Purgatory: illustrated by the lives and legends of the saints/Notes
NOTES
By FATHER KENT, O.S.C.
1. Page 7. The scholastic speculations on the place and the conditions of Purgatory were naturally in accordance with the mediaeval conception of the whole framework of the world and the Solar System. But it seems a mistake to perpetuate these crude notions at the present day. Our author's remarks on this matter are scarcely in keeping with the real opinions of the old theologians. In their simplicity they looked at the existence of volcanoes as a confirmation of their theories. But the whole question may be dismissed as one of those curiosities deprecated by the Tridentine Fathers.
2. Page 24. This opinion regarding the fire of Purgatory and of Hell has been held by great theologians including some one or other of the Fathers. But it seems somewhat misleading to ascribe it to the Fathers generally, as though it were their unanimous teaching.
3. Page 29. If the young girl in this story was not able to accomplish her vow, it is clear that the omission was not a sin. And if there was no sin, how could it add to her sufferings in Purgatory?
4. Page 41. The author says that the Venerable Angela's subsequent life " proved the truth of her words." But we cannot say that the frightful penances here described add to the credibility of the story.
5. Page 43. It is not easy to understand the reason given for the sufferings of Sister Teresa; for the rules of Religious Orders do not bind under pain of sin.
6. Page 70. This absurd calculation is based on a gross blunder. The Scripture does not say that "The just man falls seven times a day." The passage in Proverbs xxiv. 16 is, "For the just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again." The word " day" is not found in the Hebrew, the Septuagint or the Vulgate. For the rest, the calculation implies a strange exaggeration of the numbers of venial sins, and a very inadequate sense of the facilities for pardon and satisfaction. It is enough to refer the reader to the teaching of St. Thomas on the remission of venial sins.
7. Page 72. We are told that the story of the apparition of Innocent III. "is admitted by the gravest authors, and that it is not rejected by any single one." On the contrary, the Bollandist editor of the life of St. Lutgarda tells us that because Innocent III. was a most excellent Pope, some will have it that this story is an illusion and a fable. This certainly seems a very good reason for rejecting the legend; and the editor can only allege against it the inscrutable nature of God's judgments which are often different from those of man.
8. Page 81. These stories of these long terms of punishment in Purgatory must be received with caution. We know nothing regarding the duration of these expiatory sufferings.
9. Page 107. Does not this account of the punishment of priests seem a little one-sided? The dignity of the priesthood clearly enhances the guilt of sins that might seem more venial in a layman. And there are special duties and responsibilities attached to the pastoral office. But are there no special graces vouchsafed to the ministers of the altar?
10. Page 110. Durandus can hardly have shed lustre on the Order of St. Dominic in the eleventh century; when St. Dominic was not yet born. The Dominican Order was founded in the thirteenth century.
11. Page 145. Can it be said that a nun who "had too great affection for her family" would be condemned to a long term of Purgatory? There certainly seems to be need of some explanation or qualification here.
12. Page 176. The vision here recorded does not seem to give any warrant for this violation of the Rubrics. And taking the story as it stands, there is nothing to show that the deliverance of the soul from Purgatory was due to the use of the forbidden black vestments.
13. Page 238. There can be no doubt as to the duty of paying these debts and legacies. But it can hardly be said that the amount of a man's punishment in Purgatory is increased by the guilty acts or omissions of others. His punishment might be greater if he had foreseen the neglect of his heirs and had not taken means to make sure that justice was done. But it does not seem to be sound theology to suppose that the actual payment of a debt on earth is necessary for the release of a soul from Purgatory. The same may be said of the story told elsewhere in the volume about an artist who was detained in Purgatory till an immoral painting was destroyed. This savours more of popular ghost-stories than of serious theology.
14. Page 289. St. Simon Stock lived to a great age, but the author has given him a good many extra years, for he says the saint was born in 1 100 — which would make him 151 at the time of the apparition. The date given by some authorities is 1 185, not 1100.
15. Page 293. The author's statement about Benedict XIV. and the Sabbatine Bull is, to say the least, somewhat misleading. In the first place no reference is given; and the unwary reader might suppose it was a case of some Papal pronouncement, and not a treatise in which the illustrious Lambertini is speaking as a private author. And what is more, the student who takes the trouble to turn to the Pope's work on the Feasts of our Lord and of the Blessed Virgin will see that he does not by any means give a decided verdict in favour of the Bull. On the contrary, he touches lightly on the objections brought against its authenticity and speaks of some of them with disparagement, and contents himself by citing with approval the wise and guarded decision of a later Pontiff. The matter is summed up in the following marginal rubric in the works of Pope Benedict: Bulla Joannis non probatur genuina. Prudens Pauli V. Decretum.