mercy and compassion. The histories of the saints contain
more than a few instances in which the holy souls themselves
have made it known that they are helped in a special
manner by the devout Communions which are thus offered
for them. It may be that, in many cases, they are conscious
that a part of their detention in the prison of God's
justice is owing to their coldness in receiving Holy
Communion, or to their neglect to receive It as often
as they might. Those then who help them in this way may
use this thought as an additional motive for great fervor
in preparation and devotion in reception, as well as
for the frequency of the act of Communion itself."*
Speaking of the thousands whom
our Divine Redeemer fed by the miraculous multiplication
of the loaves, as related in the 15th chapter of St.
Matthew, the same writer remarks as follows on a beautiful
devotion in behalf of the faithful departed; which if
it could not be practiced by whole cities or congregations,
-- a work which does not indeed belong to the people
to organize, -- it might at least be done by the communicants
of separate families at the request of the heads of the
families. Says Fr. Coleridge:
"No acts of our religion
are more naturally accompanied by this circumstance of
the union of large numbers for the purpose of devotion
than the celebration of the Holy Mass and Holy Communion.
The first is the celebration of the one Sacrifice offered
on the Cross for the living and the dead. The second
is the appointed symbol and testimony of our union
through our Lord, with one another, the unity of heart
and faith and visible government which is the mark of
the Catholic Church, the representation to the world
of the charity which unites all parts of that Church
in Heaven, on earth, and in Purgatory. It seems therefore
very right and seemly that the holy souls, as well as
the angels and saints, should have their share in these
solemnities of charity and unity. Now, we find that the
Holy See has specially encouraged the devout practice
of general Communions for the benefit of the holy departed
by granting Indulgences to such Communions, and in other
ways. It is the custom in some Catholic countries, or
cities, to celebrate these general Communions once a
month for this special intention. It cannot be questioned
that a great act of such devotion on the part of large
numbers of people is in itself very pleasing and honorable
to God, who delights in seeing His children join together
in worship and adoration, in prayer and praise and thanksgiving,
that there is a special blessing in the Church on united
and public devotion, and that very great graces are often
attached to such acts, greater than might have been obtained
if each person had performed the same devotion privately.
. . . It would therefore be a devotion very much to the
honor of God and to the consolation of the holy souls,
as well as to the promotion of piety among the faithful
on earth, to receive some such holy practices as are
here spoken of, as, for instance, if the monthly general
Communion for the relief of the sufferers in Purgatory
were to be made a common practice in all large churches
in great towns and elsewhere."*
Nor should we omit to call the
reader's attention to the great relief that may be afforded
to the holy souls by hearing Mass in their behalf, although
there is no Indulgence attached to this pious exercise.* Father Coleridge, in the work above quoted, encourages
the pious reader to this holy exercise in these words:
"It may also be well to
remember that to hear Mass for the holy dead is an act
of religion and devotion which is certain to benefit
them very much. This is a great incentive to the hearing
of as many Masses as possible, and with the special intention
of hearing them for the holy souls. In this way those
who are not priests may in some sort share their power
as to helping those in Purgatory, and those who are too
poor to be able to procure Masses for them may be able
to supply the effect of their poverty by hearing many
Masses for them. It is certain that to hear Mass is a
very high act of religion, next to that of saying Mass;
and that those who hear Mass do in truth offer it, according
to their power, to the Eternal Father, which is the most
excellent act of worship that can be performed. The priest
in the Mass, when he turns to the people at the "Orate,
fratres", calls it 'my and your Sacrifice,' and
the hearers therefore honor God by offering that Holy
Sacrifice, as well as the priest. . . . A Mass heard
every day for the special intention of relieving the
holy souls, may be in many cases not only a daily alms
of immense value to the sufferers who are so dear to
our Lord, but a source of immense benefits and great
protection to ourselves, not only from its own intrinsic
efficacy, but also on account of the numberless prayers
which we may thus win from those for whom we perform
this most blessed act of religion."*
But whatever may be said in
praise of these various means of assisting the poor souls
in Purgatory, -- and we cannot esteem them too highly,
both on account of their intrinsic value and of the earnestness
with which the Church recommends them to us, -- we must
yet confess that they fall so far below the adorable
Sacrifice of the Mass as not to be capable of entering
into a comparison with it. St. Bonaventure says of the
Mass:
"It is a memorial of
all the love of God for man, and, as it were, a compendium
of all His benefits."*
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
says:
