Archbishop Lefebvre - On Purgatory 1978

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If we really understood what the Souls of Purgatory SUFFER, we would do all that is possible from OUR PART to deliver them and AVOID THE PURGATORY ourselves!



THE ARCHBISHOP TALKS:

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My dear friends and my dear brothers,

The Church has the custom of associating the Souls of Purgatory with the Feast of All Saints . In fact, starting this evening (the eve of the Day of the Dead ), the Church asks us to pray for the Souls of Purgatory, and tomorrow, the whole day, has been consecrated to them. The priests who celebrate three Masses tomorrow, begging Our Lord to deliver the Souls of Purgatory, may apply to each of their Masses the plenary indulgence for the Souls of Purgatory. That is why, during these few moments, I would like to draw your attention and see you reflect on the reality of Purgatory and on the devotion we should have for the souls who are suffering in this place of purification.


In the first place, does Purgatory exist?

If it were to believe all that is written today, even by members of the Catholic Church, one would be tempted to believe that Purgatory is a medieval fable! NOT! Purgatory is a dogma, a dogma of our Faith. Whoever refuses to believe in Purgatory is a heretic. In fact, as early as the thirteenth century, the Second Council of Lyon solemnly affirmed the existence of Purgatory; then, in the fifteenth century, the Lateran Council again stated the reality of Purgatory. Finally, the Council of Trent, in particular, solemnly stated against the denials of Protestants, the need to preserve the Faith, to believe in the existence of Purgatory. Therefore, it is certain that this is a dogma of our Faith, which is affirmed especially and supported by Tradition, rather than by Sacred Scripture.

Sacred Scripture, however, offers passages that allude as clearly as possible to the existence of Purgatory. We also have an Epistle which is read by the Church at the Masses offered by the Souls of Purgatory in the Book of Maccabees , where Judas Maccabeus sent a sum of twelve thousand talents to Jerusalem to ask the Priests to offer a sacrifice for the intention of the soldiers who had died in battle, so that they might be delivered from their afflictions and into Heaven. Sacred Scripture adds: It is a salutary thought to pray for our dead.

St. Paul also alludes to the Souls of Purgatory when he says that certain Souls enter Heaven immediately and others almost perish , that is, they enter Heaven also, but pass through the fire, alluding certainly to the purification necessary for these Souls who do not they are perfectly prepared to enter Heaven. It is because of these allusions, and particularly through the Tradition transmitted to us by the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church, that the Church founded her Faith in the existence and reality of Purgatory.