Part I Chapter V: Purgatory

Chapter V: Purgatory

CHAPTER V PURGATORY SECTION I THE EXISTENCE OF PURGATORY i. Definition. — Purgatory (purgatorium) signifies a process of cleansing. a) Whether it is a place or a state is a controverted question. The poor souls are in a state of transition, but it is not necessary to hold that they are confined in any particular place. St. Thomas intimates that Purgatory is somehow ” connected with Hell.” 1 We might with equal probability argue that it is connected with Heaven, because the poor souls are children of God, who are sure sooner or later to be admitted to the abode of the Blessed.2 b) Not all who depart this life in the state of grace are fit to enter forthwith into the beatific vision of God. Some are burdened with venial transgressions. Others have not yet fully ex1 Summa The oh, Appendix, qu. z, be, Dt Purgatorio, II, 6. That art. 2. Purgatory is situated in the bowels 2 The various views regarding the of the earth is as undemonstrable as location of Purgatory are set forth the location of Heaven and Hell, by Cardinal Bellarmine in his treat75

piated the temporal punishments due to their sins.8 It Would be repugnant to divine justice to admit such souls to Heaven, into which, according to Holy Writ, nothing defiled shall enter.4 Nor can God in his justice consign these souls to Hell. Hence there must be a middle state in which they are cleansed of venial sins, or, if they have not yet fully paid the temporal punishments due to their forgiven sins, must expiate the remainder of them. St. Thomas says: ‘There may be some impediment on the part of the good in the way of their souls receiving their final reward in the vision of God immediately upon their departure from the body. To that vision, transcending as it does all natural created capacity, the creature cannot be raised before it is entirely purified : hence it is said that nothing defiled can enter into it (Wisd. VII, 25), and that the polluted shall not pass through it (Is. XXXV, 8). Now the pollution of the soul is by sin, which is an inordinate union with lower things ; from which pollution it is purified in this life by Penance and other Sacraments. Now it happens sometimes that this process of purification is not entirely accomplished in this life, and the offender remains still a debtor with a debt of punishment upon him, owing to some neg8Cfr. Condi Trident, Sess. IV, can. 30; Pohlc-Preuss, The Sacraments, Vol. Ill, p. up. 4 Apoc. XXI, 27 : * Non intrabit in earn £ scil. civitateni] aliquot coinquinatum, aut abomination*** fa* ciens, ef mendacium …* PURGATORY 77 ligence or distraction, or to death overtaking him before his debt is paid. Not for this does he deserve to be entirely shut out from reward : because all this may happen without mortal sin, and it is only mortal sin that occasions the loss of charity, to which the reward of life everlasting is due. Such persons, then, must be cleansed in the next life, before entering upon their eternal reward. This cleansing is done by penal inflictions, as even in this life it might have been completed by penal works of satisfaction: otherwise the negligent would be better off than the careful, if the penalty that men do not pay here for their sins is not to be undergone by them in the life to come. The souls, then, of the good, who have upon them in this world something that needs cleansing, are kept back from their reward, while they endure cleansing purgatorial pains. And this is the reason why we posit a purgatory or place of cleansing.” 6 Purgatory may therefore be defined as a state of temporary punishment for those who, departing this life in the grace of God, are not entirely free from venial sins or have not yet fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions. 2. Proof from Revelation. — The existence of Purgatory was denied by Aerius in the fourth 5 Summa c. Gent, IV, 91. (Rickaby, Of God and His Creatures, p. 415.) 78 THE LAST THINGS OF MAN century, by the Albigenses, Waldenses, and Hussites in the Middle Ages, and more recently by Luther and Calvin.6 Calvin termed the Catholic dogma ” a pernicious invention of Satan, which renders the cross of Christ useless.” 7 This teaching of the Reformers is quite consistent with their false idea of justification. If a man is justified by faith alone, and all his sins are “covered up” by the grace of Christ, there can be nothing left for him to expiate after death. The Church defined the existence of Purgatory in the Decree of Union adopted at Florence (1439), by saying that “the souls are cleansed by purgatorial pains after death, and in order that they may be rescued from these pains, they are benefitted by the suffrages of the living faithful, viz.: the sacrifice of the Mass, prayers, alms, and other works of piety.” 8 The Council of Trent repeated this definition in substance : . . The Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical Synod,9 that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls detained 6 Cfr. Bellarmine, De Purgatorio, iusmodi releventur, prodesse eis I, 2. fide Hum vivorum suffragia, missarum 7uBxitiaIe satanae commentum, scil. sacrificia, orationes et elemosyquod Christi crucem evacuat.” nas et alia pietatis oMcia” (Denz(Inst., Ill, 5, 9 6). inger-Bannwart, n. 693). 8” Animas poenis purgatoriis post 9 Sess. VI, can. 30; Sess. XXII, mortem purgari et, ut a poenis hu~ cap. 2 and 3. in it are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.”10 Pope Leo X solemnly condemned Luther’s assertion that “Purgatory cannot be proved from the canonical Scriptures.” 