I Want to avoid Purgatory

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I am very interested in gaining indulgences. Both for myself and the holy souls in Purgatory. My question is this… I know a person must have gone to confession and be free from Mortal sin in order to gain a plenary (or full) indulgence. But what if a person has commited a mortal sin and has not gone to confession, but has made an act of perfect contrition, and is repentant. Can they still gain partial indulgences, or does a person have to go to confession first even to recieve a partial indulgence?
 
Steveabrous said:
I am very interested in gaining indulgences. Both for myself and the holy souls in Purgatory. My question is this… I know a person must have gone to confession and be free from Mortal sin in order to gain a plenary (or full) indulgence. But what if a person has commited a mortal sin and has not gone to confession, but has made an act of perfect contrition, and is repentant. Can they still gain partial indulgences, or does a person have to go to confession first even to recieve a partial indulgence?
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I hope the person isn’t convinced that they made an act of perfect contrition while refusing to go to confession. Perfect contrition means a person will go to confession as soon as possible. Even waiting for Saturday is imperfect. Perfect contrition as a substitute for confession is not applicable except when near death and no priest is available (middle of the wilderness, ocean, or space). In any other instance, go to confession. Catholics who committed a mortal sin must go to confession.

The best way to avoid purgatory is still to be faithful to God’s grace (it’s that little voice that says “go to confession” ;)). Indulgences are not tricks, shortcuts, or workarounds, they are rewards (for going to confession among others).

🙂
 
there are no tricks or work arounds etc. I’m saying the person has every intention of cgoing to confession when available. Also, you are not answering my question. You seem to be just passing judement. And that doesn’t help me.
 
Steveabrous said:
I am very interested in gaining indulgences. Both for myself and the holy souls in Purgatory. My question is this… I know a person must have gone to confession and be free from Mortal sin in order to gain a plenary (or full) indulgence. But what if a person has commited a mortal sin and has not gone to confession, but has made an act of perfect contrition, and is repentant. Can they still gain partial indulgences, or does a person have to go to confession first even to recieve a partial indulgence?
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To gain an indulgence the person must be in the state of grace.
This is something I’ve been taught since grade school.
Hope this helps.
 
Steveabrous said:
there are no tricks or work arounds etc. I’m saying the person has every intention of cgoing to confession when available. Also, you are not answering my question. You seem to be just passing judement. And that doesn’t help me.
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The answer to your question was implied, but just to be clear, no, a person can’t receive any indulgences in the state of mortal sin and yes, they can receive indulgences if they are perfectly contrite. I’m sorry if I came across as judgemental.

You need to be clear on the idea of perfection contrition though, because if they are perfectly contrite and there’s no neglect present, then they have no mortal sin. A person either has perfect contrition – no possibility of sacramental confession, or is in the state of mortal sin – haven’t gone to confession yet. Once you make that determination, the answer is obvious.

If it’s a question of performing a pious act to gain an indulgence prior to a Saturday confession, I would try to go to daily mass and ask the priest to hear my confession or call and make an earlier appointment. It’s a wonderful way to show God one’s sincerity and making the contrition more perfect. If the priest isn’t available prior to regular confession, then that’s what it is, unavailability of a priest. I’m sure the pious act will not be lost on God. He reads deep into the heart.
 
I think that in that case the person would have to make a perfect contrition and trust in God’s mercy.

Some people are habitual sinners (addicted to certain kinds of sin) and going to Confession every day is usually not practical. Plus, priests are pretty busy and aren’t always available to hear daily confessions.
 
stephe1987 said:
I think that in that case the person would have to make a perfect contrition and trust in God’s mercy.

Some people are habitual sinners (addicted to certain kinds of sin) and going to Confession every day is usually not practical. Plus, priests are pretty busy and aren’t always available to hear daily confessions.
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Priests take habitual sins (addictions) under advisement and as such those sins may not always be mortal. I can’t imagine a priest telling someone that they need to confess daily, but it doesn’t mean that a person has to wait until Saturday should a special need arise. Even habitual sinners have to make a firm purpose of amendment, otherwise their contrition is questionable and the confession might be invalid.

Yes, trusting in God’s mercy (without presumption) is always a good idea. 👍
 
The way to avoid purgatory time is to do it here while you’re still alive. For example, contemplative purgation, coincident with the Dark Night of the Soul.

It can be really scary, and honestly I don’t know how to plunge oneself into the Dark Night. I got plunged into it, literally scared and screaming. Now that it’s over it’s like, “wow this is the most wonderful treasure – left to my own devices I would have been the rich kid who turned and walked away from Jesus.”

Alan
 
St. Therese (Doctor of the Church) said that if you accept everything that God gives and takes away at every moment, you will not endure purgatory for God provides everything you need to become a saint and go directly to heaven.
 
In order to gain a plenary indulgence, it isn’t good enough that one is free from mortal sin and goes to confession (even if you’re free of mortal sin, you still must go to confession). One must also be free from the attachment to all sin. One also must receive communion.
 
My understanding of heaven, hell, and purgatory is that these are states that one chooses for oneself. God loves us unconditionally, but He will let us exercise our free will. If you go to hell, it’s because you reject God. If you go to purgatory, it’s because you know that God knows everything about you and because you yourself recognize you are not ready for heaven.

I think if, at this point, you wish to avoid purgatory while you still have sins, you haven’t really understood what purgatory is about. Remember that the root of purgatory is purge; i.e. you are purging yourself.

Just my :twocents:.
 
