Purgatory , livre ebook

TAN Books - Frederick Faber Rev. Fr.

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100 pages

English

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Is Purgatory almost like Hell? Or is it a place of peace and even joy? The famous Fr. Faber explains both of these classic Catholic views of Purgatory, basing his discussion on Catholic teaching and the revelations of saintly souls, especially St. Catherine of Genoa, in her Treatise on Purgatory. Impr. 96 pgs,

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Christian theology

Catholic Church

Theology

Christianity

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Publié par	TAN Books
Date de parution	01 janvier 2009
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781618903174
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0174€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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We approve highly of the republication of the work styled All for Jesus , by the Rev. F. W. Faber, which has been received so favorably by the Catholics of England.
Francis Patrick Kenrick Archbishop of Baltimore Baltimore January 20, 1854
This book consists of Chapter IX, “Purgatory,” from Fr. Faber’s book entitled All for Jesus . Retypeset from the TAN edition (1991), which was itself retypeset from the 23rd American edition, published by John Murphy & Co., 182 Baltimore St., Baltimore, Maryland, around 1854, “with the sanction and corrections of the author.” Punctuation has been slightly modernized, and chapter divisions and titles and subheadings have been added by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., in 2002.
ISBN 978-0-89555-728-5
Library of Congress Control No.: 2001-132407
Cover illustration: “Holy Mass and Purgatory” stained-glass window. Photo copyright © Alan Brown 1993. Al Brown Photo, Bardstown, Kentucky.
Cover design: Pete Massari, Rockford, Illinois.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
2002
“Oh, what a wonderful thing is the life of a fervent Catholic! It is almost omnipotent, almost omnipresent, because it is not so much he who lives as Christ who liveth in him! Oh, what is it we are touching and handling every day of our lives, all so full of supernatural vigor, of secret unction, of divine force—and yet we consider not, but waste intentions and trifle time away in the midst of this stupendous supernatural system of grace, as unreflecting almost as stone embedded in the earth and borne round unconsciously in its impetuous revolutions day by day.”
— Pages 60-61
Father Frederick William Faber 1814-1863
Father Faber was born in Yorkshire, England in 1814. He was converted from the Anglican ministry to Catholicism in 1845. Ordained a priest in 1847, he joined the Oratorians in 1848 under John Henry Cardinal Newman. In addition to numerous fine hymns, Fr. Faber authored nine books: Spiritual Conferences , All for Jesus , Growth in Holiness , The Blessed Sacrament , The Foot of the Cross , The Precious Blood , Bethlehem , The Creator and the Creature and Notes on Doctrinal Subjects , plus a volume of poems, essays and other minor works. In addition, he published a series of 49 Lives of Modern Saints (the “Oratorian” Lives) which highlight the Saints’ growth in sanctity under the operation of grace. Fr. Faber died in London in 1863. He is considered a master of the theology of the spiritual life.
CONTENTS
1. The Thought of Hell
2. Devotion to the Souls in Purgatory
3. First View: Purgatory Similar to Hell
4. Second View: The Souls’ Desire for Purification
5. Union of the Two Views of Purgatory
6. Other Benefits of This Devotion
7. The Example of the Saints
Prayers for the Souls in Purgatory
A Collection of Classic Artwork
WHAT WILL HELL BE LIKE?
We Expect Reward or Punishment
Teaching of Pagan Philosophers
Belief of Pagans
Where Is Hell Located?
Catholic Teaching
Hell Is a Definite Place
Pains of Hell
Fire of Hell
Can a Spiritual Soul Feel Fire?
Punishment by Cold
Remorse of Conscience
Suffering from Devils and Darkness
Pain of Loss of God
Teaching of St. Thomas
God Makes Heaven
God Makes Hell
Eternal Choice Is Made During Life
Greatest Pain of Hell
The Damned Do Not Forget
The Damned Know Nothing About Us
Do the Damned Have Faith?
The Will Is Set on Evil
Do the Damned Wish Evil to Others?
Case of the Rich Man in Hell
Do the Damned Repent of Sin?
Hatred of God
Do the Damned Desire to Be Destroyed?
Punishment of Hell Is Eternal
This Punishment Is Not Unjust
How Punishment Is Measured
The Patience of God
Jesus’ Parable of Dives and Lazarus
Fatima Children’s Vision of Hell

1
The Thought of Hell
I T IS incredible how dear the glory of God becomes to those who are continually on the lookout for it. The very search gives them new senses whereby they can find it, while daily increasing love is perpetually sharpening their discernment. “The earth is full of Thy glory.” What a joy to a loving heart! But it is not enough that Heaven has overflowed and that the earth is filled with the blessed inundation of His glory. We would fain [wish] there should not be a nook of creation which is not full of it. Yet there is one place where that glory seems frustrated, one place from which there rises neither plaint of prayer, nor joy of praise, nor blessing of thanks, nor aspiration of desire. It is the house of those who have had their trial and lost their cause, and with it have lost God forever.
Here is grace which has not borne fruit, or whose fruits have rotted upon the tree. Here are Sacraments which have come to nought. The Cross has been a failure, and God’s loving purposes have been successfully resisted and direfully overthrown. Yet it is of faith that God’s harvest of glory out of that unutterable gloom is immense, for the lost soul is as much an unwilling worship of His justice as the converted soul is a willing worship of His love. Neither is Jesus without His own interests there; for the pains, unspeakable as they are, nay, even in the bare thought of them intolerable, are less than the merit of sin, less than the righteous measure of punishment, and are so because of Him. The Precious Blood, in some sense, has reached even there.
The Fear of Hell Saves Souls
Neither is that horrible place without a most blessed result on the salvation of many souls, through the holy and salutary fear which it breeds in them and the loose and low notions of God which it corrects in the unthinking. When Our Lord showed Sister Francesca of the Blessed Sacrament, a Spanish Carmelite, the loss of a soul, and several times in a vision compelled her positively to study the separate tortures of that place, He upbraided her for weeping: “Francesca! Why weepest thou?” She fell prostrate at His sacred feet and said, “Lord! For the damnation of that soul, and the manner in which it has been damned.” He vouchsafed to reply, “Daughter! It hath chosen to damn itself; I have given it many helps of grace that it might be saved, but it would not profit by them. I am pleased with your compassion, but I would have you rather love My justice.” And another time, when she was compelled to fix her gaze upon those pains, the Angels said to her, “O Francesca! Strive hard after the holy fear of God!” Who can doubt that there are, at this hour, thousands and tens of thousands in the bliss of Heaven who never would have been there if there had been no Hell. Alas for the reproach it is to the unloving hearts of men, but after all, the Cross of Christ has had no better help on earth than the unbearable fire of Hell.
Verily it is well for our own sakes to think sometimes of that horrid place! As truly as fair France lies across the Channel, as truly as the sun is shining on the white walls and gay bridges and bright gardens and many-storied palaces of its beautiful capital, as truly as that thousands of men and women there are living real lives and fulfilling various destinies, so truly is there such a place as Hell, all alive this hour with the multitudinous life of countless agonies and innumerable gradations of despair. Save the Blessed in Heaven, none live so keen or conscious a life as those millions of ruined souls. It is not impossible that we may go there too. It is not impossible that we may have sent some there already. When we pass along the streets, we must often see those who will inhabit there forever. There are some there now who were not there an hour ago. There are some now in the green fields, or in the busy towns, on comfortable beds, or on the sunshiny seas, who in another hour perhaps will have gone there. This is a dreadfully real truth.
It Is Good to Think of Hell
But what if more than all this be true? What if there was once a day when we should have gone thither if we had died? What if this hour it holds mere boys and girls, who have sinned far less than we have done, nay, perhaps have sinned but once, while we have sinned a thousand times? Oh, but we may humble ourselves still more. How long should we persevere in serving God if we were certified there was no Hell? Should we have left our sins if it had not been for Hell?
Oh, what a thing it is to be upon this good earth, and surrounded by all this hopeful life, when we have actually by our own hand and eye, word and thought and evil painstaking, worked out our right and title to all this everlasting woe. Ah! Just as the mist rises from the barren sea, where the corn grows not and the vines can bear no fruit, and forms the clouds which are to fall in fertilizing showers over hill and dale, so from those broad seas of fire and curse the Divine Compassion rises like a cloud to pour down streams of grace upon the souls of living men.
Let no one ever turn away from the sight of Hell, lest, by little and by little and by very little, a good opinion of himself should grow up within his soul and send him to that drear banishment at last. Indeed it is good, very good, to think of Hell, and of that kind wonder that we are not already there this hour. Nay, do not start—what you see is indeed the white light of earth’s sun; fear not: that sound—it is the wind that waves the branches of the wood; be assured, your eyes do not deceive you: those are the village spires that are sleeping in the misty, quiet landscape; all is right so far. We are here, and we are free; but we ought to have been—there, and slaves!
But if we give ourselves up to seek and find God’s glory, and to make this our one occupation upon earth, must we go down to Hell and learn to rejoice with those awful attributes of God which are satisfied with that terrific sacrifice? No! God be praised; this is no part of our devotion. We are creatures of hope and love. We go where God’s glory is possible to us, where we can help it and advance its interests; or i