Purgatory – The Golden Prison

A doctrine of the faith, often misunderstood by Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Purgatory, is a logical, biblical, and beautiful reality of the afterlife.

CS writer/managing editor Gene Van Son recently wrote about Purgatory in “A Reasonable Argument for the Existence of Purgatory” (November 23, 2022).  I want to expand on what he wrote.

Prayers for the Dead

Van Son referenced 2 Maccabees 12:41–45 in his article and I think these verses warrant additional examination.

In the second book of Maccabees from the Old Testament, we read about Judas Maccabeus taking up a collection to offer a sacrifice on behalf of some fallen men who were found to have idolatrous amulets under their tunics. Judas performs the sacrifice and prayer for the dead in hopes it will deliver them from their sin.  He is mindful of the resurrection of the dead, and is aware that God’s mercy extends beyond the grave.  He clearly believes that our prayers and actions on earth are efficacious before the Lord.

Scripture records this action saying of it,

In doing this he (Judas Maccabeus) acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin (2 Macc 12:43-45).

The very act of praying for the dead, clearly endorsed by Scripture, points to the reality of some place or state besides Heaven and Hell in the afterlife. Praying for the dead would be meaningless for souls in Hell since they have rejected God’s saving love and would have no purpose for those in Heaven who are already experiencing the beatific vision.

Therefore, prayers for the dead demand a third option, an intermediary place of forgiveness and mercy where souls after death are purged of their sins in preparation for heaven. This is what the Church recognizes as Purgatory.

C.S. Lewis and Purgatory

The great 20th-century Anglican theological writer, C.S. Lewis commented, both beautifully and bluntly, on his own belief in and practice of prayer for the dead. In his book, Mere Christianity, Lewis wrote:

Of course, I pray for the dead. The action is spontaneous, so all but inevitable, that only the most compulsive theological case against it would deter me. And I hardly know how the rest of my prayers would survive if those for the dead were forbidden. At our age the majority of those we love best are dead. What sort of intercourse with God could I have if what I love best were unmentionable to Him?

The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (1030) says Purgatory is the final purification of souls. Since Scripture tells us that nothing unclean shall enter heaven (Rev 21:27), and we know that many who die in a state of grace will still have the stain or effects of sin from which they need be cleansed, the existence of Purgatory logically and necessarily follows.

Again, C.S. Lewis helpfully articulates this necessity of Purgatory. Lewis wrote:

Our souls demand Purgatory, don’t they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, ‘It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy’? Should we not reply, ‘With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I’d rather be cleaned first.’ ‘It may hurt you know’ – ‘Even so, sir.’

Lewis’ imaginary dialogue with the Lord helps show that our souls will desire the cleansing and purgation of Purgatory after death.

The Necessity of Purgatory

It is wrong to think of Purgatory as some third possible destination after death along with Heaven and Hell. Rather, Purgatory is simply the “period” of purgation that a soul undergoes before entering the presence of God in Heaven.

Just as we naturally desire spiritual cleansing before approaching the Lord in the Eucharist at Mass, we will want perfect and total purgation before entering the presence of the Lord in the His heavenly kingdom.

The Consequences of Sin                   

The Church teaches that there are two consequences for our sins, eternal punishment, and temporal punishment. In Confession, the eternal punishment due for sin is forgiven and wiped away, and through penance, the temporal punishment due for sin is “paid for” and accomplished.

Imagine a young boy throwing a rock through a church window, smashing it into a thousand broken pieces. Now the pastor can forgive the penitent boy for his crime, but there is still restitution that must be made – the window must be fixed.

Another helpful illustration of this point is imagining each sin we commit as our hammering a nail into a beautiful, white picket fence. Through the Sacrament of Confession, we remove the nails from the fence, but the hole, the damage, is left behind. That is the temporal punishment due for sin. We can either make restitution here on earth or after our death in Purgatory.

In Purgatory we are purged of the temporal punishment due for sin.  We are perfectly cleansed so that we can enjoy to the fullest the presence of God in heaven.

The Golden Prison

Poet, theologian, and saint, John Henry Newman described Purgatory as a golden prison. While it is a necessary preparation and purification for heaven, and while it might be painful, it is beautiful. There is something truly glorious and indicative of the great mercy of God, that his forgiveness reaches beyond the grave.

Purgatory is not a watered-down version of Hell in which we suffer the pain of separation from God.  As Newman writes in his poem, The Golden Prison – it is not an evil destination, but a penitential pit-stop on the way to eternal glory.

Weep not for me, when I am gone,
Nor spend thy faithful breath
In grieving o’er the spot or hour
Of all-enshrouding death;
Nor waste in idle praise thy love
On deeds of head or hand,
Which live within the living Book,
Or else are writ in sand;
But let it be thy best of prayers,
That I may find the grace
To reach the holy house of toll,
The frontier penance-place, –
To reach that golden palace bright,
Where souls elect abide,
Waiting their certain call to Heaven,
With Angels at their side;
Where hate, nor pride, nor fear torments
The transitory guest,
But in the willing agony
He plunges, and is blest.
And as the fainting patriarch gain’d
His needful halt mid-way,
And then refresh’d pursued his path,
Where up the mount it lay,
So pray, that, rescues from the storm
Of heaven’t eternal ire,
I may lie down, then rise again,
Safe, and yet saved by fire.

A Place of Preparation

In another, more famous, poem, The Dream of Gerontius, John Henry Newman describes the journey of a soul, Gerontius, as he passes from this life to the next. At the end of the poem, he masterfully paints a picture of Gerontius’ guardian angel bringing the man’s soul to Purgatory. Not a place of damnation or terror, but a place of preparation on the way to the Lord’s throne.

Softly and gently, dearly-ransom’d soul,
In my most loving arms I now enfold thee,
And o’er the penal waters, as they roll,
I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee

And carefully I dip thee in the lake,
And thou, without a sob or a resistance,
Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take,
Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance.

Angels, to whom the willing task is given,
Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou liest;
And Masses on the earth, and prayers in heaven,
Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest.

Farewell, but not for ever! brother dear,
Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;
Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,
And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.

Purgatory is a blessed extension of the mercy and love of God, it is the application of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross on the soul after death. Purgatory is the fiery embrace of the Lord in which all that is not of him is burned away so that we might fully and totally embrace him in perfect love for all eternity.