,,happiness ,,in ,,purgatory4           
,published ,april1 #ahig1     in        
,,the ,,catholic ,,world     ,a ,monthly
 ,magazine of ,general ,literature and  
,science    ,,happiness ,,in            
,,purgatory4  ,,it may be said of       
,purgatory that if it did not exist it  
would have to be created1 so eminently  
is it in accord with the dictates of    
reason and common sense4 ,the natural   
instinct of travellers at their         
journey's end is to seek for rest and   
change of attire4 ,some are begrimed    
with mud1 others have caught the dust of
 a scorching summer day2 the heat or    
cold or damp of the journey has told    
upon them and their attire4 ,perhaps1   
even1 the way has made them weary unto  
sickness1 and they crave for an interval
 of absolute repose4  ,travellers from  
earth1 covered with the mud and dust of 
its long road1 could never wish to enter
 the banquet-room of eternity in their  
travel-stained garments4 ,take me away6 
cried ,gerontius to his angel4 ,it was a

 cry of anguish as well as desire1 for  
,gerontius1 blessed soul though he is1  
could not face heaven just as earth had 
left him4 ,he has the true instinct of  
the traveller at his journey's end4     
,dust1 rust1 and the moth have marked   
their presence1 and even the oddities   
and eccentricities of earthly pilgrimage
 must be obliterated before the home of 
eternity can be entered4 ,de mortuis nil
 nisi bonum is interpreted1 nothing     
short of heaven for those who have      
crossed the bourne4 ,but1 if the        
heavenly gates are thrown open to the   
travellers all weary and footsore1 not  
having on a nuptial garment1 no         
heterogeneous meeting here on earth     
could compete with the gathering of     
disembodied spirits from its four       
quarters4 ,it is human ignorance alone  
which canonizes all the departed1 and   
insists on a direct passage from time to
 heaven4 ,the canonization is not       
ratified in heaven1 because heaven would
 not exist if it took place4 ,the       

,beatific ,vision is incompatible with  
the shadow of imperfection4 ,to act as  
if it were belongs to the same order of 
things as rending the garment of        
,christian unity4  ,purgatory makes     
heaven1 in the sense that heaven would  
not be possible for men without it4 ,as 
well might we try to reach a far-off    
planet1 which is absolutely removed from
 our sphere1 an unknown quantity1 though
 a fact science does not dispute4       
,heaven without ,purgatory is a far-off 
planet which must ever remain beyond our
 touch and ken1 for it would be easier  
that we in our present condition should 
traverse space than that the sinner     
should see ,god face to face4  ,the     
vestibule of heaven1 in which souls     
tarry in order to make their            
preparations1 and to be prepared for the
 feast of eternity1 can scarcely be an  
abode of pure suffering4 ,heart and     
mind1 as they exist in the anima        
separata--that is1 understanding and    
love--are at rest4 ,on earth mind and   

heart are the source of the greatest    
pain as well as the greatest joy4 ,the  
severest pain of body may be accompanied
 by happiness and a mind at rest1       
whereas remorse makes life unbearable4  
,hidden criminals at large have not     
unfrequently given themselves up to     
justice in order to arrive at peace by a
 public execution1 that being the       
penalty demanded by their tortured      
conscience4 ,death1 however ignominious1
 rather than remorse--the backbite of   
inwit1 in the quaint language of our    
forefathers4 ,remorse is not in the     
organs of sense1 but a purely           
intellectual operation1 proper to man4  
,it cannot be softened by worldly       
prosperity or riches1 fame or success4  
,on the other hand1 a good conscience is
 a well-spring of happiness1 be the     
outward circumstances of a man's life   
what they may4 ,bodily pain would add to
 the torture of remorse1 just as it     
might deaden the joy of a good          
conscience1 per accidens1 as theologians

 say4 ,conjointly with the mind1 the    
heart causes the keenest sufferings and 
the deepest joys of human life1 joys and
 sufferings which are acted upon in the 
same way indirectly by pain of body4 ,a 
severe toothache1 for instance1 quickens
 the pangs of remorse1 whilst it deadens
 joy proceeding either from the         
intellect or the heart4 ,it would madden
 a bride on her wedding morning1 without
 in reality affecting her happiness4    
,the root of both joy and grief is in   
the soul1 not in the body4 ,conscience  
is the worm which never dieth--that is1 
hell1 the torment created by man himself
 for his own punishment4 ,the same      
applies to ,purgatory1 as far as        
conscience has been sinned against4 ,the
 soul has created its own torment1 but  
in ,purgatory the fires die out because 
they deal with the anima separata1 never
 with the senses4 ,in each case the     
nature of the fire1 which may not be    
material and is exercised on spirits1   
must remain mysterious to us4 ,at least 

