A reader writes:
As a perspective convert to the faith Purgatory is a doctrine that has been giving me a lot of trouble. I struggle with the visions the saints had of purgatory. They are different and do not all agree.
There is a big difference between St. Mary Magadeline de Pazzi’s graphic vision of various tortures in purgatory to St. Catherine of Genoa’s vision in which she says, "the ‘fire’ of purgatory is God’s love ‘burning’ the soul so that, at last, the soul is wholly aflame. It is the pain of wanting to be made totally worthy of One who is seen as infinitely lovable, the pain of desire for union that is now absolutely assured, but not yet fully tasted”. She says that fire burns away sin’s rust which is on the souls not tortures like molten lead, pressers, sharp swords, and ice.
Are the various tortures graphic metaphors to warn us of the damage of sin and the holiness of God or should we take them literal?
That is the way they are commonly understood these days, not as things we would literally encounter in purgatory but–to the extent such images have validity–as symbolic expressions that try to convey what the experience is like.
I don’t see how you can go from a vision telling us how the purifying fires of purgatory reflect God’s love to a visions with demons, fearsome animals, and graphic torments.
This is why I throw in the caveat about "to the extent such images have validity." The images that you are talking about (demons, fearsome animals, graphic torments) are not part of Church teaching. They are things that some visionaries have reported in private revelations but, given the way private revelation works, there is an admixture of the visionary’s own consciousness and cultural background and it can be difficult to untangle what the motions of divine grace the seer was experiencing signify and to what extent they were colored by the visionary’s own consciousness.
This is a special problem when dealing with visions of the afterlife, because the afterlife is so fundamentally different from our embodied experience. There is a much higher risk of "filling in the details" with this-worldly things that are not meant to be understood literally. (Just as angels don’t literally look like men, though that’s how they often appear in Scripture.)
The Church has generally warned people off of some of the more graphic and detailed speculations about purgatory because they are not part of the faith. The Council of Trent (which was occurring at the same time as St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi was having her visions) specifically warned bishops to be vigilant against people getting too concerned with such matters. The Decree on Purgatory states:
The more difficult and subtle questions [regarding purgatory], however, and those that do not make for
edification and from which there is for the most part no increase in piety, are to be
excluded from popular instructions to uneducated people. Likewise, things that are
uncertain or that have the appearance of falsehood they shall not permit to be made known
publicly and discussed. But those things that tend to a certain kind of curiosity or
superstition, or that savor of filthy lucre, they shall prohibit as scandals and
stumbling-blocks to the faithful [SOURCE].
I should also mention something else: St. Catherine of Genoa’s understanding of purgatory also is not Church teaching. It’s permitted speculation, but not something the Church teaches. It is, however, closer to the way the Church today tends to conceptualize purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, for example, stresses the difference between purgatory and the sufferings of the damned. Some older writers spoke as if purgatory were the same as hell except that it was temporary instead of eternal. The Catechism goes out of its way to reject that idea:
1030
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.1031
The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which
is entirely different from the punishment of the damned [SOURCE].
So even though Catherine of Genoa’s understanding isn’t Church teaching (i.e., the fire of love stuff), it is much more in line with the way the Magisterium is talking about purgatory these days than the former graphic tortures stuff.
When it comes down to it, what is Church teaching is rather modest and might be summarized briefly in a few propositions, such as: (1) There is a purification that occurs after death for the saved who are in need of purification before entering heaven, (2) the faithful on earth can assist those experiencing this purification by their prayers, through Masses, etc., (3) at least some people do not need this purification before heaven, and (4) the purification involves at least some kind of suffering. (Propositions 3 and 4 are more open to question, though, that propositions 1 and 2.)
I know that there is great suffering in purgatory but what is the best theological view on purgatory ecspecially all the theological thought throughout the last century. Such as Cardinal Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict) view on purgatory.
I can’t tell you what the best view is, but I can tell you what the Church teaches (see the link to the Catechism above as well as THIS ONE). I can also tell you that Cardinal Ratzinger’s view is much more along the lines of St. Catherine of Genoa’s understanding. In his textbook Eschatology, he conceived of purgatory as an existential encounter with Christ that transforms one. He spoke in these terms:
Hope this helps!
Thanks Jimmy, I too have read some rather horrifying accounts of personal revelation regarding purgatory or purgation — one was, “Read This or Rue It” — or something along those lines – the title alone should have given me pause I guess — We need to be careful about the weight that we give to private revelation. Thanks for the perspective.
