SECTION 2

NATURE AND DURATION OF PURGATORY
The Church has defined nothing with regard to the nature of Purgatory except that the poor souls detained there are in a passing state of punish- ment and suffer "purgatorial pains." 1 Like the pains of Hell, those of Purgatory are twofold, viz.: pain of loss {poena damni) and pain of sense {poena sensus).
i. The Pain of Loss. — The poena damni for the poor souls in Purgatory consists in their be- ing deprived of the beatific vision of God. This temporary deprivation constitutes the essence of the state of purgation. It is the severest pun- ishment that can be inflicted upon a disembodied soul. The consciousness of being separated from the Creator, who is so near and yet so far, causes terrible suffering, which is enhanced still more by the knowledge that the venial sins and punish- ments due to sin could have been expiated by contrition, confession, prayer, almsgiving, and other good works so easily performed in the way- faring state.
X " Poenis purgatoriis; " v. supra, p. 78.
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THE LAST THINGS OF MAN
Nevertheless, their sad condition does not drive the suffering souls to despair or to commit new sins, as Luther falsely claimed. 2
For the rest, it would be no easier to write a psychology of the poor souls in Purgatory than of the damned in Hell. We earthly pilgrims are incapable of forming an adequate conception of the spiritual suffering involved in even a temporary privation of the beatific vision. Shorn of all earthly impediments, and placed beyond the world of sense which veils the things of the spirit, the poor souls in Purgatory concentrate their attention on God. But God hides and withdraws from them, which causes them to be tormented incessantly by a veritable agony of love. There is nothing improb- able in St. Bonaventure's conjecture that "the sever- est pain of Purgatory exceeds the most violent known on earth/' 8 but we need not necessarily adopt the opinion of St. Thomas that " even the slightest torture of Purga- tory is worse than all the sufferings one can endure in this world. ,, 4 There is no certainty to be had in these mat- ters. 5
2. The Pain of Sense. — Whether besides the poena damni the poor souls suffer a poena sen- sus, is doubtful. Still more difficult is it to an- swer the question whether this additional punish- ment, if it exist, is caused by a material me- dium similar to the fire of Hell. Theologians
2 Prop. Damn, a Leone X, prop. 38: " Anitnae in purgatorio non sunt securae de earutn salute, saltern non omnes." — Prop. 39: "Anitnae in purgatorio peccant sine intermis- sione, quamdiu quaerunt requiem et horrent poenas."
3 Comment, in Sent., IV, dist. so, art. i, qu. 2.
4 Comment, in Sent., IV, dist. ai, qu. 1, art. 1.
6 Cfr. Bellarmine, De Purgatorio,