"That Sacrifice is the
sum of Christianity, the soul of faith, the centre
of the Catholic religion, wherein are beheld all her
rites, all her ceremonies, and all her Sacraments;
in fine, it is the compendium of all the good and beautiful
to be found in the Church of God."*
We shall see further on what
the same saint has to say of the Holy Sacrifice as a
means of aiding the souls in Purgatory. The profound
theologian and Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Liguori,
whose writings have received the special approbation
of the Holy See, declares that "God Himself could
not enable a man to perform anything greater than the
celebration of Mass. . . . All the honor that angels
by their adorations, and men by their good works, austerities,
and even martyrdoms, have ever rendered or will ever
render to God, never could, and never will, give Him
so much glory as one single Mass; for, while the honor
of all creatures is only finite, that which accrues to
God from the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar is infinite,
inasmuch as the Victim which is offered is of infinite
value. The Mass, therefore, offers to God the greatest
honor that can be given Him; subdues most triumphantly
the power of Hell; affords the greatest relief to the
suffering souls in Purgatory; appeases most efficaciously
the wrath of God against sinners, and brings down the
greatest blessings on mankind.*
But not to burden our pages
with too many quotations, let the following extract from
the decrees of the Council of Trent suffice, which, while
it breathes the same spirit as those already given, serves
also to confirm then:
"We must needs confess," say
the Fathers, "that no other work can be performed
by the faithful so holy and divine as this same tremendous
mystery, wherein the life-giving Victim, by which we
were reconciled to the Father, is daily immolated on
the altar by the priests."*
The Mass contains in itself
all the other works of mercy, and that too in their highest
perfection. If there is question of prayers, what prayers
can be equal to those of the Mass? if of alms, what alms
could be greater than the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,
which are here presented to the Eternal Father in behalf
of His suffering children? if of Indulgences, by this
Adorable sacrifice all the merits of our Divine Redeemer
are laid before the throne of the Most High; if of Holy
Communion, we have in the Mass a Communion offered in
the name and by the authority of the Church; if of hearing
Mass, it is certainly more profitable to have It celebrated:
in fine, it is not in the power of mind to conceive nor
tongue to declare the surpassing excellence of this Divine
Sacrifice; God alone can tell its worth.
Such being the excellence of
the Mass, I do not hesitate to say that it is the will
of God not only that we should pray and perform other
meritorious works in behalf of the dead, but also that,
according to our ability, we should have Masses celebrated
for the repose of their souls. Our Divine Redeemer has
commanded us under the severest penalty -- that of not
being numbered among His followers -- to love one another
as He has loved us. Now, this love, it is needless to
insist, is not to be confined to mere sentiment, but
must find expression in works of charity in behalf of
those in need. The poor souls in Purgatory languish for
years in a lake of fire, suffering excruciating pain,
and burning still more ardently with the desire of being
united to God; and while it is a disputed question whether
they can assist others or not by their prayers, it is
certain they cannot help themselves. Can we then feel
that we are fulfilling the whole will of a God whose
charity was such that, being God, He yet died in torments
for us while we were His enemies, in rebellion against
Him, if we do not at least occasionally apply to the
relief of our poor suffering brethren so powerful a remedy
as the mystic Sacrifice of Jesus Christ to his Eternal
Father, and the more especially as this can so easily
be done? Or should we use only the less efficacious means,
to the neglect of the more efficacious? I leave the reader
to draw his own conclusion, and to form his resolution
for the future accordingly.
Having given this general outline,
I shall now pass on to a consideration of the principal
motives which should influence every Christian to have
as many Masses as possible celebrated for the repose
of the souls of our suffering brethren, whether they
are bound to him by the ties of relationship or only
by those of a common faith.
1.
All for Jesus, p. 385: It is remarked by Maineri, in
his Life of St. Catharine of Genoa, as a curious coincidence,
that the name Purgatory was first authoritatively given
to the Intermediate State in 1254, by Innocent IV., who
was of the house of Fieschi, the family of our Saint.
2.
De Purgatorio L. II, cap. vi.
3.
Maurel on Indulgences, p. 42.
4.
Catechism of the Council of Trent, p. 272
5.
Cursus Completus, vol. xvii, pp. 109, 110; vol. xviii, p.
1430
6.
Sacerdos Sanctificatus, p. 128.
7.
Cursus Completus, vol. xviii, p. 352.
8.
John 16:23, 24
9.
Tobias, 12:8,9.
10.
Maurel on Indulgences, p. 44, 47.
11.
The Prisoners of the King, pp 255-257.
12.
The Prisoners of the King, pp 259-260.
13.
Maurel on Indulgences, p. 139, 141.
14.
The Prisoners of the King, pp 224-225.
15.
De Instit., pars I, cap. xi.
16.
The Hidden Treasure, p 23.
17.
Sacerdos Sanctificatus, pp. 5,6.
18.
Council of Trent, Session xxii.
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