The Three Joys

The three joys of Purgatory, offer us comfort, as we accept and explore the time of our own purgation.

Grace

1. The first joy is Grace; we are assured of our salvation. Souls in Purgatory are no longer able to sin, and they know they are heaven bound. Those in Purgatory consider all the horror of sins they have committed, feel an immense sorrow in the pains they suffer now, and repent of these sins sincerely. It is a joy that we cannot easily comprehend because we live carelessly in the uncertainty of our eternal salvation. The souls in Purgatory prefer to remain in the pains they suffer there, with the assurance of being saved and without sin, rather than to return to earth with no assurance of being saved.

Expiation

1. The second joy we will feel is expiation. Because we love God in a perfect way and long for Him, we are heartily sorry for having offended Him and desire to expiate and make amends. We now are in full recognition of our sins. In our poenance we rejoice in our inner spirit because we suffer for love.
2. St. Catherine of Genoa received special revelations about the joys of Purgatory. She writes: I see the souls to be eager in suffering the pains of Purgatory for two reasons. Firstly, because they consider the mercy of God. They understand that if God’s goodness would not temper justice with mercy, satisfying it with the most precious Blood of Jesus Christ, even a single sin would merit a thousand hells. The souls in Purgatory, in fact, perceive with a special light the greatness and the sanctity of God. They suffer, but, at the same time, they rejoice in adoring His greatness and recognizing His sanctity. Their joy is similar to that of the martyrs who suffered in adoration of and witness to the living God and Jesus the Savior; however, for the souls in Purgatory, this joy is felt to a much higher degree.
3. Another reason for the souls in Purgatory to rejoice, is they see themselves doing the will of God, and they delight in what the love and mercy of God are creating in them. God impresses these two attributes on their minds in an instant, and, because they are in grace, they hear and understand it according to their own capacity, with great joy. This joy increases with their degree of closeness to God. The smallest knowledge that it is possible to have of God is, in fact, much greater than any pain or happiness of which man can conceive on earth. This is why the souls in Purgatory accept with joy the pains which, purifying them, make them closer to God.

Love

1. The third joy of Purgatory is the comfort of love. “Where there is love, there is no labor, or, if there is labor, the labor is loved. “ (St. Augustine) The souls in Purgatory are in an ocean of love, because Purgatory is a contest of love. It is love that gives pain to the souls, but the pain is mitigated by love, much more than the suffering of St. Laurence, who was martyred, roasted alive on a burning grill. “The coals,” he exclaimed, “are for me like roses”; and yet they were so hot that he also told the tyrant: “I am already burned on this side; turn me on the other side.”1

We will reach heaven, for through Purgatory is the gate, our final walkway on the straight and narrow path of Christ; He died and rose for this Entrance, earned for us what we could not earn of our own merit. Each day of life, we turn our lives over and deeply lean into Him who loves us and abides in us.

Edited by Mary Frost and wayland Moncrief

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