Purgatory

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Can someone explain this to me more please, because I am a little confused on who goes to purgatory and why.
 
As a Protestant I believe that there must be some place where certain things can be sorted out. Sort of like a criminal conditional discharge. God wants all to be saved so I believe that there are chances if we are willing to sort things out.
 
I read the part on purgatory. But, thank you so much for that website. I still don’t understand… does everyone enter purgatory than? What happens in purgatory??>
 
Seeker100 said:
As a Protestant I believe that there must be some place where certain things can be sorted out. Sort of like a criminal conditional discharge. God wants all to be saved so I believe that there are chances if we are willing to sort things out.
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I don’t understand. So, someone who does good deeds compared to someone who commits mortal sins daily are both going to get a chance to Heaven? im confused on this
 
Scripture tells us that nothing impure can enter heaven. Chances are, when we die, we will still have some impurities, some self-love perhaps, that needs to be purged from our souls. Purgatory (a place of purgation) is where that happens. If we end up in purgatory (not everyone does), we are bound for heaven. It is not a place where we still have work to do. We can do no work in purgatory. It’s not a second chance, either. Someone in purgatory is not going to hell, they are bound for heaven. They just need to have the remaining impurities on their souls removed.
 
HNA444 said:
I read the part on purgatory. But, thank you so much for that website. I still don’t understand… does everyone enter purgatory than? What happens in purgatory??>
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No, not everyone enters Purgatory (so to speak). We don’t know for sure what “happens” in Purgatory, as we think in terms of time and space and Purgatory is of course outside time and space. As 1030 ff in the CCC describe, it’s a time/place/whatever of final purification e.g. if one dies without being fully purified. It’s really quite a conceptual thing, we don’t have the details some might look for.
 
HNA444 said:
I don’t understand. So, someone who does good deeds compared to someone who commits mortal sins daily are both going to get a chance to Heaven? im confused on this
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Correct. Remember the parable of the workers in the field. The ones who came late in the day got paid the same wage as those who came earlier. That teaches us that it doesn’t matter when you come into the Church, we all get a chance for Heaven. The person who commits mortal sins daily, if absolved of those sins, gets into Heaven with the same privileges as the person doing good deeds.

But that’s where purgatory comes in. Just because you’re forgiven of your sins doesn’t mean you don’t have to account for them. The mortal sinner will spend a lot more time in Purgatory because he/she is in need of more purification.
 
HNA444 said:
I don’t understand. So, someone who does good deeds compared to someone who commits mortal sins daily are both going to get a chance to Heaven? im confused on this
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Depends on the state of their soul at death. Which only God knows.
 
Orchanian said:
Scripture tells us that nothing impure can enter heaven. Chances are, when we die, we will still have some impurities, some self-love perhaps, that needs to be purged from our souls. Purgatory (a place of purgation) is where that happens. If we end up in purgatory (not everyone does), we are bound for heaven. It is not a place where we still have work to do. We can do no work in purgatory. It’s not a second chance, either. Someone in purgatory is not going to hell, they are bound for heaven. They just need to have the remaining impurities on their souls removed.
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Thank you, that makes a lot more sense to me. But, what kinds of people do you think would end up in purgatory?
 
I like seeker’s comparison… like if you steal something. It matters a great deal that you admit to it and are sorry, but legally you still have to do the time!

That’s where indulgences come in, you can work off some of the punishment even though you’ve already confessed and been absolved.

I’ve heard of purgatory described as, you arrive at a formal ball and are wearing sweaty gym clothes. You need to go somewhere to prepare yourself… get a nice suit or gown, clean up a bit… you need to change your clothes to be fit for heaven!

You go to purgatory when you deserve the reward of heaven(you’ve followed God), and love Him, so are obviously not fit for hell. People who hate God are not forced to be with Him. Out of His mercy, He sadly sends them to hell because they cannot bear to look at Him.(NOT everybody goes to purgatory)

We who love Him, but aren’t ‘good’ enough, as in we curse sometimes and can’t control the words coming off our tongue, or that sort of thing… these tiny habits of sin send us to purgatory.

