This explanation of Purgatory includes a few Biblical references to its existence.
Purgatory. A place of temporal punishment for those who die in God’s grace, but are not entirely free from venial sins or have not entirely paid the satisfaction due to their sins. The existence of purgatory is universally taught by all the Fathers of the Church. The words of Our Lord, “Thou shalt not come out from it until thou hast paid the last penny” are very clear (Matt. 5:25-26). Later, when speaking of the sins against the Holy Ghost, Jesus says that such a sin “will not be forgiven in this world or the next,” thus implying that there are some sins that can be atoned for in the next world (Matt. 12:32). Saint Paul also shows his belief in purgatory when, in his second letter to Timothy, he prays for the deceased Onesiphorus. “May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day” (2 Tim. 1:18). Even in the Old Testament there was a belief in the existence of purgatory, for there we find Judas Machabeus sending 12,000 drachmas to Jerusalem to have sacrifices offered for the sins of the dead. That chapter ends with the advice: “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins” (2 Mach. 12:46).
In purgatory, souls suffer for a while in satisfaction for their sins before they can enter heaven. The principal suffering of these souls consists in the pain of experiencing, on the one hand, an intense longing for God and, on the other, a realization that they are hindered from possessing Him by reason of their past sins. Unlike the souls in hell, they are certain of one day seeing God. They can be helped, moreover, by the prayers of the faithful on earth, and especially by the offering of Mass.
Excerpt from The Catholic Dictionary, edited by Reverend John P. O’Connell, M.A.,S.T.D., pp.196-197. The Holy Bible. The Catholic Press, Inc. Chicago, Illinois. Copyright 1951.
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