11 a) The scriptural locus classicus for our dogma is 2 Mach. XII, 43 sqq. When Judas had put Gorgias to flight, and came with his company to take away the bodies of the slain, he found that some of them had under their coats treasures which they had robbed from the idols of Jamnia. In committing this robbery the soldiers had probably been moved by avarice rather than idolatrous intent. Yet their conduct was plainly a transgression of the Mosaic law, which said: “Their graven things thou shalt burn with fire; thou shalt not covet the silver and gold of which they are made, neither shalt thou make to thee any thing thereof, lest thou offend, because it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.” 13 However, what these soldiers had done was not necessarily a mortal sin, and so Judas and his men, after blessing the just judgment of God, betook themselves to prayer, and “making a gathering [taking up a collection], he sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead.” Both Judas and his XO Seas. XXV: ” Purgaiorium U Prop. Damn, a Leone X., prop. esse animasque ibi detentas Udelium 37: “Purgatorium non potest prosuftragiis, potissimum vero acceptor bari ex Scripturo, quae sit in cabili altaris sacrificio iuvari.” (Den- none.” zingcr-Bannwart, n. 983). 12 Deut. VII, 25. 8o THE LAST THINGS OF MAN people, as well as the priests of the Temple, evidently believed that those who die in the grace of God can obtain forgiveness of venial sins and temporal punishments through the suffrages of the living. This belief is confirmed by the sacred writer when he adds : “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought 13 to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” 14 Protestants deny the cogency of this argument on the ground that the Book of Machabees is apocryphal. But the historical authenticity of the incident sufficiently proves that belief in Purgatory, so far from being an invention of the ” Papists,” was common among the Jews long before the beginning of the Christian era.15 From the New Testament we will quote the remarkable utterance of our Lord recorded in Matth. XII, 32: “Whosoever shall speak … against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this world, nor in the world to come.” 16 The “world to come” /acAAov) plainly means life after death. Hence, according to our Saviour’s own testimony, there must be some sins that are forgiven after death.17 18 fold Kol €V}S Apaprlas auroXvOrjvat’ (a Mach. XII. 45). IB Cfr. Mayer, Das Judentutn, pp. 465 sqq.» Ratisbon 1893. 10 Matth. XII, 32: Qui autem dixerit {verbum] contra Spiritum sanctum, non remittetur ei neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro, 17 This interpretation is favored by Augustine (De Civ. Dei, XXI, 24) and other Fathers (see Hurter, Compendium Thcol. Dogmat., Vol. Ill, n. 823). St. Gregory the Great, #. g., teaches: In qua sententia datur intellegi, quasdam culpas in hoc saeculo, quasdam veto in futuro posse relaxari. (Dial, IV, 29). PURGATORY 81 b) The belief of the early Church is evident from the immemorial custom of praying for the dead, offering the Holy Sacrifice, and giving alms for their benefit. Tertullian mentions anniversary masses for the dead.18 That he had Purgatory in mind appears from his advice to a widow, ” to pray for the soul of her husband, begging repose for him, and … to have sacrifice offered up for him every year on the day of his death.” 19 This pious custom is confirmed by many sepulchral inscriptions found in the catacombs, in which the departed ask for the prayers of their surviving friends or beg God for ” peace and refreshment.” 20 The Fathers expressly inculcate the doctrine which inspired these pious practices. In the Acts of St. Perpetua we read that she beheld her brother Dinocrates, who had died a heathen and was ” suffering terrible torments, released from the place of punishment through her prayers.” 21 St. Basil affirms the existence of ” a place for the purification of souls ” and of ” a cleansing fire.” 22 St. Augustine appeals to his friends to pray for his pious mother, St. Monica, and instructs them as to the most effective way of helping her soul.28 There is no doubt,* he says in another place, * that the dead are 18 De Corona Mil., 3 : * Oblationes pro dtfunctis annua die factmus.* .10 De Monogamia, 10: Debet pro anima eius orare et refrigerium interim adpostulare ei et … offer re annuls diebus dormitionis suae. — For other Patristic testimonies see Pohle-Preuss, The Sacraments, Vol. II, pp. 376 sq. 20 * Pax et refrigeration* as #. g. in the formula: * Spintum tuum Deus refrigeret.* — Cfr. Kraus, Realensyklopadie der Christ lichen Alterturner, Vol. II, s. v. * Refrigerium,” Freiburg 1886; J. P. Kirsch, Die Akklamationen und Gebete der altchristlichen Grabinschriften, Cologne 1898. 21 Acta Martyr. S. Perpetuae et Socior. 22 x^plov Kadapicfiov y/nfx^’* — KaOdpotov irvp. (/» Is., IX, 19). 23 Confess., IX, 13. aided by the prayers of holy Church, by the salutary sacrifice, and by the alms which are poured out for their souls.” 24 These passages from the writings of the Fathers could easily be multiplied. Even Calvin was constrained to admit that the custom of praying for the dead may be traced to the early days of Christianity.25 Thinking Protestants keenly feel the gap in their theological system caused by the denial of Purgatory. Thus Dr. Hase says : ” Most people when they die are probably too good for Hell, yet surely too bad for Heaven. It must be frankly confessed that the Protestantism of the Reformers is unclear on this point, its justified denial [ ?] not yet having advanced to the stage of affirmation.” 