PURGATORY occupies an important
place in our holy religion: it forms some of the principal parts of the work
of Jesus Christ, and plays an essential role in the economy of the salvation of
man.
Let us, call to ,mind that the
Holy Church of God, considered as whole is composed of three parts.This triple
church constitutes the mystical body of Jesus Christ and the souls in Purgatory
are no less His members than are the faithful upon earth and the elect in
Heaven. In the Gospel, the Church is ordinarily called the Kingdom of Heaven ;
now Purgatory, just as the Heavenly and terrestrial Church, is a province of
this vast king dom.
The three sister Churches have
incessant relations with each other, a continual communication which we call
the Communion of Saints. These relations have no other object than to conduct
souls to eternal glory, the final term to which all the elect tend. The three
Churches mutually assist in peopling Heaven, which is the permanent city, the glorious
Jerusalem.
What then is the work which
we, members of the Church Militant, have to do for the souls in Purgatory? We
have to alleviate their sufferings. God has placed in our hands the key of this
mysterious prison : it is prayer for the dead, devotion to the souls in
Purgatory.
