![]() ![]() Any discussion on the Last Things – death, judgment, heaven and hell – is incomplete without taking up the matters of purgatory and “limbo. In the popular imagination, purgatory is thought of as a place not unlike a waiting room. In fact, purgatory is not so much a location as it is a temporary state of being or process. Furthermore, while some have objected to the concept of purgatory, properly understood it should not be that controversial. Purgatory is a state of purification that some souls undergo prior to entering Heaven, while limbo is an antiquated theological construct. In fact, if one is “in” purgatory, they can rejoice because they are on their way to heaven ( CCC 1030). When someone dies in mortal sin, that is having deliberately acted in a way that now separates them from God, that separation continues after death, a state which is called hell. Meanwhile, some people die burdened with lesser or venial sins, imperfections and failures which wound love and mar spiritual life. But such persons are still in the friendship of God. Because heaven is a place of pure holiness, this impurity of sin must necessarily be removed from the soul to enter. Limbo noun A dance played by taking turns crossing under a horizontal bar or stick. Only if healed and purged of impurities can we enter into that life which is blessed communion with God, rejoicing in his infinite goodness. Purgatory adjective Tending to cleanse expiatory. This process of purification is called “purgatory,” in which we are transformed and purified in a way that may be experienced as suffering, but “it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God” ( Spe Salvi, 47). The doctrine of there being a limbo for children who die in original sin or for those patriarchs who died before the coming of Christ is refuted in part by this. Limbo is a place or state of the souls of the just who, although purified from sin, were not allowed to enter either Heaven or Hell or to the permanent place or state of those unbaptized. Limbo is also known to be the 'edge of Hell' for it is closer to Hell than Heaven. This purification is entirely different from those in hell who suffer eternally the pained anguish of being separated from God and his love it is not “hell-lite” ( CCC 1031). Limbo, also known as the Further, is the border between Heaven, Earth, and Hell, however, it is different from Purgatory. The Church’s teaching on purgatory finds a solid foundation in scripture, which also speaks of the practice of praying for the dead. According to this division, the first part is where souls that die with sin are placed.
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