Purgatory

[convertmjh]

I read countless books on purgatory and its fire. But why In some saint visions do they see water, ice, and prison cells. How does this fit in with the early church father’s views, and St. Catherine of Genoa’s vision of the purifying fires? Thanks

 

[aridite]

I understand that purgatory is a state of purification for separated souls, i.e. souls without bodies. I think there has to be some kind of temporal/material conditions for a change (impure to pure) to take place, but I don’t think it can be physical (fire, ice, space) in the literal sense as we understand it, simply because the souls do not have bodies as we understand them. The pain of the purification is excruciating, but the joy of the hope of heaven is more overwhelming.

 

[Catholic4aReasn]

Since no one has ever been there and come back to talk about it there’s just no way to really know exactly what it’s like.

In Christ,
Nancy

 

[enanneman]

convertmjh:

I read countless books on purgatory and its fire. But why In some saint visions do they see water, ice, and prison cells. How does this fit in with the early church father’s views, and St. Catherine of Genoa’s vision of the purifying fires? Thanks

As these are all private revelations, you won’t find any official church answers to these questions.

My own view is that Purgatory is a dynamic place, with specific purgifications in place for specific sins, which is why many saints had visions of a multitude of areas within Purgatory–much like Dante writes about.