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ACCORDING to the doctrine of the Church, purgatory is
the place of those souls that have died under
obligation to suffer still some temporary pain, due to
venial sins not yet forgiven, or to sins already
forgiven but not yet expiated. They remain in purgatory
until the debt which they owe to divine justice has
been fully paid. They pay this debt progressively, not
by merit and satisfaction, for the time of merit is
gone by, but by satispassion, that is, by enduring
voluntarily the satisfactory suffering inflicted on
them. Their sufferings may be shortened by suffrages
made for them and especially by Masses in their favor.
We find this doctrine of the Church in the Second
Council of Lyons, in that of Florence, [332] in that of
Trent, [333] and in the condemnation of many errors of
Luther. [334] Among the errors condemned by the Church
we may notice especially such sentences as these: "The
existence of purgatory cannot be established by
Scripture." [335] "The souls in purgatory suffer by
impatience." [336] "The souls in purgatory are not sure
of their salvation." The Church, on the contrary,
teaches as her common doctrine that these souls suffer
the punishment of fire. [337]
The Protestant Error
The doctrine of purgatory was denied by the Albigenses,
the Hussites, and the Protestants. [338] Luther began,
in 1517, by denying the value of indulgences, saying
that they had no value before God for the remission of
the punishment due to our sins. [339] Then he went on
to maintain that purgatory cannot be proved by Holy
Scripture; that the souls in purgatory are not sure of
their salvation; that we cannot prove the impossibility
of merit in purgatory; that the souls in purgatory may
sin by attempting to escape the sufferings they are
undergoing.
Later on, Luther reached the doctrinal root of all his
negations, namely, justification by faith alone. Then
he affirmed the uselessness of good works and hence the
uselessness of purgatory. Supported by popular favor,
he became more and more audacious. In 1524 he published
his book on the abrogation of Mass. In this work he
says that the denial of purgatory is not an error.
Finally, in 1530, he denied absolutely any necessity of
satisfaction for our sins. To uphold this, he said,
would be an injury to Christ, who has satisfied
superabundantly for all sin. For the same reason he
denied that the Mass is a true sacrifice, particularly
a propitiatory sacrifice. We have here the radical
denial of a life of reparation, as if the sufferings of
the saints for the expiation of sin would be an injury
to the Redeemer.
Now the first and universal cause does not exclude
second causes, but grants them the dignity of
causality, somewhat like a sculptor who should make
statues which live. Thus the satisfactory merits of
Christ do not exclude our own, but rather create them.
Christ causes us to work with Him and in Him. St. Paul
said: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so you shall
fulfill the law of Christ." [340] Again: "I now rejoice
in my sufferings for you and fill up those things that
are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh,
for His body, which is the Church." Certainly nothing
was lacking to the sufferings of Christ in themselves,
but they lacked fulfillment in our own flesh.
Calvin [341] and Zwingli [342] followed Luther in
denying indulgences, in denying the sacrifice of the
Mass, and purgatory.
Protestants of the present day have separated from
their masters on this subject. Many of them admit an
intermediate state between hell and heaven. They will
not call it purgatory, but do say that the souls there
can still merit and satisfy. Some hold that the
sufferings of hell are not eternal. Now this temporary
hell does not at all resemble the purgatory taught by
the Catholic Church, according to which all souls in
purgatory are in the state of grace and can no longer
sin.
This is but one more example of the variations and
contradictions to be found among Protestant Churches.
The chief Catholic theologians who wrote against this
Protestant error are Cajetan, Sylvester Ferrariensis,
St. John Fisher, John Eck, and St. Robert Bellarmine.
St. John Fisher speaks thus to the Lutherans: "In
suppressing the sacrifice of the Mass you have excluded
the sun which illumines and warms each day of our life,
and makes its influence felt even in purgatory."
The Church condemned this Protestant error. The Council
of Trent declares: "If anyone says that the man who has
repented and received the grace of justification is
forgiven and released from obligation to eternal
punishment, in such fashion that he no longer has any
obligation to temporal punishment, whether in this
world or in purgatory, before he can be given entrance
into heaven: let him be anathema." [343]
In the fourteenth chapter, which corresponds to this
cannon, the Council affirms the necessity of
satisfaction for sins committed after baptism:
satisfaction in the form of fasting, of almsgiving, of
prayer, and of other exercises of the spiritual life.
These satisfactions are not meant for the eternal
punishment, which was remitted by the sacrament of
penance or by the desire of the sacrament, but for the
remission of temporal punishment, which is not always
remitted entirely, as it is in baptism. [344] The
Council quotes these words of Scripture: "Be mindful
therefore from whence thou art fallen, and do penance
and do the first works." [345] "For the sorrow that is
according to God worketh penance." [346] "Do penance."
[347] "Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance."
[348] And if this reparation, this satisfaction, has
not been paid in this world, the soul will have to
undergo the satisfactorial punishment of purgatory.
Purgatory in Scripture
In the Old Testament we read that Judas Machabeus
"making a gathering sent twelve thousand drachmas of
silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the
. . . dead, . . . who had fallen asleep with godliness,
. . . that they may be loosed from sins." [349] This
passage shows that according to the faith of Israel the
just, after death, could be aided by the sacrifices
offered on earth. In that same passage we read: "It is
therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the
dead."
St. Thomas remarks: "We are not taught to pray for the
souls of the dead who are in heaven, nor for those who
are in hell, hence there must be a purgatory after
death, where the souls of the just pay the debts which
they did not pay on earth." [350]
In the New Testament we read: "He that shall speak
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him,
neither in this world, nor in the world to come." [351]
Now these words presuppose, according to tradition,
that certain sins can be forgiven after death, but
certainly these are not mortal sins. Hence these words
deal with venial sin, or with suffering due to mortal
sins, remitted but not entirely expiated.
