Don’t Aim for Purgatory; You Might Miss!

In a part of Rome away from St. Peter’s Square, there is a church called Sacred Heart Parish.  In a small room near the sacristy is a glass-enclosed case containing artifacts from visits of deceased souls.  Known as the Little Purgatory Museum, the artifacts there were collected by Fr. Victor Jouet in the early 1900s.

The collection consists of photos, clothing, prayer books, and a table that have burn marks of deceased individuals claiming to be suffering in Purgatory. These deceased individuals known as “Holy Souls” are part of the Church Suffering (Church Triumphant are those souls in heaven; Church Militant are those faithful souls still here on earth). 

Fr. Joulet traveled the European country side collecting these artifacts from individuals who were visited by Holy Souls.  These Holy Souls would appear to individuals requesting prayers and Masses in their honor in order to be released from Purgatory.  They would leave behind evidence of their visits in the manner of hand and fingerprint burn marks on clothing, prayer books, and even a table. 

“All who die 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 Catechism of the Catholic Church “gives the name Purgatory to this 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. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire [cf. 1 Cor 3:13, 1 Pet 1:17].

“The teaching is also based on the practice of praying for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture [2 Macc 12:46] (CCC 1030-1032).”

You must understand sin and evil in order to have a proper understanding of death, judgment, heaven, hell, and purgatory. Remember, that the Church Militant here on earth, are fighting a supreme spiritual battle.  This battle is an intellectual one – it’s a battle of our hearts and souls. Satan is just not a spiritual being messing with people.  He and his legions are seeking revenge!  To be banished from Heaven and no longer be part of the choir of angels, of whom Satan once was, is an event taken very personally by Satan. He and all his evil spirits “are prowling throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls (St. Michael’s Prayer).”  One of Satan’s biggest lies is making you think he does not exist.  If this is the case for you, I truly fear for your soul!

Nothing imperfect enters heaven.  God is pleased pleased with our goodness. But sin, even venial sin, is something that God does not and cannot tolerate.  He would deny Himself. Venial sin is easily forgiven; but mortal sin is what ruins and damns us.

Any sin though has a double consequence: eternal punishment (guilt) and temporal punishment (consequence). Eternal punishment can be relieved through the Sacrament of Penance or Confession.  Absolution from Confession removes the guilt of sin; you are forgiven. However, all sin carries temporal punishment which is relieved through penance either in this life or the next.  It’s the consequence of sin – no one gets off scot free from the crime.

You want to relieve yourself of this temporal punishment in this life time.  Because if you don’t, you will in Purgatory at best.  Like Hell, you want to avoid Purgatory at all cost; Purgatory is a mitigated Hell.  The only difference between Purgatory and Hell is that there is no love nor hope in Hell - only misery and pain with no escape.

Since the Church describes Purgatory as a “purification” and a “cleansing fire”, you can infer that there is some sort of suffering in Purgatory.  In fact, the suffering in Purgatory in effect is no different than the suffering in Hell!

Of the suffering in Purgatory, St. Thomas Aquinas says, “One hour of will be more terrible than a hundred years of rigorous penance done here [on earth] … but the interior satisfaction which is there enjoyed [in Purgatory] is such that no prosperity upon earth can equal it (Imitation of Christ, pg. 35).”

The suffering in Purgatory is one of hope and love; the suffering in Hell is one of hopelessness and hate.  Once in Purgatory, a soul does not want to enter Heaven until they are ready. They gladly suffer in anticipation of seeing God face-to-face.

Incredibly, our Catholic faith provides for means to expatiate the temporal punishment of sin:

• Prayer: The Rosary is particularly effective.
• Fasting: Observing the Church’s obligatory days of fasting.  You can also choose any day of the week outside of Lent to fast, for example, refrain from meat on any Friday of the year.
• Almsgiving: “Money or goods given to the poor as an act of penance or fraternal charity (love of neighbor) (CCC Appendix, pg. 865).”
• Indulgences: “Remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sin whose guilt has already been forgiven (through Confession) (CCC 1471).”

The Church defines a large number of prayers and works that carry either a partial or plenary indulgence remission of sin in a document called The Enchiridion of Indulgences.  You can get a copy from https://www.basilica.ca/documents/2016/10/Sacred%20Apostolic%20Penitentiary-The%20Enchiridion%20of%20Indulgences.pdf. 

To receive an indulgence, you must receive Holy Communion, the Sacrament of Penance, and the completed prayer or works within several days of each other.  Some works are prescribed on particular days.  All three conditions must be met around that prescribed day.

Any of these done for the intention of the release of the Holy Souls in Purgatory is very effective.  All you need to do is to precede the prayer or act by saying (vocally or mentally) “for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.”