Purgatory: a Cosmic Concentration Camp?

Purgatory: a Cosmic Concentration Camp?
-Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

Today, we pray for our brothers and sisters still undergoing purification and spiritual maturation in Purgatory.

In 2 Maccabees 12:38-46, Judas Maccabee discovered that the soldiers killed in the battle were hiding pagan amulets and so had violated the Law of Moses by trusting more in amulets than in God. Judas then ordered that prayers and sacrifices be offered for their souls that “they might be freed from this sin.” In other words, Judas and his people strongly believed that prayers and sacrifices can help those who died in sin. And neither Jesus nor the apostles contradicted or corrected this belief.

Due to popular belief and fantasy, nourished by Dante’s Purgatorio and paintings of some medieval artists, a horrible picture of purgatory sticks to the mind of many Catholics. Therefore, it is necessary to first of all “purge” the image. “Holy souls in Purgatory” actually refer to the souls assured of heaven but are in a temporary state of purification, a kind of “remedial class” for heaven-bound souls.

St. Catherine of Genoa once wrote, “I believe no happiness can be found worthy to be compared with that of a soul in Purgatory…and day by day this happiness grows as God flows into these souls more and more, as the hindrance to His entrance is consumed. Sin’s rust is the hindrance, and the fire burns the rust away, so that more and more of the soul opens itself up to the divine inflowing… As the rust lessens and the soul is opened up to the divine ray, happiness grows…”

And the fire? Here St. Augustine gives us consoling information when he writes, “Many faithful have to undergo a purifying suffering by being subjected to a symbolic or metaphorical fire, probably at the moment of death.”

The Feast of All Souls, therefore, should not cause us worry and anxiety but encourage us to assist our brothers and sisters in their process of purification and maturation so that they may soon join the saints in their eternal joy. And we also should not be afraid of Purgatory because it will help us one day to be made ready to join the Lord in heaven.

Reflection Question:

Do I pray for the souls of the departed, not only on All Souls Day but regularly?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for taking away those frightful, man-made ideas about Purgatory. Listen to my prayers for my loved ones who have left this world that they will soon be with You forever.