Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.
We just celebrated All the Saints in Heaven on November 1. Today, transferred to Monday, since it fell on a Sunday this year, we remember All the Souls in Purgatory. I am taking the article from our weekly church bulletin and reprinting it here.
One of the great consolations of our Catholic Faith is the teaching on Purgatory. In His mercy, God provides a means for souls to undergo a cleansing from the remnants of sin before He brings them into His beatific Presence for all eternity. We are familiar with the images of a fire in Purgatory through which the souls are cleansed. Through the Church teaches us that Purgatory involves suffering for unrepented or unforgiven venial sin, or for already forgiven sin whose debt of punishment is still owed to the offended Divine Majesty, she has not spelled out the specifics as to the details of the cleansing of souls there. In other words, Purgatory is real, and we know its purpose, but much of it remains a mystery to us.
Why do we suffer for sin? There are two reasons: first, to make atonement to God; second to re-make our souls for the better. Our sins wound us, sting us, but God means to bring good out of their oft-times painful consequences. Repented sin for which we justly bear the punishment, is in the plan of God a means of advancing in holiness.
Souls in the state of grace entering eternity while yet burdened by any venial sin or even the debt of punishment arising from sin, must be purified from sin and its remnants. Death has found them in God's friendship. Thus, they are sure of their salvation. Yet, anything and everything in their souls which is a hindrance to the fullness of God's love in them - both attachments to creatures that have taken hold in the soul through sin, as well as any punishment still owed for forgiven sin - must be destroyed in them. Purgatory does this cleansing work.
How is the soul cleansed so that, detached from creatures and rid of the remnants of its sins, it may enter into the fullness of God's love in Heaven?
The too-little-known Saint Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510) was privileged to experience Purgatory mystically. God revealed to her what Purgatory is like, and she in turn has left us a "Treatise on Purgatory" to tell us all about it.
Catherine admits that her experiences are difficult to explain. Human language falls so desperately short in describing deep mystical experiences. One thing that stands out in her writing on Purgatory may strike us as strange: she speaks of Purgatory as a place where the love of God is intense, and this very same divine love in the souls there is the agent which cleanses them and prepares them for the bliss of Heaven. Purgatory a place of love? Yes! God's love provides this ante-chamber of Heaven where God Himself purifies His loved ones by means of His love.
Once a soul leaves this world, its love is no longer blinded or distracted by the ravages wrought by sin in the body. It is thus vehemently drawn to God as it sees how much God has done for it, how much God love it. Its love for God becomes its overwhelming activity. This love causes the soul to realize that the greatest sufferings are worth embracing so that it may be justified from everything unworthy of God. Saint Catherine tells us that this love now enflamed in the soul brings with it unspeakable happiness.
This ardent love of God in the soul becomes the instrument of the soul's purification. This is the "fire of love," truly a burning love, at work! That very love causes ta tremendous pain in the soul, the pain of grief. The soul is so eager to fly to God, says Saint Catherine, but it sees that its past sins are an obstacle. The soul longs for God as never before. This is the essential pain of Purgatory, a cleansing pain. A fire like Hell, she says, tortures the soul as long as it is held back from God. This love is so great a joy that being held back is unspeakably painful to the soul.
God reveals to us through Saint Catherine of Genoa the crowning work of His love in Purgatory, where souls have a tremendous joy and peace, and yet are suffering due to an intense love for Him alone. The souls endure the "sweet anguish" of a love which will find fulfillment and rest only in the heavenly vision and possession of their Beloved.
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There have been other visions by other holy souls, of Purgatory, and even visitations from souls begging for prayer to release them. The children at Fatima were given a vision of Hell and the countless souls falling. St. Paul had a vision of Heaven and "eye has not seen........" We know these visions are meant for our edification and to shore up our belief in both God's mercy and His justice.
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