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WE MUST now recall briefly, first what we have said
above on the nature of knowledge in the separated soul;
secondly, on particular judgment. [442]
These souls, since they have their bodies no longer,
cannot exercise the operations of sense-life. But they
do retain and can exercise the superior faculties of
intellect and will. They carry with them all their
knowledge and all their virtues, theological and moral,
but they must exercise these possessions without the
support of the imagination.
This preternatural mode of being is accompanied by a
preternatural mode of acting. Infused ideas enable them
to know the singular in the universal, in particular to
know persons remaining on earth with whom they have a
special relation.
Further, they see themselves intuitively, as the angels
do. Hence they know very clearly their own
spirituality, immortality, liberty. In themselves, as
in a mirror, they have perfect natural knowledge of
God, the author of their nature. And they know one
another.
The particular judgment, we have said, comes at the
very instant of separation from the body. This instant
terminates merit and demerit. The sentence of judgment,
in the form of an intellectual illumination, covers
their entire terrestrial life, and is therefore
definitive. The state of the souls in purgatory follows
from these principles.
Certitude of Salvation and Confirmation in Grace
Particular judgment gives to the souls in purgatory
assurance of salvation. Their hope is no longer, like
ours, the certitude of tendency. [443] It is the
certitude of arrival, a certitude which can be had on
earth only by a special revelation. [444] The
particular judgment contains this special revelation.
The soul is certain of its predestination. Further, it
knows that it is not in heaven, where one sees God, nor
in hell, where one blasphemes God. It lives in a
transitory state of purification, where it loves God
above all things.
Further, these souls are confirmed in grace. This, too,
is a consequence of the particular judgment.
Theologians teach this truth generally, recalling that
the Church has condemned the following proposition of
Luther: "The souls in purgatory sin continually and
endeavor to escape their sufferings." [445]
Confirmation in grace is our reason for calling them
the holy souls.
But how can they be confirmed in grace before they have
received the beatific vision, which has as a
consequence impeccability? Suarez explains this by a
special protection of God, which preserves the souls
from sin, mortal or venial, in order that their
entrance into heaven shall not be delayed longer than
necessary. Thomists add an intrinsic reason. These
souls, being pure spirits, judge in immovable fashion
concerning their last end, and adhere to that last end
immovably. They are fixed in good. This is the teaching
of St. Thomas. [446] This immutable adherence to the
last end, we must repeat, is in a higher order than our
solar time. It is measured by eviternity, though, in
regions of thought less elevated, separated souls have
a succession of thoughts and sentiments which are
measured by discontinuous time, by spiritual instants.
[447] We find something similar on earth in saints who
are confirmed in grace. Their turning toward God is
immutable, but below this they have a succession of
thoughts and sentiments, subordinated to God loved
above all things.
All that we are now saying follows clearly from
principles enunciated above. But difficulties still
face us. First, these souls, confirmed in grace, may
still have died in venial sins. When are these venial
sins forgiven? Further, those converted just before
death, after a life of grave disorder, have carried
with them very defective dispositions. Are these
dispositions taken away at once upon entrance into
purgatory, or only gradually? Theology explains.
The Remission of Venial Sins
Just souls surprised by death, for example, during
sleep, or at a moment when they do not have sufficient
control of reason, were not able at the last moment to
make an act of contrition, a meritorious act which
would have obtained the remission of venial sins. Such
sins are remitted to them by the act of charity and
contrition which they make immediately
after death, at the moment of the particular judgment.
This act indeed is no longer meritorious. But it is an
act of charity and contrition which suffices to remit
venial sins, though the soul must still endure the
suffering due to these faults. Such is the teaching of
St. Thomas, [448] admitted also by Suarez, [449] and by
the generality of theologians. [450]
This doctrine is very probable. Nothing prevents the
separated soul from making at once an act of
repentance. It is no longer hindered by the passions.
General contrition would suffice for the remission of
these sins. But, under the light of the particular
judgment, the soul sees all its sins singly and
consequently repents of each singly. This is a
wonderful complement of the act of contrition made on
earth, although that complement is not meritorious.
Certainly it is better to make this act of contrition
before death. To sacrifice life in union with the
Masses celebrated at the moment of death would have
been meritorious. But, while it is not now meritorious,
it obtains the remission of venial sins. Such a soul is
a saint, because all its venial sins are at once
remitted, and it can no longer sin. This is truly a
beautiful doctrine.
