Do those in Purgatory ever think they're in Hell?

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Lilackiwi

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I worry thinking about even the seconds after death, will we fear that we ended up in Hell? Will Purgatory look like Hell and will we maybe for a brief time, even only seconds think we’re in Hell because I think even three seconds of that would be the worst feeling.
 
I don’t know if there is a teaching on the subject. We could say that the scriptures say “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

And i guess we could say there is a possibility that you could fear in the moments after death because, unless you are going straight to heaven, you have not been perfected in love, which is why you need to go to purgatory…

But, I like to think that you will be aware of your particular judgement, so you will KNOW where you are going as it will be pronounced to you somehow. I don’t think it will be a surprise…
 
No, they do not.

While the pains of Purgatory are comparable to the pains of Hell, the souls that are there know they are saved, and are joyful because of it. They are certainly suffering, but that suffering is tempered by the unknowable joy of KNOWING that you are saved, you are safe, you will be with God forever once you’re purified.
 
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After a person’s private judgment they know that they are saved. So no, they never think they’re damned.

Traditionally, purgatory is part of hell. Hell is any state in the hereafter apart from God, and the Holy Souls are to an extent separated.

The abode of the damned was sometimes also called “eternal purgatory” because they’re in the cleansing fire, but since their will is set against God, they’re just sort of stuck there in permanent hiatus.
 
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I wouldn’t think they do…they are after all members of the Church Expectant, and should have full knowledge that at one point they will experience the beatific vision! Those in Hell have no relief in sight!
 
It is appointed to Man once to die, and after that the judgement.

When we die we face our judgement, and we will know the outcome. The saved will know they are saved.

Those in Purgatory are among the saved. They will know it is Purgatory before they enter it.
 
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Is there chronological time in the afterlife that we even need to worry about?
 
Based on private revelations, you get judged before you go where you go. So, no.
 
Short answer: No.

They are judged worthy of the Lord’s banquet - but only after some cleaning up, in the spiritual sense.

If you were in hell, you would know it.
 
Lilackiwi said:
I worry thinking about even the seconds after death, will we fear that we ended up in Hell? Will Purgatory look like Hell and will we maybe for a brief time, even only seconds think we’re in Hell because I think even three seconds of that would be the worst feeling.
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Stop worrying…

Consider this… . The Fear of The Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom.

Fear? Is to be understood as AWE and RESPECT…

Keep your focus upon God. Seek with His Assistance to Eliminate Sin from your Life.

Learn to Love Thy Neighbor to the best that you’re able to…

Do not fear Hell or the Devil - for he has no authority over your soul.

Purgatory? Is not Hell Lite…

Hell? Is not making it to Heaven…

Purgatory is a ‘place’ of Purification… of your Soul… Of aligning your will with God’s Will. .

PUR is cognate with FIRe… IMO in an allegorical sense… Fire Purifies Gold.

Purgatory IMO we’ll have the opportunity to accept God’s Gospel

Saint John Paul II on Purgatory

For those who find themselves in a condition of being open to God, but still imperfectly, the journey towards full beatitude requires a purification, which the faith of the Church illustrates in the doctrine of ‘Purgatory’ (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1030-1032).
  1. In Sacred Scripture, we can grasp certain elements that help us to understand the meaning of this doctrine, even if it is not formally described. They express the belief that we cannot approach God without undergoing some kind of purification.
The need for integrity obviously becomes necessary after death, for entering into perfect and complete communion with God. Those who do not possess this integrity must undergo purification.
Psalm 51 can be considered, according to the perspective of the Old Testament, as a synthesis of the process of reintegration: the sinner confesses and recognizes his guilt (v. 3), asking insistently to be purified or ‘cleansed’ (vv. 2, 9, 10, 17) so as to proclaim the divine praise (v. 15).