29 The Catholic dogma in this as in so many other cases agrees perfectly with the postulates of reason. 24 Sermones, 172: ” Orationibus sanctae Ecclesiae et sacrificio salutari et elemosynis, quae pro eorum spiritibus erogantur, non est dubitandum mortuos adiuvari, ut cum eis misericordius agatur a Domino, quam eorum peccata meruerunt; hoe enim a Patribus traditum universa observat Ecclesia,” (Cfr. the same writer’s Bnchirid., 60). — The argument from Tradition is developed more fully by Pesch, Praelect, Dogmat., Vol. IX, 2nd ed., pp. 283 sqq. 25 Inst., Ill, s, I 10: * Ante mille et trecentos annos usu receptum fuit, ut precationes Herent pro defunctis.* 26 Handbuch der protestantischen Polemik gegen die romisck-kath. Kir c he, p. 445, Leipzig 1862: “>Die meisten Sterbenden sind wohl su gut fUr die Holle, aber sicker su schlecht fUr den Himmel. Man muss often zugestehen, doss hier im reformatory schen Protestantismus eine Unklorheit vorliegt, indent seine berechtigte Verneinung nock nicht zur Bejahung fortgeschritten war,” SECTION 2 NATURE AND DURATION OF PURGATORY The Church has defined nothing with regard to the nature of Purgatory except that the poor souls detained there are in a passing state of punishment and suffer “purgatorial pains.” 1 Like the pains of Hell, those of Purgatory are twofold, viz.: pain of loss {poena damni) and pain of sense {poena sensus). i. The Pain of Loss. — The poena damni for the poor souls in Purgatory consists in their being deprived of the beatific vision of God. This temporary deprivation constitutes the essence of the state of purgation. It is the severest punishment that can be inflicted upon a disembodied soul. The consciousness of being separated from the Creator, who is so near and yet so far, causes terrible suffering, which is enhanced still more by the knowledge that the venial sins and punishments due to sin could have been expiated by contrition, confession, prayer, almsgiving, and other good works so easily performed in the wayfaring state. X ” Poenis purgatoriis; ” v. supra, p. 78. 83 84 THE LAST THINGS OF MAN Nevertheless, their sad condition does not drive the suffering souls to despair or to commit new sins, as Luther falsely claimed.2 For the rest, it would be no easier to write a psychology of the poor souls in Purgatory than of the damned in Hell. We earthly pilgrims are incapable of forming an adequate conception of the spiritual suffering involved in even a temporary privation of the beatific vision. Shorn of all earthly impediments, and placed beyond the world of sense which veils the things of the spirit, the poor souls in Purgatory concentrate their attention on God. But God hides and withdraws from them, which causes them to be tormented incessantly by a veritable agony of love. There is nothing improbable in St. Bonaventure’s conjecture that “the severest pain of Purgatory exceeds the most violent known on earth/’ 8 but we need not necessarily adopt the opinion of St. Thomas that ” even the slightest torture of Purgatory is worse than all the sufferings one can endure in this world.,, 4 There is no certainty to be had in these matters.5 2. The Pain of Sense. — Whether besides the poena damni the poor souls suffer a poena sensus, is doubtful. Still more difficult is it to answer the question whether this additional punishment, if it exist, is caused by a material medium similar to the fire of Hell. Theologians 2 Prop. Damn, a Leone X, prop. 38: * Anitnae in purgatorio non sunt securae de earutn salute, saltern non omnes.* — Prop. 39: Anitnae in purgatorio peccant sine intermissione, quamdiu quaerunt requiem et horrent poenas. 3 Comment, in Sent., IV, dist. so, art. i, qu. 2. 4 Comment, in Sent., IV, dist. ai, qu. 1, art. 1. 6 Cfr. Bellarmine, De Purgatorio, II. 14. PURGATORY consider it extremely probable that such is the case. a) The phrase employed by the Florentine Council, “animas poenis purgatoriis purgari” seems to point to the existence of some positive torment over and above the poena damnu This assumption gains strength from the concurrent teaching of the Fathers and Schoolmen. The difficulty begins when we attempt to ascertain the precise nature of the sensitive pain experienced by the poor souls. The Church has issued no definition with regard to the existence of a purgatorial fire, and hence nothing can be asserted on this head as of faith or even as fidei proximum. When Cardinal Bessarion at the Council of Florence argued against the existence of a real fire in Purgatory, the Greeks were assured that the Roman Church had never pronounced dogmatically on the subject, and nothing was said about it in the Decree of Union. The Greek view that Purgatory is a place of darkness, smoke, and mourning (locus caliginis, tenebrarum, turbinis, moeroris) is too vague to enable us to form any positive idea as to its nature.6 b) In the Western Church belief in the existence of a material purgatorial fire, analogous to the fire of a Hell, is common. Hence the name “ignis purgatorius” ( German, Fegefeuer) . This view derives a certain probability from i Cor. Ill, ii sqq. 6 On the teaching of the Russian der Auffassung der russischen Orschismatics see A. Bukowski, S.J., thodoxie, pp. 143 sqq., Paderborn Die Genugtuung fUr die S&nde nach 19”.

a) In warning the faithful of Corinth against certain dangerous doctrines that were propagated among them, the Apostle says : ” Foundation can no man lay other than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if a man buildeth upon the foundation, [whether it be] gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass [or] straw, — the work of each man shall become manifest. For the Day shall declare it, because [that day] is to be disclosed in fire, and the worth of each man’s work shall that fire assay. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive reward: if any man’s work be burnt up, he shall lose his reward, but himself shall be saved, yet as [one that hath passed] through fire.” 7 No doubt the test by fire is quite as much a figure of speech as building upon a foundation of gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass o.r straw. But the concluding sentence, which asserts that a man shall be saved as through fire, seems to indicate that there is a real fire in Purgatory.8 P) The Pauline passage is interpreted literally by some of the Fathers. Thus St. Ambrose writes : ” When Paul says, ’ yet as through fire/ he means that he will indeed be saved, but will have to suffer the pain of fire, in order that, purged by fire, he be saved.” • St. Augustine, on 7 i Cor. Ill, i2 sqq.: El 84 rtf iwoucotiopei iwl rbv OefxfKiov rovrov Xpv

the other hand, interprets the phrase * quasi per ignem * figuratively, applying it to ” the fiery furnace of earthly tribulations.” Origen says : ” Whoever is saved, is saved through fire, in order that, if he contains an admixture of dross, it be dissolved by fire, so that all may become solid gold.” 10 This passage and another similar one in Origen’s writings11 show that he regarded the purgatorial fire as a figure of speech. In this he followed his master, Clement of Alexandria, who called Purgatory ” a spiritual fire.” 12 On the whole it may be said that the number of Greek Fathers who believe in the existence of a real fire in Purgatory is quite small. Among the Fathers of the Latin Church some favor the literal interpretation. Thus St. Gregory the Great speaks of those who after this life ” will expiate their faults by purgatorial flames,” and adds that the pain will be more intense than any that can be suffered in this life.18* In another place he says : ” But it must be believed that there is a purgatorial fire for [the expiation of] venial sins before the [General] Judgment.” 14 But even in the West there is not a sufficient consensus patrum for a solid argument from Tradition. y) This fact did not, however, prevent the Scholastics from confidently asserting the existence of a material fire in Purgatory. The value of their teaching is discounted by the fact that they were uncritical, ascribed too much importance to unauthenticated visions and private revelations, and tried to prove the reality of the purgatorial fire from the existence of volcanoes, and so forth. We need not wonder, in view of such insufficient argu10 Horn, in Exod., 6. uDial., IV, 39: ” Sed tamen 11 De Principiis, II, 10. de quibusdam levibus culpis ante 12 rh p6vifio» irvp. (Stromato, indicium [universale] . esse purgaVII, 6). tortus ignis credendus est.” 13 Pj. HI Poenit., n. x.

ments, that a number of modern theologians (e. g. Klee, Mohler, Dieringer) deny, or at least doubt, the existence of a material fire in Purgatory. However, it is well to remember, in the words of Cardinal Bellarmine, that ” If there is no real fire, there will be something much more terrible, which God has prepared in order to demonstrate His power.,, 15 3. How the Poor Souls are Cleansed in Purgatory. — Clement of Alexandria taught16 that the poor souls can effect their own spiritual amendment by submitting patiently to the torments of Purgatory.17 Whatever we may hold on this subject, one thing is certain, namely, that no merits can be acquired in Purgatory,18 A more important and more practical problem is, how the poor souls expiate their venial sins and the punishments due to their forgiven mortal sins, and how they get rid of their evil habits. a) Forgiveness of venial sins can be obtained in three different ways : ( 1 ) by unconditional remission on the part of God; (2) by suffering and the performance of penitential works, and (3) by an act of contrition. (1) Absolutely speaking, God can forgive all sins unconditionally. But in the present economy He has chosen to make contrition a condition of forgiveness, and hence it 15 De Purg., II, 14: Si ibi est ostendere voluit. verus ignis, erit otnnino acerrimus i« See Stromata, VII, 12… . si non ignis verus, erit aliquid it devripa icai8ela> multo horribilius, quale Deus parare 1* Cfr. Oswald, Eschatologie, p. potuit, qui potentiam suam in hoc xij. is not reasonable to suppose that venial sins are forgiven unconditionally in Purgatory. (2) What does God demand of the poor souls as a condition of forgiveness? Can it be mere passive suffering (satis passio) ? This might wipe out the reatus poenae, but it could never wipe out the reatus culpae, of which a sinner can rid himself only by an act of contrition (motus displicentiae) . Hence the only means by which venial sins can be forgiven in Purgatory is contrition. St. Thomas says : ” Venial sins are remitted after this life, even with regard to guilt, in the same way in which they are remitted in this life, namely, by an act of charity towards God, expressing repugnance for the venial sins committed in this life. However, since it is no longer possible to acquire merits in the world beyond, such an act of love, while it removes the impediment of venial guilt, does not deserve absolution or a decrease of punishment.” 19 When does the soul make the act of contrition which wipes out venial sin? Most probably immediately after its separation from the body, when the soul is for the first time alone with God.20 Some theologians, however, think that the process of purgation is gradual.21 b) It is not difficult to understand how the temporal punishments due to sin are expiated in Purgatory. The soul is no longer able to make satis19 De Malo, qu. 7, art. iz: dilectionis motus in eis tollit quid em ” Venialia remit tuntur eis post hanc impedimentum venialis culpae, non vitatn etiam quantum ad culpam eo tamen meretur absolutionem vel dimodo, quo remittuntur in hac vita, minutionem poenae/* scil. per actum caritatis in Deum re* 20 Cfr. Suarez, Comment in S. pugnantem venialibus in hac vita TheoL, III, disp. 11, sect. 4. commissi*. Quia tamen post hanc 21 Cfr. Fr. Schmid, Die Seelenvitam non est status merendi, ill* lauterung %m Jenseits, Brixcn 1907.

