Читать книгу Catholicism For Dummies - Rev. Kenneth Brighenti - Страница 63

The Catholic Church teaches that when a person experiences death, she also experiences particular judgment, heaven, or hell. These are called the four last things. Why do we discuss this subject in a chapter about creation? Because without the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, humankind wouldn’t experience the four last things. So, at the beginning of the human experience, the seeds were sown for what occurs at the end of each human life.

When a person dies, there is immediate judgment on his soul, or particular judgment. If a person has lived an evil, immoral, sinful life and is unrepentant at the moment of death, he condemns himself to eternal damnation in hell. On the other hand, a holy person who has lived a virtuous and saintly life and dies in the state of grace is rewarded with eternal happiness in heaven. Most people are not bad enough to go to hell, yet not good enough to go directly to heaven. These are people who die with some attachments to their former sins. In this case, the person is cleansed (purged) of his attachments in a state of being called purgatory. Purgatory is not hell with parole. Purgatory is the state of purification from sins. As we explain in Chapter 13, sin leaves a scar on the soul, and if the scar is deep, more treatment is needed to heal it and restore the former beauty.

Hell is pure punishment for evil — divine retribution. Purgatory is medicinal and therapeutic. Like gold that is purified in fire, purgatory cleanses our attachments to sin so when we do go through the pearly gates, we do so wearing the proper wedding garment. We talk even more about purgatory in Chapter 18.