Long considered outdated in the Church, Purgatory is now attracting renewed interest. It also elicits strong reactions, sometimes very hostile. However, far from the daunting images it’s been saddled with, Purgatory is a time of light. This was the subject of a conference by don Paul Denizot at the Pilgrimage of Heaven on Nov. 2, 2024.
Long considered as outdated in the Church, Purgatory nowadays attracts renewed interest. However it elicits surprising reactions, as the videos published on this theme on the Montligeon website show. Christians from France or Africa laugh at the idea or are sometimes very critical or hostile. Since this truth of faith is perceived as disturbing whilst at the same time attracting interest, it is urgent to sweep away misconceptions and show that Purgatory is full of light.
Let’s first stress out that Purgatory is far from the image that was given about it. It was pictured as a dismal place only based on divine justice, where unfortunate souls undergo awful chastisements. Actually, some 19th-century romantic authors wallowed in this shady aspect, which we inherited. Such vision played a damaging part in a mystery that is full of light, concealing that it is in fact a time of purification after death. Whilst there is indeed suffering in Purgatory, it is the antechamber of Heaven. Therefore if it take us to the Lord through healing, it can be but a time of light.
Purgatory has been described in all times
Purgatory was described for the first time in the Middle Ages, when the Church gave a definition for it in 1439, at the Council of Florence. But that doesn’t mean that Christians didn’t believe in it before. In fact, since they always used to pray for the dead, they always believed in it. And so did the Jews before them. We find a telling testimony to this in the Book of the Maccabeus (2 M 12, 39-46): the day after a battle against Gorgias, Judas Maccabeus, leader of the army of Israel, had requested that the bodies of the dead soldiers, who gave their lives to defend their faith against the persecutors, get cleared from the battle field. However, amulets were found on the soldiers – a clear indication that their faith was not entirely pure.
When he saw that, Judas Maccabeus, who had been strongly resisting attacks against faith in Israel, took a collection of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the dead. As the story goes on, “If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them. (…) This is why he did a sin offering to set free from their sin those who had died.”
Praying for the dead is deeply grounded in the human heart
The Jews are not the only ones interceding for the dead. Indeed, man has performed rites, made prayers and built tombs for his dead since the dawn of times. The Egyptians, for example, had a Book of the Dead and scrupulously followed all the mummification rites to send them to the afterlife. The Celts even buried warriors on their chariots in standing position. In Africa, the dead are celebrated in rites which are totally embedded in the local culture. Therefore, praying for the dead is deeply grounded in the human heart. Even today in France, in our secularized society where people don’t believe in God or the Devil anymore, when tragedies occur, candles are lit, white marches are organized, and stuffed animals are placed on the scene of the tragedy. This shows that man cannot accept death.
Nothing causes more pain than the death of a loved one. Loosing a spouse is like loosing a part of yourself. Loosing a child feels like bringing closure on the future. Speeches are often meaningless when you are faced with such tragedies. On the other hand, performing actions or rites expresses the outcry of man who is unable to accept the end of the person they love and want to keep a link with them. Feeding on this soil where humanity prays for the deceased, the Gospel purifies all the magic in it and brings it light and hope.
What is said in Revelation about Purgatory?
On the one hand, the Church has always had a profound insight that we can be in touch with the deceased beyond death. On the other hand, that there is a time of cleansing for those who died in love, who were forgiven but are not completely purified. In this regard, the Church draws on a powerful text by Saint Paul (1 Cor 3:15), about the foundation stone. This foundation stone in our lives is Jesus.
Next, we may build upon this foundation stone with gold, silver, precious stones or with wood, hay or thatch. But, according to Saint Paul, “the work of everyone will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
There are other scriptures, more implicit, mentioning Purgatory. One example is when Jesus says that anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come (Mt 12, 31-32). This means that there is another time when our sins may be forgiven.
A purification after death
In the Church, this insight about some purification was further developed by the fathers of the Church, including Saint Augustine, Origene or saint Clement of Alexandria. Later, the term “Purgatory” appeared as a dogma in the faith of the Church in 1439.