The Defective Dispositions
When sin is remitted by grace, the soul is no longer
turned away from God, [451] but it can retain a
defective disposition which carries it toward created
good. These defective dispositions, while they no
longer have predominance, remain as the fuel of
concupiscence. The drunkard or the backbiter, even
after absolution, retains a disposition to fall back
into his old sin.
Do these dispositions remain in the separated soul?
Yes. They are like rust, penetrating at times to the
depths of the intelligence and the will. Does this rust
disappear suddenly upon entrance into purgatory? Some
theologians thinks so, because an intense act of
charity can immediately take away these evil
dispositions. [452]
Now we do not find this answer in St. Thomas, but
rather its contrary. He says, as we have seen. "The
rigor of suffering corresponds properly speaking to the
gravity of the fault, and the duration of the suffering
corresponds to the rootedness which the sin has in the
subject." [453] Now uprooting is generally a long
process, demanding a long affliction or a long penance.
St. Catherine of Genoa [454] speaks as follows: "No
peace is comparable to that of the souls in purgatory
except that of the saints in heaven. This peace grows
as hindrances disappear. As the rust disappears, the
soul reflects more and more perfectly the true sun,
which is God. And its happiness grows in the same
measure." [455]
Hence we are inclined to think that, although venial
sins are immediately remitted on entrance into
purgatory, evil dispositions, as a rule, disappear
progressively. We say, as a rule. Exceptions may occur,
as on earth, so in purgatory. [456]
Voluntary Satispassion
We are here in the heart of our subject. Sin merits
suffering. The divine order, like the social order,
must be re-established by a penal compensation. If the
soul accepts this penalty, it re-enters the order which
it has violated.
This thought, adumbrated by Plato, is developed by St.
Thomas. [457] Voluntary acceptance of the pains of
purgatory obtains for the poor souls the remission of
their debt to divine justice. But, whereas on earth the
satisfaction is meritorious, the satispassion in
purgatory is no longer meritorious. [458]
Purgatorial satispassion is not only accepted by the
will, but it is offered, with ardent charity, as an act
of adoration. Here we have one of the most beautiful
views of purgatory. The soul clearly recognizes the
imprescriptible rights of God, author of nature and
grace. It now sees the infinite value of redemption, of
the sacrifice of the cross, of Mass, of the sacraments,
which on earth it treated with negligence. It also sees
much more profoundly, without possible distraction, the
value of eternal life, of the possession of God. What
joy in purgatory when Mass is celebrated on anniversary
days !
These souls love their suffering. On earth they were
not generous enough to impose on themselves a condign
punishment. Now that punishment becomes an expiatory
sacrifice. And the more this suffering penetrates the
depth of their will, the more lovingly they accept it.
Egoism, selfishness, the rust of sin, is burned away,
and charity reigns without rival in the depths, rooted
there forever.
We on earth see events along the horizontal line, where
it is hard to distinguish good from evil, since great
criminals often have statues in public places. The
souls in purgatory, on the contrary, have rather the
vertical view, where God's infinite holiness penetrates
the most profound depths of perversity. Adoration of
this holiness constitutes the purgatorial liturgy.
"Joy from pain, how can it come?" Purgatorial pain is
accepted and offered, not only with peace, but with the
joy which comes from the certitude of grace and
salvation. Joy does not diminish pain, because both
proceed from thirst for God.
Of this ebb and flow, the ebb and flow of the sea is a
feeble image. On the one side, attraction toward God;
on the other, a soul held back by the vestiges of sin.
[459]
Purgatorial love of God, far from diminishing pain,
rather augments it. Purgatorial purification makes us
think of the dark night described by St. John of the
Cross. The poor souls are spiritually crucified. They
may say: "I am crucified in this flame." But the sense
of the word is contrary to the sense it has for the
damned. Here it means the living flame of love, which
ceases not to mount up to God. [460]
Mutual love governs purgatory. All have perfect peace,
perfect abandonment into the hands of the Lord. They
find sweetness in their sufferings. In the book called
De paenitentia, attributed to St. Augustine, we read:
"Let the penitent always feel pain for-his sin, and
always feel joy for his pain." [461] In the words of
the Psalmist: "Justice and peace have kissed." [462]
Such is the liturgy of the Church suffering.
Freedom Regained
Can the poor souls suffer anxiety? No. It is excluded
by their certainty of salvation. Terror is excluded by
adoration of divine justice. And perfect union with the
divine will excludes impatience, and includes
gratitude. Absence of sense faculties excludes all
emotional disturbance. And their spiritual sadness is
completely subject to God.