Pat_Albertson said:
My understanding of heaven, hell, and purgatory is that these are states that one chooses for oneself. God loves us unconditionally, but He will let us exercise our free will. If you go to hell, it’s because you reject God. If you go to purgatory, it’s because you know that God knows everything about you and because you yourself recognize you are not ready for heaven.

Just my :twocents:.
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Yeah, that’s a heresy they were teaching in my Catholic school that caused me to leave the Church because I thought that meant I could go out and do whatever I wanted and just choose not to go to Hell after I die.

We “choose hell” insofar as while we are alive we reject God by committing mortal sins. If we die in the state of mortal sin (all it takes is one unconfessed mortal sin for us to go to Hell) we go to Hell. After we die, that’s it. After we die and see God, we don’t decide whether or not we want to reject God and go to Hell for eternity rather than choose to spend eternity with God in Heaven, or decide “Hmm, I don’t think I’m ready for Heavenly Bliss with God. I think I’ll go spend time burning and suffering in Purgatory first.” After the Fall of Adam and Eve, we’re pretty stupid. It’s illogical to suggest that we decide after we die where we want to go, or that we’re the ones who judge ourselves. It’s pretty pointless for a person to judge the state of his or her own soul when he or she is blind and stupid from sin.

When we die, we are judged by God immediately. He reveals to us intellectually every action, thought, etc that we committed while were we alive, whether or not it was sinful, and to the degree it was sinful.

If we die in the state of mortal sin, God pronounces His judgment on us and we spend eternity in Hell.

If we die in the state of sanctifying grace, but have not made reparation for the temporal effects of our sins, or we still have imperfections, God sends us to Purgatory to be purified.

If we die in the state of sanctifying grace, and are free of all temporal punishment from our sins (or we die right after being baptized before we have a chance to sin), and have already been purified of our imperfections, or we die a martyr, we go straight to Heaven.
 
Given how difficult my own struggles with sin are, I’d be glad to find myself in purgatory. I’m not even sure I can get a plenary indulgence because of possible attachments to venial sin.
 
Why do you want to avoid Purgatory? Is it because you fear the pain of being cleansed? Or is it because you are 100% driven to live a perfect life while here on earth?

If you want to avoid the pain of being cleansed, know this: the joy of knowing you’ve “made it” and will never experience the despair of Hell will far, far outweigh whatever pain you may anticipate in being cleansed.

If you are 100% driven to live a perfect life here on earth, collecting indulgences in a spiritual piggy bank should be the least of your concerns. Frankly, focusing on banking up indulgences to neutralize your sins seems kind of selfish when you could be focused on serving God’s people instead.

Instead of building up a bank account of indulgences, pray and fight to overcome your sinful nature. Think less about yourself and more about the people you can help.
 
Nan_S said:
If you want to avoid the pain of being cleansed, know this: the joy of knowing you’ve “made it” and will never experience the despair of Hell will far, far outweigh whatever pain you may anticipate in being cleansed.
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It’s kind of like getting kids to take a bath. They don’t want to go, but once they do, they love the water and don’t want to get out! 😃

Alan
 
Nan_S said:
If you want to avoid the pain of being cleansed, know this: the joy of knowing you’ve “made it” and will never experience the despair of Hell will far, far outweigh whatever pain you may anticipate in being cleansed.
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Thank you for that. This is the point I was driving at in my previous post in this thread. Purgatory isn’t bad, it’s good, very good. 🙂
 
Pat Albertson:
Quote:

Originally Posted by Nan S

If you want to avoid the pain of being cleansed, know this: the joy of knowing you’ve “made it” and will never experience the despair of Hell will far, far outweigh whatever pain you may anticipate in being cleansed.

Thank you for that. This is the point I was driving at in my previous post in this thread. Purgatory isn’t bad, it’s good, very good.
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Resesrch St Faustina & Divine Mercy Sunday

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Deo_Gratias42 said:
Yeah, that’s a heresy they were teaching in my Catholic school that caused me to leave the Church because I thought that meant I could go out and do whatever I wanted and just choose not to go to Hell after I die.

We “choose hell” insofar as while we are alive we reject God by committing mortal sins. If we die in the state of mortal sin (all it takes is one unconfessed mortal sin for us to go to Hell) we go to Hell. After we die, that’s it. After we die and see God, we don’t decide whether or not we want to reject God and go to Hell for eternity rather than choose to spend eternity with God in Heaven, or decide “Hmm, I don’t think I’m ready for Heavenly Bliss with God. I think I’ll go spend time burning and suffering in Purgatory first.” After the Fall of Adam and Eve, we’re pretty stupid. It’s illogical to suggest that we decide after we die where we want to go, or that we’re the ones who judge ourselves. It’s pretty pointless for a person to judge the state of his or her own soul when he or she is blind and stupid from sin.

When we die, we are judged by God immediately. He reveals to us intellectually every action, thought, etc that we committed while were we alive, whether or not it was sinful, and to the degree it was sinful.

If we die in the state of mortal sin, God pronounces His judgment on us and we spend eternity in Hell.

If we die in the state of sanctifying grace, but have not made reparation for the temporal effects of our sins, or we still have imperfections, God sends us to Purgatory to be purified.

If we die in the state of sanctifying grace, and are free of all temporal punishment from our sins (or we die right after being baptized before we have a chance to sin), and have already been purified of our imperfections, or we die a martyr, we go straight to Heaven.
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I think a person chooses hell the same way a murderer chooses prison. They don’t actually want to go but the choices they made put them there
 
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