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Catherine of Genoa: Purgation and Purgatory, The Spiritual Dialogue (Classics of Western Spirituality)

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St Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510) has a special importance for me because it is her after whom I was named. :D On 13 January 1463, at the age of sixteen, Catherine was married to Guiliano Adorni. He is described as a man of "strange and recalcitrant nature" who wasted his substance on disorderly living. Having little in common with her husband, their marriage had many difficult years. As did Jeanne Guyon, Catherine maintained a strong spiritual relationship despite opposition in her marriage. Guiliano became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, and both he and Catherine worked among the poor and the sick. In 1497, she nursed her husband through his last illness. In his will he extolled her virtues and left her all his possessions. Instead of becoming bitter for her experience, Catherine brought joy and peace to the sick and lame as rector of the hospital of St. Lazarus in Genoa. Although Catherine was no scholar, she was, at the same time, inspired, vehement and warm-hearted. Her work reads as though she poured out what she had to say on paper, not staying to choose words, not revising or hardly revising. If she is sometimes careless of exactitude, she compensates for it by spontaneity. In her simple honest expression, Catherine is able to address the complex issue, for example, of what is the cause of the LORD our GOD's great love for us who are so set against her, and what are we that GOD would be mindful of us. "Know first that I am GOD who change not, and that I loved man before I created him, with an infinite, pure, simple and clear love for which there was no cause, save that I cannot but love what I have created and ordained to minister, in its degree, to my glory. And I have provided man richly with all fit means to reach his end, with natural gifts and supernatural graces which he will never lack in so far as they depend on me; nay more, with my infinite love which by divers ways and means surrounds him so that he may be subject to my care." If you are interested in the faith expression of a woman of grace and courage, this book will be interesting to you.

I have not read any Christian mystic who more brillantly captured the excitement of the concept of God's infinite love. Where Luther or Augustine wrote volumes to give voice to the experience of unmerited grace, Catherine of Genoa does full justice to the topic in a few lines.

By contrast, the Spiritual Dialogue rings a little hallow after the thunder clap of Catherine's Purgation and Purgatory. The shadow-boxing between Body, Soul, Spirit and Self Love offers little fresh insight and no drama.

The value of Catherine of Genoa's words today is in their call to conversion. Not just to reconciliation and the momentary remittance and absolution from our sin - but radical conversion - metanoia - a turning away from sin.

Unlike the "fire and brimstone" image of Hell that we developed as children, the image of Hell that is described by Catherine of Genoa is one of mercy where God's infinite and perfect love transcends the sins of man which spring from his own will (self-will) in conflict with God's will.

Catherine's image of purgatory is at the same time eloquent and mysterious. She teaches on the suffering of purgatory, "The souls cannot find the pain to be in pain since they are at peace in God's will, and yet the opposition remaining in the soul to God's will is the occasion of terrible pain." The soul, once purified, comes to rest in God. She says, "Its being is God."

Catherine's mystical understanding of the mercy and love of God - of God as love - provide a point from which to contemplate and perhaps grasp the great loss which we experience through our sin. Her words provide an insight into eschatology, hell, and purgatory.

Centuries after her own earthly life ended, she provides valuable teaching on the relationship that her soul, and our soul has with its Creator.

I recommend this very interesting book to anyone interested in their relationship with God.

A great source for that which we cannot find elsewhere!

There is no detailed explanation of Purgatory in Holy Scripture. In His Wisdom, God chose not to reveal this to us in this way. When we look to the past, however, the thought of such a place or experience was never a matter of disputation with the Jews and later with the early Church. Research into Jewish tradition and their beliefs at the time of Jesus shows that Sheol (the common name for what they called, and what was found in the Psalms and other places as, "the place of the dead"), was divided differently and seperated from what most people consider are the two places of afterlife, namely Paradise and Hell. This is not, however, the Hell of the eternally damned which is called "Gehenna" in the Bible, is not "Sheol." This Hebrew word "Sheol" we find is translated later into Greek as "Hades" and into Latin as "Purgatorio" (Saint Jerome translated the Bible into Latin in the 4th Century. This work is still known as the Latin Vulgate). Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, gives a very excellent description of Sheol, and therefore Purgatory, in his writing Discourse to the Greeks Concerning Hades. In it he describes exactly the understanding of the Pharisees about life after death, an understanding which Jesus supported against the Sadducees (Lk 20:27-40).