St. Francis de Sales [463] speaks thus: "The souls in
purgatory are most certainly there on account of their
sins, sins which they have detested and still do detest
above all things. Their pain arises from delay, from
deprivation for a time of the blessed joys and love of
paradise. But this pain they endure with the loving
song: 'Thou art just, O Lord, and Thy judgment is
right.' " [464]
St. Catherine of Genoa speaks in similar fashion: "They
choose to remain where they are, since God has justly
arranged it so. They have no envy. They do not say,
'This soul will be delivered before me'; or 'I will be
delivered before it.' They are so satisfied with the
divine dispositions that they love everything that
pleases God." [465]
Thus the soul, as many mystics have said, in purgatory
regains full personal liberty, full mastery of self. It
truly possesses itself, in the order willed by God, in
that peace which is the tranquility of order.
This full liberty is incapable of evil, capable only of
good, and in this it is the image of the liberty of
God, who is simultaneously sovereignly free and
absolutely impeccable. Liberty harmonized with
immutability is the fruit of confirmation in grace.
From this point of view the life of the suffering souls
is very noble, very beautiful, although it is not yet
the life of heaven.
Growth of Virtue in Purgatory
If we restrict the question to acquired virtues, the
answer cannot be doubtful. Souls in purgatory can grow
in virtue by repetition of natural acts. On earth these
virtues, justice, say, or fortitude, grow even in the
state of mortal sin, wherein man cannot merit. Further,
defective habitudes, the "remains of sin," disappear
step by step. They are replaced by acquired virtues.
This seems reasonable, above all for such souls as have
entered purgatory only by absolution at the moment of
death, souls which before, we may say, had acquired no
virtue. Acquired virtue, we have seen, prepares for
infused virtue, as finger agility subserves the art of
the musician. Hence acquired virtues can grow in
purgatory, at least those which are in the faculties
purely spiritual, as, for instance, prudence and
justice. But virtues which involve sense powers,
chastity, say, cannot thus grow.
What of the infused virtues and the seven gifts? An
answer is difficult. There are serious arguments for
both sides.
First, the negative view. If infused virtues grow in
purgatory, then charity too would grow, and thus the
final degree of glory would be proportioned, not to the
degree of charity at the moment of death, but to the
degree of charity at the end of purgatorial punishment.
Now this conclusion seems contrary to the general
belief, that the degree of glory is proportioned to the
merits which the soul has at the instant of death.
Now the positive view. The souls in purgatory do
perform intense acts of faith, hope, charity, religion,
and hence it seems that infused virtues, too, would
increase, not indeed by repetition of acts, because
these virtues are infused and not acquired, but because
God, in mercy, would grant this growth without any new
merit. This opinion has been defended by Palmieri,
[466] and before him by Lessius. [467] According to
Lessius, growth in infused virtue does not absolutely
require new merit. What suffices is a good disposition.
Thus a Christian in mortal sin, who from time to time
makes acts of faith and hope, could, by divine mercy,
grow in these virtues.
But this view, too, makes the degree of glory
correspond, not to the degree of charity at the moment
of death, but to the degree of charity at the end of
purgatory. This is not in harmony with the traditional
doctrine. St. Thomas says: "After death there is no way
to acquire grace or to increase it " [468]
Many Thomists nevertheless defend an increase of
charity in purgatory, an increase based on imperfectly
meritorious acts, acts which on earth would not have
obtained an increase of charity. They quote St. Thomas:
"On earth, each act of charity merits increase of this
virtue, but it does not always obtain this augmentation
at once. This augmentation is obtained only when the
soul makes an act of charity intense enough to dispose
it to receive this augmentation." [469] Take, for
example, a man who has a charity corresponding to five
talents. Let him act as if he had only two talents. His
charity, for the moment, remains where it was. It will
not grow until he disposes himself by an act
sufficiently intense to receive growth. Now the merit
due to these feeble meritorious acts, imperfect and
remiss, may lie dormant until death. [470] May this
increase in virtue not be granted to them in purgatory?
We see here a serious probability, but no more.
Under this view, it would still be true that the degree
of charity is proportioned to the degree of merits
gathered on earth. But it would not be proportioned to
the degree of charity at the moment of death. It would
correspond to the degree of charity at the end of
purgatory.