faction, and hence can atone only by suffering. This suffering, technically called satis passio, 22 has neither meritorious nor satisfactory value because the poor souls are no longer able to do anything for themselves, but have entered into the night “in which no man can labor/’ The duration of Purgatory is entirely a matter of conjecture. Some theologians think that the poor souls are detained for a long time; others, that the period of purgation is brief. The truth probably lies between these two extremes. God, being infinitely just, owes it to Himself to punish every sin according to its guilt and to exclude from Heaven whatever is unclean. But He is also infinitely merciful, and His mercy has provided an effective means of shortening the sufferings of the poor souls through the intercession of the Church and the faithful on earth. Dominicus Soto and Maldonatus maintained that no one remains in Purgatory longer than ten years. This view is untenable, and one of the practical conclusions drawn from it, namely, that legacies for the saying of masses for the dead become invalid after ten years, has been formally condemned by Alexander VII.28 However, from her acceptance of unlimited mass stipends it does not follow that the Church believes the sufferings of the poor souls in Purgatory to be of extremely long duration. God, in consideration of a great number of masses and suffrages which He has foreseen from all eternity, may release a soul immediately after death. On the other 22 On the nature of satispassio see 1666, prop. 43 : ” Annuum legatum St. Bonaventure, Comment, in Sent, pro anima relictum non durat plus IV, dist. 20, p. xt art. x, qu. 3. quam per decern annos,” (Den. 2* Prop. Damn, die 18, Martii, zinger-Bannwart, n. 1x43).

PURGATORY 9i hand, no one can be sure that Purgatory does not last for centuries in the case of souls who enter eternity with an exceptionally heavy load of venial sins and temporal punishments. The faithful who will be alive at the second coming of our Lord will not, of course, be able to expiate their venial sins and temporal punishments in Purgatory, for there will be no Purgatory after the Last Judgment. With regard to these survivors it is piously believed that God will grant them a general indulgence, or that the tribulations and sufferings they will have to undergo will make up for their deficiencies. c) A word concerning the evil habits which remain in the soul after conversion. There are two classes of evil habits (habitus), viz.: those which are rooted in the sensitive faculties (drunkenness, impurity, etc.), and those which are based on the spiritual powers of the will (pride, excessive ambition, etc.). The former are eradicated as it were automatically at the moment of death, when the sensitive faculties become inoperative. The latter accompany the soul into Purgatory, but are probably destroyed by an act of love elicited at the threshold of eternity. Should these habits continue to exist in Purgatory, there can be no doubt that they are eventually cast off at the gate of Heaven. They cannot be expiated by suffering because they have already been the subject of contrition, and, like concupiscence, are neither sins nor deserving of punishment.