The text becomes clearer when we read in St. Paul: "You
are God's building.... The foundation ... is Christ
Jesus. Now, if any man build upon this foundation,
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,
every man's work shall be manifest." "And the fire
shall try every man's work." [352] If the work which
each one added to the building subsists, he will
receive recompense (for this part of his work) yet he
will be saved, but only as through fire. This means
that if upon this foundation he has built with wood or
hay or stubble, his work will be devoured by the fire.
These works which will be devoured are, for example,
good works done in vanity, good accomplished in order
to advance oneself, or by a spirit of opposition to
adversaries, rather than by love of truth and of God.
Many Fathers have seen in this text the doctrine of
purgatory: Origen, Basil, Cyril of Jerusalem, Jerome,
Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great. These last two
understand the text to speak also of the fire of
persecution and of the last judgment.
St. Thomas, [353] in commenting on this passage, speaks
as follows: "In the building constructed upon Christ,
good works are compared to gold, to silver, to precious
stone. Venial sins are compared to wood, to hay, to
stubble. The day of the Lord is that on which He
manifests His judgment, first of all during tribulation
on earth, then at the particular judgment after death,
finally at the last judgment. The fire which tests and
purifies is that of tribulation on earth, then that of
purgatory, lastly that of universal conflagration at
the last judgment. In truth, many texts of Scripture
speak of the purifying fire under these three different
forms." [354]
This unifying interpretation, which admits diverse
purifications, is held today, both by exegetes like
Father Allo, Father Prat, and by theologians like
Father Pesch. Father Allo [355] speaks as follows:
"There are faults which are not grave enough to close
heaven and to open hell, which nevertheless must have
their own proportionate punishment. The Catholic dogma
of venial sin and purgatory finds in our text a very
solid support." [356] Father Pesch [357] defends the
same conclusion.
Purgatory in Tradition
On this subject we must distinguish two periods. During
the first four centuries the existence of purgatory is
affirmed, at least implicitly, by the universal
practice of prayer and sacrifice offered for the dead.
Tertullian speaks thus: "We make oblations for the dead
one year after their death." [358] St. Ephrem [359]
demands remembrance on the thirtieth day after death.
St. Cyril of Alexandria believes that prayers made for
the dead obtain succor for them. St. Epiphanius and St.
John Chrysostom speak in the same sense. [360] And the
most ancient liturgies show that this usage was common.
[361]
This view is confirmed by inscriptions in the
catacombs, as early as the third century. These
inscriptions, which pray that God may refresh the soul
of the dead, contain manifest allusions to the
sufferings which the souls in purgatory must undergo.
[362]
This universal practice, found in the Orient and the
Occident, proves that there was general belief in the
existence of a place and state where souls, not yet
entirely purified, undergo punishment due to their
sins. The Church never prays for the damned, and does
not offer for them the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Thus we
see the faith of the early Church in purgatory, just as
her faith in the existence of original sin is expressed
by the practice of baptizing infants.
Further, during these first four centuries, we have
explicit testimonies regarding the sufferings of
purgatory. Tertullian [363] speaks of a woman who prays
for the soul of her husband and asks for him
"refreshment," that is, attenuation or cessation of the
punishment of fire. St. Ephrem [364] speaks of
expiation of sins after death. St. Cyril of Jerusalem,
St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, speak of prayers for
the dead. [365]
During the second period, beginning with St. Augustine,
we find texts which speak explicitly of purgatory, of
the fiery punishments undergone by the just who have
not sufficiently expiated their sins during life. The
Fathers, St. Augustine, St. Caesarius of Arles, St.
Gregory the Great, affirm four truths which contain the
entire doctrine of purgatory. First, after death there
is no longer a possibility of merit or demerit. [366]
Secondly, purgatory exists, a place where souls undergo
temporary pains for their sins. [367] Thirdly, these
souls can be aided by the prayers of those who live,
especially by the Eucharistic Sacrifice. [368] Fourth,
purgatory will end on the day of judgment. [369] St.
Augustine expounds this doctrine. [370] The same holds
good of St. Caesarius, [371] and of St. Gregory the
Great. [372]
During the following centuries the liturgy for the dead
was gradually developed. The doctrine of the Church on
purgatory was defined in the Second Council of Lyons,
in that of Florence, and that of Trent. [373]
This retrospect shows that the faith of the Church
passes from a less distinct concept to a concept which
is distinct. This development is seen in the doctrine
on baptism, on the sacrament of penance, on the
Sacrifice of the Mass, and in many other revealed
truths. Let us recall here that good Christians,
particularly the saints, even when they do not have a
distinct theoretical concept of a mystery, as do
theologians, can still have a very deep and living
concept.
Many saints, although they cannot explain theologically
the difference between venial sin and mortal sin, have
the virtue of contrition much more profoundly than many
theologians. Unable to tell you what is formally the
essence of the Sacrifice of the Mass, they are
penetrated with its grandeur and fruitfulness. Thus
Christians in the catacombs, preparing for martyrdom,
sacrificing for their dead, had a deep and living
concept of purgatory, though they could not speak of it
as did theologians after the Council of Trent.
Uneducated saints have a living concept of sin, of the
punishment due to sin, of repentance, of satisfaction,
of judgment, of hell, of purgatory, and of heaven. This
science of the saints, in last analysis, is the most
real, the one that counts for eternity.
This living concept is expressed by The Imitation of
Christ. [374] We must be willing to suffer everything
for eternal life, even what is most painful.
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