Questo articolo è disponibile anche in: Italian English

Dear Father Angelo, good evening!

I am Francesco, the worst sinner on Earth … I’m writing to you to ask about two explanations both about my personal life and about matters of faith.

I have a doubt: I recently expressed to our immense God (who I’m not even worthy to name) the intention of “taking” upon me in Purgatory the sins of other specific people, that is, of myself “paying” through Purgatory for all the sins committed by other people during their lifetime, so that those people could go, once they died in a state of grace, directly to Heaven.

But then, I thought that souls go through Purgatory of their own accord in order to self-purify, because they are horrified by even the slightest stain of sin or imperfection; so, how can I (a soul with my own sins and imperfections) pay for the stains that are on other souls?

Excuse me if it sounds like a childish question, but I want to understand if I can actually carry out this intention!

Over my personal and spiritual situation, let’s draw a pitiful veil: I am a great sinner in need of the pity and mercy of the Lord, my issues are my great arrogance and my pride, that prevent me from asking for pity and help to the Lord, I often believe that I can make it by myself and invariably I fail, and this leads me to get angry against the Lord.

I got into this vicious circle, I pray little to nothing, I am always tormented by awful thoughts of violence against other people, which is appalling for me even to speak about; also, I am not brave enough to say what I think about the vulgar talk that I hear in my workplace, I do not condemn evil nor deeply hate it as I should do, I feel very far away from the Lord and I no longer feel any love for Him, who is the personification of Love and who has given everything for me … pray for me and if you can, give me good advice!

Thank you for your attention, may the Lord bless you for everything you do!

Answer from the priest

Dear Francesco,

1. It is true that Purgatory is desired by the souls themselves because it would be unbearable for them to be with any stain in the presence of the one who is three times holy.

St. Caterina of Genoa says that being in Heaven with any stain amidst the splendor of God and the Saints would be an agony worse than a thousand hells.

So, Purgatory is considered one last Mercy and Grace of the Lord towards us.

2. However, it is also true that all those who live in the grace of God draw life from the same vine, which is Jesus Christ.

In him we are all a single reality, as a single reality is the vine with its most varied branches.

Therefore in Christ we form a single body, as St. Paul also reminds us: “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ” (1 Cor 12:12).

The sins of life past, once forgiven, do not prevent us from benefiting others, because with the grace of God we become a new creature: “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor 5:17).

3. As our body is made up of many limbs and each one of them brings benefit for the whole and for all the other limbs, so also by virtue of charity which lets us draw lifeblood from Jesus Christ we can benefit each other.

It is exactly upon this communion that the conviction is based that we can be useful to the souls in Purgatory.

Likewise, moreover, the souls of Purgatory are useful to us, because their merits are always before God with the attitude of pleading for everyone and in particular for those who, when they were on Earth, were the objects of their affection.

4. In this regard, about the Communion with the dead, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “The Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and ‘because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’ (2 Mac 12:45) she offers her suffrages for them.

Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective” (CCC 958).

5. Regarding the possibility of atonement in order to avoid Purgatory for some souls so that they can go directly to Heaven, we have the beautiful testimony of St. Catherine of Siena regarding her father, Jacopo.

This is how this story is described: “In the meantime, the end of Jacopo’s life was approaching, and he took to his bed, struck by an illness. As soon as Catherine heard this, she immediately turned to her Spouse, advocating to him for the health of her father. But she was told that it was good for Jacopo not to expect anything else.

Catherine then ran to her father’s bedside and, having carefully ascertained his state of mind, found him resigned to death and without any worries about temporal life. For this she gave thanks to the Savior with all her heart” (Raymond of Capua, Life of Saint Catherine of Siena, nr. 220).

“Not yet satisfied, she again gathered her spirit, and prayed to the Lord, the source of all graces, that, as He had allowed Jacopo to pass from this life without guilt, so He would also allow him to ascend to heaven without touching purgatory. She was answered that justice had to be preserved at least in some way, since it was not possible for a soul that was not perfectly cleansed to enjoy the splendor of so much glory.

The Lord said to her: “Although your father, among those who are at the head of a family, kept an irreproachable conduct and behaved discreetly with me, especially towards you, nevertheless if his soul did not pass through the fire, justice would be impaired. He has taken up too much mud, and his soul has become like stone because of earthly interests”.

And Catherine replied: “My most beloved Lord, how can I bear that the soul of the one who brought me into the world, who with such passion raised and educated me, who in his life did me nothing but good, how can I think of it burning in that terrible fire? By all your goodness I beg and implore you not to allow his soul to leave his body if in one way or another you have not purified it without the need for the flames of Purgatory”.

Wondrous thing! Having in a certain way the Lord God consented to the man’s word and desire, Jacopo lost the strength of his body, but his soul did not leave him until that pious and holy argument which lasted a long time was over, during which the Lord spoke of justice and the virgin asked for grace.

Finally, after much insistence, the virgin said: “If grace cannot be obtained without saving justice in some way, let justice be done to me, who for my father am willing to bear any punishment established by your goodness”.

The Lord took her at her word and said: “Certainly, for the love you have for me, I accept your request, and I will free your father’s soul from all pains: but you, as long as you live, will bear on his behalf the tribulations that I will send you”.

And she answered joyfully: “I accept, O Lord, your word: let it be as you have commanded” (Ib., nr. 221).

“Then she approached the bed of her dying father to comfort him, and filled him with joy by assuring him of salvation on behalf of the Most High; nor did she leave him until she had seen him expire.

At the same moment that Jacopo’s soul left his body, the virgin felt oppressed by a pain in her side, which she carried throughout her life; there was never a moment that she did not feel it, as she herself and her companions have repeated to me so many times, and as I and the others, who were with her, have been able to see” (Ib., nr. 222).

6. From this story you are instructed on what you ask of God when you ask Him to be able to atone for all the souls in Purgatory.

As you see, desires are not enough. Sighs are not enough.

It is necessary to accept all the trials of life without complaining.

In particular, it is necessary to patiently bear annoying people, as it is said in the catalog of works of spiritual mercy, without judging others negatively.

7. Above all, it is necessary to be of great prayer, in constant communion with God so that the spiritual lifeblood that flows from Him into the veins of our soul through charity can be communicated to those who await our fraternal help in Purgatory.

May the Lord who inspired this great desire in you, bring it to fulfillment by leading you to a highly holy life.

I follow this wish of mine with my prayer for you.

I bless you,

Father Angelo