Lastly, the Concile Vatican II, in the dogmatic constitution on the Church(Lumen Gentium, No 49), states: “Thus therefore, until the Lord shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him (re. Mt 25, 31) and death being destroyed, all things are subject to Him,(re 1 Co 15, 26-27) some of His disciples are exiles on earth, some having died are purified, and others are in glory beholding “clearly God Himself trine and one, as He is”; Interestingly, the Church does not use the word purgatory, but mentions a purification. Le catéchisme de l’Église catholique en parle lui aussi (n° 1023-1029).
“Allowing the definitive passage in the love of God”
As to Pope Francis, he has just reminded in Spes non confundit, the Bull of Indiction of the ordinary Jubilee of year 2025 that “Judgment, then, concerns the salvation in which we hope and which Jesus has won for us by his death and resurrection. It is meant to bring us to a definitive encounter with the Lord. The evil we have done cannot remain hidden; it needs to be purified in order to enable this definitive encounter with God’s love.
Here we begin to see the need to pray for all those who have ended their earthly pilgrimage: there is a solidarity in intercession, which is effective by virtue of the communion of the saints, and the shared bond that makes us one in Christ, the firstborn of all creation. The Jubilee indulgence, thanks to the power of prayer, is intended in a particular way for those who have departed before us, so that they may obtain full mercy.”
Purgatory is full of light
Purgatory is an essential part of Catholic faith and this is very good news. It is true that it goes with terrible suffering, which is the reason why we need to convert all the time here below. Yet, Purgatory is not about undergoing the punishment of a vengeful God. The suffering of the soul in the process of purification is the certainty to see God again whilst at the same time not being able to see Him yet. It is the suffering of longing as expressed in Psalm 41: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”
Let’s give a practical example: this suffering is like two lovers who know they will get together again and cannot wait to see each other. The longer they have to wait, the more they look forward to the joy of being soon reunited but their impatience becomes more and more unbearable and causes them to suffer. The suffering in Purgatory has no exterior cause, it is due to the pain of love which opens the heart and grows. Simultaneously, as this desire grows it liberates us from all undesirable attachments, that is to say, from sin.
Sin
Sin is when we aim at any other reality than the Lord and prefer the creature to the Creator even though our heart is made for God. In this way we become slaves to things, money, pleasure, smartphone, power, pride, etc. We all have bounds preventing us from being free. This is the reason for Purgatory. It can be compared to a withdrawal cure with all the challenges it contains, as indeed, withdrawing from alcohol, drug or pornography for instance is very hard. So, Purgatory is a withdrawal cure from our sins. It teaches us to let go of all things that helped us feel safe in order to become free. In Heaven there is nothing but freedom. As a result, suffering in Purgatory is due to having to break the links that bind us.
“The encounter with him is the decisive act of judgment. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves. All that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure bluster, and it collapses. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God.” Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi (n° 47) .
Originally, God’s will is to make us holy
As the French singer Enzo Enzo points out in one of his songs, we are all nostalgic of the good person we should be. We feel deeply nostalgic of what God has deposited in us when He created us – His Likeness. His goal was to make us holy. Throughout our life He processes us so we can become saints, not brutally but with infinite sensitivity, like a mother..
God is a father with a mother’s heart. Just like a mom, He takes care of us with infinite gentleness. In Purgatory, He will do the same and continue his healing work by transforming our soul very gently and sensitively. The Father does not transform us against our will. He heals us deep within ourselves. And he patiently waits for His grace and love to inhabit us completely, and for His light to illuminate all the dark corners of our souls.
The parable of the Prodigal Son is a wonderful illustration of God’s gentleness. When the son returns to his father, he does so because he is hungry, not because he is aware he has sinned against him. But when he throws himself at his father’s feet, the latter is so seized with pity, has thought so much of him while he was away, has waited so long, that he doesn’t even listen to his speech: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.” He embraces him and takes the time to restore his dignity before the feast, saying: “Put sandals on his feet, a ring on his finger.” He restores his dignity so that he can live in total communion with him. That’s how far God’s delicacy goes!
The fire of Purgatory
It is not a physical fire, since souls have no bodies. The fire of Purgatory, like the fire of Hell and Heaven, is one and the same: the fire of God’s love. In Heaven, it illuminates and transfigures. In Hell, it burns because the damned refuse God’s love. Indeed, God does not punish, but the damned refuse His love with their whole being, even though they were created for love. And that is what burns them. In Purgatory, the same love of God delicately burns away all the impurities, inconsistencies and after-effects of sin, thereby restoring justice.
