The Place of Purification: Exploring the Dogma of Purgatory
The year was 1998. The name of our children’s new school was “All Souls Catholic School.” Every year on the first of November, our school celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints and on the 2nd of November, the Solemnity of All Souls. At that point for me, it was all about making sure my kids were wearing the right uniforms for extra Mass attendance days. I worked with them on their saint reports and homework for religious education, but I wasn’t yet “all in” on the belief that people could be beatified and deemed “saints” by a decision of the Church. Not to even mention the whole idea of certified miracles etc. etc.. See, I had started (to my own surprise) RCIA classes that year. I could hear God calling me into His Church, but as a dyed-in-the-wool Protestant, I had a LOT of misconceptions. In my mind, I was there “just for the information.”
By the grace of God, I had a profound conversion of my Faith and over the course of the RCIA program, came to love the Church for her Truth and Goodness and Beauty. However, I still had reservations about several dogmas of Catholicism; one of them being the belief in Purgatory. For the first 40+ years of my life, I believed that when a good person dies their soul ascends straight to Heaven. to now learn (and believe) that there is a “purification station” called Purgatory in which many righteous souls stop BEFORE ascending to Heaven was really a stretch for me. I know it is for a lot of people. It’s a whole lot nicer to believe all of your dearly beloved are living with God in Heaven from the first moment of their death.
Once I was fully initiated into the Church, I truly became ardent in my love for Jesus Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I thirsted for more knowledge. With the whole hearted support of my husband, I entered The Augustine Institute, an outstanding accredited Catholic graduate school, and graduated in 2013 with a Master of Art in Theology degree, majoring in Evangelization and Catechesis. I received an excellent academic education and was surrounded by deeply devout professors, chaplain, and students who all lived their Catholic faith with beautiful intention and discipline. Through those years of study I was finally able to put aside my reservations on dogmas such as Purgatory and learn the actual, true teachings of the Church, based on Holy Scripture and Tradition.
A few years later, my parents died two and a half months apart. It was a hard, hard walk with both of them. My father, while still mentally sharp as a tack, lost his long battle with heart disease in February of 2019. I actually think he died as much from a broken heart as he did from the damage of heart disease. He suffered excruciatingly as he watched his wife of 61 years, my mom, descend into the darkness and quiet of dramatic memory loss and physical decline over the eight years of her Alzheimer’s diagnosis. She hung on until my father’s death and then she died quietly in May of 2019.
As I sat long hours with both of them, I prayed often not only for an ease to their suffering, but also for their souls. They were both very traditional, faith filled, practicing Methodists for all of their adult lives. They were good, strong, godly people. I did not fear that their souls would be kept from Paradise too long after their deaths.
Bryanne Devlin, @brydevlin.
What I now knew as a more educated Catholic, however, was that their departed souls would be purified before resting in the glory of the Presence of God. Heaven is a place of Divine Perfection. In Heaven, we will live face-to-face with the Creator of All That Is. It stands to reason that we cannot be in the presence of Perfection unless we too are perfected and cleansed from the stain of all sin. God, our Father, loves us intimately and without reserve throughout our sinful, human lives. To live with Him in the presence of His Perfect Being, however, requires that our sin is wiped away, completely.
The Church describes the true state of Purgatory to be as such, “All who die in God’s grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030). “The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire.” (CCC 1031).
As November rolls around this year, and the Solemnity of All Souls is celebrated on November 2nd, I will be able to once again deeply rejoice in the joy of praying for my father and mother, and for all the souls in Purgatory. I will pray for their swift journey of purification, knowing with assurance that they will ultimately be wrapped in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. I will rejoice in the truth that Heaven is a place of luminous glory, perfect beyond anything we can imagine as we look upon the Face of our Divine Creator.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, Rest in peace. Amen.
Meet Ginger Giesen
Ginger and her husband David have been married for 33 years. They have lived Denver, Colorado for most of those years raising kids and starting a business. Their kids are all adults now, and their growing family is also blessed with 4 beautiful grandchildren.
Ginger converted to Catholicism 20+ years ago. She earned a MA in Theology in 2013 from The Augustine Institute before working at the Institute and then at a parish. Throughout this time, Ginger has continued her 20 year tradition of leading small group studies and last year wrote and lead a 2 day women’s retreat. She hopes to continue with this calling. You can connect with Ginger on Instagram at @ggiesen_truthbeautygoodness.