Yesterday, 08:18 AM
CHAPTER XIII. HOW THE SOUL, RECOGNISING ITS OWN IMPERFECTION, RUSHES OF ITSELF INTO PURGATORY.
God created the soul to enjoy the fruition of Himself, for which end He endowed it with such a powerful instinct, that, were it to find anything it has done to be contrary to its fulfilment, it would instantly chastise and correct it by its own good will, without waiting for any other judgment.
I will explain myself by a comparison. Suppose that on the day of judgment every one were to be freed from his sins by the blood of Christ, yet some blemishes and deformities were left in the soul through sin: such, for instance, as a shortness of sight, preventing one from beholding the divine light, or contracted limbs, causing one to walk and to work imperfectly, with many other similar defects; all of which would be discovered in that clear light. Now, if such a soul were placed before the face of God, it would feel that it could not bear that presence, it would feel the contrast between what it is and what it ought to be; and so, that self-love which God infuses into it as part of its creation would of itself be a hell to it, or rather would put it into purgatory for its own purification, without any other judge or sentence.
The soul sees by the divine light how disfigured it is, and, urged by that natural instinct which God has planted in it for the purpose of keeping it pure, understands full well that only by some such purging can it restore itself to the purity in which God designed it. It accordingly chastises itself in purgatory, without any external compulsion whatsoever. The soul, that is to say, creates its own purgatory by its own act of love; not that the soul was damned, but the soul was not fit to be in heaven; and the soul, out of love for God and desire for the divine union, accepts this purgatory.
God created the soul to enjoy the fruition of Himself, for which end He endowed it with such a powerful instinct, that, were it to find anything it has done to be contrary to its fulfilment, it would instantly chastise and correct it by its own good will, without waiting for any other judgment.
I will explain myself by a comparison. Suppose that on the day of judgment every one were to be freed from his sins by the blood of Christ, yet some blemishes and deformities were left in the soul through sin: such, for instance, as a shortness of sight, preventing one from beholding the divine light, or contracted limbs, causing one to walk and to work imperfectly, with many other similar defects; all of which would be discovered in that clear light. Now, if such a soul were placed before the face of God, it would feel that it could not bear that presence, it would feel the contrast between what it is and what it ought to be; and so, that self-love which God infuses into it as part of its creation would of itself be a hell to it, or rather would put it into purgatory for its own purification, without any other judge or sentence.
The soul sees by the divine light how disfigured it is, and, urged by that natural instinct which God has planted in it for the purpose of keeping it pure, understands full well that only by some such purging can it restore itself to the purity in which God designed it. It accordingly chastises itself in purgatory, without any external compulsion whatsoever. The soul, that is to say, creates its own purgatory by its own act of love; not that the soul was damned, but the soul was not fit to be in heaven; and the soul, out of love for God and desire for the divine union, accepts this purgatory.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre