Month of Remembrance

November Musings 

More On Purgatory

Abridged,  Msgr. M. Francis Mannion
 
The concept of purgatory is essential to Catholic theology and practice. Granted, the concept of purgatory was often badly preached. Many thought of purgatory, as Ladislaus Boros pointed out, as "a gigantic city of torment, a cosmic concentration camp, in which wailing, groaning, and moaning creatures are  punished by God."

Perhaps the most profound truth in the doctrine of purgatory is that we are not frozen, so to speak, in our moral and human condition at the moment of death. If we arrive at death's door as imperfect and incomplete Christians, we are not condemned forever to that state. God still calls us to a completion of our life-long journey into Christ. Purgatory should be seen as a process of dynamic transformation and sanctification, a completion of what began in us at baptism…the process of putting on the mind and attitude of Christ. If penance is understood as a process of conversion and transformation, we will come to see purgatory not as a fearsome reality, but as the consummation of the whole movement of Christian life to salvation.

What about the fire of purgatory? The Church Fathers saw the fire of purgatory as a creative fire that purified. The fire of purgatory is the living fire of the Holy Spirit, not the fire of destruction and desolation. St. Catherine of Genoa spoke of "the purgatory of God's burning love." The pain of purgatory, then, is not the pain of divine punishment, but the pain of growth and transformation, the pain of breaking out of the old self into the new…the painful surrender of the ego-centered self, so that the God-centered self may emerge. Prayer for the dead is then, a generous outpouring of love for those who have gone before us…an act of solidarity by which we accompany the dead on their pilgrimage to final perfection and happiness.

Prayer and Purgatory

Catholics believe that the faithful on earth can assist the souls in purgatory through their prayers, sacrifices, and Mass offerings. This is based on the Church's understanding of the communion of saints, which teaches that all members of the Church -- whether in heaven, purgatory, or on earth -- are united in Christ. Prayer for the dead is an act of charity and mercy, helping those in purgatory to reach the fullness of heaven. This practice underscores the Catholic belief that the Church is a family, and just as we care for one another in life, so too we care for the souls of the deceased through prayer.
 
Purgatory reflects the justice and mercy of God. God's justice requires that nothing impure or unholy can enter His presence. At the same time, God's mercy provides a means for souls to be purified and made ready for heaven, even after death. Purgatory is a sign of God's desire that all souls be fully prepared for eternal life with Him. In a way, purgatory shows how seriously the Church takes both sin and holiness. God forgives sin, but the damage left by sin must be healed in order to enter into communion with Him.
 
Purgatory is not to be feared but is rather a hopeful reminder of God's mercy and the promise of eternal life. It assures us that even if we fall short of perfect holiness at the time of our death, God provides a way for our souls to be purified and made ready for the joy of heaven.

Offerings for the Souls in Purgatory

The infinite value of the Mass makes it the most important prayer we have to offer up for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. We can also offer our prayers for their benefit, especially the Rosary, our work, our sufferings in life…as well as the indulgences we merit for them during our earthly existence. Offering these suffrages is the best way we can show our love for those who have gone before us and await their encounter with God. 

Month of the Faithful Departed

The autumn leaves can dazzle us with their magnificent colors—deep red, purple, yellow, gold, bronze—in countless variations and combinations. Then, shortly after having shown their unspeakable beauty, they fall to the ground and die. The barren trees remind us that winter is near. Likewise, the autumn of life has the potential to be very colorful; wisdom, humor, care, patience, and joy may bloom splendidly just before we die. As we look at the barren trees and remember those who have died, let us be grateful for the beauty we saw in them and wait hopefully for a new spring.
Fr. Henri Nouwen

The Month of Loving Remembrance

November is a special time during which we commend to the Lord the souls in purgatory. During this month let us pray more insistently and offer suffrages for the souls in Purgatory. St. John Paul II encourages us: “We feel bound by charity to offer those brothers and sisters who have experienced the fragility proper to human existence the help of our vigilant prayer. May whatever residue of human weakness still remaining in them to delay their happy encounter with God be definitively wiped out.

Those who go before us never stop needing our love,” said Benedict XVI. In his audience address in January 2011, he spoke of the St. Catherine of Genoa’s teaching on purgatory:

...Catherine...never received specific revelations on purgatory or on the souls being purified there. ...In her day it [Purgatory] was depicted using images linked to space: a certain space was conceived of in which purgatory was supposed to be located. Catherine did not see purgatory as a scene in the bowels of the earth; for her it is not an exterior but rather an interior fire. This is purgatory: an inner fire. The Saint speaks of the soul’s journey of purification on the way to full communion with God, starting from her own experience of profound sorrow for sins committed, in comparison with God’s infinite love Here...an original feature in comparison with the thought of her time. Catherine asserts that God is so pure and holy that a soul stained by sin cannot be in the presence of the divine majesty.

The soul is aware of the immense love and perfect justice of God and consequently suffers for having failed to respond in a correct and perfect way to this love; and love for God itself becomes a flame, love itself cleanses it from the residue of sin. St. Catherine teaches us that the more we love God and enter into intimacy with him in prayer the more he makes himself known to us, setting our hearts on fire with his love. In writing about purgatory, the Saint reminds us of a fundamental truth of faith that becomes for us an invitation to pray for the deceased so that they may attain the beatific vision of God in the Communion of Saints (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1032).

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A November Reflection

Basil Cardinal Hume

The apostles Peter, James, and John, had been fishing all night, and they had caught nothing. Our Lord told them to let down their nets, and this they did. The catch was good. “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus, saying, “Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man.” (Luke 5:8) Peter did not want to be parted from Jesus. That is why he clung to his knees. At the same time he recognized his unworthiness. He felt he could not remain in Our Lord’s presence. He wanted to be close, yet he felt he should keep away. He was not worthy. This is perhaps the way it will be for us after death. We have lived and worked, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. He has waited for us. We are in his Presence. We whisper our story into his compassionate ear. We know that he understands. But we are in need of healing, of being purified. We shall not want to see Him until we are prepared for it. We shall go happily to Purgatory, certain that it is for a time only. He will wait for us.