Part II. Popery A Moral Pestilence. Chapter I. Auricular Confession And Priestly Absolution.

CHAPTER II.
PURGATORY.

The first mention of Purgatory, or the doctrine of future expiatory suffering, in the writings of the Fathers of the church, occurs in a work of Ambrose, who flourished at the close of the fourth century. The earlier Fathers are not only totally silent on that topic, even when the nature of their subject would necessarily have led them to be explicit, had they really believed in a Purgatory, but they also abound in statements directly opposed to that doctrine.[1] Ambrose, a Latin Father, in one solitary passage expresses the opinion, that those whose sins have not been expiated in this life, will experience a purgatorial fire in the interval between the first resurrection of the saints, and the final one of the rest of the dead.[2] (Rev. xx. 4.)

Augustine, whose times immediately succeed those of Ambrose, is the next Father who mentions this superstition. He expresses himself more fully than the latter, but displays great hesitation and inconsistency. “By that transitory fire,” says he, “of which the Apostle says, He himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire; not doubt but only minute sins are purged. ….. Whatever of those sins, (viz. minute) are not thus redeemed; (by prayer, alms, &c.,) it must be purged in the Fire mentioned by the Apostle.” (de Ign. Purg. Serm. 4.) In another passage, he seems to think, the fire mentioned by Paul, may perhaps be purgatory: through which all must pass, whether they have built, upon the true foundation, gold and silver and precious stones, or merely wood, hay, and stubble; and adds “It is not incredible, that some such thing as this may take place after this life also; and it may be a subject of enquiry whether this be or not. It may be found or it may be concealed, that some men, through a certain purgatory fire, in proportion as they have, more or less, loved the perishing goods of this life, may be saved more slowly or quickly.” (de Oct. Dulcit. quest. Op. Tom. 6. p. 250.) It is thus obvious, from the manner in which this Father speaks of Purgatory, that it was no doctrine of the church at the commencement of the fifth century. Besides it is certain, that Augustine placed the purgatorial fire at the day of Judgment.[3] The Romish doctrine, therefore, which teaches that the souls of the faithful pass into a cleansing fire immediately after death, has obviously but small support from these early Fathers of the Church.

The first who directly taught the existence of a purgatorial state, into which men passed at once, was Gregory the Great, who occupied the Papal see, at the close of the sixth century. In the fourth book of his dialogues, he relates several revelations concerning the future state which had been made to men, now that the world was, as he thought, approaching to its end. Gregory does not speak however, of any common receptacle of spirits in or near hell, as Papists now maintain, but simply of certain souls being confined in baths, and such places here on earth.

Although the notion of Gregory differed so much from the subsequent doctrine, yet the credit of establishing Purgatory amongst the unquestionable truths of the church, is due to the superstition or guile of this Pope. During the following centuries it was taken up, especially by the monks; and ultimately became one of the most valued and necessary tenets of the Romish Church. In the tenth century, “the fears of Purgatory,” says Mosheim, “of that fire that was to destroy the remaining impurities of departed souls, were carried to the greatest height, and exceeded, by far, the terrifying apprehension of infernal torments; for they hoped to avoid the latter easily, by dying enriched with the prayers of the clergy, or covered with the merits and mediation of the saints; while from the pains of Purgatory, they knew there was no exemption. The clergy therefore finding these superstitious terrors admirably adapted to increase their authority and promote their interest, used every method to augment them, and by the most pathetic discourses, accompanied with monstrous fables and fictitious miracles, they laboured to establish the doctrine of purgatory, and also to make it appear that they had a mighty influence in that formidable region.” (Eccl. Hist. Cent. x. chap. 3.)

The fullest and most explicit account of this superstition, as it prevailed in the middle ages, occurs in the “Golden Legend,” a production of the thirteenth century, a work of the highest authority, which was read in the churches for several centuries after the Bible had been altogether discarded. The following extracts from the English translation, printed by Caxton, will be read with interest, as affording a clear view of the notions entertained in the Romish church, on this subject, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century.

“THE COMMEMORACYON OF ALL SOVLES.”

“The memory of the departynge of all crysten sowlis is establyshed to be solempnysed in the chirche on this daye, to thende, that they may have generall ayde and comforte. And Peter Damyens saith, that in cecyle in the yle of Vulcan, St. Odylle herde the voys and the howlynge of devylles, which complayned strongly bycause that the soules of theym that were dede were taken away fro theyr hondes by almesse and by prayers. . . . . And thereof we may specially towche two thynges.

After treating “Fyrst who they that ben purged,” follows “The seconde, to wete, by whom they ben purged, or by whom punycyon (punishment) is made. It is doon by the evyl angellis, and not by the good. For the good angels torment not the good soules, but the good angels tourment the evyle angels, and the evyll angels torment the evyll crysten soules. And it is well to byleve, that the good angels vysyte oft, and comforte theyr brethren and theyr fellowes, and warne theym to suffre in pacyence. And yet have they another remedie of comforte, of this that attende certaynly the glory to com.

