PURGATORY: WHAT CAN I EXPECT THERE?
All right. Here’s how things are gonna go down.
We die. At that very moment
of death, we know whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell. So if
Person X dies one hour from now and is not in a state of grace, then Person X
will be in hell in exactly one hour.
On the other hand, all
people who die in a state of grace, with no mortal sin on their soul, will
spend eternity in paradise. But most of us will first have to stop through
purgatory to cleanse our souls of any remaining attachment to earthly things.
And purgatory is no party.
I will now type out some
questions on purgatory that have not been recently featured in Dear Abby’s column.
What is
purgatory?
It is the final purification or purging of our souls before we enter heaven.
Purgatory is temporary. It will pass away on the last day of Earth.
Is purgatory a
place?
Purgatory only refers to the STATE of being purged of our sinfulness. Whether
or not there is a physical place where this occurs, we won’t know until then.
Heaven, on the other hand, is definitely located in a physical place.
Since it’s hard for us earthlings to envision supernatural things, it is common for some people to refer to purgatory as a place, which is fine, as long they realize that the Church hasn't yet defined whether or not it involves a place.
Is
purgatory a second chance for us? No! There are no second chances after
we die. Purgatory is only for the elect (those who are already forgiven for
their sins when they die). Forgiveness is available only while we are on Earth,
and only is available to us thanks to Christ's death and resurrection.
Why do we need
purgatory?
Very simple.
In heaven there is no sin. I
sin. Therefore, I cannot enter as I am now.
The Bible says "But
nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]" (Rev. 21:27)
The
Bible also says, “You will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
(Mt. 5:26)
Our purification is for the
good of all the people living eternally in heaven. God knew that his children
would be most happy if the people around them were the most loving, caring
people they could be. Think about two groups of friends you have. Maybe in one
group, all the friends tend to be judgmental, gossipy and self-centered. In the
other group, all are sincere, generous, and supportive and you know you can
truly count on them for anything. Obviously you will feel more loved around the
second group, and will be more motivated to be kind around them.
After purgatory, we will
truly be holy enough to meet Christ face to face. In heaven, we will actually
see him and know him as He is.
Who gets to
skip purgatory and go straight to heaven?
The few that will go
directly to heaven are the ones who do not have even one trace of self-love
left in their hearts.
They are the saints who have
already made reparation for every sin of their life.
Remember, one sin might take
just seconds to commit, but the reparation or punishment may take years, and
may be very painful. Also, remember, it is only through Christ’s merits of
dying and rising for us that we can be forgiven at all. It is only through His
merits and infinite mercy that the gates of heaven are open to us after the
fall of Man. It is only His merits and the grace He showers on us that gives us
the power to undo our past sins and grow closer to Him.
So what
happens when we get to purgatory?
OOOUUUCH!!!!
It’s painful. Real painful.
Perhaps you went through a
time in your life when you were in severe physical or emotional pain. Perhaps
you came out of it closer to God. Perhaps during the painful experience, you
recognized a serious sin you had been committing and turned away from it.
If that happened, you went
through a purification.
Purgatory is just a
finishing up of the purification we go through on earth.
Even if we have been
forgiven from our sins in Confession, it’s possible we have not yet been
punished or haven’t yet done sufficient penance to heal the damage we caused by
those sins while on earth. That’s what purgatory is for.
And remember, the pain from
the punishment must outweigh the pleasure derived from the sin.
St. Augustine said:
"Man is forced to suffer even after his sins are forgiven, though it was
sin that brought down on him this penalty. For the punishment outlasts the
guilt, lest the guilt should be thought slight if with its forgiveness the
punishment also came to an end"
Yes, it’s true our work is not
done after Confession. Let’s say Johnny got so angry at you that he picked up
your new computer and threw it out the window from the 10th floor.
But later, he is truly sorry. You, in your great mercy, forgive him. But to
make things completely right, Johnny still should buy you a new computer. If he
doesn’t have the money, he should work extra to get that money. He must also
work to restore your trust.
Another example. Let’s say
Lulu made up a rumor about your friend, telling everyone she committed adultery.
Lulu realizes she was wrong and begs for forgiveness. Your friend forgives
Lulu. But Lulu’s work is not done. Besides doing penance, she also needs to
tell everyone who heard the rumor that she lied. This may be embarrassing and
painful to her, but it will help reverse damage that was done.
But now let’s say that Lulu
is hit by a car on her way to tell the friends that she lied. Well, she doesn’t
get off the hook. Though previously forgiven, she still needs to make
reparation to God for the sin before entering heaven and final glory.
