November 19, 2023 – Fr. Isaiah Schick
In this month of November which is dedicated to praying for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, I thought it would be a nice time to pause and actually say what we believe about purgatory! What purgatory is not is some sort of sorting chamber or waiting room for judgment. All souls after the judgment that we face when we die will proceed to heaven or hell. On the way to heaven, some people need to be perfected before they are able to stand in joy and peace before the unveiled presence of God. Everyone in purgatory is on the way to heaven – there is no “downward route” from there. Purgatory is not a permanent place – instead, it is a place of purification where any remaining inordinate attachments to worldly things, any attachment to venial sin, etc. is cleansed from the souls of the imperfect. It is not that different of a process from what we are meant to embrace as the way of holiness here on earth, including our embrace of the cross of suffering! It is actually the completion of that process if we need the extra time because we do love God and strive to follow his commandments but have not yet united ourselves to him wholeheartedly. Those in purgatory are our brothers and sisters, and they benefit greatly from our prayers through the logic of love, especially offering up any suffering which we undergo here in union with Jesus on the cross for love of him and those in purgatory. You can also ask them to pray for you (and they often respond very generously!).
If you are looking for a great prayer to pray for these members of the Church in purgatory, here is one attributed to
St. Gertrude the Great:
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.