''The Pains of Purgatory - their Nature - their Rigour — Doctrine of Theologians" - "The Purgatory' Rev. Shouppe; 1920; Chapter IX; pp. 25-27
"However, speaking in general, the doctors agree in saying that the pains are most excruciating. The same fire, says St. Gregory, torments the damned and purifies the elect." Almost all theologians," says Bellarmine, " teach that the reprobate and the souls in Purgatory suffer the action of the same fire."
It must be held as certain, writes the same Bellarmine, that there is no proportion between the sufferings of this life and those of Purgatory. St. Augustine declares precisely the same in his commentary on Psalm xxxvii. : Lord he says, chastise me not in Thy wrath, and reject me not with those to whom Thou hast said, Go into eternal fire ; but chastise me not in Thine anger : purify me rather in such manner in this life that I need not to be purified by fire in the next. Yes, I fear that fire which has been enkindled for those who will be saved, it is true, but yet so as by fire. They will be saved, no doubt, after the trial of fire, but that trial will be terrible, that torment will be more intolerable than all the most excruciating sufferings in this world. Behold what St. Augustine says, and what St. Gregory, Venerable Bede, St. Anselm, and St. Bernard have said after him. St. Thomas goes even further; he maintains that the least pain of Purgatory surpasses all the sufferings of this life, whatsoever they may be. Pain, says B. Peter Lefevre, is deeper and more acute when it directly attacks the soul and the mind than when it reaches them only through the medium of the body. The mortal body, and the senses themselves, absorb and intercept a part of the physical, and even of moral pain.
The author of the " Imitation " explains this doctrine by a practical and striking sentence. Speaking in general of the sufferings of the other life : There, he says, one hour of torment will be more terrible than a hundred years of rigorous penance done here}. To prove this doctrine, it is affirmed that all the souls in Purgatory suffer the pain of loss. Now this pain surpasses the keenest suffering. But to speak of the pain of sense alone, we know what a terrible thing fire is, how feeble so ever the flame which we enkindle in our houses, and what pain is caused by the slightest burn ; how much more terrible must be that fire which is fed neither with wood nor oil, and which can never be extinguished ! Enkindled by the breath of God to be the instrument of His Justice, it seizes upon souls and torments them with incomparable activity. That which we have already said, and what we have still to say, is well qualified to inspire us with that salutary fear recommended to us by Jesus Christ. But, lest certain readers, forgetful of the Christian confidence which must temper our fears, should give themselves up to excessive fear, let us modify the preceding doctrine by that of another Doctor of the Church, St. Francis of Sales, who presents the sufferings of Purgatory soothed by the consolations which accompany them.
"We may," says this holy and amiable director of souls, " draw from the thought of Purgatory more consolation than apprehension. The greater part of those who dread Purgatory so much think more of their own interests than of the interests of God's glory; this proceeds from the fact that they think only of the sufferings without considering the peace and happiness which are there enjoyed by the holy souls. It is true that the torments are so great that the most acute sufferings of this life bear no comparison to them ; but the interior satisfaction which is there enjoyed is such that no prosperity nor contentment upon earth can equal it.
The souls are in a continual union with God. They are perfectly resigned to His will, or rather their will is so transformed into that of God that they cannot will but what God wills ; so that if Paradise were to be opened to them, they would precipitate themselves into Hell rather than appear before God with the stains with which they see themselves disfigured. They purify themselves willingly and lovingly, because such is the Divine good pleasure.
They wish to be there in the state wherein God pleases, and as long as it shall please Him. They cannot sin, nor can they experience the least movement of impatience, nor commit the slightest imperfection. They love God more than they love themselves, and more than all things else ; they love Him with a perfect, pure, and disinterested love. They are consoled by angels. They are assured of their eternal salvation, and filled with a hope that can never be disappointed in its expectations. Their bitterest anguish is soothed by a certain profound peace. It is a species of Hell as regards the suffering; it is a Paradise as regards the delight infused into their hearts by charity — Charity, stronger than death and more powerful than Hell ; Charity, whose lamps are all fire and flame (Cantic. viii.). " Happy state ! " continues the holy Bishop, " more desirable than appalling, since its flames are flames of love and charity."
Image: Gabriele Dell'Otto - Dante's Divine Comedy - Twenty-sixth Canto of the Inferno Bolgia of Counsellors of Fraud:
Music: Josquin Desprez - 'De profundis clamavi' · The Hilliard Ensemble · Paul Hillier:
'De profundis clamavi' = 'I cried out from the depths'
youtube.com/watch?v=fVVQLrrjdDA