Would the Church Approve of This Notion About Purgatory?

[distracted]

I believe that when a person spends a lot of time with Jesus at the unExposed Sacrament, he/she is (if silent and open to Christ)… doing time in Purgatory… thereby, shortening the time spent there in the afterlife…

when i am there, i feel that i am being shown things about my life… the condition of my soul… and it feels like Purgatory :hypno: .

Have you had this experience?

Please share your testimonies… I have never heard of a saint saying anything along these lines…
(though i also haven’t read everything there is to read on the saints)…

 

[Brady_W]

distracted,

I have no had an experience like that before. I am in no way trying to degrade your notion, I fully believe you. My own thinking is that the Church probably would not approve this notion of Purgatory.

One thing I believe the Church teaches is that in Purgatory, you are separated from God, and this is the worst part of Purgatory. If you are in front of the blessed sacrament exposed or not you are tangibly (as you know) in the presence of God. So I don’t think that that is compatible with purgatory.

I would however continue to go to the Blessed Sacrament and open your heart all the time.

God Bless

 

[HelenRose]

I think that this a very interesting concept. I do not have an understanding of Purgatory at all so I can’t comment. But, I have often thought that it is a place were you have to face yourself.

It makes sense to me that it would be alot easier to deal with yourself now and in front of the Sacrament and it would lighten the way later.

 

[Dauphin]

Prayer and penance remit temporal punishment due to sin much more easily than purgatory. What you’re experiencing is not purgatory.

 

[distracted]

One thing I believe the Church teaches is that in Purgatory, you are separated from God,

i think one is separated but has a vision of God… and i feel this way sometimes @ the unexposed S… never @ the Exposed , where i feel 100% with God & His love.

and this is the worst part of Purgatory.

This is also the worst part of life on Earth, being @ least somewaht separated from God… :hypno:

If you are in front of the blessed sacrament exposed or not you are tangibly (as you know) in the presence of God. So I don’t think that that is compatible with purgatory.

I got this one thing revealed to me recently while there… that my human relationships (or wanna-b relationships) r interfering between me and Jesus… this is going on in my unconscious mind & it took Jesus to show me… & (hate 2 admit) i could feel a great separation between me and Him… It was while i was wondering about that sense of separation & why i felt it that i was given the revelation that human “stuff” is too important 2 me… It is weird i didn’t see this until i was there…It always happens that way… which is why i believe i am in Purgatory there… an intense wroking out of one’s salvation w/ fear & trembling… Actually, we christians r in Purgatory here on Earth because we r (if doing things right) persecuted, hated, having to say NO to the world and self, etc…

 

[distracted]

I think that this a very interesting concept. I do not have an understanding of Purgatory at all so I can’t comment.

There is a book called Purgatory by a priest Fr. Shoupe … very interesting. Apaprently, P is a very painful place… depending on what level… & also, some saint said (or many said?) that we should work out our Purgatory here on Earth… then it wouldn’t be so painful or long in the afterlife… to me, it makes sense that at the Blessed S, it would be more intense… this working out of our salvation (Philippians 2:12)…

But, I have often thought that it is a place were you have to face yourself.

this perfectly describes what i go through @ the Blessed S.

 

[brockmac]

The Church teaches that Purgatory exists, that those who die in friendship with Christ, but who have unconfessed venial sins, or sins for which they have not done adequate penance go there, and that it purges us of our attachment to sin. She says very little else.

I do not doubt for a minute that when you spend time in adoration of our Lord in the Eucharist, you are, or rather He is reducing your attachment to sin. So the effect is that your time before the Blessed Sacrament has the effect of lessening your need for Purgatory. But as for thinking that you are in Purgatory when you are before the Sacrament, I am with the other posters on this thread in their disagreement.

 

[FrRJBoyd]

I believe that when a person spends a lot of time with Jesus at the unExposed Sacrament, he/she is (if silent and open to Christ)… doing time in Purgatory… thereby, shortening the time spent there in the afterlife…

when i am there, i feel that i am being shown things about my life… the condition of my soul… and it feels like Purgatory :hypno: .

