of the souls of our loved ones.

Pope Leo Catholic, to have a Mass offered for the

XIII in his encyclical "Mirae caritatis" repose of his soul and to offer our prayers
Purgatory
(1902) beautifully elaborated this point and are more beneficial and comforting than Fr. William P. Saunders, PhD
emphasized the connection between the any other sympathy card or bouquet of
communion of saints with the Mass: "The flowers. Most importantly, we should
grace of mutual love among the living, always remember our own dearly On Sept. 17, 2002, our late beloved
strengthened and increased by the departed loved ones in the Holy Mass and Pope John Paul II stressed the need to pray
Sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, through our own prayers and sacrifices to for the Souls in Purgatory. He said, "The
especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the help in their gaining eternal rest. Since we first and highest form of charity for
Mass), to all who belong to the are approaching the feast of All Souls brothers is the ardent desire for their
communion of saints is simply…the (Nov. 2), now is a good time to remember eternal salvation ... . Christian love knows
mutual sharing of help, atonement, prayers, our deceased loved ones by either having no boundaries and goes beyond the limits
and benefits among the faithful, those a Mass offered for their repose or, if the of space and time, enabling us to love
already in the heavenly fatherland, those parish offers one, to remember them in those who have already left this earth."
consigned to the purifying fire, and those the special All Souls Novena. Therefore, not only the belief in purgatory
still making their pilgrim way here on but also the spiritual duty to pray for the
earth. These all form one city, whose head souls there remains part of our Catholic
is Christ, and whose vital principle is love. faith.
Copyright © Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used with permission. Contrary to what some may
Faith teaches that although the
Printed with ecclesiastical approval.
august Sacrifice can be offered to God erroneously believe, Vatican II's
alone, it can nevertheless be celebrated in "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church"
honor of the saints now reigning in Heaven asserted, "This sacred council accepts
with God, who has crowned them, to loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors
obtain their intercession for us, and also, in the living communion which exists
according to apostolic tradition, to wash between us and our brothers who are in
away the stains of those brethren who died the glory of Heaven or who are yet being
in the Lord but without yet being wholly purified after their death; and it proposes
purified." Likewise, the Catechism asserts, again the decrees of the Second Council of
"From the beginning the Church has Nicea, of the Council of Florence, and of
honored the memory of the dead and the Council of Trent" (No. 51).
offered prayers in suffrage for them, above
all the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so that, thus Moreover, the Catechism clearly
purified, they may attain the beatific vision affirms the Church's belief in purgatory
Pope John Paul II Society of Evangelists
of God" (No. 1032). P. O. Box 5584, Bakersfield, California 93388
and the purification of the soul after death:
e-mail: info@pjpiisoe.org Phone: 661 393-3239 "All who die in God’s grace and
Therefore, when we face the death www.pjpiisoe.org friendship, but still imperfectly purified,
of someone, even a person who is not Donation Welcome and Appreciated are indeed assured of their eternal
Pamphlet 094
salvation; but, after death they undergo cleanse the soul. In sum, the Old responsibility. When we choose not to
purification, so as to achieve the holiness Testament clearly attests to some kind of love God and thereby sin, we are
necessary to enter the joy of Heaven. The purification process of the soul of the responsible for that sin. God in His justice
Church gives the name Purgatory to this faithful after death. holds us accountable for such sins, but in
final purification of the elect, which is His love and mercy desires us to be
entirely different from the punishment of The New Testament has few reconciled to Himself and our neighbor.
the damned" (cf. No. 1030-32). references about a purging of the soul or During our life on this earth, if we really
even about heaven for that matter. Rather love God, we examine our consciences,
As Vatican II stated, the Church has the focus is on preaching the Gospel and admit our sins, express contrition for
consistently believed in a purification of awaiting the econd coming of Christ, them, confess them, and receive
the soul after death. This belief is rooted in which only later did the writers of sacred absolution for them in the sacrament of
the Old Testament. In the Second Book of Scripture realize could be after their own penance. We perform penances and other
Maccabees, we read of how Judas deaths. However, in Matthew 12:32, sacrifices to heal the hurt caused by sin. In
Maccabees offered sacrifices and prayers Jesus' statement that certain sins "will not so doing, we are continually saying "yes"
for soldiers who had died wearing amulets, be forgiven either in this world or in the to the Lord.
which were forbidden by the Law; world to come," at least suggests a
Scripture reads, "Turning to supplication, purging of the soul after death. Pope St. In a sense our soul is like a lens —
they prayed that the sinful deed might be Gregory (d. 604) stated, "As for certain when we sin, we cloud the lens; it gets
fully blotted out" (2MC12:42-45) and lesser faults, we must believe that, before dirty, and we lose the focus of God in our
"Thus, [Judas Maccabees] made atonement the Final Judgment, there is a purifying lives. Through confession and penance,
for the dead that they might be freed from fire. He who is truth says that whoever God cleanses the "lens" of our soul. When
the sin" (2MC 12:42-45). This passage utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit we die, if we leave this life fundamentally
gives evidence of the Jewish practice of will be pardoned neither in this age nor in loving God, dying in His grace and
offering prayers and sacrifices to cleanse the age to come. From this sentence we friendship, and free of mortal sin, we will
the soul of the departed. understand that certain offenses can be have eternal salvation and attain the
forgiven in this age, but certain others in beatific vision — we will see God for who
Rabbinic interpretation of Scripture the age to come." The Council of Lyons He is. If we die with venial sins or without
also attests to the belief. In the Book of the (1274) likewise affirmed this having done sufficient penance for our
Prophet Zechariah, the Lord spoke, "I will interpretation of our Lord's teaching. sins, God in His love, mercy and justice
bring the one third through fire, and I will will purify our souls, "cleanse the lens" so
refine them as silver is refined, and I will The key to this answer, however, is to speak. After such purification, the soul
test them as gold is tested" (ZAC13:9); the to see the beauty behind the doctrine of will then be united with God in heaven
School of Rabbi Shammai interpreted this purgatory. We believe that God gave us a and enjoy the beatific vision.
passage as a purification of the soul free will so that we could choose between
through God's mercy and goodness, right and wrong, good and evil. Our free
As we ponder the beautiful
preparing it for eternal life. In Sirach 7:33, will allows us to make the one
understanding of purgatory, we must
"Withhold not your kindness from the fundamental choice — to love God. An
never forget the importance of praying for
dead" was interpreted as imploring God to act of the free will also entails
and having Masses offered for the repose