Vision of Purgatory - Saint Catherine of Genoa

Through the Divine fire Which burned inside Catherine, while she was still on earth, she was able to understand the state of souls through her Vision of Purgatory. 

The Lord had purified her soul in the furnace of His Love, as gold is refined of all its impurities, by fire! 

Cleansing her of every stain of sin, while she was still in the flesh, He was perfecting her on earth, so that when she passed to the next world, she would be ready to appear before Him. 

God told her that the soul is like gold; once all the impurities are burned away, no matter how great the fire is, it can do no harm to the soul; He keeps the soul in the flames of His Divine Love until every stain of sin is burned away and the soul reaches the highest perfection it is capable of (each according to its own vocation and capacity), and once this is accomplished, the soul rests completely in Him. 

Catherine had a Vision of Purgatory, she writes:    

      "Either in this life or in the life to come, the soul that seeks union with God must be purged by `The Fiery Love of God.'  The holy souls are purged of all the rust and stains of sin which they have not rid themselves in this life.  The fire of Purgatory is first of all The Fiery Love of God."

      Reading that "The fire of Purgatory is first of all The Fiery Love of God", is so consoling.  We can handle almost anything, as long as we know that it is through the Loving God Who never stops loving us.  We know that whatever God has for us, His Divine Justice will be mingled with His Divine Love. 

 The Lord through the Mystics tells us that it is better to suffer a thousand days on earth (in reparation of our sins) than an hour in Purgatory. 

      St. Catherine said that he who purifies himself from his faults in the present life satisfies with a penny a debt of a thousand ducats (what today would be more than a thousand dollars), and he who waits until the other life to pay off his debts, consents to pay a thousand dollars for that which he might before have paid with a penny.

      None of us want to suffer Purgatory of any kind, on earth or in Purgatory, so we try to lead the kind of life that will present us pleasing to God, that moment we appear before Him. 

But more importantly, we try to avoid sin because we love Him and we do not want to hurt Him. 

Consequently, when we sin, are we not putting other gods before Him?  Including ourselves? 

We, in this life either decide for God or against Him, with each step we take.  Then when we die, and we face our Lord, we remember the many times we put the world and its attractions before Him.