we can understand it by analogy4        
,remorse in the tortured soul of a      
murderer is sufficient to destroy the   
prosperous and pampered life of the     
body4 ,intensify it by the measure of   
eternity1 and it may alone constitute   
hell4 ,that is probably what theologians
 mean when they say that the fire of    
hell and that of ,purgatory are         
identical4 ,what fire is to the body1   
that burning sorrow is to the spirit1   
who sees things in their true light1 and
 weighs lost opportunities in the       
balance of the next world4  ,by sorrow  
and love earth shows us the material1 to
 speak in human language1 out of which  
,purgatory is made4 ,the pangs of       
remorse deaden the most intense bodily  
pain1 and the power of love does more   
than render hard things sweet4 ,many    
waters cannot quench charity1 neither   
can the floods drown it1 says the voice 
of love in the ,canticles4 ,whether     
human or divine1 it is as a burning     
fire1 which consumes all minor cares4 ,i

 will not deal with passion1 but with   
love in its noblest form and expression2
 the love1 for instance1 of a mother1 or
 of a wife1 or of an affianced bride4   
,earth has nothing better in the natural
 order than disinterested affection1 a  
foreshadowing of ,purgatory as much as  
the torture of remorse4 ,sin will not be
 there1 neither will money-making2 love 
will be the coin of the realm4 ,non     
subtrahuntur delici sed mutantur4 ,as   
the action of purification is perfected1
 each human intelligence in ,purgatory  
will be more and more fixed on ,god4    
,the soul disengaged from the senses    
will learn all the more promptly the    
lesson of ,purgatory1 if it has not been
 learnt here1 the perfect love of ,god4 
,there is joy in suffering under these  
conditions1 a joy which makes pain      
acceptable4 ,a promessa sposa will be   
patient with sudden illness1 and racking
 pain1 if they promise to be temporary4 
,she can afford to be so as long as her 
heart is fixed on the wedding day4 ,the 

sposo1 indeed1 may weary of a sick      
affianced bride1 and court another4     
,this can happen in human things1 but   
never in ,purgatory4 ,the souls there   
are fixed on the ,unchangeable ,one1 who
 can never prove them false2 so be the  
suffering what it may1 they can afford  
to bide his time1 secure that the reward
 of their heart's long watching will    
never pass away4 ,their wedding day is  
far removed from the vicissitudes of    
earth1 and the fever-tossed brides may  
suffer in perfect peace4  ,on earth it  
is more difficult to unlearn than to    
learn afresh1 and it must be feared that
 to the great majority ,purgatory is an 
unlearning4 ,the idols1 the false       
standards of the world must be swept    
away4 ,in the first instant of eternity 
the soul has an intuitive perception of 
her errors4 ,it may be likened to       
arrival in a foreign land1 of which the 
language has been badly learnt at home4 
,english-,french will serve as a        
comparison4 ,it is very soon proved to  

be no ,french at all4 ,the foreigner    
immediately says3 ,i am all wrong4 ,i   
must begin again4 ,he had much better   
have learnt no ,french--at least his    
professor will think so--for he has to  
unlearn more than he learns1 his        
expressions1 his quantities1 his        
pronunciation4 ,fully aware as he now is
 of his shortcomings1 the work of       
imparting real knowledge will take time4
  ,we say that knowledge is power4 ,in  
,purgatory it is love2 and who can call 
the process of arriving at it all       
painful1 even if accompanied by         
torments8 ,it is the burst of eternal   
day1 coming gradually to those who      
ascend the steep mountain-side of       
,purgatory4  ,in it1 as in the ,father's
 house1 there are many mansions4 ,whilst
 the saint may be punished with the pain
 of loss only1 the sinner may be racked 
with fiery torments1 saved yet so as by 
fire4 ,whatever the mansion1 the        
suffering proceeds from the same cause1 
varying in degree3 remorse for the past1

 love of ,god in the present4 ,that     
which on earth causes our torture and   
our joy is prolonged in ,purgatory1 with
 this difference3 ,here our minds and   
hearts are unquiet because they are not 
fixed on ,god3 there knowledge and love 
will be first established on their true 
centre1 and then perfected4  ,there is  
one single and unique instance of       
purgatory on earth--not purgatory in the
 loose sense in which the expression is 
often used4 ,suffering by itself is not 
synonymous with ,purgatory4 ,there must 
be the absolute certainty of heaven1    
which has been given only once4 ,amen1  
,amen1 ,i say to thee1 this day shalt   
thou be with me in paradise4 ,the word  
was spoken by our ,lord himself to one  
in fearful torture and ignominy4 ,was   
the good thief conscious of pain with   
that divine promise ringing in his dying
 ears8 ,it may well be doubted4  ,he has
 spoken the same word to each of the    
holy souls3 ,thou shalt be with me in   
paradise2 and they are so moulded to his

 will that his hour is theirs4 ,they    
long to hear this day1 but the security 
of ,our ,lord's promise tempers their   
suffering and puts it far above all     
pains and sorrows of earth4 ,who would  
not submit to be crucified1 if ,to-day  
thou shalt be with me in paradise were  
the reward8 ,yet a state of crucifixion 
and perfect security is that of the     
souls whose blessedness exceeds their   
torments4  ,these thoughts may possibly 
suggest comfort to some who confuse     
suffering with unhappiness4 ,they are   
not synonymous4 ,let us rather think of 
the holy souls as in the condition of   
the good thief4 ,if they are suffering  
the torments of crucifixion they have   
heard the word which is to be their joy 
through eternity3 ,thou shalt be with me
 in paradise6