“As to the thyrde, it is to wete, where thei ben purged: in a place by helle, whych is callyd purgatory; after thopynnyon of dyverse wyse men. How be it, that it semeth to some other, that it is in thayr, in a place brennyng and rounde. But nevertheless there ben ordeyned diverse places to diverse soulis, and for many causes, and that is for lyght punicyon, or for hasty delyveraunce, or for the synne commysed in that place, or for the prayer of some saynt. Fyrst for the lyght punycyon as it is shewed to some, after that saynt Gregory sayth, that some soules ben purged in the shadow. Secondly for their hasty delyveraunce that they may shew unto other, how that they need to require ayde, and thereby myght hastely yssue out of payne, lyke as it is redde. That som fysshars of St. Thybault, that fysshed on a tyme in harvest, and took a grete pece of yce in stede of a fysshe. And they were gladder thereof than of a fysshe. By cause the bishop had grete brenning of hete in hys legges; and they layed that yce thereto and it refreshed hym moche. And, on a tyme, the bysshop herde the voys of a man in the yce; and he conjured hym to telle hym what he was; and the voys sayd to him, I am a sowle whyche, for my synnes, am tormented in thys yce. And may be delyvered yf thou say for me thyrty masses, contynuelly togyder, in thyrty dayes. . . .

“Thyrdly, for our Infyrmyte, that is, that we know what grete payn is made redy to synnars, after theyr mortal lyf. Also dyverse places ben deputed, to dyverse soules, for our Instructyon as it happed at Parys. There was a mayster, wyche was chaunceler of Parys, named Sylo, whyche had a scoler seek, and he prayed hym that, after hys deth, he sholde come agayn to hym, and say to him of hys estate. And he promised hym soo to doo. And after deyde. And wythin a whyle after, he appered to hym, clade in a cope, wreten full of argumentes, fallacyons, and sophymmes, and was of perchemyn, and wythin forth all full of flambe of fyre. And the chaunceler demaunded him what he was; and he tolde to hym, I am suche one that am comen agayn to the; and the chaunceler demaunded hym of his estate and he sayd ‘Thys cope weyeth on me, more than a mylstone or a towre. And it is gyven to me for to bere, for the glory that I had in my sophymmes, and sophysticall arguments; that is to saye deceyvable, and vainous. The skynnes ben lyghte, but the flamme of fyre wythyn forth tormenteth, and all to brenneth me.’ And when the mayster juged the payne to be lyghte, the dede scoler sayd to hym, that he sholde put forth hys honde, and fele the lyghtness of his payn; and he put forth his honde. And that other lete falle one drop of his swete on it, and the drop percyd through his honde sooner than an arough cowde be shoten thrugh; whereby he felt a mervellous torment. And the dede man sayd, ‘I am all in suche payne.’ And thenne the chaunceler was aferde of the cruell and terrible payne that he had felt, concluded to forsake the worlde, and entred in to relygyon, with grete devocyon.

“Fourthly, for the synne that hath be commysed in the place as saynt Austyn.’ ‘Sometime soules be punysshed in the places where they have synned as apereth by an ensample that St. Gregory recyteth in the fourthe book of hys dyalogue, and sayth, That there was a preest whych used gladly a bayne, (bath) and whan he came into the bayne, he fonde a man whom he knew alway redy for to serve hym. It happed on a day, for hys diligent servyce, and hys rewarde, the preest gaaf to hym an holy loof, and he wepyng answerde, ‘Fader, wherefore gyvest thou me this thynge? I may not ete it; for it is holy. I was sometyme lord of this place, but after my deth, I was deputed for to serve here, for my synnes; but I pray thee, that thou wylt offre thys brede to almighty god for my synnes, and know, that for certayn, that thy prayer shall be herde, and whan thenne thou shalt come to wasshe thee, thou shalt not fynde me.’ And then this priest offred, all a week, entier, sacryfyce to god for hym, and whan he came agayn, he fonde him not. Fifthly, diverse places ere deputed to divers soulis, for the prayers of somme saynt; as it is rede of saynt patryke, that he impetred a place of purgatory in Irlonde, for some of whyche thystory is wreton to fore, in hys lyf.

“And as to the Thyrde, that is suffrages, thre things ought be consydered. Fyrste, the suffrages that ben doon. Secondly of theym for whom they be doon. Thyrdly of theym by whom they ben doon. Aboute the suffrages that ben done, it is to be noted, that there ben done four manner of suffrages, whyche prouffyte unto theym that ben dede. That is to wete, prayers of goode frendes—gyvyng of almesse—Syngyng of masses—and observancyon of fastynges.”

The proofs brought forward in support of the efficacy of these suffrages are truly ridiculous. “There was a man that always, as he passed through the churchyerde, he sayd De profundis for all crysten souls. And on a tyme he was besette with enemyes, so that, for succour, he lepe (leaped) into the churchyerde; and they followed for to have slayen hym. Anone all the dede bodyes aroos, and eche held such an instrument, in his honde, that they defended hym that prayed for theym; and chaced away hys enemyes, puttyng theym in grete fere.”

