Souls in purgatory question

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DisorientingSneeze

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I’ve heard it explained that those in heaven are rooting for us and can only look upon those of us on Earth with perfect love.

If that’s true, is the same true of souls in purgatory or are they still having some of their messyness burned out?

Like if my grandmother who was rather stern and judging at times were in purgatory, would she look upon us with that perfect love or be better off than she was on earth, but building toward it?

Meanwhile, since I went and used her as an example in the thread. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
 
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As someone who holds a deep fondness and sentimental devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory I can try and answer the best I can from reading a few books and insights

The Souls in Purgatory is also known as the Church Suffering. The souls in Purgatory, suffer greatly almost the same as the souls in hell but the difference is instead of Burning in the flames of God’s wrath they burn and suffer in God’s Justice. God’s mercy is so infinite and incomprehensible that even after death we are given a “second chance” so enter heaven. But in order to enter Heaven we must be completely spotless, and not a blemish of sin must be on us. you can look at Revelation 22:14-16 for one reference.

The Souls - upon viewing the beatific vision - would be so embarrassed and filled with pity to have even the tiniest stain on them they would rather willingly toss themselves into purgatory and carry out their sentence. While they suffer greatly, they also are in constant yearning and love to be with God who is Love, truth and emotion. With that said it’s safe to say that they love us on earth and desire that we pray for them. We are the Church militant and we have the graces and power to hasten their release so they can be with the Church triumphant in heaven.

So I dont know how to elaborate on a “perfect love” for the souls in purgatory, but I would assume that being in purgatory there is a sense of deep love that gets only deeper and more profound the closer the soul is to release.
 
AltarSoldier said:
The souls in Purgatory, suffer greatly almost the same as the souls in hell but the difference is instead of Burning in the flames of God’s wrath they burn and suffer in God’s Justice.
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The Church disagrees with you.

CCC 1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. 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:

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
 
The Church disagrees with you
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You looked a little too much into that one. I was simply quoting Thomas Aquinas or Bishop Barron. I can’t remember which one of them said it but they in a poetic sense we’re talkin about the flames of hell and purgatory and how they might compare slightly but very nature of both is one is a sense of eternal loss while the other one is a sense of sorrow for sins and having an intense burning of desire to be with God. Either way it’s been said and it is said that the pains of both hell and purgatory are something that cannot even be described in two words. The worst pain one can experience on Earth would be nothing compared to the pain one suffers and purgatory which automatically leaves one to think that the pains of purgatory are almost identical to the pains of hell
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
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you should go a little bit further into that both state that because there are going to be people that will not understand.

Looking at the Catechism of the Catholic Church , blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the “deliberate refusal” to accept God’s mercy and forgiveness (no. 1864). Six species of this sin have been identified over time as (1) Despair; (2) Presumption; (3) Impenitence or a firm determination not to repent; (4) Obstinacy; (5) Resisting divine truth known to be such; and (6) Envy of another’s spiritual welfare.

The one who despairs “ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God” (no. 2091). Despair is directly contrary to the theological virtue of hope, which is, in part, a reliance on the grace of the Holy Spirit ( Catechism , no. 1817).

Presumption is a sin against the Holy Spirit inasmuch as one presumes he can save himself apart from the grace of the Holy Spirit or that God will save him without conversion (cf. Catechism , no. 2092).

Impenitence clearly resists the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to conversion and repentance (cf. Catechism , nos. 1430-33).
 
If Purgatory was in every respect the same as Hell except that it was temporary, that difference alone would be enough to say that Purgatory and Hell were entirely different.
 
I am certain that those in heaven see and hear us.

I don’t know that those in purgatory can. I am certain those in heaven can see and hear them though.

I too believe that the saints in heaven are rooting for us and for the eventual saints in purgatory too. I envision that the saints are celebrated in heaven too by other saints, particularly when they receive our prayers. As such, Mary is obviously the most celebrated saint in heaven, as she should be, as the queen of the universe.
 
AltarSoldier said:
The Souls - upon viewing the beatific vision - would be so embarrassed and filled with pity to have even the tiniest stain on them they would rather willingly toss themselves into purgatory and carry out their sentence. While they suffer greatly, they also are in constant yearning and love to be with God who is Love, truth and emotion. With that said it’s safe to say that they love us on earth and desire that we pray for them.
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So probably they are pretty consumed with this suffering/purification and they don’t have the energy to look down and be like ugh granddaughter you’re just as terrible as I remember.
 
