Posted on 11/05/2005 9:15:01 PM PST by Coleus
Do Catholics Believe in Purgatory? FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS
|
I hardly hear purgatory mentioned anymore. I have even heard some Catholics say we do not believe in it since Vatican II. What is the right teaching? |
|
Contrary to what some may erroneously believe, Vatican II's "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" asserted, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicea, of the Council of Florence, and of the Council of Trent" (No. 51).
Moreover, the Catechism clearly affirms the Church's belief in purgatory and the purification of the soul after death: "All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but, after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (cf. No. 1030-32).
As Vatican II stated, the Church has consistently believed in a purification of the soul after death. This belief is rooted in the Old Testament. In the Second Book of Maccabees, we read of how Judas Maccabees offered sacrifices and prayers for soldiers who had died wearing amulets, which were forbidden by the Law; Scripture reads, "Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out" (12:42) and "Thus, [Judas Maccabees] made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from the sin" (12:46). This passage gives evidence of the Jewish practice of offering prayers and sacrifices to cleanse the soul of the departed.
Rabbinic interpretation of Scripture also attests to the belief. In the Book of the Prophet Zechariah, the Lord spoke, "I will bring the one third through fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and I will test them as gold is tested" (13:9); the School of Rabbi Shammai interpreted this passage as a purification of the soul through God's mercy and goodness, preparing it for eternal life. In Sirach 7:33, "Withhold not your kindness from the dead" was interpreted as imploring God to cleanse the soul. In sum, the Old Testament clearly attests to some kind of purification process of the soul of the faithful after death.
The New Testament has few references about a purging of the soul or even about heaven for that matter. Rather the focus is on preaching the Gospel and awaiting the second coming of Christ, which only later did the writers of sacred Scripture realize could be after their own deaths. However, in Matthew 12:32, Jesus' statement that certain sins "will not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come," at least suggests a purging of the soul after death. Pope St. Gregory (d. 604) stated, "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 Council of Lyons (1274) likewise affirmed this interpretation of our Lord's teaching.
|
As we ponder the beautiful understanding of purgatory, we must never forget the importance of praying for and having Masses offered for the repose of the souls of our loved ones. |
We perform penances and other sacrifices to heal the hurt caused by sin. In so doing, we are continually saying "yes" to the Lord. In a sense our soul is like a lens — when we sin, we cloud the lens; it gets dirty, and we lose the focus of God in our lives. Through confession and penance, God cleanses the "lens" of our soul. When we die, if we leave this life fundamentally loving God, dying in His grace and friendship, and free of mortal sin, we will have eternal salvation and attain the beatific vision — we will see God for who He is. If we die with venial sins or without having done sufficient penance for our sins, God in His love, mercy and justice will purify our souls, "cleanse the lens" so to speak. After such purification, the soul will then be united with God in heaven and enjoy the beatific vision.
As we ponder the beautiful understanding of purgatory, we must never forget the importance of praying for and having Masses offered for the repose of the souls of our loved ones. Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Mirae caritatis (1902) beautifully elaborated this point and emphasized the connection between the communion of saints with the Mass: "The grace of mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the Sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass], to all who belong to the communion of saints. For the communion of saints is simply ... the mutual sharing of help, atonement, prayers, and benefits among the faithful, those already in the heavenly fatherland, those consigned to the purifying fire, and those still making their pilgrim way here on earth.
These all form one city, whose head is Christ, and whose vital principle is love. Faith teaches that although the august Sacrifice can be offered to God alone, it can nevertheless be celebrated in honor of the saints now reigning in Heaven with God, who has crowned them, to obtain their intercession for us, and also, according to apostolic tradition, to wash away the stains of those brethren who died in the Lord but without yet being wholly purified." Likewise, the Catechism asserts, "From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God" (No. 1032). Therefore, when we face the death of someone, even a person who is not Catholic, to have a Mass offered for the repose of his soul and to offer our prayers are more beneficial and comforting than any other sympathy card or bouquet of flowers.
Most importantly, we should always remember our own dearly departed loved ones in the Holy Mass and through our own prayers and sacrifices to help in their gaining eternal rest. Since we are approaching the feast of All Souls (Nov. 2), now is a good time to remember our deceased loved ones by either having a Mass offered for their repose or, if the parish offers one, to remember them in the special All Souls Novena.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Saunders, Rev. William. "Do Catholics Believe in Purgatory?" Arlington Catholic Herald.
This article is reprinted with permission from Arlington Catholic Herald.
THE AUTHOR
 |
Father William P. Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac Falls and former dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College. Father has been writing his weekly "Straight Answers" column for the Arlington Catholic Herald since 1993. The above article is one of those "Straight Answers" columns. Father Saunders is the author of Straight Answers, Answers to 100 Questions about the Catholic Faith, a book based on 100 of his columns and published by Cathedral Press in Baltimore.
