That Purgatory is a place of suffering, there is no doubt. Popular usage of the term nearly equates it with Hell, or at least makes it out to be a place of great sorrow. And yet, while there is truth to these characterizations, Purgatory is also a place of joy, since there a soul has the assurance of, in the fullness of time, attaining a blessed destiny with God, the angels, and the saints forever in Heaven. Indeed, one could almost say the chief suffering of Purgatory is the overwhelming longing to be with God already. For indeed, to be with God is utter bliss, the delirium of the soul: never-endingly fresh and pure, the Beatific Vision is personal, intimate friendship with God. “Eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard . . . what God hath in store for those who love Him.” (cf. 1 Cor. 2:9) No earthly mind can imagine the joy of seeing the Face of God and beholding at last the “Light of Glory.”

Purgatory and Heaven will guide you through the Catholic understanding of Paradise and the preparatory period for imperfect souls known as Purgatory. A work of clear teaching and profound insight, this brief but excellent catechesis will show you all you need to avoid after-death purgation and to gain all things in Christ beholding His Divine Face eternally.

Fr. John Peter Arendzen was a Dutch priest from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was Dutch, but his father took the family to London for a project when Arendzen was young, so he grew up in England. He later entered seminary and after ordination became a prominent English Catholic preacher and writer, as well as a scholar.