Jesus, as the great intercessor who atones for us, will fully reveal himself at the end of our life when he will express himself with the offer of mercy, but also with the inevitable judgement for those who refuse the Father’s love and forgiveness.
  1. In following the Gospel exhortation to be perfect like the heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:48) during our earthly life, we are called to grow in love, to be sound and flawless before God the Father ‘at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints’ (1 Thes 3:12f.). Moreover, we are invited to ‘cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit’ (2 Cor 7:1; cf. 1 Jn 3:3), because the encounter with God requires absolute purity.
Every trace of attachment to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection of the soul corrected. Purification must be complete, and indeed this is precisely what is meant by the Church’s teaching on purgatory. The term does not indicate a place, but a condition of existence.
 
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If I made it to purgatory I certainly will be joyful since it’s a lot better than hell.
 
Sarcelle said:
If I made it to purgatory I certainly will be joyful since it’s a lot better than hell.
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Same here. No matter how much it hurts, I know that at the end of it I’ll be with God. The only thing better is to actually be in Heaven.

There was a story on Purgatory I read recently, where a man publicly returned from Purgatory for a short time to settle a dispute. As he was preparing to return to return to death he was asked if he’d rather stay alive and He said that no matter how terrible the pains of Purgatory are, he would never willingly chose to again place himself in a situation where he could sin and risk damnation.
 
I would think in purgatory there would be a ton of gratitude! We would understand the immensity of our sin and the incredible generosity of God, extended to us by the death of Christ. We would know what terrible price was paid by Christ on the cross for us, and what the suffering of the saints did to share in the salvation of mankind. Our eyes are going to opened!
 
po18guy said:
Short answer: No.

They are judged worthy of the Lord’s banquet - but only after some cleaning up, in the spiritual sense.

If you were in hell, you would know it.
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That’s not true. People still live in the Midwest. And have no idea.
 
No. Being in purgatory is painful, but the people there are very happy because they know that, someday, even if it takes a million years, they’ll be in heaven with God!!! We must pray for the souls in Purgatory. 🙂
 
Purgatory is the rough road to heaven. It is the road to Calvary.

The road to hell is wide, easy and smooth.
 
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TK421 said:
Traditionally, purgatory is part of hell. Hell is any state in the hereafter apart from God, and the Holy Souls are to an extent separated.

The abode of the damned was sometimes also called “eternal purgatory” because they’re in the cleansing fire, but since their will is set against God, they’re just sort of stuck there in permanent hiatus.
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Is this Church teaching? I’ve never heard this before — that purgatory is part of hell. I understand your logic about both purgatory and hell being a state of separation from God (temporary versus permanent), but it sounds like you are saying “purgatory and hell are the same place, the only difference being that you get out of purgatory, but you never get out of hell”. And I have always understood that the fire of hell is not cleansing, but punitive. Your circumstances never improve and you are always as evil as you were when you went there, just that in hell, you fully see at last what the consequences of rejecting God, in fact, are. You rue the day you ever committed that sin. We as Catholics make so much of having “free will” — if you end up in hell, you will curse having had the ability to choose against God. Best advice is to give that free will back to God to do with it what He wishes.
 
Lilackiwi said:
I worry thinking about even the seconds after death, will we fear that we ended up in Hell? Will Purgatory look like Hell and will we maybe for a brief time, even only seconds think we’re in Hell because I think even three seconds of that would be the worst feeling.
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An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory

Excerpt :

I can tell you about the different degrees of Purgatory because I have passed through them. In the great Purgatory there are several stages. In the lowest and most painful, like a temporary hell, are the sinners who have committed terrible crimes during life and whose death surprised them in that state. It was almost a miracle that they were saved, and often by the prayers of holy parents or other pious persons. Sometimes they did not even have time to confess their sins and the world thought them lost, but God, whose mercy is infinite, gave them at the moment of death the contrition necessary for their salvation on account of one or more good actions which they performed during life. For such souls, Purgatory is terrible. It is a real hell with this difference, that in hell they curse God, whereas we bless Him and thank Him for having saved us.

 
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