Souls that have entered purgatory by death-bed
absolution, not preceded even by feeble merits, would
naturally have glory corresponding to the degree of
charity at the moment of death. But, solve this
mysterious question as we may, the principle remains:
[471] the degree of glory is proportioned to that of
the merit acquired on earth. Hence the importance of
learning to love God while we are still on earth. Life
everlasting is the standard whereby to judge of life
here below.
Ultimate Disposition for Heaven
Ultimate disposition, in its strictest sense, is
realized only at the instant of the soul's entrance
into glory, just as the last disposition for the
creation of the human soul is not produced except at
the very instant of the creation of this soul, or as
the last disposition for justification does not exist
except at the moment when sanctifying grace is infused.
[472] The reason is that the disposition properly
called ultimate precedes the form only in the order of
material dispositive causality, but follows the form in
all other orders of causality: formal, efficient, and
final.
This ultimate disposition to the beatific vision, then,
is realized only in the instant when the soul is
glorified, and this instant is the one unique instant
of participated eternity.
But may we find in the poor souls a disposition quasi-
ultimate? In what would it consist? We may characterize
it negatively and positively.
Negatively, this disposition excludes all sin, all
defective disposition, all "remains of sin." The soul
is completely purified, approaches definitive sanctity.
Positively this disposition is realized in different
degrees: "In my Father's house there are many
mansions." It includes firm faith and assured hope and,
above all, ardent charity, an intense desire of God.
The sublime gift of the beatific vision cannot be
granted to one who does not have this burning desire.
Without this desire the soul would be still unprepared
for the vision. In illustration, think of the teacher
who reserves a sublime doctrine for those who
appreciate its value, and thus are disposed to profit
by it.
This intense desire is proportioned to charity. Some
have twenty talents, others ten, others five, others
still less, but each has an intense desire, "according
to the measure of the gift of Christ." [473] Each in
his own manner reaches full age in Christ. [474]
This quasi-ultimate disposition to glory supposes high
perfection in infused virtue, and in the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, in particular a vivid faith which is
penetrating and savorous, the infused contemplation of
the mysteries of salvation. We find here then a
confirmation of the doctrine we have often expounded.
Infused contemplation belongs to the normal road of
sanctity. If not learned on earth, it must be learned
in purgatory. Better learn it now with merit, than wait
to learn it, in pain and without merit, after death.
Doctrine of St. Catherine of Genoa
St. Catherine's treatise, [475] dictated in ecstasy,
has always been highly esteemed by theologians, who
find therein a supplement of theological science. [476]
We give here an outline of her teachings.
Chapter I. The souls in purgatory willingly remain
where they are because God so wills it. They cannot
sin. But neither do they merit by abstaining from sin.
Chapter 2. No peace can be compared to the peace of
purgatory, unless it be the peace of heaven.
Purgatorial peace grows continually as obstacles
disappear. These obstacles are like rust. Excellence
grows as the rust diminishes.
Chapter 3. God increases in them the desire to see Him.
He enkindles in their heart a fire so strong that
obstacles become insupportable.
Chapter 4. After life on earth the soul remains
confirmed, either in good or in evil. Hence the souls
in purgatory are confirmed in grace.
Chapter 5. God punishes the reprobate less than they
merit.
Chapter 6. The souls in purgatory have perfect
conformity with the will of God.
Chapter 7. Comparisons are weak. Yet we may think of
one loaf of bread, capable, merely by being seen, of
satisfying the hunger of all human creatures.
Chapter 8. Hell and purgatory manifest the wonderful
wisdom of God. The separated soul goes naturally to its
own place. The soul in the state of sin, finding no
place more suitable, throws itself of its own accord
into hell. And the soul which is not yet ready for
divine union, casts itself voluntarily into purgatory.
Chapter 9. Heaven has no gates. Whoever will can enter
there, because God is all goodness. But the divine
essence is so pure that the soul, finding in itself
obstacles, prefers to enter purgatory, and there to
find in mercy the removal of the impediment.
Chapter 10. Their greatest suffering is that of having
sinned against divine goodness, still finding those
rusty "remains of sin."
Chapter 11. The soul feels God's loving attraction. But
it feels also its own inability to follow this
attraction. If it could find a purgatory still more
excruciating, where it could more quickly be purified,
it would at once plunge into it.
Chapter 12. I see the rays of faith which purify the
soul, as fire in a crucible cleanses gold from dregs.
When the soul is entirely purified, the fire can no
longer cause pain.