That’s where purgatory comes
in.
Purgatory was created for
our benefit, so that we may all enjoy eternity to the fullest. In the same way,
surgery may be painful, but a doctor may order it for a patient if she knows it
will allow her patient to enjoy a more fulfilling future.
Some theologians have
compared the pain of purgatory to child labor. The woman has severe pain, but
rejoices in knowing what is to come.
Unlike on Earth, where we
experience periods of punishment & purification, periods of celebrating,
and periods of working and play, in purgatory there is nothing but purging
going on. Therefore, it will be the most severe and most prolonged pain we’ve
experienced. It’s best to attend daily Mass while we’re on Earth. There is no
better or more pleasing sacrifice to offer up to God as propitiation for our
sins than Christ’s own perfect sacrifice. Of course, there are other ways to
make reparations for our sins: prayer, fasting, and charity work all help heal
the damage we have done to the whole Body in Christ.
Actually, all of these
things sound a lot less painful to me than the fires of purgatory.
How painful is
it?
It’s brutal. Many early
Church Fathers and later theologians said that the fires of purgatory are actually the same as the fires
of hell. The difference is that purgatory is a cleansing fire, a temporary
fire. St. Thomas Aquinas said the worst pain we feel on earth is not as painful
as the least pain in purgatory.
Aquinas explains, “It
is the same fire that torments the reprobate in hell, and the just in
purgatory. The least pain in purgatory,’ he says, "surpasses the greatest
suffering in this life. ' Nothing but the eternal duration makes the fire of
hell more terrible than that of purgatory."
St. Augustine: "Even as
in the same fire gold glistens and straw smokes, so in the same fire the sinner
burns and the elect is cleansed." (Here, St. Thomas Aquinas quotes Gregory
the Great quoting St. Augustine)
How long do
people have to spend in purgatory?
We really don’t know. But
many theologians say it can last anywhere from a second to many centuries, depending on yours sins, the intensity
of your attachments to earthly things, and the amount of penance you have done
on earth.
Let’s say Farmer Bobby
suspects that one of his two cows may have signs of Mad Cow Disease. But he
needs the money and is in a rush, so he turns it into hamburger and serves it
to Aunt Betty. The aunt suffers for a year, then dies. Her husband and two
children all suffer from severe heartache for the next 20 years.
Would the just punishment in
purgatory be 61 years (the combined time of the aunt’s family members’
heartache plus the suffering of Aunt Betty) or would it be 300 years? Or would
it be one day of burning in a fire as hot as the sun? We simply don’t know. We
can only guess what supernatural justice involves.
Is there any
way to help the souls in purgatory?
Yes, if you are in a state
of grace, then your prayer, your fasting, your offering up a Mass for the sake
of a soul who has passed can help ease the suffering of these souls. That’s
because we are all one connected body in Christ. Right now, the body of
believers are on earth, in purgatory and in heaven, but after the last day, the
entire body of Christ will be in heaven. There is no greater gift you could
give a loved one who has passed than to attend daily Mass and offer up the
Eucharist for their sake. If you say a prayer for them right this second, they
will be helped. Their suffering will be eased.
St. Augustine’s mother, St.
Monica, asked her son to remember her at the altar after she died. Augustine
complied, and noted in his work “Confessions” that “the sacrifice of our
redemption” was offered up for his mother.
Who should be
prayed for?
If there is someone you are
sure is in heaven, like the saints and martyrs, then there is no reason to pray
for them. If there is someone you are sure is in hell, there is no reason to
pray for that soul, since there is no escape. But do pray for all others.
Did the first
Christians pray for the dead?
Yes! In fact, there is
evidence of this from inscriptions on underground tombs, called catacombs,
determined by archeologists date back to the first century. The inscriptions
say things like “Peter and Paul, pray for Victor.”
According to the Catholic
Encyclopedia, “In a word, so overwhelming is the witness of the early Christian
monuments in favor of prayer for the dead that no historian any longer denies
that the practice and the belief which the practice implies were universal in
the primitive Church. There was no break of continuity in this respect between
Judaism and Christianity.”
What does the
Bible say about purgatory?
Like the words “Trinity,”
and “Incarnation” the exact term “purgatory” is not in the Bible. But the Bible
certainly does contain the doctrine.
In the Book of Maccabees,
the teaching of purgatory is spelled out crystal clear, and so is the practice
of offering up sacrifices for the dead, which was done by the early Christians
and even Jews before Christ.
