On November 1, we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, a major feast day to remember that we are all called to be saints and to go to Heaven. Though living in a fallen world there is a final step before all of us are able to get to heaven. This final step is called Purgatory.
Purgatory is a place where the soul is purified of its Earthly attachments. After the soul is cleansed of these attachments the soul is welcomed into eternal paradise. The Catechism states that Purgatory is, “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030).
This means that if we die in a state of grace (when all of our mortal sins have been forgiven) we still need to be purified so that we can achieve the holiness that we have been striving for our whole lives and to match the holiness that was achieved by the saints that are already in heaven. The purification is the cleaning of our souls from venial sins as well as the cleansing of the temporal effects that the sin had on us. People who are in purgatory are destined to go to Heaven and they do not have a chance of going to Hell.
Likewise, those who are going to Hell do not have a chance of going to purgatory and then to Heaven because of their choices they made on Earth.
We are able to reduce our time in purgatory by receiving an indulgence. More importantly, we must pray for the souls in Purgatory so that they can gain admittance into Heaven quicker. |
