Saints LightWhat Is Purgatory, and Where Does It Come From?
Purgatory is God's final cleansing of saved souls before heaven, taught from Scripture and the Church's earliest prayers for the dead, and our prayers can help them.
What this lesson teaches
- Purgatory is the final purification of souls who die in God's friendship but are not yet fully purified.
- Everyone in purgatory is saved and will reach heaven.
- The teaching rests on prayer for the dead (2 Maccabees 12), 1 Corinthians 3 and the Church's constant practice.
- We can help the souls in purgatory by Masses, prayer and indulgences.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 1030-1032
- CCC 958
- CCC 1371
- CCC 1479
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: 2 Maccabees 12:46; 1 Corinthians 3:15.
A sample question from this lesson
Who is in purgatory?
- People who have rejected God and are damned
- Souls waiting to be reincarnated
- Saved souls being purified before entering heaven
- Only people who were never baptized
Show the answer
Saved souls being purified before entering heaven. Purgatory is for those who die in God's grace but imperfectly purified; all of them are saved (CCC 1030).
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Purgatory
- The final purification after death of those who die in God's friendship but still need to be made perfectly holy.
- Indulgence
- A remission, granted by the Church, of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven; it can be offered for the dead.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"What Is Purgatory, and Where Does It Come From?" is lesson 3 of Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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Related lessons
- Is Purgatory in the Bible? (Hard Questions)
- The End of the Story: Death, Judgment and Heaven (Start Here, free)
- and life everlasting. Amen. (The Creed, free)
- the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints (The Creed, free)