2 Maccabees 12:44-46 talks
about atoning for the dead so they can be free from their sin. It also tells us
it is “a holy and pious thought” to pray for the dead
The Bible has many other
examples of dead people who are forgiven from sins but need to atone for those
sins before entering heaven.
For example, in 2 Tim
1:16-18, the apostle Paul prays for the dead man, Onesiphorous.
In 1 Cor 15:29-30, St. Paul
talks about baptizing people for the dead.
In 2 Sam 12:13-14, we see
that David is forgiven by the Lord for his sin, but that he must still endure
punishment for the sin (the punishment is the death of his first child).
Hebrews 12:14 tells us to
strive “for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”
The Bible urges us to be
perfect Christians. Being a Christian with remaining sins or attachments to
earthly pleasures does not cut it. Matthew 5:48 says “So be perfect, just as
your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 12:32 “And whoever
speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks
against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the
age to come.” (no sins can be repented for in hell, so this has to be talking
about purgatory)
“If the work which any man
has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s
work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but
only as through FIRE” (1 Cor. 3:10-15).
And of course, there are
passages like Rev. 21:27, where
we see that nothing unclean will enter heaven. And in Mt 5:22-26, we see that
we will not be released until we pay the last penny (obviously this verse is
talking about purgatory, since nobody will be released from hell….. See
http://www.canapologetics.net/html/there_is_a_purgatory_.html)
Why don't Protestants believe in Purgatory?
They should! They are going to have to suffer through it with the rest of us! The final purification before heaven was a consistent doctrine seamlessly passed on through Judaic and Christian history. The first millennium and a half of Christians believed in it. But then Luther realized purgatory did not mesh with his new "Faith Alone" theory so he got rid of the doctrine, and simultaneously removed the Book of Maccabees from the Old Testament because of its clear stating of the doctrine.
For more info on purgatory, Protestants and Maccabees, see:
http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/deutero.html (Why Protestants do not have 7 books of the Old Testament) http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=152 (Purgatory)
http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/e-bks/scrp/s525/s525_chap7.html, http://www.canapologetics.net/html/bible_and_the_church.html, http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/cloud.html, http://www.catholic.com/library/Old_Testament_Canon.asp, http://www.catholic-defense.com/otcanon.htm)
http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=4677
(Doctrine of Purgatory)
What do the
Jews say about the final purification?
Even before Christ’s time,
Jews were teaching that we undergo a final purification between death and final
glory. Today, devout Orthodox Jews who lose a loved one, pray a prayer called
the “the mourner's Qaddish” for 11 months after the death for the
purpose of speeding up the purification process. They stop praying before the
year’s up because they feel it would be an insult to imply the person is guilty
of so many sins that need purging.
A note to my friends: Please
don’t stop praying for me 11 months after my death (of course I plan to outlive
all of you, but just in case…). Also, I don’t want to hear any gooey, sappy
stuff after I die, like “She’s in a better place” or “She’s at peace” because I
will be undergoing a purging fire and will be greatly in need of your prayers.
Please make a note of this on your refrigerator.
Why is
suffering a necessary part of Christianity?
For one, God is a loving and
just father. A parent who punishes a child for running out into the street or
for touching a hot stove has the well being of the child in mind.
When it comes down to it,
Christ’s work on the cross is completed. But God gives us work to do…. work
that he has in mind for the well being of the whole body of believers…. work
that is done for the sake of the body…whether one prays for another or makes an
even larger sacrifice, it all helps repair the damage that was done to the
whole body by sin.
One of St.
Peter’s main goals in writing his first epistle (I Peter) was the show the value
of sharing in Christ’s suffering.
In Romans 7:18, Paul tells us we can only be heirs of the kingdom if we suffer with Him. There are many other examples in the Bible.
Are there any groups devoted to helping the poor souls in purgatory through prayer, offering up Masses and acts of mercy?
Yes. The Prayer Warriors of the Holy Souls (www.pwhs-mfi.org)
What is considered the most interesting book on purgatory?
Purgatory Explained by Father F.X. Schouppe, S.J.
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What did the great Christian
theologian, St. Augustine, say about purgatory?
