‘HOW GOD MAKES USE OF PURGATORY…’ ~ ‘Treatise on Purgatory’ by Saint Catherine of Genoa; 1915; …
[Saint Catherine of Genoa ~ XV-XVI Century; born: Genoa, Republic of Genoa/ died: Genoa, Republic of Genoa; (aged 62-63); Mystic; Spiritual Writer]
Chapter X ~ HOW GOD MAKES USE OF PURGATORY TO RENDER THE SOUL PERFECTLY PURE THE SOUL THERE ATTAINS SUCH PURITY, THAT WERE IT TO STAY AFTER BEING CLEANSED IT WOULD NO LONGER SUFFER
AGAIN, I see that the love of God directs towards the soul certain burning rays and shafts of light, which seem penetrating and powerful enough to annihilate not merely the body, but, were it possible, the very soul itself. These work in two ways ; they purify, and they annihilate.
Look at gold : the more it is melted, the better it becomes ; and it could be melted so as to destroy every single defect. Such is the action of fire on material things.
Now the soul cannot be annihilated so far as it is in God, but only in itself ; and the more it is purified, so much the more it annihilates self, till at last it becomes quite pure and rests in God. Gold which has been …More
"God performs this last act of love without the co-operation of man ; for there are so many secret imperfections within the soul, that the sight of them would drive it to despair. These are, however, all destroyed during the process I have described ; and when they are consumed, God shows them to the soul, that it may understand that it was He who kindled that fire of love which consumes every imperfection there is to be consumed."
Fire of God's Love:
"In like manner the Divine fire acts on souls: God holds them in the furnace until every defect has been burnt away, and He has brought them, each in his own degree, to a certain standard of perfection. Thus purified, they rest in God without any alloy of self: their very being is God ; they become impassible because there is nothing left to be consumed. And if in this state of purity they were kept in the fire, they would feel no pain ; rather it would be to them a fire of Divine Love, burning on without opposition, like the fire of life eternal."
Great thought: "For a work to be perfect, it must be wrought in us, without our co-operation as principal agents ; it must be God's work, done in God, and man must not in any way take the lead."
One more comment from In Principio
"KNOW that what man deems perfection is in the sight of God a defect. All the things which have the appearance of perfection, so far as they come before the sight, the feeling, the understanding, the memory, or the will, are tainted and spoilt if not recognised as from God."