What do you think purgatory is like?

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Confiteor_Deo said:
From Charity for the Suffering Souls by Fr. John Nageleisen (imprimatur 1895), it says, The book also says that the Holy Souls have spiritual torments that consist of separation from the beatific vision of God (“the supreme, the most excruciating pain that the soul can endure”) and the consciousness of the fact that it is by their own fault through sin that they are deprived of the beatific vision, which fills them with sorrow. The location of Purgatory is said to be in the earth and very near to Hell, and it is believed that demons torment the Holy Souls.

However, the Holy Souls also have consolations in Purgatory that are not present in Hell. They are assured of their salvation and are more conscious of themselves being beloved children of God than the holiest of the saints were on earth. They also receive consolations from prayers and visits from the Blessed Virgin. These consolations, like the sufferings they endure, exceed what we can experience on earth.
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Much like life on earth now 😊
 
thistle said:
If I die and find myself in Purgatory I won’t care what it is like because I will know that I am saved and next move is to Heaven.
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^ This.

I’m not one who subscribes to the doom-and-gloom images of Purgatory, as if it were some kind of state to be avoided at all costs. I also strongly disagree, no matter how saintly the source, that Purgatory is not what Jesus’ Mercy desires. I posit the contrary: Purgatory is actually a most merciful state, one that exists only by the mercy of God, because without it, the only alternative is hell.

I believe Purgatory, while it entails suffering, is a happy place. Because in this place, charity reigns, and every soul has the assurance of salvation. The pain is that of the longing for God.

I am also of the belief that Purgatory is not a kind of prison. I like to think of Purgatory as the anteroom of heaven, not the rim of hell, and that the door is open and unlocked, with God standing there, inviting you to come in. We ourselves say, “Not yet.” We stay in purgatory on our own free will, as we will know when we are ready. When that time comes, we enter the Beatific Vision.

When I die and I find myself in Purgatory, I’d be glad to find myself there.
 
Purgatory is a bath in the consuming fire of God’s love.

St. Catherine of Genoa is a very good guide.
 
youngsterat16 said:
This is a concept that i’ve pondered on for a while. I know what it is and the purpose is to be cleansed of sin before entering heaven but how do you think it works? Obviously i know no one will no for sure beings we’re all still here on earth but i’m just wondering what others think it’ll be like. Heaven is more wonderful than imaginable and hell is worst than imaginable but i just can’t help but wonder about purgatory. Also i was thinking that time is a man-made thing and doesnt exist in heaven but how does time in purgatory work do you think? i pray for the souls in purgatory every time i think to do so but it just makes me wonder. and maybe there won’t be an answer you guys can really give me but i’m just curious on other people’s thoughts. I’ve tried googling this but havent had much luck
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I think St. Faustina had a vision of hell, heaven and purgatory. You can read of her account.
 
I wish i could help you, but all I can say is we serve a Merciful and Just God. So whatever Purgatory entails, I know it won’t be hell, and not quite Heaven.
 
youngsterat16 said:
This is a concept that i’ve pondered on for a while. I know what it is and the purpose is to be cleansed of sin before entering heaven but how do you think it works? Obviously i know no one will no for sure beings we’re all still here on earth but i’m just wondering what others think it’ll be like. Heaven is more wonderful than imaginable and hell is worst than imaginable but i just can’t help but wonder about purgatory. Also i was thinking that time is a man-made thing and doesnt exist in heaven but how does time in purgatory work do you think? i pray for the souls in purgatory every time i think to do so but it just makes me wonder. and maybe there won’t be an answer you guys can really give me but i’m just curious on other people’s thoughts. I’ve tried googling this but havent had much luck
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There is speculation, but the teaching of the Church is that Purgatory is an after death state where the faithful are purified of unhealthy attachment to creatures. Indulgences granted on their behalf may be sufficient to release them from this state.
 
Yes, I heard that sometimes souls see demons who torment them in Purgatory. I read that there are levels of Purgatory, one level being closest to Hell. In fact, it is the deepest part of Purgatory for those who died after a lifetime of crime and sin. They are lucky to be there, because if it weren’t for final repentance, they would be in Hell. It seems in this place Purgatory and Hell overlap each other.

The demon part is what I hate thinking about. I dreamed once that my deceased grandmother and I met outside in on a sunny day. She had her shopping bag, and she was walking along. I said, “Grandma! Where are you now in the afterlife? Are you in Purgatory? What is it like?” She answered, “That’s for me to know and for you to find out!”

The final stage of Purgatory is like Heaven, except for the painful absence
of God. The level of Purgatory like Paradise is called the “Threshold”. They say that even if someone bypasses the deepest part of Purgatory that is most hellish, that most still undergo the state of Purgation in the final stage of Purgatory. I hope this helps.

Also, you can avoid it. Make sure to have a priest when you die and get the Apostolic Pardon. (This of course depends on if you can get a priest at the hour of death, because sometimes death happens when we least expect it. Like, traffic accidents, shootings, other things, and it is hard to be 100% ready at all times.)
 
The Divine Comedy gives a pretty good meditation on Purgatory, and has a Thomistic inspiration.
 
Purgatory is not a place where we are cleansed from sin. Christ’s blood and work on the cross has taken care of that. Purgatory is a purification process that cleanses us from the effects of our sin; i.e., Lot’s daughters were delivered with Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord saved them; however, Lot’s daughters were so contaminated with the world in which they lived that they had no faith that God would provide a path for them to have families, so they committed incest with their father, hardly God’s plan for their life. It’s that contamination that purgatory cleanses us from.

With God their is no time. I don’t believe in years or weeks or days in purgatory. Pope Benedict gives a great explanation of this.
 
I was just going back and rereading all of these. It’s just a topic that I have always thought about. I appreciate all of your (name removed by moderator)ut on this subject. I am trying to find my sense of reasoning in topics like such and absorbing all I am able to find.

One day, I’d like to make a story out of this. an interpretation of the purgatory life. Fictional of course but with such real elements to it. A possible interpretation like some books writers depict heaven as.

this is a very interesting topic. no one will be able to know for sure until we are there. Like heaven or hell is unknown until we are there. it just makes me wonder where we stand.
 
Well we do know that once a person is in a purgatorial state he will never go to hell but will only go to heaven. I’ve asked myself the question why this is so. And the only reason I have come up with is that he/she has seen some sort of proof to them that every other choice but Jesus is a terrible one. So they would never ever choose something over Jesus ever again. And just what would this be to convince them of Jesus? Maybe something that Jesus allowed them to see for themselves, something very wonderful and maybe something not so wonderful.

And in this process of seeing, they realize what horrible choices they have made in parts of their life and the love of Jesus that spared them and helped them. In this they would see the all overcoming love of Jesus which would begin to grieve them deeply or to put it another way, as St Peter did when he also denied Jesus … he wept bitterly.
 
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