Nonetheless, from the beginning, the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead. Details, like the actual time a person spends or remains in Purgatory, are unknown.

Suffice it to say, that Purgatory is looked at, not as a punishment, or a second chance, but rather as the removal of the remnants of sin from our lives--purifying our self-centered acts and thoughts, our fallen human nature--the effects of Original Sin--personal sin also. As such, Purgatory is looked upon as a gift of God's love--an extension of His mercy.

The actuality of being subjected to God's love in this way has not been described by anyone. That is, the Church has not officially approved any type of revelation coming from a person in Purgatory. Saints, however, have described the purification that they encounter here and now, as they grow in the Spiritual Life and in holiness. Having experienced the fiery love of God, a love that consumed her, cleansing and purifying all, St. Catherine of Genoa pondered on this love and related it to the souls in Purgatory where they too are undergoing the purification process. She wrote this in her work, "Purgation and Purgatory, the Spiritual Dialogue." The following is only a brief excerpt, but I think you'll get the picture!. It is interesting that the souls in Purgatory have always been called the "Poor Souls." Each time we read this passage of her work from now on we may think, "They have their salvation achieved!" and "They are experiencing joy which we cannot even imagine!" Are they the "Poor Souls." or are we? Food for thought!

These souls cannot think,
"I am here, and justly so because of my sins,"
or "I wish I had never committed such sins
for now I would be in paradise...."
They cannot remember the good and evil
in their past nor that of others.
They do not see that their suffering is due to their sins,
for that awareness would be a want of perfection,
and in Purgatory souls cannot sin.
Only once do the souls understand
the reason for their Purgatory:
the moment in which they leave this life.
After that moment, that knowledge disappears.
Immersed in charity, incapable of deviating from it,
they can only will or desire pure love.
There is no joy save that in paradise
to be compared to the joy of the souls in Purgatory.
This joy increases day by day
because of the way in which the love of God
corresponds to that of the soul,
since the impediment to that love is worn away daily.
This impediment is the rust of sin.
As it is consumed
the soul is more and more open to God's love.
just as a covered object left out in the sun
cannot be penetrated by the sun's rays, in the same way,
once the covering of the soul is removed,
the soul opens itself fully to the rays of the sun.
The more rust of sin is consumed by fire,
the more the soul responds to that love,
and its joy increases.

This book also benefits from having a very good-sized Introduction by the famous spiritual writer, Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.

Catherine of Genoa is an amazing example of activist spiritual approaches - interaction with God through service to others. Her selflessness is extreme, and in aversion therapy approach she describes is loathsome in the extreme. But if one can see what's going on beyond the startling nature of these things, one can see God at work through her willingness to selflessly serve.

Catherine of Genoa: Purgation and Purgatory, The Spiritual Dialogue (Classics of Western Spirituality)

This is a MUST READ!

For those of you who believe in heaven, purgatory, and hell, there is nothing I need to say. St. Catherine of Genoa says it all.

For those of you who believe in heaven and hell but not purgatory, I hope you aim for heaven and don't miss.

God in his mercy has given us purgatory as many of us are not nearly as pure as we might think. Persons undergoing additional purification in purgatory will get to heaven.

For those who do not believe in God that doesn't mean he doesn't exist. Science can only prove processes but NOT how life came to be on this planet.

The others who miss and land in hell. Well, I'm sorry.

This is a must read! It will make you think and provide comfort.