Your opinion on Purgatory?

[HabemusFrancis]

As Catholics, we all believe Purgatory exists. However, I have noticed that it isn’t the most popular of doctrines, and that many people don’t like to spend time thinking about it.

I understand why it is not “liked.” It is a place of some amount of pain, suffering and privation to “prepare” you for your ultimate reward.

For some peculiar reason… not only do I believe purgatory exists, but it makes quite a bit of sense to me. The simple fact is I believe, that there are many people who sincerely love and serve God but are also enslaved by certain sins or addictions (to substances,sins, ideas, etc.) and may not entirely have given up on or “abandoned” those attachments while they still lived.

While there love for God and their fellow man was real and true, there are still things to be “sorted out” or "purged’ before they can take part in their ultimate reward.

Many of the Church fathers believed that the pains of purgatory were the same as the pains of hell, but somehow I doubt this is the case. For starters it isn’t as bad because they know it is temporary. Secondly it isn’t because… unlike Hell purgatory is a place of God and virtue to some degree. There likely is pain there of some sort but… the popular image of souls “roasting” in purgatory, like in a furnace… I am not sure I buy into it:blush:.

I feel the purpose of one there… is to change… to be prepared… it seems the sort of suffering, would not be passive in nature, but rather cooperative filled with “learning” so to speak, by focusing on the particular sins or failings they were inclined to in this life… and knowing and learning about the opposite virtues.

Among the other pains that exist there, I imagine is the pain of knowing how petty and shortsighted it was to love and be attached to their sins. God will be made known to them as their ultimate end and desire, and their sadness/frustration might be great knowing they can’t be with him “just yet.”

Dante himself apparently shared my opinion. In his fictional account of purgatory, the holy souls there do engage in labor/punishment of some sort, but their pain is laced with great beauty and learning as well. The souls inclined to pride are treated to a vision/performance of the Virgin Mary accepting her duty to bear Jesus into this world (the virtue of humility… pride’s opposite.) The souls of the wrathful are treated to a vision of the finding in the temple, where instead of being angry, Joseph + Mary are overjoyed to find Jesus safe in the temple (meeknes… angers opposite.)

Im not asking what you all believe necessarily, but what is your opinion of purgatory? Do you like it? Does it give you some… peace of mind/sense of God’s perfect justice?

I… don’t dread purgatory ( since I don’t know if it is dreadful) but would probably be saddened to have to go there. At times though… it does seem purgatory is the best I or many others can reasonably hope for

 

[anon67074017]

I think that purgatory is a place of learning. You learn to be completely pure in purgatory. It prepares you for heaven.

 

[GEddie]

It’s a town in Colorado. Which is cool, as I have never been in Colorado.

J/K

Really, I imagine Purgatory as a kind of customs line where we pay off the “tariff” on our cherished sins before being admitted to life everlasting. But because our attachment to sin is inside of our soul, it hurts to “work it off.”

ICXC NIKA

 

[Usige]

I am certainly glad that purgatory exists. If it didn’t I don’t think the vast majority of us would have a shot at heaven. Scripture is clear that nothing unclean will enter heaven. Without the cleansing fires of purgatory very few of us would be rid of the miasma of sin from our earthly lives and therefore unable to enter into the presence of God.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

I once heard Mother Angelica say she would be happy to be in purgatory, as that would mean she’s going to heaven. I agree. I would also be happy to know I would eventually be in heaven.

I just tend to think about heaven and God,rather than purgatory and God. I guess it’s just habit.

 

[Beryllos]

I think of it as military basic training (“boot camp”). There is pain and suffering, but it prepares you as is necessary so that you can “be all that you can be.”

 

[vsedriver]

being mortal we tend to think of pain as something physical that is to be endured. I think purgatory is a time of being purged of our residual attachments to sin. Facing the truth of ourselves can be a burning pain far more tortuous than anything we could feel physically. But it will be a joyful pain as we are polished and prepared for heaven. All the more reason to keep purgatory present in our hearts as we go about our daily lives. Reflecting on purgatory can strengthen our resolve to let go of our ‘attachments’ while here on earth.

 

[powerofk]

Sometimes, when I’m really bored at my job (which I’ve been at for over 10 years), I feel like Purgatory is similar. I love my job (for the most part), by the way, but here’s what I mean.