Have you had this experience?

Please share your testimonies… I have never heard of a saint saying anything along these lines…
(though i also haven’t read everything there is to read on the saints)…

The purgation we must all experience in order to see God face to face after death can be done in this life, as it was for the saints, who left this world in the unitive way and entered heaven immediately after death. The self-knowledge you are given in prayer is something that the Holy Spirit commonly gives souls as a necessary part of this purgation. What you are experiencing is a sign of spiritual health! If you want to read more about this, I suggest starting with Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange’s short work, The Three Ways of the Spiritual Life

ewtn.com/library/SPIRIT/3WAYS.TXT

and then maybe the Life of St. Teresa of Avila and The Ascent of Mount Carmel by St. John of the Cross. Divine Intimacy is also a classic if you would like to have a series of short meditations on the spiritual life.

If we have not yet completed the process of purgation in this life, and we die in God’s friendship, then God in His mercy allows us to complete it in Purgatory. So in a real way, I think you are right in saying your Purgatory time is being reduced by your experience in prayer. It can even be completely eliminated if we are truly generous in this life.

God bless,

Fr. Boyd

 

[distracted]

She [the Church] says very little else.

The Church may say little else but saints & certain writers have revealed things to us. Yes, i know we are not required 2 believe what they say… but personally, i don’t have a hard time believing that Purgatory, for instance, is painful. That’s because it is painful 4 me 2 see all the sin that i see when @ the Blessed S… & i don’t mean just mine… i mean all the sin in my world (which includes the world @ large)… :hypno:

I do not doubt for a minute that when you spend time in adoration of our Lord in the Eucharist, you are, or rather He is reducing your attachment to sin.

Actually, i never looked @ it that way… but i guess it is another way of saying about the same thing…

. But as for thinking that you are in Purgatory when you are before the Sacrament, I am with the other posters on this thread in their disagreement.

Hmm… i don’t understand waht the difference is… If one lessens his need for Purgatory, has lessened the time required 2b spent there, it means he has been in P…

Thanks. God bless.

 

[distracted]

The purgation we must all experience in order to see God face to face after death can be done in this life,

It is too bad other Christians don’t know about this (Protestants, uninformed Catholics…) because knowing i can offer up my sufferings to atone for past sins, and also to help in the conversion of others gives meaning to suffering… so it isn’t wasted & we don’t have to feel abandoned by God. When there is too much suffeirng & it seems meaningless… it can be very discouraging… to the point of wanting to die. that is why i try to pray always 4 those who don’t know the Catholic way &/or those who are so depressed they don’t want to go on. I used to be one of them…

The self-knowledge you are given in prayer is something that the Holy Spirit commonly gives souls as a necessary part of this purgation.

Some times it is hard, while @ the Blessed S, to sort out what is a feeling/thought from God &/or what is… well, from elsewhere. When i am there, i feel i am fighting the devil… No, actually, i feel that i am letting Jesus fight him for me

What you are experiencing is a sign of spiritual health!

Yes, i have felt that to be true… & the more i sit quietly with Him, the more healthy i feel (if i can let the distractions of this life subside… which, admittedly, isn’t as easy as it may sound ). One thing i always realize when there is how HUMAN i am (and everyone else… which is good because then i am less inclined to “judge” people… when i see how weak and needy and helpless i am without Christ )…
Thank you for the reading suggestions. I don’t live anywhere near a good Catholic books store… Maybe i can find them (used/cheaper??) on the internet… ?

right in saying your Purgatory time is being reduced by your experience in prayer. It can even be completely eliminated if we are truly generous in this life.

Actually, i don’t usually “pray” there, as in speaking to Jesus (although when i do, it is, of course, VERY powerful)… A lot of the time, i just sit there & let “whatever” happen… i feel It is, however, best to do both… The first 1/2 hour is usually what feels like a “debriefing”… No, that’s not the word… a “de-programming” is more like it… getting my worldly concerns out of the way… Again, not as easy as it sounds…