Of course. Christ said that the man would join Him that very "day" in paradise
Only one prayer was needed for him to go to heaven.
If only it was that simple, brother. That man died an incredibly painful death. Have you even considered that this ITSELF was punishment enough in God's eyes to forgive that man of the temporal debt that he owed God? ONE PRAYER?
And who is to say that man didn't go to Purgatory at all? We don't know how time "moves" in the after life. If God is outside of time, and Purgatory may be as well, then you cannot compare us to the people there. Thus, the thief on the cross does NOT disprove Purgatory.
Regards
"No offense, but why was the Book of Maccabees removed from the Hewbrew Canon by the Jews outside of Palestine?"
The Rabbinical Jewish Canon set not earlier than the 7th century AD had 4 criteria:
1. Must not conflict with Mosaic Law
2. Must be written in Hebrew (Not Greek or Aramaic)
3. Must be written before 400 BC (Not during the 2nd Temple)
4. Must be written in Judea (Not in Diaspora)
Jewish scholars began debating the issue at Jamnia in 90 AD.
Yes, we Catholics do, we think its like being locked in at a Southern Baptist picnic.
Nice people, but no beer.
Slightly better than hell.
What do you or I owe God? Jesus has done everything that needs to be done for me. No one else can do a thing. I lay my life and my sins on Jesus who has promised to forgive them and grant to me eternal life in heaven. Simple? Yes. However, there are many who would like to complicate the matter and cause many to worry about whether they are good enough to be saved. What a shame and a lie.
The Biblical references were listed above.
Purgatory is like a Southern Baptist picnic. Nice people. No beer. BEST explanation of purgatory, ever. Thank you.
"By grace are ye saved,thru faith, and this not of yourself, it is a gift of God unless any man boast".
Add to or detract from and a man's soul is put in danger.
If you want to believe the Bible as changed by Luther.
I believe the Bible says "King James" not "Martin Luther".
If a Catholic goes to Mass and receives Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays of the month, does he/she receive a plenary indulgence? Please explain the benefits of a plenary indulgence.
Exactly what do you mean by that? Do you refer to someone who, using their God-given intelligence, has a question(s) about Catholic teaching? If so, why does that make you a sucker?
Here's a personal experience: Due to a week spent on a very disturbing and serious marital problem, through no fault of either party, by the following Sunday my emotions could not be turned off like a faucet. As a result, I was not in a mental state to go to Mass, although by then the problem had been discussed, though could not really be changed.
I did not attend Mass that day, and the following Sunday, because of my 12 years of Catholic school teaching, I had no right to receive Communion.
Then I got angry at my Church which imposed such rigid rules on me. I COULD have MADE myself attend Mass but excused myself and now I had to confess my "sin" in order to receive Communion again.
I object to confession of sins to another human being. I've been more relaxed by not going than when I suffered with that obligation. That's a subject I'll reserve for another time.
When the Philadelphia priest scandal involving the abuse of boys was published recently, one worker in the city responded to a media question by saying, "If I went to confession, I would say to the confessor, "You first. You tell me what you've done wrong and then I'll tell you about my sins". Or something very close to that.
Was this an arrogant statement? Did this man have no justifiable reason for his comment?
The pastor of my daughter's parish, which I attended for months, pushed confession constantly to his parishioners. Before Mass, just about anytime he was available. The sad story emerged after the grand jury investigation in Phila., Pa, that he had worked in the Archdiocese before becoming pastor of their church, and had gone along with the policies of the Cardinal at the time, approving the moving of sexually abusive priests to other parishes. This pastor will no longer return to his parish. I'm sure many of his parishioners admired him before this. No goodbyes. He is just one of many. I'm sorry for him but I have to have more sorrow for the victims of priest abuse, and their families. These families trusted their priests!
I expect some kind of defense in response to what I've written, but I do believe that those who are not in total sync with your beliefs have valid grounds to disagree with you.
Does the Catholic Church require: we must have blind faith, we cannot question anything the Church decides, based on their interpretation of Scripture, and on the six commandments of the Church, on dogmas of faith, and on telling us we are damned to hell if we miss Mass on Sunday or a Holyday of Obligation?
Jesus never said we are destined for hell if we did not go to Mass on All Saints Day, Nov. 1st, e.g. Do you really believe that to be true? Please, if you can, show me where I'm off the track.
While of prime importance in my teenage years, today I view it as ridiculous.
Fine, I know of young women in their 20s who attend the same Mass I do on Sundays and they wear a head-covering not thinking it ridiculous at all. I don't wear a head-covering, (mantilla is a much better word don't you think), because it isn't that important to me and I never developed the habit. So, what's the point of your little story?
