The Fathers Speak:
Purgatory
One of the most important dogmas of
the Faith jettisoned by Martin Luther (to him, at least) was the belief in
Purgatory. Luther was rightly disturbed
by the scandalous practice that had developed, particularly in Germany, where
he was from, of selling indulgences, whereby people felt they could “buy” their
relatives’ way out of Purgatory by giving money to the Church.
The Council of Trent condemned this
already illicit practice, but Luther denied the existence of Purgatory
altogether, going so far as removing references to it from the Bible. It remains a common area of attack among
anti-Catholic fundamentalists. However,
a look at the statements of the Fathers of the Church on the subject easily
counters the false claims that Purgatory was a medieval invention meant to be
an easy source of revenue.
A woman, after the death of her husband . . .
prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that he
may share in the first resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his
death, she offers the sacrifice [of the Mass]
– Tertullian, On Monogamy, A.D. 216
It is one thing, when cast into prison, not to
go out thence until one has paid the uttermost farthing; another thing at once
to receive the wages of faith and courage. It is one thing, tortured by long
suffering for sins, to be cleansed and long purged by fire; another to have
purged all sins by suffering. It is one thing, in fine, to be in suspense till
the sentence of God at the day of judgment; another to be at once crowned by
the Lord –
Cyprian of Carthage, Letter 51, A.D. 253
If he has inclined to the irrational pressure
of the passions, using for the passions the cooperating hide of things
irrational, he may afterward in a quite different manner be very much
interested in what is better, when, after his departure out of the body, he
gains knowledge of the difference between virtue and vice and finds that he is
not able to partake of divinity until he has been purged of the filthy
contagion in his soul by the purifying fire
– Gregory of Nyssa, Sermon on the Dead,
A.D. 382
St. John Chrysostom, A.D. 392
Not in vain was it decreed by the apostles
that in the awesome mysteries remembrance should be made of the departed. They
knew that here there was much gain for them, much benefit. –
Homilies on Philippians
Why would we doubt that our offerings for the
dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have
died and to offer our prayers for them
– Homilies on First Corinthians
St. Augustine
Temporal punishments are suffered by some in
this life only, by some after death, by some both here and hereafter, but all
of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer
temporal punishments after death will come to eternal punishments, which are to
follow after that judgment… But by the prayers of the holy Church, and by the
salvific sacrifice, and by the alms which are given for their spirits, there is
no doubt that the dead are aided
– The City of God, A.D. 419
That there should be some fire even after this
life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or
left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and
some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good
things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire –
Handbook on Faith, Hope and Charity, A.D. 421
