Eighth Day
Torments of Purgatory: Duration of suffering for the souls in Purgatory
– What is the duration? –
The Church has not defined anything specific as to the duration of the suffering in Purgatory, but it clearly demonstrates what it believes by celebrating anniversary Masses, for the souls of the deceased. It thus believes that the atonement can be long even lasting for centuries. […]
Seventh Day
Torments of Purgatory: The Pain of Remorse
– The evil we needed to avoid –
The torments, of which we just spoke, are not the only ones which torture the souls kept captive in this place of atonement. They still feel sadness, bitter regret, desolation and fierce reproaches from their guilty conscience, a thousand times more severe for them than the pain of […]
Sixth Day
Torments of Purgatory: The Sentence of Dam
– Deprived of God –
The greatest suffering in Purgatory is not that of fire, as fierce as it may be. A greater suffering is that which theologians call “The sentence of Dam.” In this world, we do not understand the intensity of the suffering caused by being deprived of God because we do not see […]
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost – A Message From St. John Chrysostom
Translation From the Holy Gospel According to Matthew
At that time, as Jesus was speaking to the multitudes, behold a certain ruler came up, and adored Him, saying: Lord, my daughter is even now dead; but come lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live. […]
Fifth Day
Torments of Purgatory: Fire of Purification
The long tradition of the Church tells us that souls cannot be admitted to the eternal kingdom of glory before they are purified by fire. It is not the fire of Hell, which will never die, but one whose harshness will be felt in Purgatory. Such is the affirmation of all doctors of the Church. St. Augustine and St. Thomas called this: […]
Fourth Day
The Existence of Purgatory, Part II
– Witnessing of our reason –
Along with faith, our reasoning also proclaims the existence of Purgatory: its voice speaks to us as do the Church and Scriptures. It tells us firstly that God, being perfect Holiness, cannot allow anything impure to enter Heaven. There is an eternal invincible repulsion between the slightest evil and perfect Goodness. […]