Saint Gertrude had a deep empathy for the Church suffering, the Holy Souls in Purgatory. At every Holy Communion she beseeched Jesus for His mercy to be bestowed on them. During one Holy Communion she experienced the descent into Purgatory with Our Lord. She heard Him say: "At Holy Communion I will permit thee to draw forth all to whom the fragrance of thy prayers penetrates." After Holy Communion Our Lord customarily delivered more Souls than she had dared to ask for.One time when Gertrude was praying with great fervor for the Holy souls, she asked Our Lord how many Souls His mercy would release, He answered: "My love urges Me to release the Poor Souls. If a beneficent king leaves his guilty friend in prison for justice's sake, he awaits with longing for one of his nobles to plead for the prisoner and to offer something for his release. Then the king joyfully, sets him free. Similarly, I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the Poor Souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from Purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer!" [29]
Our Savior taught Gertrude for whom she should most ardently pray for. On the day when the community commemorated in common the death of their parents, Gertrude saw the happy souls ascend the darkness of Purgatory like sparks from a flame. She asked Our Lord if all these were relatives. He answered: "I am thy nearest relative, thy father and thy mother. Therefore, My special friends are thy nearest relatives, and these are among those whom I have liberated." [30]
GERTRUDE was asked by someone, that when she offered to God all the gratuitous gifts with which He had favored her, to request that she might have a share in their merit. "As she prayed thus, she perceived this person standing before the Lord, Who was seated on His throne of glory, and held in His hand a robe magnificently adorned, which He presented to her, but still without clothing her in it. The Saint, being surprised at this, said to Him: 'When I made a similar offering to Thee, a few days since, Thou didst at once take the Soul of the poor woman for whom I prayed to the joys of Paradise; and why, most loving Lord, dost Thou not now clothe this person with the robe which thou hast shown her, and which she so ardently desires, through the merits of the graces Thou hast bestowed on me, though so un worthy of them?' Our Lord answered: 'When anything is offered to Me for the faithful departed, I immediately use it for them, according to My natural inclination to show mercy and pardon, either for the remission of their sins for their consolation, or for the increase of their eternal felicity, according to the condition of those for whom the offering is made.' " [31]
PRAYER TO FREE 1000 SOULS FROM PURGATORY: PROMISE PRAYER
A Prayer Which Would Release 1,000 Souls From Purgatory Each Time It Is Said:
Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great that the following prayer would release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was later extended to include living sinners as well. "ETERNAL FATHER, I OFFER THEE THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THY DIVINE SON, JESUS, IN UNION WITH THE MASSES SAID THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY, FOR ALL THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."
APPROVAL AND RECOMMENDATION: M. Cardinal Pahiarca at Lisbon, Portugal, March 4, 1936
This prayer is also found on the Saint's page of prayers, which is printable.
29. SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT: HERALD OF DIVINE LOVE, TAN BOOKS, p. 44.
30. Ibid., p. 45.
31. THE LIFE AND REVELATIONS OF ST. GERTRUDE, p. 253.
I owe God my all. I don't know about you, but I owe God praise and honor, love and obedience. If I offend Him, I owe Him my sorrow and contrition.
I lay my life and my sins on Jesus who has promised to forgive them and grant to me eternal life in heaven. Simple? Yes
So the heart and soul of Christianity is to "merely" lay everything on Christ. We are NOT to pick up our cross daily? We are not to obey the King, the ruler of our lives? We are not to love others? We are not to ask forgiveness when we fall? We are not to give our lives totally to God? Hmmm. Yea, I guess your way is pretty simple. However, Christ said to avoid the wide path, and take the narrow way.
Thanks for your advice, but I'll stick to the way of the Cross.
Regards
"The Rabbinical Jewish Canon set not earlier than the 7th century AD had 4 criteria:
1. Must not conflict with Mosaic Law
2. Must be written in Hebrew (Not Greek or Aramaic)
3. Must be written before 400 BC (Not during the 2nd Temple)
4. Must be written in Judea (Not in Diaspora)
Jewish scholars began debating the issue at Jamnia in 90 AD."
That's all fine and dandy, but what does the Jewish Rabbinical Canon have ANYTHING to do with the Christian Canon? If we were to follow them on everything, we'd have to ALSO GET RID OF THE GOSPELS! At Jamnia, the Gospels were declared SPURIOUS writings by the Jews. To use the Jews are our determiners of what is Scripture is asking way too much.
Regards
Read it for yourself and evaluate it with the Ruach haKodesh as to content.
It is not the Word of G-d.
b'shem Y'shua
Because Christ teaches there is a third state of existence after we die, where one can repent of forgiven sins - to repay our temporal debts caused by our sins
Please direct me to that verse or series of verses in the Word of G-d.
b'shem Y'shua
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.