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Forgetting the dead

– It denotes a great insensitivity –

The Bible speaks of a man called Lazarus who was covered in ulcers, dressed in rags and lay on the doorstep of a wealthy man. He asked for very little: the mere crumbs, which fell from the rich man’s table. He was refused even that.

What insensitivity! What hardness of […]

Relief for the Souls in Purgatory

– What can bring them relief –

The Council of Trent decreed, We believe that souls detained in Purgatory are relieved by the suffrages of the faithful. That is how the Church, in its Divine and magnificent unity, includes Christians of all eras and all classes. The charity, which binds them and unites their spiritual wealth is […]

Abandoned Souls

– Abandoned by their friends –

Consider the fact that there are souls completely forgotten in Purgatory for whom no one prays and who suffer without consolation.

It is true that the Church does not forget any of her children. Those abandoned souls have a right to the prayers of our tender Mother who petitions the Lord every […]

State of the souls in Purgatory in relation to us

– They are united to us by the bonds of charity –

Remember that we are bonded to those holy souls by a Divine spiritual chain. Just like us, they were created in the image of God, bought by the Precious Blood of Jesus, regenerated by the water of baptism. They have been […]

Holiness of the souls in Purgatory

St. Catherine of Genoa told us, Every soul, the moment it is in Purgatory is elevated to a degree of perfection and Divine union which could serve as a model for the most holy person here on earth. There are in Purgatory a multitude of predestined souls who have triumphed over their passions, who have conquered the world and the devil, who […]

The two paths that lead to Purgatory

–  The path of mortal sin –

By its nature, mortal sin leads much further than Purgatory: it casts one into the pits of Hell. Souls, which are permeated with sin plunge into the depths of Hell. They cannot stand the light of God, which appears to them at the time of their death. But if […]

Torments of Purgatory: The Powerlessness of the Souls in Purgatory

– Powerlessness in their suffering –

Consider the fact that at the moment of death all merit ceases because the soul no longer possesses its freedom to choose between good and evil. Purgatory is that long night of which Jesus spoke, during which no one can freely act; those who languish there are […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]