People come and go, come and go, come and go. All the while, I’m still there, still waiting to be fully purified. I know I’m being purified, but I’m wondering, how long before I’m ready? When will I be clean so I can enter Heaven? See, different people in Purgatory spend different amounts of time there. And many people who have come into Purgatory after you will leave and enter Heaven before you. My hope is simply that when I’m in Purgatory, someone will be praying for me to help speed up my purification. This is why it’s a spiritual act of mercy to pray for the living and the dead.

There are many in Purgatory (probably the majority) who have no one to pray for them, so when we offer up our prayers for those in Purgatory, we should always make sure we add, “and for those who have no one to pray for them”. If no one prays for you in Purgatory, then the purification process may very well take until the second coming (when all in Purgatory are immediately fully purified - and those that would have gone through Purgatory get instant purification).

 

[Petaro]

If I manage to get there I will tremble at the mercy of the Lord. Purgatory makes sense as being a balance between God’s Mercy and Justice. I just hope that some of the pain I offer to the Lord goes some way to paying off the debt as I get tired of waiting. Like Bilbo my skin is stretched and I feel the weight of my sins.

 

[Arizona_Fat_Gir]

Maybe part of purgatory is the adjustment one makes upon leaving the physical world. I had read that sometimes a soul is allowed to witness his own funeral as a way of preparing him for his new life.

When you stop to think of it leaving one’s body and crossing over is a major change. Watching your own funeral is a way of getting closure. Or, watching your own cremation would be a confirmation that you are truly dead and won’t have a chance to come back. With absolute certainty you will, one way or another, go on to judgment and won’t be able to turn back and change the fact that you are deceased.

Then with spiritual enlightenment you see yourself as you truly are, having to learn to cope with the purification of your soul before going on to heaven. Having a life review, meeting Jesus who will do the judging would be the experience that would clarify the purification needed. I read somewhere that Jesus is the flame of love that purifies a soul.

 

[TK421]

According to St Padre Pio, the hearth of a fireplace compared to Purgatory is like comparing fresh water to boiling water. So, not good.

As bad as hell? Physically maybe so, but souls in Purgatory don’t suffer the mental and spiritual torments of the damned. In any event, both the suffering and the ecstacy beyond the grave are beyond imagining.

 

[TwoNames]

We had a series of lenten retreats this year, with our local Bishop. He said that we don’t know for sure if even the saints went directly to heaven. We can only be certain of that for our Blessed Mother.

 

[Petaro]

We had a series of lenten retreats this year, with our local Bishop. He said that we don’t know for sure if even the saints went directly to heaven. We can only be certain of that for our Blessed Mother.

… and that ‘good thief’… talk about right place, right time… Envy? You want to talk envy? Start right there…

 

[MT1926]

Im not asking what you all believe necessarily, but what is your opinion of purgatory? Do you like it? Does it give you some… peace of mind/sense of God’s perfect justice?

I… don’t dread purgatory ( since I don’t know if it is dreadful) but would probably be saddened to have to go there. At times though… it does seem purgatory is the best I or many others can reasonably hope for

Purgatory

As another poster mentioned:
Revelation 21:27

27 But nothing unclean shall enter it,

I love the thought of purgatory, it really shows how much God loves us.

Matthew 22:2
2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son,

I think of passages like this when I am contemplating purgatory. The Bible compares Heaven to a feast. Also, we see quite a bit of our relationship with God is centered around a meal. Another great example of this is The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother - Luke 15:11-32.

Verse 22 is a great verse in my opinion. When I read it, I think about purgatory. The son was living with pigs, just imagine how dirty and smelly he must have been. The Father doesn’t just have his servants prepare the feast and start the celebration. He could have, but imagine being the son covered in pig excrement and smelling something awful. Would you enjoy the feast in that state? I wouldn’t. So the loving Father has his servants “purge” him of his defilement and redress him in the best rob, so he will be more comfortable at the feast and not have to constantly be reminded of what he did. That thought gives me so much more peace of mind than to convince myself that I am guaranteed to sit with God in eternity, with the memory of unpurged sins on my soul.

I will be more than happy to go to purgatory, because I know God wants what is best for me. I don’t really worry myself of it being painful or peaceful. I have survived the past 2 years with physical, mental and emotional pain, if he has given me enough strength to keep going everyday I am sure he will give me the strength I need to endure purgatory.

