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.
In order to be perfect,
devotion, to the souls in Purgatory must be animated by a spirit of confidence.
On the one hand, the sanctity of God and His Justice inspires us with a
salutary- ear ; on the other, His infinite Mercy give us boundless confidence.
God is Sanctity itself, much
more so than the sin is light, and no shadow of sin can endure before His face.
Thine eyes are pure, says the prophet, and thou can not look on iniquity? When
iniquity manifests itself in creatures, the Sanctity of God exacts expiation,
and when this expiation is made in all the rigor of justice, it is terrible. It
is for this reason that the Scripture says again, Holy and terrible is His name;
l 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 towards the poor suffering
souls, but also with a vigilant zeal for our own spiritual welfare. Think of
the fire of Purgatory, and you will endeavor to avoid the least faults ; think
of the fire of Purgatory, and you will practice 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
; and elsewhere, The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient, and plenteous in
mercy? 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 ceternum – “ In Thee, O Lord, I have hoped; let me never
be put to confusion”.
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.