As in there’s two roads immediately when we die, and we can’t control which one we follow:
Road 1=saved(heaven and purgatory)
Road 2=hell
During the final judgement, purgatory is eliminated. Everybody in hell stays put, and everybody in heaven stays put. Purgatory is one-way. And the living get sorted out as well.

**Don’t get purgatory confused with sheol, the Hebrew word for a sort of limbo, often translated as hell in the bible. Everybody went there temporarily before Jesus, and then He eliminated it by establishing the new convenant and changing everything. At least that’s how I understand it:)

I hope that helps! All you need is some good reading material on the subject. Go to your church library or local catholic bookstore for some help. (btw if you don’t have a church library then I guarantee your priest has a huge collection) Really, one or two well written books is all you need to understand purgatory. (I’m only 17 and got all of this out of the books :D) Personally the biggest step to understanding purgatory is understanding indulgences. That helped me immensely!
 
Purgatory is where you are purged of venial sins and other things, it is a place of penance. A soul in purgatory will go to heaven, where a soul in hell is condemed there for eternity. Dying in the state of mortal sin without confession or true contrition for one’s sins land them in hell. However, one who dies without a mortal sin on their soul goes to purgatory to be cleansed. The time one stays in purgatory depends on the state of their soul at the time of death. If someone went years without the church or the sacraments, but on their death bed repents and makes their peace with God will go to purgatory and may be there for years. On the other hand if someone dies who had been a servant of God and the church and prayed for the holy souls in purgatory, fasted, said the rosary may only be in purgatory a couple days or hours, or maybe not at all. Criminals who have repented for their crimes and have a sincere sorrow have a chance of purgatory as one who was law abiding. Time in purgatory can be shortened by the number of indulgences we recieve while living. If we pray for the souls already in purgatory, when they are released into heaven, they, being grateful for our prayers, will return the favor and pray for us twofold. Frequent confession is the best way for us to stay our of hell and go to purgatory. Though, we should do everything we can to avoid purgatory. Purgatory is not an easy place, there is pain and suffering. What separates purgatory from hell is in purgatory the soul does get a bit of a reprive from their sufferings. It has been said the Blessed Mother goes to the souls in purgatory and helps them offering them refreshment and hope.

Frequent confession, prayers for the holy souls in purgatory (esp. the prayer of St Gertrude), indulgences, and masses with the intention for the souls in purgartory, will be our help when we die and God judges us on our merits. the catholic encyclopedia has a really good write up about purgatory, check it out!
 
Thank you all!! That helped me understand it a lot better. God Bless
 
HNA444 said:
Can someone explain this to me more please, because I am a little confused on who goes to purgatory and why.
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Helli HNA,
Code: 
  the basic teaching of purgatory is that it is a place of purification from sin and
attachment to sin,because nothing unclean will enter heaven.

Part of Catholic teaching concerning salvation includes an interior transformation, We are not

simply declared clean, we are actually made clean. For many of us this
process is not complete when we die. Purgatory is the completion of the process.

This makes no sense if salvation is just a ‘declaration of cleanliness’ or a covering over of

sin, as some believe. We must be transformed interiorly. we cannot

just be declared clean; we are actually made clean. This process is purification whether

completed in this life or in the next.Ponder the Beatitude ‘Only the pure in heart shall see the face of God’:getholy::heaven::harp: God bless, Carlan
 
Purgatory is a place where the soul is sent to be purified. We are called to love God and to love others equally but this is difficult being human and concerned with self preservation. Purgatory is a place where you could forgive God for a difficult life, forgive others for being mean spirited and cruel, and forgive yourself for not living up to expectations.👍👍
 
Yes but where in the bible could we read that we are still imperfectly purified after we die?
 
jamil_joseph02 said:
okay, so where do we Catholics got the idea that our souls are somewhat still impurified after we die? How did we just knew that?
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Tradition. We didn’t “just know it”, the teaching developed over time (as did so much that the Church teaches). Same with, e.g. teaching Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine (two natures) in one person. Or that there are 7 Sacraments. Or that the Pope is the Bishop of Rome. We can’t read those in the Bible.
 
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