"The time which interposes between the death of a man
and the final resurrection holds souls in hidden retreats, accordingly as each
is deserving of rest or of hardship, in view of what it merited when it was
living in the flesh. Nor can it be denied that the souls of the dead find
relief through the piety of their friends and relatives who are still alive,
when the Sacrifice of the Mediator [Mass] is offered for them, or when alms are
given in the Church. But these things are of profit to those who, when they
were alive, merited that they might afterward be able to be helped by these
things. There is a certain manner of living, neither so good that there is no
need of these helps after death, nor yet so wicked that these helps are of no
avail after death" (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity 29:109 [A.D.
421]).
'That you purify me in this life
and render me such that I may not stand in need of that purging fire" -
St. Augustine
What did other Church Fathers say about purgatory?
"Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep:
first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their
prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention
also of the holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to
put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen asleep, for we believe
that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the
petition is carried up, while this holy and most solemn sacrifice is laid
out." St. Cyril of Jerusalem ("Catechetical Lectures" c. 350
A.D.)
"Useful too is the prayer fashioned on their behalf, even if it does
not force back the whole of guilty charges laid to them. And it is useful also,
because in this world we often stumble either voluntarily or involuntarily, and
thus it is a reminder to do better." St. Epiphanius of Salamis
("Medicine Chest Against All Heresies" c. 375 A.D.)
"Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by
their father's sacrifice (Job 1:5), 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." St. John
Chrysostom ("Homilies on 1 Corinthians" c. 392 A.D.)
"Weep for those who die in their wealth and who with all their
wealth prepared no consolation for their own souls, who had the power to wash
away their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for them, let us assist
them to the extant of our ability, let us think of some assistance for them,
small as it may be, yet let us somehow assist them. But how, and in what way?
By praying for them and by entreating others to pray for them, by constantly
giving alms to the poor on their behalf. 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. when
the entire people stands with hands uplifted, a priestly assembly, and that
awesome sacrificial Victim is laid out, how, when we are calling upon God,
should we not succeed in their defense? But this is done for those who have
departed in the faith, while even the catechumens are not reckoned as worthy of
this consolation, but are deprived of every means of assistance except one. And
what is that? We may give alms to the poor on their behalf." St. John
Chrysostom ("Homilies on Philippians" c. 402 A.D.)
"And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again received
her [Thecla]. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream:
‘Mother, you shall have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may
pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the
righteous’" (Acts of Paul and
Thecla [A.D. 160]).
"The citizen of a prominent city, I erected this while I lived, that I
might have a resting place for my body. Abercius is my name, a disciple of the
chaste Shepherd who feeds his sheep on the mountains and in the fields, who has
great eyes surveying everywhere, who taught me the faithful writings of life.
Standing by, I, Abercius, ordered this to be inscribed: Truly, I was in my
seventy-second year. May everyone who is in accord with this and who
understands it pray for Abercius" (Abercius in Epitaph of Abercius [A.D. 190]).
"[T]hat very night, this was shown to me in a vision: I [Perpetua] saw Dinocrates
going out from a gloomy place, where also there were several others, and he was
parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and pallid color, and the
wound on his face which he had when he died. This Dinocrates had been my
brother after the flesh, seven years of age, who died miserably with disease. .
. . For him I had made my prayer, and between him and me there was a large
interval, so that neither of us could approach to the other . . . and [I] knew
that my brother was in suffering. But I trusted that my prayer would bring help
to his suffering; and I prayed for him every day until we passed over into the
prison of the camp, for we were to fight in the camp-show. Then . . . I made my
prayer for my brother day and night, groaning and weeping that he might be
granted to me. Then, on the day on which we remained in fetters, this was shown
to me: I saw that the place which I had formerly observed to be in gloom was
now bright; and Dinocrates, with a clean body well clad, was finding refreshment.
. . . [And] he went away from the water to play joyously, after the manner of
children, and I awoke. Then I understood that he was translated from the place
of punishment" (The Martyrdom of
Perpetua and Felicity 2:3–4 [A.D. 202]).
"[T]hat allegory of the Lord [Matt. 5:25–26] . . . is extremely clear and
simple in its meaning . . . [beware lest as] a transgressor of your agreement,
before God the Judge . . . and lest this Judge deliver you over to the angel
who is to execute the sentence, and he commit you to the prison of hell, out of
which there will be no dismissal until the smallest even of your delinquencies
be paid off in the period before the resurrection. What can be a more fitting
sense than this? What a truer interpretation?" (The Soul 35 [A.D. 210]).
"We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday anniversaries [the
date of death—birth into eternal life]" (The Crown 3:3 [A.D. 211]).
"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" (Tertullian in Monogamy
10:1–2 [A.D. 216]).