God’s justice
For Benedict XVI, God’s justice is one of the proofs of God’s existence. What is the reason? Indeed, deep within our heart, we all thirst for justice and we are all spontaneously outraged by injustice. We must work towards justice: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, (Mt 5, 8-9). However, here below, injustice has final say. In history, so many inequities have not been repaired.
God’s justice is not a tribunal with a vindictive, vengeful juge outside. The Lord, our judge, knows what lies deep within our heart. He knows this better than we do. And when He brings justice he transforms us inside. That is the meaning of the word atonement. By purifying and healing us, God’s love repairs the inequities that we have committed. Divine justice is a justice that is love. Both are indivisible.
Purgatory is a luminous mystery, because the souls in Purgatory know they are saved. They are already in God’s love, they are in grace, they are holy. All they need is to see God’s face, to contemplate Him face to face. St. Catherine of Genoa, who wrote extensively about Purgatory, said: “There is no joy on earth like the joy of Purgatory”.
How can we help the deceased?
We believe we can help our deceased through Mass. When the faithful offer Mass with the priest, they offer Christ’s sacrifice, and Christ’s sacrifice is infinite. There’s no more beautiful prayer than Mass! To help them, we can also say the rosary, go on pilgrimage, request a particular grace or indulgence. Or give alms. When we help the poor of the earth, we can also offer it for the souls in Purgatory.
With all the good we do, we can help our deceased because we know, as Pope Benedict XVI says in the encyclical Spe Salvi (no. 48): “It is never too late to touch another’s heart, and it is never useless. We can always help our deceased.”
It is never too late!
We can always touch their hearts, even if they’ve been dead a long time, say thank you to them or ask their forgiveness. So many mourners come to us at Montligeon and tell us all the things they regret about their deceased! They think it’s too late. But in the communion of saints, i is never too late!
In prayer, we turn to the Lord who is the foundation of our love, the bridge between us and our deceased. By addressing our requests to Jesus (and not to mediums!) we can not only touch the hearts of those we have loved, we can also make love grow. The Second Vatican Council says (Lumen Gentium no. 49) that “the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who have gone to sleep in the peace of Christ is not in the least weakened or interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the perpetual faith of the Church, is strengthened by communication of spiritual goods.”
These relationships continue through our prayers and the intercession of the deceased on our behalf. They do not prevent tears, nor the pain of separation and mourning. On the other hand – we are truly privileged witnesses to this here at Montligeon – , despite suffering and mourning, there is this profound hope that Christ is the life of the living and the dead.
Hope for our dead in purgatory
Our hope is that Christ give eternal life to those we love. We are unable to obtain it through ourselves. For the only one who gives life is Jesus, who is “the resurrection and the life.” Our mission is to intercede and tell the Lord to take them near Him. We can do this through the Blessed Virgin Mary. She knows the suffering and the mourning and loves us as a mother. She prays for us, and she prays for our deceased. Let’s say to her: “Have mercy of our deceased, introduce them to your Son.” Such is our hope.
Let us never despair of the Lord’s mercy
We cannot know where our deceased are. Except for the saints in Heaven, because the Church tells us that they are in glory. Are the genocidaires of our world in hell? We cannot know this because we are not the judges. Even the apostles were puzzled and wondered: “Well then, who can be saved?” And Jesus answered: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Mt 19, 26). Let’s never despair of God’s mercy. Let’s entrust our deceased to God, who is infinite mercy. Such is the Church’s faith.
If, as pope Francis suggests in Amoris Laetitia (No 258),we accept death, we can get ready for it. The path is to grow in love towards those who walk the way with us, until the day where “There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain” (Ap 21, 4). Likewise, we will get ready to be reunited to the loved ones who died. Just like Jesus handed the son who had died to his mother (re. Lc 7, 15), the same will happen for us. Let’s not waste our energy lingering in the past for years and years. The better we live on this earth and the greatest will the happiness we will be sharing with our loved ones in Heaven. The more we will manage to mature and grow, the more able we will be to bring them beautiful things at the heavenly banquet. The better we live on this earth, the greater the happiness we’ll be able to share with our loved ones in heaven. The more we manage to mature and grow, the more beautiful things we’ll be able to bring them to the heavenly banquet. “
