Please advise on purgatory

[hansard]

Hi everyone.

There have recently been a few threads on the conditions for getting into Heaven. The consensus seems to be “a state of sanctifying grace”, which means (as I understand it) dying without a mortal sin.

I thought the “system” was this:

1. You commit sins of all types in your life. You are bound to, being human.
2. You must get those sins forgiven by a priest
3. Even if your sins are forgiven, there is still a temporal punishment to be paid for them, and this is the time spent in Purgatory
4. After your purging, you then are fit to enter Heaven. This clearly would take longer for some than others.
5. Even if you die the second after confessing to a priest, even for the smallest remaining sins, you still have to do time for all your sins during your life.

If this is true, then all people spend some time in purgatory (except for you-know-who).

Happy to be corrected on this. Please direct me to official information rather than guesswork or your own gut feelings.

 

[hesso12]

you are correct
and this

And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come (Matthew 12:32)

 

[PaulfromIowa]

All who enter Heaven must be purified but we do not know the details of this process. The Church has never taught that all “spend time” in Purgatory.

The Catechism:

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

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.606 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:607

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.608

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."609 From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.610 The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.611

Notes at the source.

 

[Todd977]

1. You must get those sins forgiven by a priest

It is only necessary to confess mortal sins to a priest.

1. Even if your sins are forgiven, there is still a temporal punishment to be paid for them, and this is the time spent in Purgatory

Yes, Temporal punishment may remain after Confession. However, there are ways — prayer, fasting (and other penitential acts), and almsgiving (and other charitable acts), to name just a few — to obtain partial or plenary (full) indulgences that will reduce or eliminate temporal punishment before death for oneself or for others who have already died. Any temporal punishment remaining at the time of death is paid in Purgatory.

 

[Mike_Dye]

Not all go to purgatory. It is possible to go straight to heaven, but most of us will have to spend some time in purgatory. It really isn’t a sentence handed down by a judge, on death we know where we need to go and go there. Just as you wouldn’t want to go to your best friends wedding in dirty rags, you wouldn’t want to stand before our all loving, Lord in dirty rags, we would want to clean ourselves up first.

 

[GEddie]

It is commonly believed that all except recognized saints and martyrs will do Purgatory, however, this is not Church teaching but a recognition that all of us sin.

Time is a physical construct and so is not applicable to Purgatory. “Temporal” in this instance just means not “forever” or eternal.

ICXC NIKA

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Hi everyone.

There have recently been a few threads on the conditions for getting into Heaven. The consensus seems to be “a state of sanctifying grace”, which means (as I understand it) dying without a mortal sin.

I thought the “system” was this:

1. You commit sins of all types in your life. You are bound to, being human.
2. You must get those sins forgiven by a priest
3. Even if your sins are forgiven, there is still a temporal punishment to be paid for them, and this is the time spent in Purgatory
4. After your purging, you then are fit to enter Heaven. This clearly would take longer for some than others.
5. Even if you die the second after confessing to a priest, even for the smallest remaining sins, you still have to do time for all your sins during your life.

If this is true, then all people spend some time in purgatory (except for you-know-who).

Happy to be corrected on this. Please direct me to official information rather than guesswork or your own gut feelings.

I don’t know who you know who is? But I think you might mean Mary? Yes, Mary did not go to purgatory. This is Church teaching. But others also have a tradition of not going to purgatory as well. St Joseph. john the Baptist, etc.
I hesitate to bring this up as you are already confused but then there is the matter of indulgences. When you receive an indulgence if you are free from the attachment to sin (that is a debatable state) and have satisfied all the requirements, then a full indulgence would negate the need for purgatory. We can use indulgences on ourselves or loved ones who maybe in purgatory.

Basically what you say is true. That MOST people will probably make a purgatorial pit stop before heaven. But ALL people in purgatory go to heaven. And nothing unclean can enter heaven, so they must be purified. Think about this. If you died now, would your soul, your conscience, be perfectly pure? Would you be able to go to heaven without having to change the way you think? Probably not, that is what the school of purgatory is for.

It is also important to note that purgatory is not a place that you can further your own cause. Which is why it is so important for us to help those in purgatory here on earth by praying for the dead and obtaining indulgences for them.

 

[SMHW]

Time is a physical construct and so is not applicable to Purgatory. “Temporal” in this instance just means not “forever” or eternal.

ICXC NIKA

I don’t think you can say time is not applicable to Purgatory. But I agree that the understanding of time as it applies to the physical world is probably not a good indicator of how time applies to purgatory.

 

[BrianIndy]

Friends,

I urge you ALL to spend a little time every single day you are above ground and breathing air…praying for the poor souls of purgatory. Especially for those that have no one to pray for them.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

They can do nothing for themselves, that means someones mom is counting on you.

 

[Thomas_Casey]

question answered

closed