TREATISE ON PURGATORY by St. Catherine of Genoa
CHAPTER I
STATE OF THE SOULS IN PURGATORY, HOW THEY ARE FREE FROM ALL SELF-LOVE
THIS holy soul, yet in the flesh, found herself placed in the purgatory of God’s burning love, which consumed and purified her from whatever she had to purify, in order that after passing out of this life she might enter at once into the immediate presence of God her Beloved. By means of this furnace of love, she understood how the souls of the faithful are placed in purgatory to get rid of all the rust and stain of sin that in this life was left unpurged. As she, plunged in the Divine furnace of purifying love, was united to the object of her love, and satisfied with all that He wrought in her, so she understood it to be with the souls in purgatory, and said:
The souls in purgatory, as far as I can understand the matter, cannot but choose to be there and this by God’s ordinance, Who has justly decreed it so. They cannot reflect within themselves and say, ” I have done such and such sins, for which I deserve to be here; ” nor can they say, “Would that I had not done them, that now I might go to Paradise;” nor yet say, “That soul is going out before me;” nor, “I shall go out before him.” They can remember nothing of themselves or others, whether good or evil, which might increase the pain they ordinarily endure; they are so completely satisfied with what God has ordained for them, that He should be doing all that pleases Him, and in the way it pleases Him, that they are incapable of thinking of themselves even in the midst of their greatest sufferings. They behold only the goodness of God, whose mercy is so great in bringing men to Himself, that they cannot see anything that may affect them, whether good or bad; if they could, they would not be in pure charity. They do not know that their sufferings are for the sake of their sins, nor can they keep in view the sins themselves ; * for in doing so there would be an act of imperfection, which could have no place where there can be no longer any possibility of actually sinning.
Once, in passing out of this life, they perceive why they have their purgatory; but never afterwards, otherwise self would come in. Abiding, then, in charity, and not being able to deviate therefrom by any real defect, they have no will, no desire, nothing but the will of pure love; they are in that fire of purgatory by the appointment of God, which is all one with pure love; and they cannot in anything turn aside from it, because, as they can no more merit, so they can no more sin.
* The Saint must here be understood to mean that the souls in purgatory cannot recollect the specific reasons of the pains they suffer; that they cannot say, ” I have done such and such sins, for which I deserve to be here.” She cannot mean absolutely that they do not know that the pains they suffer are in punishment for their sins. For besides such ignorance being scarcely conceivable, it is contrary to her own express state ment ir. chap, vii., where she says, that ” that which causes the souls in purgatory most pain, is the seeing in themselves a thing displeasing to God; and the being conscious that it has been admitted against so much goodness.”
Reflection
Here in this life, our actions and our thoughts are undertaken for a mixture of reasons and a mixture of ends. While these reasons and ends may not be sins, or even venial sins, but are in fact goods, it is precisely in this conflagration and confusion that disorder and imperfection in the soul exists. It is not enough for a soul to refrain from sin. It is not enough for a soul to only act according to myriad goods. The soul must only have God and the obtainment of God as the only reason and end for its movement. This is the perfection that Our Lord commands of us; to be perfect as Our Heavenly Father is perfect. In this life, we have an illusion of choice, which is too often falsely labeled “free will”. The soul is only free, that is free from disorder and imperfection, when God is the source and end of her movement. Here, we eat because we are hungry, or we like the smell of something, or the particular item cheers us; these are goods, but there is still imperfection in this as they are done for self, and the thought of God rarely enters into the analysis or, if so, is just one of many different reasons for undertaking the action.
Contemplation:
Question: Here on earth, we often think of Purgatory as a place that involves suffering punishment. St. Catherine of Genoa suggests that the souls in Purgatory do not view their suffering as punishment, a negative for the self, but rather as a positive for God’s glory. How does this challenge our view and apprehension towards suffering in this life?
Question: There is a modernism of “being true to one’s self”. St. Catherine of Genoa suggests that one in Purgatory doesn’t have a “sense of self” but rather only, and strictly, has a “sense of God”. How can we in this life seek to, not just have God first, but have God only?
~PPP