The Injustice and Callosity of Denying Purgatory

David Martin | The Daily Knight

Perhaps the greatest curse plaguing modern man is the loss of the awareness of our accountability for sin. With all the pacifist indoctrination that permeates today’s culture, we seem to have forgotten that we will be evaluated for every thought, word, and action of our life when we stand before God in judgment, so that if there remain any sins or faults that have not been completely expiated, we will have to pay our dues in the next life.

The Church infallibly teaches that there exists in the next life an infernal realm of banishment and suffering for those who did not properly cleanse themselves upon earth. This infernal prison is what we call Purgatory, signifying a purging place where souls are cleansed of imperfections by means of fire and bleak longing before they can enter into their eternal reward.

Sadly, the reality of Purgatory has been all but dismissed today in favor of pacifist teachings.  Most of today’s funeral Masses have been reduced to mere farewell ceremonies where the people ship their departed ones off to Heaven believing falsely that they automatically go there. These requiem ceremonies have become like informal canonizations, which is an act of cruelty to the faithful departed.

According to the revelations of the saints, most souls go to Purgatory. St. Teresa of Avila was made to understand through her mystical experiences that very few souls escape Purgatory. St. John of the Cross says, “Only a small number of souls achieve perfect love” (i.e., go straight to Heaven). St. John Vianney says, “It is definite that only a few are able to avoid Purgatory, and the suffering there that one must endure, exceeds our imagination.”

Jesus told St. Bridget:

“No one shall enter Heaven, but the one who has been purged like gold in the fire of purgatory or who has proved himself over a long duration of time in good deeds on earth so that there is no stain in him left to be purged away.”

We learn from the saints that the souls in Purgatory, if given a second chance, would gladly endure a lifetime of torment upon earth before spending one moment there. St. Cyril of Alexandria said, “It would be preferable to suffer all the possible torments of earth until Judgment Day than to pass one day in Purgatory.” Another great saint says: “Our fire, in comparison with the fire of Purgatory, is as a refreshing breeze.” 

Where do we find room then to avoid the issue of Purgatory at today’s requiem Masses?

St. Thomas Aquinas teaches: "Those who deny Purgatory speak against the justice of God." (Summa Theologica) The justice of God has never been more slighted than in our time when the dogmatic teaching on Purgatory has been all but dismissed as a myth that has no relevance for today.

Be that as it may, each of us will stand before God in judgment, therefore we do no service to our fellow man by denying dogma or administering a doctrinal half-loaf to the people. In witnessing for the Faith, it is imperative that we be objective and, on the level, so that with the pure leaven of sincerity we might knead true spiritual dough for a full loaf, that it might provide people with what the Church has always provided for her people: the unadulterated truth.

The truth is that there is a Purgatory, an infernal realm of purging beyond the veil where the imperfect undergo suffering great as in the abyss. St. Augustine says, “This fire of Purgatory will be more severe than any pain that can be felt, seen, or conceived in this world." (xli, De Sanctis on Purgatory)

However, there is no reason to fear Purgatory if one is resolved to walk in the light of God and observe His Commandments. For God did not create man for Purgatory, but He created Purgatory for the man who does not live up to the dignity of his creation.

For we were created in the image of God and called to walk in truth that we might be liberated from the pollution of this world that keeps us from advancing towards our eternal happiness. (John 8:32) Christ rose from the dead that we too might rise from our earthly sepulcher and walk with Him in the path of salvation. But when we walk according to the world and allow the image of sin to leave its imprint upon our souls, this distorts the image of God in us and renders us unacceptable in His eyes, so that we cannot enter into eternal bliss until we are first cleansed “by fire.”

Saved by Fire

St. Paul explains more clearly in 1 Corinthians where he says that the fire of God will try every man’s work.

“Every man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide [in Christ], which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss; but he himself *shall be saved, yet so as by fire.” (1 Cor. 3:13-15)

By fire we will be saved, says St. Paul. The fires of Purgatory will consume and burn these unprofitable works from our being in a very painful process, like warts, so that we indeed will suffer the loss of them, having been attached thereto, but in the same process we will be separated from them and set at liberty so that we can finally enter into eternal life.

Modern Day Deception From Satan

The fallacy and outright lie that God accepts us as we are was created by the devil to take us from God and rob us of our eternal happiness. God accepts us as we are when what we are is what He created us to be, namely, the dedicated sons and daughters of God (1 Thessalonians 4:3). But when we offend against His goodness by adopting into our souls elements that are foreign to our nature, then these need to be cleansed from our beings before we can see his face over the veil.

As Jesus told the people, "Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God." (Matt. 5:8) It is the poor of spirit and clean of heart who go directly to God after death, since their souls harbor no worldly pollutants that obscure their vision of God or short-circuit their communication with Him. With the freedom of the children of God, they do His will on earth, as it is in Heaven, so that at the end of their life they walk right into Heaven with no Purgatory in between.

Let us pray that all peoples will have the good fortune to do just that when their time on earth is complete. St. Teresa of Avila says: "Let us praise God; let us fore ourselves to do penance in this life. How sweet will be the death of one who has done penance for all his sins, of one who won’t have to go to Purgatory.

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*Some misconstrue this Biblical verse to mean that all baptized members of Christ are automatically guaranteed eternal life after having been purged “by fire” but they are forgetting that those who die in mortal sin are not candidates for Purgatory. Those who fall from grace through the breaking of the Ten Commandments must be absolved by a priest in confession before they are eligible for purging and eternal life. (John 20:23) Without this absolution their sins “are retained” and they are banished to the fires of Hell.