SECTION i. The Dogma of the Communion of Saints. — The Council of Trent says that the poor souls in Purgatory “are aided by the suffrages of the faithful, and principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar/’ 1 The efficacy of this intercession is based on the Communion of Saints.2 a) By the Communion of Saints we understand the spiritual union of the faithful with one another, with the blessed Angels, the Elect in Heaven, and the poor souls in Purgatory, under the supernatural headship of Christ, who is the font and well-spring of all grace;8 or, to put it somewhat differently, the mystic union of the militant, the triumphant, and the suffering Church of Christ. b) The ninth article of the Apostles’ Creed teaches that there is a visible communion on earth, as well as an invisible interchange of blessings between the militant and the triumphant Church, l Seas. XV: . . catholic a Ec- 2 ” Credo sanctorum communioclesia … docuerit, purgatorium nem.” (Apostles’ Creed). esse, anitnasque ibi detentas fidelium s On the gratia capitis see PohlesufFragiis, potissimum vero accepta- Preuss, Christology, pp. 239 aqq. biU altaris sacrificio iuvori. , . .” 9* PURGATORY 93 of which latter Purgatory is a preparatory stage. This has always been Catholic teaching.4 Whereas an impassible gulf separates the Blessed in Heaven from the demons,5 the members of Christ’s mystic body in Heaven and on earth are closely bound together by a supernatural communion of blessings,6 of which the innermost essence and principle is sanctifying grace, or theological love, and, to some extent, theological faith. For this reason even those Catholics who are guilty of mortal sin belong to the militant Church and consequently, in a restricted sense, also to the Communion of Saints. As for the angels, they form part of the ecclesia triumphans, and as such participate in the communio sanctorum. Through the Communion of Saints the faithful on earth, especially those who are in the state of sanctifying grace, share in all the Masses, prayers, and good works offered up by the militant Church. They are moreover benefitted by the intercession of the angels and the just in Heaven, and they can aid the poor souls in Purgatory by prayers, indulgences, alms, and other good works, especially by having the Sacrifice of the Mass offered for them. The first and second of the above-mentioned propositions having been 4 Cfr. A. Harnack, Apestol. Glau- s Cfr. Luke XVI, 26. b$msMnntni$, $th ed, pp. 99 tqq.» • Cfr. 1 Cor. XII, 24 §qq. Berlin 189a. dealt with in previous volumes of this series,7 it remains to prove the third, viz.: that the living faithful can succor the dead by works of satisfaction.8 2. The Dogma. — That the souls of the faithful departed are aided by the suffrages of the living faithful follows as a corollary from the dogma of Purgatory.9 Theologians are wont to quote in confirmation of this teaching certain scriptural texts, which are not, however, entirely convincing. Such a text is, e. g., Tob. IV, 18: “Lay out thy bread and thy wine upon the burial of a just man, and do not eat and drink thereof with the wicked 10 Some exegetes interpret this passage as inculcating the usefulness to the dead of a meal given to the poor in their memory.11 But this is by no means certain. Another, equally inconclusive text often quoted in this connection is I Cor. XV, 29, where the Apostle speaks of persons “who are baptized for the dead.” As Dr. MacRory points put, “this metaphorical sense of Baptism (as a baptism of mortification and affliction for the T Pohle-Prcuss, Mariohgy, pp. 14a the History of ■ Dogma, London sqq.; The Sacraments, Vol. II, pp. 1911) ; Chi. F. McGinnis, The Com376 tqq. munion of Saints, St. Louis 19 13. 8 On the dogma of the Communion • V. supra, Sect. 1. of Saints see J. P. Kirtch, Die Lehre 10 Tob. IV, 18: “Pattern tuum von der Gemeinschaft der HeUigen et vmum tuum super sepulturam iusti im christlichen Altertum, Mayence constitue et noli ex eo manducare et 1900 (tr. by J. R. McKee, The Doc- bibere cum peccatoribus.” trine of the Communion of Saints 11 Cfr, Bellarmine, De Purgatorio, in the Ancient Church; A Study in I, 3. dead) is very rare, being found only in the two passages just referred to, and there in the mouth of Christ in reference, not to ordinary mortifications, but to His baptism in His blood. This being so, is it likely that the Corinthians could be expected to think of a metaphorical baptism here? Besides, if this were the sense, the Apostle, as Estius points out, should have written, ‘who baptize themselves,’ i. e. undergo voluntary mortifications, rather than ‘who are baptized/ ” 12 3. Suffrages for the Dead. — In regard to suff rages for the dead (suffragia pro mortuis) we may ask four questions: (a) How many kinds of suffrages are there? (b) Who profits by them? (c) In what manner do they advantage the dead? and (d) By whom can they be offered? a) There are three different kinds of suffrages by which the living can assist the dead, viz.: the Mass, prayers, and good works. This distinction is very old.13 While good works are mostly typified by alms, there are others, such as fasting, scourging, making pilgrimages, etc. The shedding of tears alone is not effective. St. Chrysostom says, ” the dead are not aided by tears, but by prayer, intercession, and alms.” 14 If a man has forgotten or neglected to make restitution for some injury done to his neighbor, and others make it 12 The Epistles of St. Paul to tht 18 V. supra, Sect x. Corinthians, Part I, pp. 239 «!•» Horn, in Ep. J. ad Cor., 41. Dublin 191 5. Cfr. Bellarmine, De Purg., I, &. 96 THE LAST THINGS OF MAN for him after his death, does he derive any spiritual benefit from the act ? D. Soto 15 and Bellarmine16 answer this question in the negative, and they are probably right. For the dead man, in omitting to make restitution, either committed a sin or he did not. If he committed a sin, he must expiate that sin, regardless of what his heirs or friends may do. If he did not sin, he incurred no punishment. Offering up indulgences for the dead is not a distinct class of good works, because the efficacy of indulgences is conditioned upon prayer and good works. Neither are the ceremonies of Christian burial to be regarded as a special kind of suffrage, for to bury the dead is an act of corporal mercy and therefore belongs to the category of good works.17 The same applies to the preparation of corpses for burial, the burning of candles at the bier, sprinkling dead bodies with holy water, accompanying them to their last resting-place, decorating the graves, etc., etc. All these are good works which help the dead if performed with the right intention.18 Cremation is not a good work but ” a detestable abuse 99 in which the Church forbids Catholics to cooperate.19 The practice of burning dead bodies, though in itself not opposed to Catholic dogma, was prohibited because it was originally introduced and is now advocated chiefly by avowed enemies of religion.20 15 Comment, in Sent., IV, dist 45, qu. 2, art. 3. 16 De Purgatorio, II, 16. lTCfr. 2 Kings II, 5; Matth. XXVI. ta. liCfr. St Thomas, Sutnma Thiol, Supplement., qu. 71, art 11; Bellarmine, De Purgatorio, II, 19; L. Ruland, Geschichte der kirchlichen Leichenfeier, Ratisbon 1901. 1» See the Decree of the S. Congregation of the Holy Office, of May 19, 1886. — Regarding certain conditions under which such persons may be left in good faith, see the decree of July 37, 1892, issued in reply to certain questions asked by the Archbishop of Freiburg (Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol IV, p. 482). so On cremation in general cfr. Wm. Devlin, t. v., in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. IV; Ada S. Sedis, XXV, 63; Am. Eccles. Review, XII, 499; Fortnightly Review, b) Suffrages offered for the dead cannot benefit the just in Heaven or the damned in Hell, but they can and do benefit the poor souls in Purgatory. The just do not need human assistance. This is especially true of baptized infants and the blessed martyrs. St. Augustine says it is an insult to pray for a martyr,21 The ancient practice, evidenced by the teaching of the Fathers and the early liturgies, of praying and offering sacrifice for deceased Apostles, martyrs, prophets, and saints, was inspired by a desire to thank God for having glorified them in Heaven. We pray for them, says St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in order that through their prayers and supplications God may receive our own. 22 And St. Augustine: “When sacrifices … are offered on behalf of the very good, they are thank-off erings, … and in the case of the very bad, even though they do not help the dead, [these sacrifices] afford consolation to the living/’ 23 c) To understand how the suffrages of the living can benefit the poor souls we must recall the distinction between the meritorious and the satSt. Louis, Mo., Vol. XXIII, No. 17; 22 Cat. My stag., V, 9: • • ut A. Besi, Die Beerdigung und Ver- Dsns orationibus ittorum at deprscabrennung der Leichsn, Ratisbon tionibus suscipiat preeet nostras.” 1889; G. Haul, Gottesacker oder (Mime, P. G„ XXXIII, 11 15). Liichenofen, 1898. 28 Enchiridion, no: ” SacriHcia 21 Sertn., 17: * Iniuriam facit … pro valde bonis gratiarum acmartyri, qui orat pro martyrs, tiones sunt; pro valda malts, si nulla (Cfr. Pohlc-Prcuss, M-ariology, p. adiumento tnortuorum, viventium 145). consolationts sunt.’* 98 THE LAST THINGS OF MAN isfactory value of good works.24 The meritorious value of a good work consists in an increase of sanctifying grace and is not transferable. Its satisfactory value consists in an expiation of punishment due, and may be surrendered in favor of another. It is the satisfactory value alone that God accepts on behalf of the dead. From this point of view we can appreciate the ” heroic act of charity ” approved by Pius IX, which consists in the voluntary relinquishment of all claim to the satisfactory fruits of one’s good works as well as to the suffrages of one’s friends after death for the benefit of the poor souls. However, it is doubtful whether God accepts such a sacrifice and actually deprives those who make it of the satisfactory values which they surrender. That He approves of the heroism that dictates such a noble act goes without saying, for it is in full accord with St. Paul’s exclamation, ” I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ, for my brethren.” u Over and above their meritorious and satisfactory value, prayers for the dead have an impetratory value, inasmuch as tliey move God to hear the petitioner’s prayer, qua prayer, regardless of the value of the satisfaction offered. With regard to indulgences it is commonly held that they may be applied to the poor souls “by way of suffrage” (per modum suffrogii).2* d) We can offer suffrages for the dead either 24 Cfr. St Thomas, Summa TheoL, 29 The student will find this subSupplement., qu. 71, art 4. ject treated more fully in Pohle25 Rom. IX, 3: * Optabam enim Preuaa, The Sacraments, Vol. Ill, ego ipse anathema esse a Christo pro pp. 260 sqq. fratribus meis.*

