Thoughts from the Early Church

Commentary by Catherine of Genoa

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

The souls in purgatory cannot think,
“I am here, and justly so because of my sins,”or “I wish I had never committed such sins
for now I would be in paradise.” ...

Such is their joy in God's will, in his pleasure,
that they have no concern for themselves
but dwell only on their joy in God's ordinance. ...

Only once do they understand
the reason for their purgatory:
the moment in which they leave this life.
After this moment, that knowledge disappears.
Immersed in charity, incapable of deviating from it,
they can only will or desire pure love.
There is no joy save that in paradise
to be compared with the joy of the souls in purgatory. ...

Joy in God, oneness with him, is the end of these souls,
an instinct implanted in them at their creation. ...

That is why the soul seeks to cast off
any and all impediments, so that it can be lifted up to God;
and such impediments
are the cause of the suffering of the souls in purgatory.
Not that the souls dwell on their suffering;
they dwell rather
on the resistance they feel in themselves
against the will of God,
against his intense and pure love bent on nothing
but drawing them up to him. ...

The soul becomes like gold
that becomes purer as it is fired,
all dross being cast out.

The last stage of love
is that which does its work without human doing.
If humans were to be aware of the many hidden flaws in
them they would despair.

These flaws are burned away in the last stage of love.
God then shows the soul its weakness,
so that the soul may see the workings of God.

If we are to become perfect,
the change must be brought about in us and without us;
that is, the change is to be the work not of human beings
but of God.

This, the last stage of love,
is the pure and intense love of God alone.
The overwhelming love of God
gives the soul a joy beyond words.
In purgatory great joy and great suffering
do not exclude one another.

(Purgation and Purgatory,Classics of Western Spirituality,
71-72.76.78-79.81-82)

Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510), a Fieschi by birth, was married at the age of sixteen to Giuliano Adorno, a worldly-minded youth who did not care for her. After ten unhappy years she was suddenly converted to ardent love of God. Later her husband too was converted and helped her to care for the sick in a hospital at Genoa. Her teachings, compiled by others, are contained in Purgation and Purgatory and The Spiritual Dialogue.

**From Saint Louis University