ALTHOUGH faith tells us
nothing definite regarding the location of Purgatory, the most common opinion,
that which most accords with the language of Scripture, and which is the most
generally received among theologians, places it in the bowels of the earth, not
far from the Hell of the reprobates. Theologians are almost unanimous, says
Bellarmin, in teaching that Purgatory, at least the ordinary place of
expiation, is situated in the interior of the earth, that the souls in
Purgatory and the reprobate are in the same subterranean space in the deep abyss
which the Scripture calls Hell.
When we say in the Apostles Creed
that after His death Jesus Christ descended into Hell, the name Hell, says the
Catechism of the Council of Trent, signifies those hidden places where the souls
are detained which have not yet reached eternal beatitude. But these prisons
are of different kinds. One is a dark and gloomy dungeon, where the damned are
continually tormented by evil spirits, and by a fire which is never extinguished.
This place, which is Hell properly so called, is also named Gehenna and abyss.
There is another Hell, which
contains the fire of Purgatory. There the souls of the just suffer for a
certain time, that they may become entirely purified before being
admitted into their heavenly fatherland, where nothing defiled can ever enter.
A third Hell was that into
which the souls of the saints who died before the coming of Jesus Christ were
received, and in which they enjoyed peaceful repose, exempt from pain, consoled
and sustained by the hope of their redemption. They were those holy souls which
awaited Jesus Christ in Abraham s bosom, and which were delivered when Christ
descended into Hell. Our Savior suddenly diffused among them a brilliant light,
which filled them with infinite joy, and gave them sovereign beatitude, which Is
the vision of God. Then was fulfilled the promise of Jesus to the good thief:
This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.
“A very probable opinion”,
says St. Thomas, and one which, moreover, corresponds with the words of the
saints in particular revelation is that Purgatory has a double place for
expiation. The first will be destined for the generality of souls, and is situated
below, near to Hell; the second will be for particular cases, and it is from
thence that so many apparitions occur.
The holy Doctor admits, then,
like so many others who share his opinions, that sometimes Divine Justice assigns
a special place of purification to certain souls, and even permits them to
appear either to instruct the living or to procure for the departed the
suffrages of which they stand in need; sometimes also for other motives worthy
of the wisdom and mercy of God.
Such is the general view
concerning the location of Purgatory. Since we are not writing a controversial
treatise, we add neither proofs nor refutations; these can be seen in authors
such as Suarez and Bellarmin. We will content ourselves by remarking that the
opinion concerning a subterranean Hell has nothing to fear from modern science.
A science purely natural is incompetent in questions which belong, as does this
one, to the supernatural order. Moreover, we know that spirits may be in a
place occupied by bodies, as though these bodies did not exist.
Whatever, then, the interior
of the earth may be, whether it be entirely of fire, as geologists commonly
say, or whether it be in any other state, there is nothing to prevent its serving
as a sojourn of spirits, even of spirits clothed with a risen body. The Apostle
St. Paul teaches us that the air is filled with a multitude of evil spirits: We
have to combat, says he, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.
On the other hand, we know
that the good angels who protect us are no less numerous in the world. Now, if angels and other spirits can
inhabit our atmosphere, whilst the physical world is not in the least degree
changed, why cannot the souls of the dead dwell in the bosom of the earth ?
