What Types of Suffering Do the Souls in Purgatory Experience?

THE PAINS OF PURGATORY:

1. PAIN OF LOSS —Delay of the Vision of God
2. PAIN OF SENSE—Punishment by Corporeal Fire 

This month of November is especially dedicated to the remembrance of the Church Suffering, the holy souls in Purgatory, also referred to as the poor souls. In order to understand how important this remembrance is, it might be helpful to consider what the Church teaches about the immensity of their pains which are deemed necessary before they are capable of enjoying the perfect happiness of the beatific vision. In coming to a greater understanding of this, we will hopefully remember them more easily - especially our own departed loved ones-  and find the fortitude to pray and do penance in suffrage for them.

WHAT ARE THE PAINS A PERSON SUFFERS IN PURGATORY?

This is beautifully explained the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, in his great body of work, the "Summa Theologica" (On Purgatory, Q2, Art. 1)

"In Purgatory, there will be a twofold pain; one will be the PAIN OF LOSS, namely the delay of the divine vision, and the PAIN OF SENSE, namely punishment by corporeal fire.

"With regard to both, the least pain of Purgatory surpasses the greatest pain of this life. For the more a thing is desired, these more painful is its absence. And since after this life the holy souls desire the Sovereign Good with the most intense longing - both because their longing is not held back by the weight of the body, and because, had there been no obstacle, they would already have gained the goal of enjoying the Sovereign Good - it follows that they grieve exceedingly for their delay. Again, since pain is not hurt, but the sense of hurt, the more sensitive a thing is, the greater the pain caused by that which hurts it: wherefore hurts inflicted on the more sensible parts cause the greatest pain. And, because all bodily sensation is from the soul, it follows of necessity that the soul feels the greatest pain when a hurt is inflicted on the soul itself. That the soul suffers pain from the bodily fire is at present taken for granted, for we shall treat of this matter further on. Therefore it follows that the pain in Purgatory, both of loss and of sense, surpasses all the pains of this life. ...

"Although the soul is less passive than the body, it is more cognizant of actual suffering [passionis]: and where the sense of suffering is greater, there is the greater pain, though the suffering be less."

Let us pray.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

Learn more about how to help the poor souls in purgatory Here and Here.