“As to the Thyrde, that is to saye for whom the suffrages ben done. Fyrst, who ben they to whom the suffrages may prouffytably be done. It is to be knowen, as Saynt Austyn saith, that all they that departe out of thys world, or (either) they ben ryght good, or ryght evyll, or betwene both. Thenne the suffrages that ben done for the good, ben for to yielde thankinges for them. And they that ben done for the evyll, ben some comforte to them that lyve. And they that ben done for theym that ben mydle and betwene both; they been clensynges to them. And they that ben ryght good, been they that anone flee to heven, and ben quyte of the fire of purgatory, and of helle also. And ther ben thre maner of people; they ben chyldren baptysed, Martyrs, and parfyght men. Thyse ben they that parfyghtely mayntenyd the love of god, the love of hys neighbour, and good werkes. And thoughte never to plese the world, but to God only. And yf they had done any venyall synne, it was put anone awaye, by the love of charyte; like a drope of water in a fornays. And therefore, they bere noo thyng wyth theym, that ought to be brent. The ryght evyll and wycked men, ben they that anone ben plunged in to the fyre of helle; for whom, yf theyr damnacyon be knowen, there ought no suffrages be done for theym. After that saynt Austyn saith, ‘If I knewe my fader to be in helle I wolde no more praye for hym than for the devyll.’ They that ben mydle good ben they that have with theym something to be brent and purged; that is to say wode, hey, and stubble. Or else they that ben surprysed wyth deth, before they myght have accomplished theyr penance in theyr lyf. Then they bee not so good, but that they nede have suffrages of theyr frendes; ne they be not so evylle, but that suffrages myght prouffyte, and ease theym.”

(The text below is the modern English spelling of the previous text.)

“THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL SOULS.”

“The memory of the departing of all Christian souls is established to be solemnized in the church on this day, to the end that they may have general aid and comfort. And Peter Damien says that in Sicily, in the isle of Vulcan, St. Odilo heard the voice and the howling of devils, which complained strongly because the souls of those that were dead were taken away from their hands by alms and by prayers. . . . . And thereof we may specially touch two things. After treating ‘First who they that be purged,’ follows ‘The second, to wit, by whom they be purged, or by whom punishment is made. It is done by the evil angels, and not by the good. For the good angels torment not the good souls, but the good angels torment the evil angels, and the evil angels torment the evil Christian souls. And it is well to believe that the good angels visit often, and comfort their brethren and their fellows, and warn them to suffer in patience. And yet have they another remedy of comfort, of this that attend certainly the glory to come.’

“As to the third, it is to wit, where they be purged: in a place by hell, which is called purgatory; after the opinion of diverse wise men. Howbeit, that it seemeth to some other that it is in the air, in a place burning and round. But nevertheless there be ordained diverse places to diverse souls, and for many causes, and that is for light punishment, or for hasty deliverance, or for the sin committed in that place, or for the prayer of some saint. First, for the light punishment as it is showed to some, after that Saint Gregory says that some souls be purged in the shadow. Secondly, for their hasty deliverance that they may show unto others how that they need to require aid, and thereby might hastily issue out of pain, like as it is read: That some fishers of St. Thibault, that fished on a time in harvest, took a great piece of ice instead of a fish. And they were gladder thereof than of a fish, because the bishop had great burning of heat in his legs; and they laid that ice thereto and it refreshed him much. And, on a time, the bishop heard the voice of a man in the ice; and he conjured him to tell him what he was; and the voice said to him, “I am a soul which, for my sins, am tormented in this ice. And may be delivered if thou say for me thirty masses, continually together, in thirty days.” . . .

“Thirdly, for our infirmity, that is, that we know what great pain is made ready to sinners after their mortal life. Also diverse places be deputed to diverse souls for our instruction as it happened at Paris. There was a master, which was chancellor of Paris, named Silo, which had a scholar sick, and he prayed him that, after his death, he should come again to him, and say to him of his estate. And he promised him so to do. And after he died. And within a while after, he appeared to him, clad in a cope, written full of arguments, fallacies, and sophisms, and was of parchment, and within all full of flame of fire. And the chancellor demanded him what he was; and he told him, “I am such a one that am come again to thee”; and the chancellor demanded him of his estate and he said, ‘This cope weigheth on me more than a millstone or a tower. And it is given to me for to bear, for the glory that I had in my sophisms and sophistical arguments; that is to say, deceivable and vain. The skins be light, but the flame of fire within tormenteth and all to-burneth me.’ And when the master judged the pain to be light, the dead scholar said to him that he should put forth his hand, and feel the lightness of his pain; and he put forth his hand. And that other let fall one drop of his sweat on it, and the drop pierced through his hand sooner than an arrow could be shot through; whereby he felt a marvelous torment. And the dead man said, ‘I am all in such pain.’ And then the chancellor was afraid of the cruel and terrible pain that he had felt, concluded to forsake the world, and entered into religion with great devotion.

“Fourthly, for the sin that hath been committed in the place, as Saint Augustine says: ‘Sometime souls be punished in the places where they have sinned,’ as appeareth by an example that St. Gregory reciteth in the fourth book of his dialogues, and says that there was a priest which used gladly a bath, and when he came into the bath, he found a man whom he knew always ready for to serve him. It happened on a day, for his diligent service and his reward, the priest gave to him a holy loaf, and he weeping answered, ‘Father, wherefore givest thou me this thing? I may not eat it, for it is holy. I was sometime lord of this place, but after my death, I was deputed for to serve here for my sins; but I pray thee that thou wilt offer this bread to Almighty God for my sins, and know for certain that thy prayer shall be heard, and when then thou shalt come to wash thee, thou shalt not find me.’ And then this priest offered, all a week entire, sacrifice to God for him, and when he came again, he found him not. Fifthly, diverse places are deputed to diverse souls for the prayers of some saint, as it is read of Saint Patrick, that he impetrated a place of purgatory in Ireland, for some of which the history is written before in his life.

