Book Study: Rev. F.X. Schouppe, Purgatory

This book can be found on Saints' Books, bought from Tan Books and Our Lady of the Rosary Library, the latter very inexpensively.

CHAPTER I.

Purgatory in the Divine Plan.

PURGATORY occupies an important place in our holy religion: it forms one of the principal parts of the work of Jesus Christ, aid plays an essential role in the economy of the salvation of man.

Let us call to mind that the Holy Church of God, considers as a whole is composed of three parts: The Church Militant, the Church Triumphant, and the Church Suffering, or Purgatory.

This triple Church constitutes the mystical body of Jesus Christ, and the souls in Purgatory are no less His members than are the faithful upon earth and the elect in Heaven. In the Gospel, the Church is ordinarily called the Kingdom of Heaven; now Purgatory, just as the Heavenly and terrestrial Church, is a province of this vast kingdom.

The three sister Churches have incessant relations with each other, a continual communication which we call the Communion of Saints. These relations have no other object than to conduct souls to eternal glory, the final term to which all the elect tend. The three Churches mutually assist in peopling Heaven, which is the permanent city, the glorious Jerusalem.

What then is the work which we, members of the Church Militant, have to do for the souls in Purgatory? We have to alleviate their sufferings. God has placed in our hands the key of this mysterious prison: it is prayer for the dead, devotion to the souls in Purgatory.

CHAPTER II.

Prayer for the Dead -- Fear and Confidence.

PRAYER for the departed, sacrifices, and suffrages for the dead form a part of Christian worship, and devotion towards the souls in Purgatory is a devotion which the Holy Ghost infuses with charity into the hearts of the faithful. It is a holy and wholesome thought, says Holy Scripture, to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. ¹

In order to be perfect, devotion to the souls in Purgatory must be animated both by a spirit of fear and a spirit of confidence. On the one hand, the Sanctity of God and His Justice inspires us with a salutary fear; on the other, His infinite Mercy give us boundless confidence.

God is Sanctity itself, much more so than the sun is light, and no shadow of sin can endure before His face. Thine eyes are pure, says the prophet, and thou canst not look on iniquity. ² When iniquity manifests itself in creatures, the Sanctity of God exacts expiation, and when this expiation is made in all the rigour of justice, it is terrible. It is for this reason that the Scripture says again, Holy and terrible is His name; ³ as though it would say, His Justice is terrible because His Sanctity is infinite.

The Justice of God is terrible, and it punishes with extreme rigour even the most trivial faults. The reason is, that these faults, light in our eyes, are in nowise so before God. The least sin displeases Him infinitely, and, on account of the infinite Sanctity which is offended, the slightest transgression assumes enormous proportions, and demands enormous atonement. This explains the terrible severity of the pains of the other life, and should penetrate us with a holy fear.

This fear of Purgatory is a salutary fear; its effect is, not only to animate us with a charitable compassion to wards the poor suffering souls, but also with a vigilant zeal for our own spiritual welfare. Think of the fire of Purgatory, and you will endeavour to avoid the least faults; think of the fire of Purgatory, and you will practise penance, that you may satisfy Divine Justice in this world rather than in the next.

Let us, however, guard against excessive fear, and not lose confidence. Let us not forget the Mercy of God, which is not less infinite than His Justice. Thy mercy, Lord, is great above the Heavens, says the prophet; ⁴ and elsewhere, The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient, and plenteous in mercy. ⁵ This ineffable mercy should calm the most lively apprehensions, and fill us with a holy confidence, according to the words, In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in aeternum -- "In Thee, O Lord, I have hoped; let me never be put to confusion." ⁶

If we are animated with this double sentiment, if our confidence in God's Mercy is equal to the fear with which His Justice inspires us, we shall have the true spirit of devotion to the souls in Purgatory.

This double sentiment springs naturally from the dogma of Purgatory rightly understood -- a dogma which contains the double mystery of Justice and Mercy: of Justice which punishes, of Mercy which pardons. It is from this double point of view that we are about to consider Purgatory and illustrate its doctrine.

1. Machab. xii. 46.
2. Habac. i. 13.
3. Ps. cx.
4. Ps. cvii.
5. Ps. xcliv.
6. Ps. lxx.