"The strength of the truly believing remains unshaken; and with those who
fear and love God with their whole heart, their integrity continues steady and
strong. For to adulterers even a time of repentance is granted by us, and peace
[i.e., reconciliation] is given. Yet virginity is not therefore deficient in
the Church, nor does the glorious design of continence languish through the
sins of others. The Church, crowned with so many virgins, flourishes; and
chastity and modesty preserve the tenor of their glory. Nor is the vigor of
continence broken down because repentance and pardon are facilitated to the
adulterer. It is one thing to stand for pardon, another thing to attain to
glory; 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
Carhage in Letters 51[55]:20
[A.D. 253]).
"But also, when God will judge the just, it is likewise in fire that he
will try them. At that time, they whose sins are uppermost, either because of
their gravity or their number, will be drawn together by the fire and will be
burned. Those, however, who have been imbued with full justice and maturity of
virtue, will not feel that fire; for they have something of God in them which
will repel and turn back the strength of the flame" (Lactantius in
Divine Institutes 7:21:6 [A.D. 307]).
"Then we make mention also of those
who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and
martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our
petition; next, we make mention also of the holy fathers and bishops who have
already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already
fallen asleep, for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the
souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while this holy and most
solemn sacrifice is laid out" (Cyril of Jerusalem in Catechetical Lectures 23:5:9
[A.D. 350]).
"If a man distinguish in himself what
is peculiarly human from that which is irrational, and if he be on the watch
for a life of greater urbanity for himself, in this present life he will purify
himself of any evil contracted, overcoming the irrational by reason. 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
in Sermon on the Dead [A.D.
382]).
"Let us help and commemorate
them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice [Job 1:5], 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" (John Chrysostom in Homilies on First Corinthians 41:5 [A.D. 392]).
"Weep for those who die in their wealth and who with all their wealth
prepared no consolation for their own souls, who had the power to wash away
their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for them, let us assist them
to the extent of our ability, let us think of some assistance for them, small
as it may be, yet let us somehow assist them. But how, and in what way? By
praying for them and by entreating others to pray for them, by constantly
giving alms to the poor on their behalf. 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. When
the entire people stands with hands uplifted, a priestly assembly, and that
awesome sacrificial Victim is laid out, how, when we are calling upon God,
should we not succeed in their defense? But this is done for those who have
departed in the faith, while even the catechumens are not reckoned as worthy of
this consolation, but are deprived of every means of assistance except one. And
what is that? We may give alms to the poor on their behalf" (John Chrysostom in
Homilies on Philippians 3:9–10
[A.D. 402]).
http://www.scborromeo.org/truth/q3.htm
(Purgatory throughout History)
http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/pg.html
(Purgatory: Holy Fire)
http://www.canapologetics.net/html/the_final_sanctification.html
(Catechism)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04653a.htm
(Catholic Encyclopedia on Prayers to the Dead throughout History)
http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/purgatory.html
(Scriptural Basis)
http://catholiccitizens.org/platform/platformview.asp?c=9914
(in the Bible)
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/PURGATOR.HTM
(there’s no sinning in heaven)
http://www.canapologetics.net/html/the_final_sanctification.html
(The Final Sanctification)
http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=4677
(Explanation of purgatory, including contrary views)
http://www.catholic.com/library/Purgatory.asp
(purgatory)
http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/how2purg.htm
(explaining purgatory to your Protestant friends)
http://www.pwhs-mfi.org/newsletter/news12/why_purgatory.htm
(Jimmy Swaggart vs. purgatory)
http://www.catholic.org.sg/act/tracts/The%20Scriptural%20Cheat%20Shee.htm
(Scriptural references)
http://www.canapologetics.net/html/on_purgatory.html
(apologetics discussion)
http://www.catholicintl.com/epologetics/Rebuttal_to_Dr_White_on_Purgatory.html (advanced apologetics discussion with
evangelical James
White)
http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/purgatory.html (Purgatory: Is it Scriptural?)
BOOK: Purgatory by Father F.X. Schouppe, S.J.
BOOK: Ecclesiastical History of
Bede
Finally, the book “The Salvation Controversy” by James Akin does a good job at explaining that although Jesus died and rose so that we could have forgiveness of sins, our God is a just God who will punish us when He knows it will benefit us in the long run.
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Has anybody seen purgatory?
Yes. Throughout the years, God has allowed various saints and non-saints to see purgatory, hell and even heaven (but without the Beatific Vision), and to report back.
