If I go Purgatory, how will I know it's not Hell?

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TrueLight said:
I personally don’t think anyone should be excited about purgatory. Sure, it’s better than hell, but shouldn’t we aim for heaven?
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But how any of us can be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect?
 
ConstantineTG said:
But how any of us can be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect?
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Jesus said we should be perfect.

He didn’t say don’t even try it cause it ain’t gonna happen.

So we try our best and we throw ourselves on God’s mercy.

You aim for heaven you might get it or purgatory. You aim for purgatory you might get it - or worse.
 
TrueLight said:
Jesus said we should be perfect.

He didn’t say don’t even try it cause it ain’t gonna happen.

So we try our best and we throw ourselves on God’s mercy.
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That is why there is a process to perfect us 😉
 
Speedypizza said:
I am still in RCIA, so don’t jump on me if I get this wrong. I thought all you needed was a plenary indulgence, and then you got to skip purgatory 100%? In fact if I am doing my reading right, I will get one when I take my first communion. :getholy:
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Exactly right. That’s why it’s so cool when people die right after something you know confers a plenary indulgence, e.g. when soldiers break into a church during mass and start shooting everyone.

LOL we Catholics are so weird.

But dying with a plenary indulgence doesn’t automatically make you a saint. Sure, all saints go straight to heaven, but if you lived a bad life and die with a plenary indulgence the Church won’t canonize you because the example of your life isn’t really something to recommend to the faithful, plus it sends the message that you can life a bad life and bank on full remission of temporal punishment in the nick of time.
 
Speedypizza said:
I am still in RCIA, so don’t jump on me if I get this wrong. I thought all you needed was a plenary indulgence, and then you got to skip purgatory 100%? In fact if I am doing my reading right, I will get one when I take my first communion. :getholy:
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I am not an expert. I am getting instruction as well. I don’t think the above is correct. Would be nice though. 🙂
 
DianaCC said:
Exactly right. That’s why it’s so cool when people die right after something you know confers a plenary indulgence, e.g. when soldiers break into a church during mass and start shooting everyone.

LOL we Catholics are so weird.

But dying with a plenary indulgence doesn’t automatically make you a saint. Sure, all saints go straight to heaven, but if you lived a bad life and die with a plenary indulgence the Church won’t canonize you because the example of your life isn’t really something to recommend to the faithful, plus it sends the message that you can life a bad life and bank on full remission of temporal punishment in the nick of time.
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I don’t think the poster is saying if you die right after a plenary indulgence. But even if you did, does that mean you are completely purified?
 
TrueLight said:
I don’t think the poster is saying if you die right after a plenary indulgence. But even if you did, does that mean you are completely purified?
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Well Speedypizza can explain what he meant, but yes, you’re completely purified.
 
I’d love to hear more about plenary indulgences = no purgatory thing.

I haven’t studied purgatory much. Does anyone have any references regarding the fact that indulgence means no purgatory? Cause if that’s the case, I can read my Bible for half an hour every day and get a plenary indulgence that way. 😃

Yay, no purgatory! :D:shrug::confused:
 
laircy said:
What determines one going straight to heaven or purgatory first?
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To go straight to Heaven one needs to be in a state of grace, with no attachment to sin, and have no effects of sin still on one’s soul.

And, fwiw, saints do not automatically go to heaven. Everybody in heaven is a saint.
 
You will see people playing bingo in purgatory to raise money for running it all. Satan takes on the full cost of Hell without constant fundraising.
 
Originally Posted by DianaCC
Several ways:
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The flames of purgatory are fed by the flames of hell, so you won’t be able to tell by the flames alone.
Pay careful attention to what everybody else is saying and doing. Are they going back and forth alternately praising God for his justice in exacting temporal punishment for their sins and then turning around and praising him for his mercy in allowing them to enter heaven in spite of their sins, or are they alternately bewailing their fate and the loss of eternal bliss (weeping) and then cursing God (gnashing of teeth)?
There are no angels in purgatory, so if you see an angel it’s a fallen one and you’re in hell.
Also, people and fallen angels in hell aren’t very nice to one another.
Nobody leaves hell, but everybody leaves purgatory, so if the guy burning next to you disappears at some point, you’re in purgatory. The best times to check are during mass times on earth, on Saturdays when Mary comes by to pick up her scapular-wearers, and in the autumn on Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and during the rest of the month of November. Unfortunately you won’t have a body with bodily senses, so you won’t be able to keep track of earthly events such as when masses are being said or what day it is, so watch for the pattern of disappearances.
Finally, check the locks on the doors. Hell is locked from the inside; purgatory is locked from the outside.
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VERY WELL DONE, Thanks,
Pat
 
adstrinity said:
To go straight to Heaven one needs to be in a state of grace, with no attachment to sin, and have no effects of sin still on one’s soul.

And, fwiw, saints do not automatically go to heaven. Everybody in heaven is a saint.
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I read that Padre Pio said that after he does his time in purgatory, he will wait outside the gates of heaven for everyone else (or something like that).
 
Speedypizza said:
I am still in RCIA, so don’t jump on me if I get this wrong. I thought all you needed was a plenary indulgence, and then you got to skip purgatory 100%? In fact if I am doing my reading right, I will get one when I take my first communion. :getholy:
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Well, there is a problem with that. There are conditions for plenary indulgences and we can’t be 100% sure we met those conditions. So you could aim for a plenary indulgence but get it only in part for example. No harm trying in any case 😉

Another thing we should always keep in mind is that these things exist to help us along, but we shouldn’t seem them as a guarantee.
 
TrueLight said:
I personally don’t think anyone should be excited about purgatory. Sure, it’s better than hell, but shouldn’t we aim for heaven?
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It is, in some sense, heaven.
Purgatory is purgation of the saved, for His beloved, which means our immersion into the very grace of God.
All in purgatory are saints, all in purgatory will receive beatific vision.
So, if I found my self in purgatory, I will surely rejoice, because I will see God giving ointment and healing my hurts, making straight what is crooked in me, burning all my defects, inflaming my cold heart, shining trough all my darkness, opening doors that were still shut in me, casting away all chains of attachment I hide from Him… and then, when all is done, I see Him face to face and marvel upon what He had done.
 
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