Christ's suffering beyond the Passion

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Did Jesus’ suffering end at his death on the cross or did it continue through his descent into Purgatory?

In St. Faustina’s Divine Mercy Jesus grants exemption from Purgatory for those who pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Does his power to grant this mercy exist because, like with his power over death (gained by his divinity and sonship), he conquered similarly over Purgatory via his 3-day descent?

Finally, if not, are there revelations etc. regarding his actions between his death and resurrection?

These questions arise from a sincere interest in the nature of Purgatory and the importance of Penance.

Thanks,
Joey Storer
 
Dear Joey,

It would seem to me that a the suffering of Jesus would have ended when He died since any suffering which comes from purgatory is due to the effects of personal sin, which He did not have. The question of what was going on when Jesus was dead is a good one. Even though I had a difficult time following it, the book Mysterium Pascale by von Balthasar addresses the issue. It might be hard to find this book (it’s from Ignatius Press…at least the english translation) but I haven’t found much else about this question.

Sincerely yours in our Lord,
Br. Dan
 
This is an interesting question, and one that I have been pondering for awhile, although not just linked with purgatory.

If I’m not mistaken, because Jesus’ sacrifice is perpetual and ongoing, in a way He continues to suffer for us to this day. It may be a different kind of suffering, that is perhaps not the physical and bodily suffering he endured on earth. But He continues to long for us and to be close to us, and He suffers when we turn away from Him, especially after all He has done for us. He is, in a way, imprisoned in the Blessed Sacrament, in all the tabernacles in the world, or in the Monstrances on the altars where perpetual adoration occurs, just waiting for us to come to Him.

Maybe an apologist could help with this concept.
 
Meglin, I also thank you so much for posting this link. I have this book in audio but have forgotten to listen to it. After reading a few chapters of the book, I can’t wait now to listen to it.

How interesting to read:

“I was likewise told, if I remember rightly that he (the devil) will be unchained for a time fifty or sixty years before the year of Christ 2000.”

Compare that to this part of the Holy Father’s homily at the Mass for the beatification of Jacinta and Francesco:

*** “Another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon”*** (Rv 12:3).

These words from the first reading of the Mass make us think of the great struggle between good and evil, showing how, when man puts God aside, be cannot achieve happiness, but ends up destroying himself.

How many victims there have been throughout the last century of the second millennium! We remember the horrors of the First and Second World Wars and the other wars in so many parts of the world, the concentration and extermination camps, the gulags, ethnic cleansings and persecutions, terrorism, kidnappings, drugs, the attacks on unborn life and the family.

The message of Fatima is a call to conversion, alerting humanity to have nothing to do with the “dragon” whose “tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth” (Rv 12:4). Man’s final goal is heaven, his true home, where the heavenly Father awaits everyone with his merciful love.

God bless you
 
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