“And as to the third, that is suffrages, three things ought to be considered. First, the suffrages that be done. Secondly, of them for whom they be done. Thirdly, of them by whom they be done. About the suffrages that be done, it is to be noted that there be done four manners of suffrages, which profit unto them that be dead: That is to wit, prayers of good friends, giving of alms, singing of masses, and observation of fastings.”

The proofs brought forward in support of the efficacy of these suffrages are truly ridiculous. “There was a man that always, as he passed through the churchyard, said De profundis for all Christian souls. And on a time he was beset with enemies, so that, for succor, he leaped into the churchyard; and they followed for to have slain him. Anon all the dead bodies arose, and each held such an instrument in his hand that they defended him that prayed for them, and chased away his enemies, putting them in great fear.”

“As to the third, that is to say for whom the suffrages be done: First, who be they to whom the suffrages may profitably be done. It is to be known, as Saint Augustine says, that all they that depart out of this world either they be right good, or right evil, or between both. Then the suffrages that be done for the good be for to yield thanks for them. And they that be done for the evil be some comfort to them that live. And they that be done for them that be middle and between both, they be cleansings to them. And they that be right good be they that anon flee to heaven, and be quit of the fire of purgatory, and of hell also. And there be three manners of people; they be children baptized, martyrs, and perfect men. These be they that perfectly maintained the love of God, the love of his neighbor, and good works, and thought never to please the world, but to God only. And if they had done any venial sin, it was put anon away by the love of charity, like a drop of water in a furnace. And therefore, they bear nothing with them that ought to be burned. The right evil and wicked men be they that anon be plunged into the fire of hell; for whom, if their damnation be known, there ought no suffrages be done for them. After that Saint Augustine says, ‘If I knew my father to be in hell, I would no more pray for him than for the devil.’ They that be middle good be they that have with them something to be burned and purged; that is to say wood, hay, and stubble. Or else they that be surprised with death before they might have accomplished their penance in their life. Then they be not so good but that they need have suffrages of their friends; nor be they not so evil but that suffrages might profit and ease them.”

Such was the belief under the deadly influence of which, one generation after another lived and died in the church of Rome. The Council of Trent in its decrees set its seal to this doctrine, and thus its mischievous delusions have been perpetuated to the present time. The following is the canon respecting Purgatory, passed at its twenty-fifth session. “Since the Catholic Church, instructed by Scripture and the ancient tradition of the fathers, hath taught in sacred councils and most recently in this general council, that there is a purgatory, and that the souls detained there are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, especially by the sacrifice of the altar, the holy council enjoins the bishops to take diligent care, that the sound doctrine on the subject of purgatory, taught by the Holy Fathers, and sacred councils, be believed by the faithful, be held, taught, and everywhere preached,” &c. Such is all the very brief information which the decrees of the Council of Trent afford on the subject of Purgatory.

The learned Cardinal Bellarmine, however, who lived during the same age, and who is referred to by Charles Butler, Esq., one of the greatest modern champions of Rome, as authority for explaining the doctrines of the Romish Church respecting indulgences—has abundantly supplied the deficiency. From his writings we shall quote the following extracts, as shewing what was considered at Rome after the Council of Trent had passed its decree respecting Purgatory, to be the sound doctrine of the church on this important subject.[4]

At the commencement of his Treatise on Purgatory, the Cardinal defines it to be “a certain place where, as in a prison, those souls are purified after this life, which were not purified here, in order that they may be able to enter into heaven.” “It is appointed” he says “for those who die with venial sins, and again for those with the temporary punishment of sin undischarged, though the sins themselves have been remitted.” He describes the pains of Purgatory as most horrible (atrocissime), exceeding beyond all comparison any sufferings upon earth, according to the uniform doctrine of the Fathers. He says, also, that “the belief of Purgatory is an article of Faith, so that they who do not believe it, shall never arrive there, but must be tormented in the eternal fire of Hell.” (de Purg. c. 15.)

“Since many persons” says Bellarmine “will not believe what they have never seen, it has pleased God sometimes to raise his servants from the dead, and to send them to announce to the living what they have really beheld.” The Cardinal here refers to certain revelations, exhibited by him in another work: two or three of which we shall here give as strikingly illustrative of the actual belief of the church of Rome.

“A pious father of a family in Northumberland died, after a long illness, in the early part of one night, but to the great terror of those who watched by his body, came to life again, at the dawn of the following day. All but his faithful and affectionate wife, fled at the sight of him; and to her he communicated, in the most soothing terms, the peculiar circumstances of his case; that he had indeed been dead, but was permitted to live again upon earth, though by no means in the same manner as before. In short, he sold all his property, divided the produce equally between his wife, his children, and the poor, and then retired to the monastery of Melrose. He there lived in such a state of unexampled mortification, as made it quite evident, even if he had not said a word on the subject, that he had seen things, whatever was the nature of them, which no one else had been permitted to behold.” But he disclosed it all. “One” said he “whose aspect was as light, and his garment glistening, conducted me to a valley of great depth and width, but of unmeasurable length; one side of which was dreadful beyond expression, for its burning heat, and the other for its no-less-intolerable cold. Both were filled with the souls of men, which seemed to be tossed as by the fury of a tempest from one side to the other: for being quite unable to endure the heat on the right hand, the miserable wretches kept throwing themselves to the opposite side, into the equal torment of cold, and thence back again into the raging flames. This, thought I, must be Hell, but my guide answered to my thought, that it was not so—‘this valley’ says he ‘is the place of torment for the souls of those who, after delaying to confess and expiate their sins, have at length, in the article of death, had recourse to penance, and so have died. These at the day of judgment will all be admitted into the kingdom of Heaven by reason of their confession and penance, late as it was. But meanwhile many of them may be arrested and liberated before that day, by the prayers, alms, and fastings of the living, particularly by the sacrifice of the mass.’”

Another remarkable narrative of still higher pretensions, that of St. Christina, is given by the Cardinal from Thomas Cantipratensis, “an author” says Bellarmine “of the highest credit and contemporary with the Saint—confirmed too by the testimony of the pious and learned Cardinal James de Vitriaco.” “The following are the words of Christina herself, spoken, in the presence of many witnesses, upon her return to life.

“Immediately as I departed from the body, my soul was received by ministers of light and angels of God, and conducted to a dark and horrid place, filled with the souls of men. The torments which I there witnessed are so dreadful, that to attempt to describe them would be utterly in vain; and there I beheld not a few, who had been known to me while they were alive. Greatly concerned for their hapless state, I asked what place it was, thinking it was Hell, but I was told, that it was Purgatory, where are kept those who in their life had repented indeed of their sins, but had not paid the punishment due for them.[5] I was next taken to see the torments of Hell; where also I recognized some of my former acquaintances upon earth.”

“Afterwards I was translated to Paradise, even to the throne of the Divine Majesty, and when I saw the Lord congratulating me, I was beyond measure rejoiced, supposing that I should henceforth dwell with Him for evermore. But he presently said to me, ‘In very deed my sweetest daughter you shall be with me; but for the present I offer you your choice. Will you stay for ever with me now? or will you return to the earth and there in your mortal body, but without any detriment to it, endure punishments, by which you may deliver out of Purgatory, all those souls whom you so much pitied?’ I accepted, without hesitation, the return to life, on the condition proposed, and the Lord ordered my body to be restored to me.”

“These were her own words. The author of her life adds, that she walked into burning ovens, and though she was so tortured by the flames, that her anguish extorted from her the most horrible cries, yet when she came out, there was not a trace of any burning to be detected on her body. Again, during a hard frost she would go and place herself under the frozen surface of a river for six days and more at a time. Sometimes she would be carried round by the wheel of a water mill; and after having been whirled about in a horrible manner, she was as whole in body as if nothing had happened to her, not a limb was hurt. At other times she would make all the dogs in the town fall upon her, and would run before them, like a hunted beast, and yet in spite of being torn by thorns and brambles, and worried and lacerated by the dogs, to such a degree, that no part of her body escaped without wounds, there was not a weal nor a scar to be seen.”

Such is the exposition of the church’s doctrine of Purgatory, given by that great pillar of the Papacy, Cardinal Bellarmine. The same views still prevail in the Romish communion; and, as in every other branch of knowledge, great discoveries have been made by the priests in this department. The following is the testimony of Mr. Gavin, formerly a Spanish priest, as to the notions prevalent in Spain on this subject.

“I cannot give” says this author “a real account of Purgatory, but I will tell you all I know of the practices of the Romish Priests and Fryers, in relation to that imaginary place, which indeed must be of vast extent, and almost infinite capacity; if, as the Priests give out, there are as many apartments in it, as ranks and conditions of people in this world, among Roman Catholics. The intenseness of the fire in Purgatory is calculated by them, which they say is eight degrees, and that of Hell only four degrees. But there is a great difference in these two fires, in this—viz., that of Purgatory (though more intense, active, consuming and devouring), is but for a time, from which the souls may be freed by the suffrages of Masses, but that of Hell is for ever. . . . . The council of Trent has settled the doctrine of Purgatory, without alleging any one passage of Holy Scripture; and gave so much liberty to Priests and Friars by it, that they built in that fiery palace, apartments for Kings, Princes, Grandees, Noblemen, Merchants, and Tradesmen, for Ladies of quality, for Gentlemen, and Tradesmen’s wives, and for poor common people. These are the eight apartments which answer to the eight degrees of ‘intensus ignis,’ i.e. intense fire; and they make the people believe that the poor people only endure the least degree; the second, being greater, is for Gentlewomen and Tradesmen’s wives, and so on to the eighth degree, which being the greatest of all, is reserved for Kings. By this wicked doctrine, they get gradually masses from all sorts and conditions of people, in proportion to their greatness. But as the poor cannot give so many masses as the great, the lowest chamber of Purgatory is always crowded with the reduced souls of these unfortunately fortunate people; for they say the providence of God has ordered every thing to the ease of his creatures, and that, foreseeing that the poor could not afford the same number of masses that the rich could, his infinite goodness has placed them in the place of less suffering in Purgatory.”

“But it is a remarkable thing, that many poor silly Tradesmen’s wives do ask the Fryers, whether the souls of their Fathers, Mothers, or Sisters, can be removed from the second apartment to the third; thinking by it that though the third degree of fire is greater than the second, yet a soul would be better pleased in the company of ladies of quality; but the worst is that the Friars make such women believe that he may do it very easily, if they give the same price for a mass, the Ladies of quality do give.” (Gavin’s Master Key to Popery. Vol. 1. Part 3.)

It will be easily seen what a golden mine this superstition must have proved to the priests of the middle ages. The author of the “Romish Horseleech,” who wrote in the seventeenth century, has given us the following account of the various ways in which it filled the treasury of the church.

“The new doctrine and invention of Purgatory, bred by superstition and nursed by covetousness, as it was conceived, became a most forcible engine continually to drain the people’s money. For when men were made to believe, that after death, their souls should enter into a region of fire, there to suffer hard and bitter torments, to be purged and fitted for the region of Bliss; but yet to be eased, and the sooner released, according to the measure and number of the masses, offices, and prayers, which should be made on their behalf here, while they lay broiling in that fearful state: people were put upon it to make the best provision they could in their life-time, or at least at their deaths, that such helps and means should be used on their behalf, as they might reasonably reckon upon a short and tolerable continuance there.

To this purpose, the founding and endowing of monasteries, abbeys, and nunneries, by the best and richer sort; and the colleges, free chapels, and chauntries, by the middle sort of people, according to their respective abilities, and the apprehensions they had of this future state, all pointed at the good of the founder’s soul after death, and the souls of such others as he appointed. . . . . .

“But yet, not trusting to the uncertain charity of others, most persons strained to the utmost, and many most excessively, their fortunes considered, to leave some provision behind for that purpose, and most commonly by their last wills and testaments, which were accounted sacred; and thereby, or by acts executed in their life-time, it was not rare for many men, though they had many children to provide for, or many debts to pay, to postpone all relations and considerations to this concern of the soul; and to appoint, and to take order for Masses satisfactory, Anniversaries, Obits, Requiems, Dirges, Placebos, Trentals, Lamps, Lights, and other Offices, to be performed daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, as far as the sums destined would afford, for the ease and comfort of the Testator’s soul.

“Masses satisfactory, were the Romish service, appointed to be sung or said at a certain time or times, and at an appointed place, at such an altar, or in such a chapel, with special reference to or remembrance of such a soul or souls tormented in Purgatory.

“An Anniversary was the appointment and performance of prayers, at such or such a time, once a year, for the souls of deceased persons: commonly upon the day of the death of the party who appointed it, and this in imitation of the old days whereon the martyrdom or deaths of saints were celebrated.

“An Obit was a funeral office performed for the dead, and for his soul’s health, at certain times and places appointed.

“A Requiem was an office or mass commonly sung for the dead, so called from those words in it, Requiem eternam, dona eis, Domine.

“A Dirge, quasi Dirige, was an office of the same nature for souls in Purgatory, so called from the first word of the first Antiphone in the office, ‘Dirige, &c.’

“A Placebo was another such like office, or service, performed for the health and good estate of some soul or souls, so called from the word Placebo, being the first word in the office.

“A Trental, from the French Trente, was a service of thirty masses said or sung for the dead; or a service performed thirty days after death.

“Lamps and lights were by many ordered to be continually burning before some certain altar, image, or place, or over some sepulchre, so hallowed, as conceived to afford some ease or benefit to souls in Purgatory.” (Rom. Horseleech. p. 20, Lond. 1769.)

According to Lyndwoode, the whole personal estate of the deceased was sometimes assigned by the ordinary for the benefit of his soul when there were neither parents, wife, nor children. Sometimes a half when there was a wife surviving, but no children. And when there were both wife and children, one third of the personal property was assigned for funeral expenses and masses.[6]

The importance attached to deliverance from Purgatorial fires, during the period when Popery was dominant in this Kingdom, may be judged from the following extract from the History of Whitby, where many such cases occur, which throw light on this subject.

“William Bone, to all who see or hear these letters, whether present or to come, greeting: Know ye, that I have given, granted, and by this my present charter, confirmed to God and St. Mary’s in Godeland, and to the fraternity serving God there, one toft in Locintun, which is between those of Thomas and Martin, for the souls of my father and mother, and for the Salvation of my own soul, for a free, pure, and perpetual alms.”

“To all the souls of holy mother Church, Thomas de Colville greeting: Know ye that I have granted, and by this my charter confirmed, for a perpetual alms, the donation which Alan de Percy made to the Church of St. Peter and St. Hilda at Whitby, and to the monks at that place serving God; namely two carucates of land, the one in Oxenham, and other in Heltune, for the redemption of my own soul, and for the salvation of my ancestors.” (Hist. of Whitby, quoted in Elliott’s Delin. p. 304.)

Other inventions to drain money from the people have been added in later times. Some of these are thus described by a writer of the seventeenth century.

“There is never a village in Italy, how small and inconsiderable soever, which has not a confraternity for the souls in Purgatory, and at the least a score of Priests who live upon it very plentifully. Besides the money they receive for their masses which never fail them, they have a sort of people who carry boxes through the streets from house to house, begging of all they meet with, with a great deal of importunity, some money for the souls in Purgatory; which money the Priests afterwards share among themselves. In many places in Italy, especially in the great cities, in order to have a fixed and settled income, they let to farm this purgatory-money to some Layman, or other as I have seen at Milan, in that famous confraternity of the souls in Purgatory, established in the church of St. John de casa rota. The farmer here pays 4000 crowns every year to the Priests of the church, and makes his profit of the rest. He maintains for this purpose forty box carriers, who are clothed in white, and wear upon their short white cloaks the arms of the confraternity to distinguish them. They have each of them a shilling a day allowed them, and their business is to run through all the streets of the city, and beg money for the souls in Purgatory. These box carriers are picked men, very cunning and skilful at their trade of begging. Sometimes they are so importunate and impertinent, that they follow a man the length of two or three streets without quitting him, to force him by their importunity to give them something. Neither is it without danger to give them any rude or churlish answer, for in that case they have the malice to tell you to your face ‘That they see well enough by you, you have no consideration for the souls in Purgatory.’ And should you continue to revile them, might probably get you recommended to the inquisition to learn more manners. The farmer of the Souls in Purgatory has the keys of all these boxes, and they are bound once or twice a week to bring them in to him. When at any time they bring them full and well lined, he gives them something over and above their ordinary pay, to encourage them to perform their quest with so much the more application and dexterity. He takes care to place some of his boxes in all Inns, Ordinaries, Taverns, Victualling Houses, and other public places. Those that have travelled Italy, know that the Host doth, commonly at the end of every meal, bring in his box for the souls in Purgatory, and desire his guests to put in their charity. At the time of Harvest and Vintage, the farmer sends some of his emissaries into the field, to carry on the quest there for the said souls. They have great waggons with them, and beg some portion of what is gathered, in corn, wood, wine, rice, hemp, even to the very eggs and hens. Which done they either spend what they have got themselves, or else sell it and turn it to money.” (Frauds of Rom. Priests, Lond. 1687. p. 260.)

The purgatorial associations which exist in Ireland and also in London, in some respects resemble the Confraternities thus described. The following account of one of these societies held in St. James’s Chapel, Dublin, is quoted from a pamphlet, by the Rev. James Carlile, of Dublin.

“I request” says Mr. Carlile, “the reader’s particular attention to the following document which is printed verbatim as it fell into my hands. He has doubtless heard of penny-a-week societies for various purposes: such as relieving the poor, educating their children, furnishing them with the Scriptures; but he perhaps does not know that this system has been adopted by devout and charitable members of the church of Rome, in this enlightened city of Dublin, for the purpose of raising money to relieve themselves and their friends from Purgatory when they shall go thither. Let him read then and be astonished.”

“PURGATORIAN SOCIETY

Instituted July 1, 1813, and held in St. James’s Chapel, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

“And then we find a text quoted from the Maccabees—‘It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins.’ Then follow the regulations. I copy only the second and the ninth: one shewing the method of raising funds, the other, the favors conferred.

“‘Rule 2. That every well-disposed Catholic, wishing to contribute to the relief of suffering souls in Purgatory, shall pay one penny per week, which shall be appropriated to the procuring of Masses to be offered up for the repose of the souls of the deceased parents, relations, and friends of all the subscribers to the institution in particular, and the faithful departed in general.

“‘Rule 9. That the Superior shall on every All-soul’s-day advance to the parish priest of St. James’ Chapel, whatever sum is necessary for obtaining an insertion in the mortality list of the altar, names of the parents, relations, and friends of all the subscribers to this institution, to be recommended to the prayers of the congregation at every mass throughout the year!’

“I cannot however omit quoting a portion of another of these regulations which modifies the number of masses, according to the rank of the members, and fixes the dependence of all such benefits on the punctuality of payment made to the priest. ‘The Superior of this Society, at his death shall be entitled to three masses for the repose of his soul; the Rector to two; and every member to one, provided he have been a subscriber for six months, and be clear of all dues at the time of his departure. Hence it must be a great thing, by liberal donation, to rise to the rank of Superior and have three masses, or of Rector and have two; and it must be a woful thing to the poor man not to pay his last weekly penny; for then, dying in debt, he shall have no claim to the one mass which should otherwise be offered for the repose of his soul.’”

In the “Catholic Directory” for 1842, it is announced that “monthly masses will be said for such benefactors as will aid in paying off the debt upon the chapels and schools,” situated in Wade-street, Poplar; and in addition to this privilege, that “mass shall be said every quarter for those who are interred in the burial-ground.” At Dukinfield, St. Mary’s, near Manchester, there is a society attached to the chapel, termed St. Marie’s Society which has for its object the liquidation of the heavy debt upon the building. The members participating in the advantages of two masses offered up on the first Monday and Tuesday of every month. The subscription to be paid by a member is but one penny per week.

It is thus evident that the doctrine of purgatory, or future expiatory suffering, has prevailed in the church of Rome for at least a thousand years, and the injury which Popery has by this means inflicted upon Society at large, can hardly be over-rated. It will be at once granted that the principal check to human depravity, in unrenewed men, consists in the dread of future punishment,—the oft-repeated declarations of the Scriptures that “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” It is equally certain that what gives to these awful denunciations of divine wrath all their terror, is the endless duration of the punishment threatened; the irreversible and everlasting character of ‘the wrath to come.’ It is “the worm that never dies”; and ‘the fire that is never quenched.’ Now the result of the dogma which we have been considering, was virtually to explode the doctrine of hell, and to substitute a state of temporary suffering for an endless and irreversible condition of woe. The effect of this was to remove, to a very considerable extent, that dread of Divine wrath which constitutes the chief barrier to human guilt, and thus cause impiety and wickedness to deluge the face of society!

But this is not all. Not only is the eternal fire of hell changed, by this wicked system, into the temporary flames of purgatory; but the modes of deliverance from this latter state of suffering are so numerous, and so easy, that it is a man’s own fault, if either he himself, or any for whom he cares, remain there long. The previous pages enumerate many of these means of deliverance. The following chapter on ‘Indulgences’ will also treat of this subject. Suffice it therefore to say, that not only the masses, offices, and prayers, offered up at the departure of the soul were considered effectual in releasing it from purgatory, but there exist also many forms of devotion in Popish books, the due performance of which is infallibly attended by the same result. Modern travellers too, assure us that it is a common thing to see a paper stuck upon the church doors in Popish countries, with this announcement, ‘This day a soul out of purgatory’; meaning, that all who enter the church, and attend to the form prescribed by the Pope, will certainly deliver any soul they think fit, from the purgatorial flame![7] Hence all fear of future woe is, generally speaking, destroyed amongst the members of the church of Rome, and the depraved passions of our nature are allowed to riot in unrestrained freedom.

On this subject, the evidence of the Rev. John Burnet, as given before the House of Lords, during the agitation of the Catholic Relief Bill, is most important. “There are Catholic books,” says that gentleman, “in general circulation in the country (meaning Ireland) that are subversive of every first principle of morality and religion. . . . . . They prescribe certain forms to be gone through in their devotions, and they connect with these prayers and these forms speedy release from purgatory. The lower orders of the Roman Catholics, believe this, and feel and act upon the belief of it; the effect of which is that no Roman Catholic of the lower orders has any dread of final perdition. I have spoken with them frequently on the subject, and never found one of them that supposed he could go to Hell. If they die in mortal sin, their doctrine is that they must go to perdition; if however they apply to the priest for absolution, he must give it; and in the case of absolution which is administered on their professing a regret for their sins, they only go to Purgatory, and they depend on those Books of Orders for their release from it, and hence the punishments of futurity in their estimation are only temporary punishments, and this conviction has a very injurious effect upon the views and conduct of the people.” (Evidence before the Lords, p. 470.)

It is thus obvious, that the Romish doctrine of Purgatory is most demoralizing in its influence, and has produced the most disastrous results upon mankind at large. During a thousand years, it has diffused spiritual poison over all Europe. The rich, the noble, and the learned, as well as the poor and the rude, have been brought under its deadly power;* nor has any class or condition of mankind been placed beyond its reach. The records of antiquity supply the most incontestable evidence of the extent to which it operated in past ages. Monasteries, Abbeys, Colleges, &c., were erected; Chauntries were founded; Masses satisfactory, requiems, dirges, &c., &c. were performed, in order that the souls of the donors might be delivered from Purgatory. Whilst the previous pages shew to what a lamentable extent the doctrine still prevails, both on the continent, and at home. No human thought, however, can realize the amount of evil which this absurd and wicked superstition has inflicted, and still inflicts upon mankind. Eternity alone can fully disclose the depravity which it has fostered, the crimes which it has occasioned, or the souls which it has destroyed!

Footnotes

[1] Clem. Epist. ad Cor. II. § 8. Ignat. Epist. ad. Magn. § 10. Just. Dial. cum. Tryph. Opera p. 270.

[2] Ambr. Enarr. in Ps. I. Oper. col. 1286.

[3] Qualis tunc erit velut aurea per tribulationem, ita per judicium purgata novissimum, eis quoque igne mundatis, quibus talis mundatio necessaria est. De Civ. Dei. lib. 20. cap. 25.

[4] For these quotations we are indebted to Philpot’s Letters to Butler. (p. 120—131.)

[5] The Papal doctrine that human punishment atones for sin, is as much a denial of Christ as if in so many words it were said—Jesus Christ is not the Messiah, hence the fulfilment of the passage “He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.”

[6] See Johnson’s Collection of Eccles. Laws, Vol. 2. Stratf. Const. 1348 Const. 7. Lond. 1720.

[7] Bourgoing’s Modern State of Spain. Vol. IV. p. 272. London, 1808. Also, Doblado’s Letters from Spain. pp. 150—4.

[8] “Philip V. ordered by his will all the priests of the place where he should die, to say mass the same day for the repose of his soul; besides which they were to celebrate, during three days, before privileged altars, as many masses as possible; and that he might not fail in his purpose, he further commanded an hundred masses to be said on his account, the surplus of as many as were necessary to conduct him to Heaven reversible to poor solitary souls, concerning whom no person bestowed a thought.” (Bourgoing’s Modern State of Spain. iv. p. 278.) A privileged altar is one to which the Pope has granted the privilege of instantly releasing from purgatory any soul for which a mass is said upon it.

(To be continued.)