And today we are going to be having a quick look at does purgatory exist?
Padre Pio had a lot of experience with souls from purgatory.
On what did he base it?
Where do the doctrines and ideas, concepts of purgatory come from?
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Now, today, we're going to be having a look at this concept of purgatory in a little more
detail.
And in previous videos, we've seen how Padre Pio often had dealings with souls from purgatory.
But let's face it, Padre Pio's life was kind of unusual, because he was able to see and
to speak to guardian angels.
Should we really be surprised that he was able to see souls from purgatory as well,
that they came to visit him, ask him for prayers?
And we know of a few instances.
There were some soldiers who visited the monastery late one night, everything was already locked,
and then there was a noise and a ruckus going on in the foyer of the monastery.
And the doorkeeper was sent down to investigate.
He got there, there was no one present, and Padre Pio explained that these were soldiers
who, in fact, died on the battlefield that come here to thank him for his prayers already,
and they were now on their way to paradise.
There was that other instance where Padre Pio, late one night, everything was once again
closed and locked, sitting, I think it was by himself, in the monastery and someone came
in.
He said he was dressed in a very old style of jacket, Italian jacket, and this person
came to him and Padre Pio was somewhat shocked.
And then he told him the whole story.
He told him what his name was, that he had lived in this monastery before it was a monastery,
while it was not a monastery, shall we say.
And that he had in fact died in cell number, and he gave the cell number, from smoke inhalation
because the mattress had caught light, asking for prayers.
When they investigated the town records, there was actually a record of exactly that incident
from way, way back.
And there are a number of other stories about Padre Pio and purgatory, but we do want to
take a look at what Padre Pio bases is confidence on that these souls are coming from purgatory
to him.
So, a glance at some of the origins of this doctrine.
Now, the mere fact that we pray for the dead, we say things like, "May they rest in peace,"
it presupposes the existence of purgatory, because it is not necessary to pray for those
who are already in Heaven, or to pray for those who are in Hell.
They are beyond our help.
And so, it presupposes this other state on the way, on route to Heaven.
If we want to look at scripture, we can go to the Book of Machabees, second Machabees
says, It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may
be loosed from sins.
St. Paul tells us that there are people who are, as if purified through fire.
It's not using the name purgatory, but it is certainly the concept.
These souls are in transits on the way to heaven.
And we are not sure what it is, we don't know if it is a place or a state of expiration.
Could be either.
But someone's going to object.
Well, doesn't it mean our Lord's sacrifice is insufficient, it's denying his sacrifice?
And yet at the same time, we have to say that nothing defiled may enter heaven.
There's got to be this time or state of purifying, of purgation.
The church does not have exact details and information of what purgatory is or where
it is.
But apparently in purgatory, not everything is about pain.
There's also happiness there.
Now, according to St. Catherine of Genoa, she said, "I don't believe it is possible
to find happiness comparable to the souls in purgatory, except for the blessed in paradise
already.
And it's a happiness that keeps increasing each day," she said, "as God's goodness flows
more and more upon the souls."
But surely it would be better not to refer to the souls in purgatory as poor souls, because
they are in fact rich in love, in happiness, hope of going to heaven, and the soul is really
there, it's a novitiate before they progress onto heaven.
They're full of gratitude, but there're also elements of suffering there.
That's why we call them the poor souls.
Now, if we look at the church fathers, Saint Augustine, and he was the Bishop of Hippo
in North Africa from 396 to 430.
He was a Latin Father of the Church and perhaps one of the most significant thinkers, Christian
thinkers, after St. Paul.
He's an important doctor of the early church.
And he tells us the following about Purgatory.
To be purified of our previous faults before being admitted to heaven, our souls after
death are submitted, he says, to penetrating fire.
More horrible, he says, and scary than anything we can feel or understand on this earth.
This fire, he says, St. Augustine says, is intended to cleanse and to purify the soul.
And he adds, it is stronger than anything we can possibly endure on this earth.
The existence of purgatory is one of those truths that Catholics should not doubt.
Since the dawn of the church, the beginning of the church, this existence of purgatory
has been taught, has been accepted as a truth of faith, where of the gospel has been preached.
And these doctrines were revealed and sometimes also derived in different ways from sacred
scripture, maybe they don't use the name, but the concept, as we said earlier on, is
given to us, then it's derived and it's transmitted over time through the holy traditions of the
church.
And it's taught with the infallibility of the church.
It has been accepted by thousands and millions of people through the ages.
And the Council of Trent, that is around 1545, in respect of purgatory, they told us that
the offering of prayers and good works is for the rest of souls, for their rest.
And it declares, it has been established that for our temporary, temporal, rather, that
is in time, penalties, of sins, that must be paid here on earth before death, if not,
then after death in purgatory, before we're admitted into the celestial kingdom of God
in paradise.
And so, I find this concept of temporal penalty something actually quite confusing.
But let's say I stole something.
Will it be good enough for me just to say, please forgive me and make no amends to try
and restore the situation?
That's kind of that concept.
The temporal penalty requires one to make amends.
And it has been confirmed and declared once again, that those souls detained in purgatory
can be helped by the faithful, through our prayers.
And we can also offer up our sufferings and especially the holy mass.
And that, once again, is from the Council of Trent.
Then next time on this channel, we're going to have another video on the fantastic life
of Padre Pio.
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