DisorientingSneeze said:
So probably they are pretty consumed with this suffering/purification and they don’t have the energy to look down and be like ugh granddaughter you’re just as terrible as I remember.
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That would be my guess. She would see now where she had been too harsh or unkind and be sorry for that. I really doubt that souls in Purgatory are allowed to just continue to manifest their faults while theyr’e being purified. If anything they truly see how awful their faults were and recoil in horror.
 
She wouldn’t have perfect love yet - for those she didn’t show it to during her life - but she is being perfected…if she’s still in purgatory.
She doesn’t look on you with any harshness now; God wants us to love one another and she is truly sorry if she didn’t show you love during her life.

I will also pray for her.
 
While we don’t know what these souls can/cannot do… souls from purgatory occasionally were allowed to appear to saints and ask for prayers, mass offerings and show their suffering… it seems to me that their purification is all consuming and they cannot help themselves/others.
 
Dan_Defender said:
While we don’t know what these souls can/cannot do… souls from purgatory occasionally were allowed to appear to saints and ask for prayers, mass offerings and show their suffering… it seems to me that their purification is all consuming and they cannot help themselves/others.
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This is true. However, purgatory, like Heaven, is outside earthly time. It’s entirely possible that a soul we pray for in Purgatory would reach Heaven, pray for us there, and the prayer would be moved by God back sometime into the earthly past to the appropriate time in our lives to help us. So we just never know.
 
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DisorientingSneeze said:
I’ve heard it explained that those in heaven are rooting for us and can only look upon those of us on Earth with perfect love.

If that’s true, is the same true of souls in purgatory or are they still having some of their messyness burned out?

Like if my grandmother who was rather stern and judging at times were in purgatory, would she look upon us with that perfect love or be better off than she was on earth, but building toward it?

Meanwhile, since I went and used her as an example in the thread. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
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@DisorientingSneeze

You’ve voiced what so many of us worry about. The “what if” questions never completely stop needling us. It’s my understanding that once their souls are purified, they no longer linger in purgatory, but are taken into Heaven. Questions about those still in purgatory remain, though. How much are they aware of what’s going on in our lives? Is it possible that our failings can still cause them disappointment or worry or anguish? Or even anger, or remorse? Do we sometimes cause their hearts to ache as we sometimes did when they were still with us? I just keep praying and hoping for them. To always trust is very difficult.

For the soul of your grandmother and all the souls of the loved ones of all who read here:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
 
AltarSoldier said:
The Souls in Purgatory is also known as the Church Suffering. The souls in Purgatory, suffer greatly almost the same as the souls in hell but the difference is instead of Burning in the flames of God’s wrath they burn and suffer in God’s Justice.
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Thank you. Many want to believe this isn’t the case, mostly out of fear I imagine, but it is also a finite thing. St. Bosco or another Saint I read from once remarked that there would be unbridled celebration in hell if it became known that the would be released after a million years. That should bring some perspective.

The saints have also said that there are levels in purgatory, just as there is in Heaven and hell, so it isn’t all just fire. Our prayers can not only reduce the time a soul may spend in purgatory, but may also ease the suffering into a better level. I am not sure where I read that last bit.
 
Inquiry said:
If Purgatory was in every respect the same as Hell except that it was temporary, that difference alone would be enough to say that Purgatory and Hell were entirely different.
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In addition to the time being finite, I have read that many, but not all of the poor souls can receive consolations from the holy spirit and Our Lady. This would be a huge thing for them.
 
Hey, I have a question. I recently became Catholic and all these devotions are making my head spin. How does one find the devotion that they are particularly devoted to? if that’s how it works. I assume you should be devoted to all of them, but how do you go about dividing your time between all of them?
 
DisorientingSneeze said:
I’ve heard it explained that those in heaven are rooting for us and can only look upon those of us on Earth with perfect love.

If that’s true, is the same true of souls in purgatory or are they still having some of their messyness burned out?

Like if my grandmother who was rather stern and judging at times were in purgatory, would she look upon us with that perfect love or be better off than she was on earth, but building toward it?

Meanwhile, since I went and used her as an example in the thread. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
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Only damned souls continue to sin against God and against their neighbor and against themselves after death. Souls in Purgatory are holy and they are already eternally secure.
 
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Chistian-ity said:
How does one find the devotion that they are particularly devoted to?
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In my case it’s because
  1. My mother always encouraged prayer for the Souls in Purgatory in various ways when I was growing up
  2. At this point all my close loved ones are dead so I now have them among the souls who might need prayers to get to Heaven
So it seems like a natural fit.

If you’re a brand new Catholic or a young Catholic it will likely take time for you to find what devotions you prefer. A lot of people end up imitating the saints they feel particularly drawn to.
 
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