We think about and pray for those who have gone before us in a special way today, All Souls Day. But the souls in purgatory might want us to understand a few things.
God doesn’t send a soul to purgatory; they choose to go. Immediately after death, each one of us faces our particular judgment (CCC 1021-22). At this judgment, the person sees God (all mighty, all holy, pure, glorious, amazing!). And the person sees his or her own soul, every choice made, every good deed and every bad one and the consequences of those choices. Every little defect shows up before the brightness of God’s glory.
If the person died in God’s friendship but is imperfectly purified, he doesn’t want to step into heaven. A weak comparison would be a person not wanting to step into a friend’s new home with muddy shoes. As we read in Revelation: “Nothing unclean shall enter in…” (Revelation 21:27).
The souls know when they aren’t ready. So God doesn’t need to send them to the purification. They want to go. They want their love, their souls to be purified so they can come worthily before the Lord.
Souls would not want to return to life on earth. They have seen God and love Him. And they know they will be with Him sooner or later, depending upon the degree of purification needed. They want only to be purified so they can approach His holiness. If a person returned to earth, they would again be at risk of losing their salvation, of sinning mortally. Having seen our all-good God, they wouldn’t even want to offend God in even the slightest way. Souls in purgatory cannot sin anymore. They are holy. Their wills are completely conformed to God’s will. And they are certain of their salvation. And even though they experience pain greater than any on earth, they also experience joy greater than we could ever know.
The souls can no longer help themselves. After death, the time for working out one’s salvation (Philippians 2), for growing in holiness, for “accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ” (CCC 1021) has come to an end. They cannot lessen the pain or duration of their purification. This is why we call them poor: the poor souls. The souls would want us to know this to inspire us to holiness while we still have time, but also so that we might be inspired to help them.
We can help them. The Church teaches that these souls rely on our prayers to relieve some of their temporal suffering and speed their journey to heaven. They long for our prayers and sacrifices. Jesus told St Gertrude, “I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the poor souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price.” Some things we can do: gain indulgences, offer Mass, pray the Rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet, give alms, and make little penances. St. Therese said that even the littlest offerings please God when they are done out of love.
They can help us. This is true in two ways. One, when we practice charity toward the suffering souls, we grow in holiness because of the unselfish good that we do. But also, the souls are eternally thankful for any help we give and pray for us in return once they reach heaven. St. Alphonsus Liguori believed that God reveals our prayers to the holy souls even while they are in purgatory so that they may pray for us. “The souls in Purgatory, being beloved of God and confirmed in grace, have absolutely no obstacle to prevent their praying for us. If we desire the help of their prayers, it is only fair that we should remember to help them with our prayers and good works.” ~St. Alphonsus Liguori
Purgatory is the mercy of God. A soul with the slightest stain of sin would be unwilling to enter heaven with our all-holy God. The only other place for a soul to go is hell. So God in his mercy created this other place or state of being, called purgatory, where a soul is purified of whatever selfishness remains in them after death. Purgatory “burns away” selfish attachments so a soul can love God worthily. Then the soul is ready to be united with God in a perfect union of love through all eternity.
For more on this topic, listen to the Mourning Glory podcast HERE.
And, for the love of those who have gone before you, take these points to heart. Offer prayers for them today and especially during the month of November, at Christmastime, and on the anniversary of their death. And learn as much as you can about the Church’s teachings on purgatory so you can not only help the holy souls—but so that you can avoid it!
You might also find inspiration in the short story anthology Shadows: Visible & Invisible by Catholic Teen Books.
About the author: Theresa Linden is the author of award-winning Catholic fiction. One of her great joys is to bring elements of faith to life through a story. She has over a dozen published books, which all have the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval. Three of her books won awards from the Catholic Press Association. Her articles and interviews can be found on various radio shows and magazines, including EWTN’s The Good Fight, The National Catholic Register, Catholic Digest, Today's Catholic Teacher, and Catholic Mom. Her books are featured on CatholicTeenBooks.com and Catholic Reads. A wife, retired homeschooling mom, and Secular Franciscan, she resides in northeast Ohio with her husband and family.
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