Chapter 13. The soul's desire of God is itself a
torment. God's mercy hides certain consequences of sin
until they are destroyed, that the soul may understand
the divine action which has restored its purity.
Chapter 14. These souls enjoy inexpressible peace,
compounded of joy and pain, neither diminishing the
other.
Chapter 15. If these souls could still merit, one
single act of repentance would pay their debt, by
reason of the intensity of this act. But they know that
not one penny will be remitted. Such is the decree of
divine justice. If prayers are offered for them by the
living, they rejoice therein only according to the will
of God, without any selfishness.
Chapter 16. As long as the process of purification
lasts, these souls understand that the beatific vision
is not for them. They would suffer more from that
vision than they suffer in purgatory.
Chapter 17. Illumined on the necessity of reparation,
they would cry out to men on earth: "O wretched
creatures, why so blindly attached to things that pass?
Why not make provision for the future? You say perhaps:
'I will go to confession, I will gain a plenary
indulgence, I will be saved.' But remember that the
adequate confession and the perfect contrition,
required for gaining a plenary indulgence, are not
easily attained."
Chapter 18. These souls would not in any way lessen
their sufferings they have merited.
Chapter 19. These purgatorial pains, the saint adds, I
have myself experienced these last two years. All
consolation, corporal and spiritual, has gradually been
taken from me. To conclude, only God's omnipotent mercy
can cure human deficiency. This transformation is the
work of purgatory.
Another mystic, Mother Mary of St. Austin, [477]
compares the souls in purgatory with Mary Magdalen at
the foot of the cross. She writes as follows: "Mary
Magdalen, the penitent, at the foot of the cross: was
she not penetrated by that light which reveals to souls
in purgatory the malice of sin? She stood before the
cross like a living mirror, without movement, her eyes
lifted to Him. The sublimity of the revelation she
received there surpasses all word, all thought, all
sentiment. Christ's unspeakable holiness, His
measureless pain, His radiating peace, wrapped her
round. These three hours on Calvary were her purgatory.
But she would not have given one moment of this pain
for all the joys of Thabor. In our Lord and through Him
she expiated her own faults, while all thought of
herself disappeared. She was immersed in the
contemplation of the Word made flesh, suffering for the
sins of the world. In Him rather than in herself, she
understood what sin means for God and for man. Surely
here we have an image of the souls in purgatory.
Calvary shows how divine light penetrates purgatorial
darkness. It shows divine light radiating these silent
souls with all the pains of Jesus crucified.
Purgatorial pain and peace are found also on earth,
beneath the holiness of Him who takes away the sins of
the world."
These reflections lead us to think that passive
purification, described by St. John of the Cross,
should be undergone as far as possible during the
present life, by generous acceptance of all
contrarieties. Reparation is thus made with merit, and
with growth in charity, and hence with a claim for a
vision of God more penetrating, and a love of God more
strong and intense. But souls that completely escape
all purgatory are probably rather rare. Among the good
religious whom St. Theresa knew, only three had
completed their purgatory on earth.
The Purgatory of Perfect Souls
Monsignor A. Saudreau speaks thus of perfect souls:
"The Lord leads even His friends through purifying
pains, but He seems to regret that He must do so. He
cannot refrain from consolations which sweeten their
sufferings." [478] Moses was punished for a lack of
confidence, dying before he could enter the promised
land. But, on Mount Nebo, in the twinkling of an eye,
God showed him the entire country which for forty years
had been the object of his desires. [479]
"The Lord, for example, shows to generous souls how
agreeable their generosity has been to Him, how
fruitful it has been for others, how eternally
profitable to themselves. These consolations enable
them to suffer with great love. St. Lawrence on his
gridiron suffered awful pains, but the ardor of his
love let him find them very light. This truth illumines
purgatory. Purification reveals God's ineffable
goodness, His wisdom, His holiness, a holiness opposed
even to the least spot. These souls, like the saints on
earth, exercise submission, profound adoration. They
accept with a courageous heart the sufferings which His
holy will imposes on them, and which they deserve."
[480]
Divine providence is irreproachable. It permits evils,
which it might prevent, in view of a greater good, the
manifestation of divine mercy and justice. This greater
good becomes more and more clear to the soul as it
approaches heaven. It understands the words of St.
Paul: "All things work together unto good for those who
love God." [481] Even the faults of these souls, says
St. Augustine, work together unto good, as St. Peter's
fall taught him humility. [482]
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