The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-11-19
PICTURES OF PURGATORY.

little. pamphlet that reaches us once a month
to our mind uses improper to excite devotion
10 the holy souls III purgatory 1t does this through
pictures One of these pictures represents the ND
per portion of living, naked bodies with arms out
stretched III supplication, the lower anatomy in
visible by reason of a lake of fire covering them.
Forks of angry flame leap from this lake and threat
en- to burn up what is above as well as below the
surface The top of the picture represents st.
Anthony shrine surrounded by the pious. to whom
the holy souls are piteously appealing for help
Inc erect intended by the grewsome thing is to
BRING the mind to the torture inflicted by fire. and to
rescue bodies from fire.. We say bodies for no idea
OF the soul is conveyed by such picture, neither
could 1t be- Whether the soul be in purgatory or
hell the body is certainly where it was placed to
return to dust.
We have in mind aged woman awaiting
death, but much troubled about the suffering she
must endure Ill the prison for holy souls From
youth up her mind has been infamed by these pic
lures OF Purgatory, that the entrance into this
state OF purlhcaton to her mind is the same as if
The mouse she lived IN were afre and the flames
leaped about her helpless body Such notions are
misleading for the ends of salvation. and death is
robbed of tranquility of mind. Surely the blame
Tor this should be exposed 1t is the opposite Of
the divine love for souls, and they deceive them
selves who think that devotion for holy souls is
more fervently excited by presenting the horrors
OF physical suffering
None know what manner of punishment is COM
pretended by the cleansing of souls in purpatory
Ere IS mentioned in Scripture. The word "fre,
may and can have different application than tho
noun we associate with that material thing which
consumes other material things and reduces Them
to ashes But the soul is not a material substance
and therefore nothing that is physical can nene
trate the soul. Hence, we take fire in the spir
ltual sense of meaning, because it comes nearer
man any other word to express the publication of
the soul
And what is the soul? Rebuking those who nro-
tend to locate the SOUL our esteemed eontemnorarv
the Providence Visitor, SAYS the soul does NOT fol,
low the same laws as a corporeal nat,,re Tho .o,,1
Is spiritual and has laws of it's own. Among those
laws is that OF penetrablity which is perfection
lacking III bodies that is the soul is not excludod
rom occupying the same place as another soul
Whlie the soul is actually located in that space Tn
TACT 1t Is great to speak of the soul as o.
cupylng' space at all; only bodies and material
things occupy space; and the soul being of an on
trely different and higher order of being really i
not limited or circumscribed by space. The DIFF
hculty lies in our not being able to conceive of tbe
soul without forming to ourselves some picture of
what we imagine it to be like, something more or
less material which we cannot fancy as not occupy
ing space.
Such questions, therefore, as in what parts of
the body is the soul, or in what space is it after
death, are really meaningless; the soul is in the
whole body of man and at the same TING the soul
whole and entire is in every individual part of a
mans body How this can be we cannot fully un-
derstand though We sk,low it to be true, not from
faltf. however bn from pure reason; just as we