Cn?. XII.] . PUnted'rests,. ?67 ?crifice of the mass Is only a service of praise and thanksgiving, or a bare commemoration of the sacrifice made on the cross, and not a pro- pitistory offering; or that it only benefits him who receives it, and ought not to be offered for the living and the dead, for sins, punish- ments, satisfactions, and other necessities; let him be accursed. "t The Catechism of the Council of Trent gives the following cautious and rather evasive view of purgatory: "In the fire of purgatory the souls of just men are cleansed by a temporary punishment, in order to be admitted into their eternal country, ' into which nothing defiled tereth.' The truth of this doctrine, founded, as holy councils declare, on Scripture, and confirmed by tradition, demands diligent and frequent exposition, proportioned to the circumstances of the times in which we live, when men endure not sound doctrine," p. 63. In the Douay Catechism the following short exposition of purgatory is to be found: "Quest. Whither go such as die in mortal sin ? An.?. To hell, to all eternity. Q. Whither go such as die in venial sin, or not having fully satisfied for the punishment due to their mortal sins? A. To purgatory, till they have made full satisfaction for them, and then to heaven." The foregoing quotations will give the reader the cardinal points of the doctrine in question. The Council of Trent, however, beth in its decisions and Catechism, has expressed itself beth sparingly and cau- tiously on this doctrine; being sufficiently aware that the Scriptural and other grounds on which the doctrine was built were not ample or fzrm. But a farther delineation of this will 5e manifest by what will be brought to view in this chapter. The following points are now presented as plainly embraced in the foregoing quotations from the !wofessedly infallible standards of the Church of Rome. 3. The person? there detained are tie dead in CArist, just tmn, or, other words, those who, in the Roman sense, are such; namely, thosa whose mortal sins have been pardoned, either by baptism or by priestly absolution. 2. The z/n? for which they are punished in purgatory are their venial sins, which they say deserve only temporal punishment; to which must be added the temporal punishment due for mortal sins already pardoned, as to their eternal punishment, by absolution or bap- tism. 3. The modes of deliverance are two. First, by suffering thenmoires till the very last mite of the debt due to God's justice is paid. Or, secondly, by the interference of the church, which seem8 to divide itself into several parts, namely: 1. The PROCVl?xso of masses to be said for them. 2. Procuring indulgences. 3. The ?uff'rages or vetas of the faithful, variously given, by prayers, offerings, purchasing masses, &c. As it re,oards the place, the nature of the punishment, and its duration, and other kindred topics, the principal Roman Catho- lic standard authors and decisions are very careful in giving opinions. But at the confessional, in public discourses on purgatory, in the com- mon books of devotion, and in the current traditions floating among the members of this church, all that an avaricious priesthood could desire,
- "Si quis dixerit, miaum sacrificium tanturn esso laudis, et gratisrum actionis, ant
nudam commemorationern sacrilicii in cruce peracti, non stutem propitiatorium; vol soli pro(!esse sumenti; neque pro viv/s et defunct/s, pro peccatis, pm?s, satisfactioni* bus et ?/b uocesmtst?bus offerri debere, shathems mr. ?Cm, c/t Tr/d?., sero. ? canon& 1
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