by performing, or causing others to perform, a good work that produces its effects ex opere operato (e. g. the Mass) ; or by creating satisfactory or impetratory values for the benefit of the poor souls by giving alms, reciting the office of the dead, etc. In the former case it is sufficient that the good work be performed to secure its effects ; 27 whereas in the latter case all those conditions must be fulfilled which are required to render a good work meritorious, principally this, that the applicant be in the state of sanctifying grace.28 An act by which no merits or satisfactions are gained for the doer himself, cannot apply such merits or satisfactions to others.29 Can the just, who have arrived at the status termini, intercede for the poor souls in Purgatory? The just who have arrived at the status termini are divided into two classes: (i) the Angels and Saints in Heaven, and (2) the poor souls in Purgatory. The liturgical prayers of the Church show that the Angels and Saints, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Michael, are powerful intercessors for the dead.80 Whether the poor souls can assist one another is a more difficult question to answer. We know that, being in a state of punishment, they all need assistance for themselves. To assume that they can obtain release 27 Cfr. Pohle-Preusi, The Sacra- BO . . ut inter cedentibus omnir ments, Vol. I, pp. 122 tqq. bus Sanctis tuts pletatis tuae clemen28 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, Grace: Ac- tid omnium delictorum suorum vetual and Habitual, pp. 82 tqq., 413. ***** consequantur.” (Roman Mis29 Cfr. St. Thomas, Summa Theol., sal). Supplement., qu. 71, art. 3. loo THE LAST THINGS OF MAN from Purgatory by their own prayers, would seem to contradict the revealed teaching that they are unable to acquire merits or even quasi-merits.31 However, expressly excluding this untenable corollary, we may hold that the poor souls are able to pray for one another effectively. Suarez 82 and Bellarmine 83 furthermore maintain that the poor souls can aid the faithful on earth by their intercession. This is, however, opposed to the teaching of St. Thomas, who in reply to the objection that the poor souls can help us because they are friends of God says : ” Those who are in Purgatory do not yet enjoy the vision of the Divine Logos, which would enable them to know what we think and speak, and therefore we do not implore their suffrages, but those of the living.” 84 The further objection that the poor souls must have power with God because they are impeccable, he refutes thus : ” Though they are superior to us in as far as they can no longer sin, they are inferior to us as regards the punishments which they suffer, and therefore they are in no condition to pray [for others], but rather in a state where they need the prayers of others.” 85 Nevertheless those who piously invoke the poor souls, or promise them Masses, need not be disturbed, because it is probable that they can aid us by their intercession, and quite possible that God may aid both the poor souls and those who pray for them without the si On the meritum de congruo tee Pohle-Preuw, Grace: Actual and Habitual, pp. 430 sqq. 2D Oration*, I, si. ZZD* Purgatorio, II, 16. 84 Summa Thiol., aa aae, qu. 83, art 4, ad 3: ”///, qui sunt in Purgatorio, nondum fruuntur visione Verbi, ut possint cognoscere ea, quae nos cogitamus vel dieimus, et ideo eorum sufFragia non imploramus orando, sed a vhris petimus colloquendo. nop. cit., art. 11, ad 3: /W, qui sunt in purgatorio, etsi sunt superiores nobis propter impeccabilitotem, sunt tamen inferiofes quantum ad poenas, quas patiuntur, et secundum hoc non sunt in statu orandi, sed magis ut oretur pro eis.” PURGATORY IOI knowledge of the former. Let us not forget our Saviour’s dictum : ” Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy 80 The Church in her liturgy prays for the poor souls, but never invokes their intercession. Readings : — S. J. Hunter, S. J., Outlines of Dogmatic Theology, Vol. III, pp. 442 sqq. — Wilhelm-Scannell, A Manual of Catholic Theology, Vol. II, pp. 553 sqq. — Wiseman, Lectures on the Principal Doctrines and Practices of the Catholic Church, Sect XI, London 1836 (frequently reprinted). — Coleridge, The Prisoners of the King, London 1897. — Canty, Purgatory, Dogmatic and Scholastic, Dublin, 1886. — Loch, Das Dogma der griechischen Kirche vom Purgatorium, Ratisbon 1842. — Redner, Das Fegefeuer, Ratisbon 1856. — Bautz, Das Fegefeuer, Mayence 1883.— Tappehorn, Das Fegefeuer, Dillingen 1891.— St Binet, S.J., Der Freund der armen Seelen oder die kath. Lehre vom jenseitigen Reinigungsorte, Freiburg 1896.— Fr. Schmid, Das Fegefeuer nach kath. Lehre, Brjxen 1904. — Idem, Die Seelenlauterung im Jenseits, Brixen 1907. — Bellarmine, De Purgatorio. — Casaccia, // Purgatorio, Biella 1863. — B. Jungmann, De Novissimis, Ratisbon 1871. — Oxenham, Catholic Eschatology, London 1878. — Sadlier, Purgatory: Doctrinal, Historical, Practical, New York 1886.— Atzberger, Geschichte der christlichen Eschatologie, Freiburg 1896. — E. J. Hanna, art “Purgatory,” in Vol. XII of the Catholic Encyclopedia, pp. 375-380.— H. Thurston, S.J., The Memory of the Dead, London 1916 (contains a brief but fairly comprehensive sketch of the Catholic practice of prayer for the dead from the first centuries of Christianity to the close of the Middle Ages.) MMatth. V, 7: “Beat misericordes, quoniam ipsi mistricordiam con* j$qu$ntur.”