The purgatory.

The Church Fathers affirm the existence of purgatory. St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says. He will surely save himself, but only from fire. St. Augustine writes. Whoever will be carnal, or will resemble in his life those who live according to the flesh, even if he does not break away from the Church, cannot be brought to heresy, let him await the fiery furnace, and let him know that only through the flame will he get to the right side. The fire will purify the souls so that they can get to the right. Only in purgatory shall we see what severe punishments are inflicted for what the world has come to call light sins.

St. Peter of Damian convinces us of the severity of the punishments for venial sin, by a whole heap of examples. The people of the world think very little of what they will have to pay for mistakes which they hardly notice here on earth. A certain nun has seen souls in Purgatory suffering for not being able to renounce their own opinions. Contemplating Purgatory will make us change by living. For many souls, he says, death would be a horror if we had only one perspective. All or nothing. Thus, heaven or hell. As one approaches eternity, one sees that one’s whole life has been miserable and that one has nothing to offer God except pity… The tormented soul has no choice but to despair in fear of eternal damnation. But when the justice of God expresses Himself as accepting his pity, the terror leaves him and he begins to hope. It might be said that in purgatory there exists at the same time the greatest possible joy after the joy of heaven and the greatest possible torment after the torment of hell.

For the soul, the cause of the most tender pain, is precisely the consciousness that it is loved by God, that it is called to rejoice in God in the fellowship of the blessed. For this, the soul loves God with the purest love. But at the same time, it seems that it can neither see God nor enjoy Him. And her pain is all the more agonizing because she does not know when her exile will end, St. Catherine of Genoa said. The purgatorial agony that comes from the temporary loss of God is so great, that language cannot tell and reason cannot comprehend. The torment of the senses is commensurate with sins.

The fiery instrument of God’s justice will give everyone what he deserves. The torments of purgatory immeasurably exceed the torments that would suffice in this life to atone for our sins, St. Augustine says that the fire of purgatory is more terrible than anything else that man can imagine here on earth. St. Thomas Aquinas does not hesitate to declare that the lightest purgatorial torment is worse than the heaviest earthly torment. Purgatorial torments last a very long time. Purgatory will come to an end on the Day of Judgment-For the souls who will still suffer at the end of the world, God will compensate for the duration of their torment with strength.

In the chronicles of the Franciscan Order, we read examples of the souls of the deceased appearing an hour or two after their death and complaining that the friars cared little for them and left them in purgatory for years… The priest prays for the dead at Mass. But it should be added that our prayers will not benefit all, only those who are in life, so these prayers can be beneficial to them. But we do not know which souls these are. Therefore, prayers and good works should be applied to all the baptized, so that no one is left out, who could benefit from those prayers. For it is better to dig up prayers that benefit no one than to rob them from those who can benefit from them. Finally, a thought of St. Teresa of Jesus. My Jesus, of what use are my little sacrifices to Thee? They will please the triumphant Church, which will receive these roses and place them in Thy divine hands so that Thou gayest give them infinite value, and throw them upon the suffering Church to quench her flames, and upon the struggling Church to help her to victory.