 

[mommy_k]

I was taught by sisters that anytime you sin it leaves a mark on your soul, even venial sin, although not as black as mortal sin. The Holy Spirit lives in your soul too, and the more marks on your soul, the less space The Holy Spirit has to work in you…

Confession is the way to remove these sins. if they are present at the time of death, we go to purgatory, and the more black marks you have-- the more intense puragtory is and the more time you spend there. You have to have the Holy Spirit to fully live in your soul before you go to heaven-and you have to be purified, through a spiritual fire.

For people with completely black souls go to hell-as The Holy Spirit cannot share space on a soul like this-there is no more room.

God, in His Infinite Mercy, provides us with the sacrament of Extreme Unction, as well to help us at our time of death with purifyng our souls.

This is what I believe as it makes total sense to me.

 

[laocmo]

As Catholics, we all believe Purgatory exists.

All believe?? Not so, I think it was an invented concept to allow God to punish his children at least a little for their smaller sins. We say God forgives. Purgatory certainly destroys that idea. We say Jesus died for forgiveness of our sins, Yet we still have to suffer the pains of Hell at least for a while for stealing that apple from the grocer’s display. Think about it. Doesn’t Purgatory contradict many of your beliefs about divine forgiveness.

 

[MT1926]

Think about it. Doesn’t Purgatory contradict many of your beliefs about divine forgiveness.

Not really. I tend to compare it to my own life as a Father. If my child does something wrong and says sorry, I have no problem forgiving. However, shouldn’t the child be responsible for what they did? If my child comes to me over and over again always saying sorry and I hand out no punishment then I am failing as a Father. If there is never any punishment then the child will quickly learn that everything is fair game all they have to do is say sorry. How would that make them a better person? I see no contradiction, just because I believe God will forgive me, in no way means I am not responsible for my actions.

 

[laocmo]

What then is the difference between saying OK, you are forgiven but I’m still going to punish you, and saying OK, you are not

forgiven and I’m going to punish you. In both cases there is punishment. That makes the forgiveness or non forgiveness an unimportant issue.

 

[davidv]

All believe?? Not so, I think it was an invented concept to allow God to punish his children at least a little for their smaller sins.
Who invented it? When did they invent it? Is there a patent number? Please show where the doctrine says that Purgatory is punishment.

We say God forgives. Purgatory certainly destroys that idea. We say Jesus died for forgiveness of our sins, Yet we still have to suffer the pains of Hell at least for a while for stealing that apple from the grocer’s display. Think about it. Doesn’t Purgatory contradict many of your beliefs about divine forgiveness.

Not at all. Why? Because purgatory is not about forgiveness, it is about restitution.

 

[HabemusFrancis]

Purgatory isn’t punishment really. It is just a necessary place/process.

The souls wish to go there, and it is needed for them, before they begin their place in heaven.

I think it is analagous to chemotherapy, or some other intense medication or physical therapy. Yes it is painful, but it just has to be done.

For whatever reason I deeply doubt anyone is “sentenced” to purgatory until the judgement day. I think it may take decades in this world, or perhaps a century, but not… eternity so to speak.

For instance if Pontius Pilate had to go to purgatory when he died ( a reasonable hope in my opinion) I do not believe he is still there. I believe he, and other ancient souls have realized the errors of their ways and… not to say what God does or doesn’t do… but I think he may have made it to paradise (if only the lower rings… by now.)

Quick aside…why do I believe Pontius at least made it to purgatory? He commited a great sin of expediency/cowardice but he did not do so with the whole “full knowledge and deliberate consent” thing. Judas Iscariot knew Jesus intimately for three years, yet had no problem turning him over for 30 silver.

Pilate knew Jesus not at all, nor really understood what a messiah was, yet Jesus did affect him nonetheless. He was deeply reluctant to crucify him and it is implied in scripture, that he did sense he was more than just another holy man. He gave in to the crowd, somewhat selfishly to preserve his familys status, somewhat out of fear to prevent a riot.He was not at peace with what he did though

For some strange reason I believe Pilate likely repented of his sin (thanks in no small part to Procula… who may have believed in Jesus:thumbsup. But that is just a theory:blush:.

Also, for some reason, I don’t believe people’s stay in purgatory is significantly shortened by people praying for them. It is ultimately God’s decision, as opposed to people’s prayers that make the ultimate difference.

Idk, based on what I know of God, I can’t imagine him saying to a soul who isn’t prayed for “Oh sorry pal, no one praying for you? Your out of luck! Another 100 more years for you!” I can imagine some bureaucrat at the DMV thinking or speaking in this way… but not God!

I have to imagine the Mass or just the general prayers for “the souls in purgatory” gives relief/help to all who are there.