The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-07-29
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realms, will be insured of eternal
happiness, if it be at that moment
deserving of the infinite reward, name
ly, it it be possessed with a sufficient
desire of procuring unto itself the
eternal possession of God. For God,
Who has created man through love and
for the enjoyment of himself, will
never, can never, ignore the cor
responding desire of His creatures.
But again comes the question: How
can man-how can we, with our sins,
with all our wilfully contracted indebt-
edness to the Infinite Justice, how can
we hope for future absorption in the
bosom of the Infinite Purity, of the
Infinite Goodness and Justice? AT
the last moments of our lives we shall
be partially impure, we shall be I'M
expiated for, we shall be partially
unworthy of being fusioned with the
pure gold of Gods sanctity on account
of the dross left in us by our past sins.
Can we then hope to be saved? On
the one hand we feel DESTROYS JOf the
friendship and love of God. On the
other we deem ourselves unworthy.
We do not wear the nuptial garment
the wedding feast cannot be for our
enjoyment.
There is a great deaf of practical
interest and comfort in this question,
inasmuch as it does represent to one
and all the last only chance of saliva
ton. When, at the end of life's voy-
age, we reach the harbor of death,
we shall not deem ourselves worthy
of the immediate vision of God. Some
there may be, fastidious enough, self
conceited enough, who may assert
that heaven is the only fit reward for
their lives. But, as self-opinion will
then have to be countenanced by
deeds. 1t is safe to say that our hope
of salvation is intimately associated
with the belief of a state or condition
wherein, after passing the portal of
death, we may be allowed to undergo
the ordeal of publication by which we
shall be entitled to the wedding gown
necessary for the eternal feast.
Thus far we have reached the pos
sibility, the hopeful probability of a
future state or condition of expiation
on the inside borders of eternity, a
state wherein fate is already decided
as to it's final issue, but wherein we
must be made worthy of the imme-
date vision of God. In the language
of our belief, this state or condition
is called Purgatory. And what is
Purgatory? The Christian doctrine,
and by this is meant Catholic belief,
answers with sobriety and frmness.
First, Purgatory is a state condi.
ton, and consequently a place of eX-
piation, beyond the limits of life.
Second, the prayers of the living can
assist and relieve the souls of their
deceased brethren. The Church does
not enter into the description or the
details of the place of retention called
Purgatory, nor does she define the
manner in which they are purified,
She simply states that they are
purified only through the merits of
our Lord, in Whose name and through
Whose merits the prayers are offered.
Keeping ourselves within the limits
of this sober moderation of the Church,
moderation which ought to meet the
appreciation of our reason in things
supernatural, and refraining from
searching at present the How of a
mystery, which pride alone and
speculative vanity would find some
interest to fathom-let us turn atten-
tion to the Why of the mystery, and
admire it's relation with the whole, and
moral tendencies of Christianity. And
our rational conclusion will be the
one of a great genius, and at the same
time a great infidel, namely, eff that
dogma of Purgatory did not exist, it
should have to be invented"
The actual existence of a place
called Purgatory rests upon the very
notion of the nature of God, the nature
of man and the relation between God
and man.