Because this all came through private revelation rather than public revelation or official council pronouncements, Catholics have no obligation to believe it or take any interest in it. But the holiness and integrity of these saints, especially after seeing what they saw, and the historical facts surrounding the events, lend credence to them. I will only mention a couple of the numerous times where people have been shown these things. If you are not interested in private revelation (occurring after the time of the apostles), just skip this section.
The following accounts are found in RAISED FROM THE DEAD: TRUE STORIES OF 400 RESURRECTION MIRACLES by Father Albert J Hebert: (this book has the imprimatur, which means the book contains no doctrines or morals contrary to Catholic teaching)
1. An Englishman named Drithelm returned to life right before burial (and this is confirmed even by St. Bede the Venerable (672-735), a Doctor of the Church and perhaps the greatest historian on early English history). Here's what Drithelem said:
"On leaving my body I was received by a benevolent person who took me under his guidance. His face was brilliant, and he appeared surrounded with light. He arrived at a large deep valley of immense extent, all fire on one side, all ice and snow on the other; on the one hand braziers and caldrons of flame, onthe other the most intense cold and the blasts of glacial wind."
"Drithelm went on to tell how he saw innumerable souls tossed as if by a furious tempest from the side with the freezing cold to the side with the blazing heat, from torture to torture, constantly seeking relief in the opposite extreme, to and fro. HE thought the terrible place was Hell, but his guide informed him that it was a special place in Purgatory. In this place were the souls who had deferred repentance to the end of their lives, but had been saved by the mercy of God at the last minute. There in Purgatory they would endure their temporal punishment for forgiven sin. Most of them would do penance there, he understood, until Judgment Day. Drithelm saw a crew of jeering spirits, demons, dragging into the pit five wailing and weeping souls, among them one who was tonsured, a layman, and a woman. On the happier side he saw flower fields, youthful spirits, happy abodes, but that was not Heaven. He came to a place where he heard the sound of sweet singing amid a delightful fragrance and glorious light. His guide told him that Heaven was nearby , but Drithelm did not see it. Then his heavenly guide told him to return to earth. and he ended up in the monastery at Melrose by the bend of the Tweed River. When Drithelm was asked why he did such great penances as plunging his body into freezing water he would reply, "I have seen penances still more astonishing." [p. 98 Raised from the Dead: True Stories of 400 Resurrection Miracles, Father Albert J. Hebert]
2. St. Christina the Admirable (1150-1224) of Belgium rose out of her coffin after dying at age 32. The story was supported by two holy and well-respected cardinals: St. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J. and Cardinal James de Vitry. Hebert writes:
"It is said that the whole city of Trond witnessed this miracle with amazement, and were even more astonished at what she then related:
"As soon as my soul was separated from my body, it was received by angels who conducted it to a very gloomy place entirely filled with souls. The torments which they there endured and appeared to me to be so excessive that it is impossible for me to give any idea of their rigor. I saw among them many of my acquaintances, and, deeply touched by their sad condition, I asked what place it was, for I believed it to be Hell. My guide answered me that is was Purgatory, where sinners were punished who before death had repented of their faults, but who had not made worthy satisfaction to God. From there I was conducted into Hell, and there also I recognized among the reprobates some whom I had formerly known. The angels then transported me into Heaven...."
"In Heaven (again, not the full Heaven of the Beatific Vision) the Lord gave Christina a choice of remaining in glory, or having been so moved with compassion for the souls in Purgatory, and horror for those in Hell, to return to earth, there to suffer dreadful torments and penances without dying. By such reparational sufferings she would deliver souls from Purgatory and convert sinners away from the road to Hell and toward that of eternal salvation. The Lord told Christina that then, "after having ended this new life, you shall return here laden with merits."
Christina told the people on earth that she had answered the Lord without hesitation: she would return to life on earth. At that instant she arose from her coffin. She warned the people not to be surprised at the extraordinary penances she planned to suffer from then on."
Thenceforth Christina lived without house or fire; she threw herself into burning furnaces, where she survived the torment of flames. The Lord told her that she would endure great torments without dying from the effects - this would constitute a constant miracle. She prayed in winter in the frozen waters, and on and on.
Cardinal Bellarmine wrote that everyone could see Christina standing in the midst of the flames without being consumed, and covered with wounds, every trace of which disappeared a few moments afterwards."
. . . Christina led this terrible life of penance for 42 years." [p. 99-100 Raised from the Dead: True Stories of 400 Resurrection Miracles, Father Albert J. Hebert]
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