“the ‘fire’ of purgatory is God’s love ‘burning’ the soul so that, at last, the soul is wholly aflame. It is the pain of wanting to be made totally worthy of One who is seen as infinitely lovable.
I like the vision of God’s love “burning the soul”. I tend to believe that this burning is the highest degree of the “burn” that we feel when we disappoint or aggrieve a loved one here on earth. It is precisely this pain that causes true contrition for our actions and which urges us to a deeper love for that person.
When I feel that I have let my wife down, especially through my own fault, I feel the “burn” and “sting” of embarassment deep in my soul. If I disappoint a stranger through my fault, I might feel the pain, but to a lesser degree.
How great must the pain be when it is revealed to us in detail how we have sinned against our Saviour and Lord. Purgatory would allow the final true contrition necessary for the full conversion of our hearts to God.
I would like to direct the person who wrote in, to Mark Shea’s book By What Authority. It is short, easy to read, and provides the problems he struggled with as he considered converting to the Catholic Church.
I would also suggest that you not get bogged down in details of any one particular doctrine or practice. I had problems with many Catholic beliefs when I converted a few years ago, but the central question is really that of authority. Has God kept his promise of giving his Church on earth authority? And if so, does the Catholic claim to this authority hold water?
I was not convinced of each individual doctrine of the Catholic Church as I converted, but rather was convinced that God had kept his promise, thankfully, of giving his authority and divine guidance to his Church on earth.
May Christ guide you!
Private revelation that’s been okayed is not necessarily right or wrong about these things, so much as it is presenting imagery and ideas which may or may not be helpful to you.
See, these things are so big, and so different from the reality we live in, that there’s really no truly accurate image or idea that we can have of them! (“Eye has not seen” and all that.) All God can do, either through theologians or seers, is try to give us some kind of shadow or echo of what’s really going on. And so what is helpful and illuminating to one person may totally confuse, stymie, or even mislead another.
Myself, I’ve always felt that Tolkien’s short story “Leaf by Niggle” is the most helpful imagery of these matters. But your mileage can and must differ from mine.
I’ve heard that Cardinal Newman’s Dream of Gerontius is also a masterpiece of Purgatory literature.
“Leaf by Niggle” is one of my favorite short stories, Maureen.
I thought it was interesting that describing purgatory as “the same as the fires of Hell” and describing it as “God’s love” are considered by many to be mutually exclusive. In talking with an Orthodox Christian, she explained that their common view is that Hell and Heaven are the same thing, that is being surrounded by God or the love of God. To someone who has rejected God, then that love is felt as an eternal fire, but to those who are friends of God (in Catholic terms, who possesses sanctifying grace) it is heaven.
In talking with an Orthodox Christian, she explained that their common view is that Hell and Heaven are the same thing, that is being surrounded by God or the love of God. To someone who has rejected God, then that love is felt as an eternal fire, but to those who are friends of God (in Catholic terms, who possesses sanctifying grace) it is heaven.
This view is not exclusive to Orthodox, either. I’ve known many Catholics who believe the same.
St. Teresa of Avila was given a glimpse of Hell and she wrote about it.
In the book she described the many pains, tortures, smells and noises of hell, and the utter darkness. It was very frightening.
The stories I have read of purgatory describe it as a upper chamber of hell. It will be horrible for some, but not too bad for others. If you do not have a devotion to pray for the poor souls in purgatory , it is a good idea to do so. when they get to heaven, they can help you, if go their. Or maybe your prayers to them will help you escape it .
Most people today are being taught that most people go to heaven, but this is not scriptural.
I think one of the best explanations I ever heard of purgatory was in a homily at St. Mary’s of Redford Church in Detroit (where I was once a member) many years ago. The priest said purgatory is where we go so that our eyes can adjust to the Light of God.
Most people today are being taught that most people go to heaven, but this is not scriptural.
Actually, there are scriptural passages leaning both ways, from literally everyone to be saved, and virtually no one to be saved.
There is, however, no definitive statement about how likely it is.
I think the view of Cardinal Ratzinger then about purgatory was totally a fruit of personal encounter with God. What do i mean here? It’s like being enveloped with the infinite love of God that you could not do otherwise but to love. His view on purgatory expresses the thought that even though at the point of death man refuses God, God would still look at the goodness in man’s heart and thus would consider the reason why at that point he refused God. And so, purgatory is not really a place but condition wherein the person is given a chance to see once again the Love that is offered to him by God.