Why do Catholics believe in Purgatory?
Catechism Meditation:
Communion with the dead. “In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and ‘because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’ she offers her suffrages for them.” Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective. ―No. 958
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. ―No. 1030-1031
REFLECTION. Purgatory is traditionally defined by the Catholic Church as a temporary state of being somewhere between heaven and hell. Purgatory is for those who have not fully deserved heaven and are not so unworthy as to be damned. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, these “have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.”
Many who wish to find mention of purgatory in the Bible point to 2 Macc. 12:45: “But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin.” Also, in 1 Cor 3:10-15: “If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.” Rev. 21:27 argues that nothing unclean will enter the presence of God; and many, if not most, of Christians die in an unclean state of varying degrees.
Many Christians die with attachments to sin that must be gotten rid of before they can be united with God in a perfect union of love through all eternity. Purgatory is removing this attachment to sin so that people can love God alone, and of course this can be painful. Just as in your mortal life giving up things to which we have unhealthy attachments causes pain, so too will purgatory cause pain. But it is a purification for our good, not a torment for our punishment. Therefore, a temporary period of purging is necessary in order to enjoy the presence and beauty of God that we were made for, whether we are willingly undertake that purging while here on earth, through docility to the daily crosses given to us by God, or whether after death in purgatory.
Father John Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary defines suffrages as: “The prayers prescribed or promised for specific intentions. More particularly, suffrages are the Masses, prayers, or acts of piety offered for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed.” Suffrages are the prayers, Rosaries, and Masses that we offer for the souls in purgatory. This is something that we can do at all times – and should do – as it is one of the most charitable acts that we can do. So let us pray for the dead and the Holy Souls in purgatory. We need to learn from purgatory, avoid purgatory and empty purgatory.
PRAYER. 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. (The St. Gertrude Prayer).
Timeless Wisdom Quote:
“As we enter Heaven, we will see them, so many of them, coming towards us and thanking us. We will ask who they are, and they will say ‘a poor soul you prayed for in purgatory.” ― Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen