What is Purgatory? The waiting room to heaven Meant for purification of the soul a

place of repentance (often communal) for sins

Souls rely on each other for support

Something to Remember on the Journey•Punishments are severe here as well •Almost resembles hell •Punishments here area temporary •hell’s punishments are eternal •Punishments are meant to cleanse the soul so it can enter heaven

Geography of Purgatory • Purgatory is a 7 story mountain Created when God threw Lucifer to the earth’s center

There are three stages • Antepurgatory • Purgatory • The Earthly Paradise

Antepurgatory•Those who repent late in life go here •Were spiritually lazy •Excommunicated •Waited till final earthly moments •Have to wait to enter, just as they made God wait

7 Terraces of Purgatory

Terrace 1- Pride• is the most universal of sins •root of all other sins •Souls are forced to carry heavy rocks on their backs •Size of rock depends on the amount of this sin you had •Forced to look down; make you humble

Terrace 2 -Envious•These souls are made to wear coarse hair shirts •sit and cry out to those who pass by •Lean against one another •Blend in with the side of the mountain •Enjoyed seeing others fail •their eyes sewn shut with iron wires

Terrace 3 -Wrathful•Forced to walk through thick, acrid (irritating/strong unpleasant smell) smoke •Experience hallucinations •First see visions of meekness (opposite of wrath) •Followed by visions of wrath •The Stoning of Stephen is a vision that covers both meekness and wrath

Terrace 4 -Sloth•Those who were lazy (spiritually) in life •Failed to pursue virtue and goodness •Forced to run continuously •Shout out examples of slothful behaviour, and examples of the opposite virtue (zeal) •Mary rushing to visit her cousin Elizabeth after the annunciation - example of zeal

Terrace 5 -Greed•Excessive attachment to worldly goods •Made to lay face down on the hard rock floor •Weep and pray •Call out examples of greed and the opposite virtue (generosity) •Example of St. Nicholas’s generosity •Anonymously giving money to poor family so daughter were not used as prostitutes

Terrace 6 -Gluttony•Those who overindulged in food and drink •Forced to suffer starvation and thirst, while surrounded by food and drink. Appear emaciated with sunken eyes •Branches of a tree recite exampled of temperance•The prayers of the living give aid to those in purgatory.

Terrace 7 -Lustful•Burned with lust during life •Have to walk through flames, which shoot out of the side of the mountain across the path

Top of Mountain -Earthly Paradise•A beautiful garden •Where humans would have lived if Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned •Souls here have been totally cleansed of their sins •regained innocence and integrity