How to Avoid Purgatory

Purgatory by Koch

I am reading a little book my mother insisted I read. In fact, she even sent me a copy of it. It is entitled Read Me or Rue it...How to Avoid Purgatory...by Father Paul O'Sullivan O.P. This book used to be available through Tan Books. However, now it is only available through JMJ Book Co. PO Box 15 Necedah, WI 54646, (608) 565-2526.

The main purpose of the book is to teach us that we can avoid going to Purgatory if we try. It is not inevitable that we go through Purgatory before reaching our final home in Heaven. If we cannot avoid Purgatory altogether, we can at least shorten our stay there and this little book tells us how.

"The reason why we have to pass through Purgatory after death is because we have committed sins and have not made satisfaction for them.

Every individual sin must be expiated in this life or the next...

It is not God's fault nor God's wish that we go to Purgatory. The fault is all our own..."

Below is a list of ways of avoiding Purgatory:

1. Removing the cause, i.e. stop sinning.

By making frequent use of the sacraments we can avoid committing mortal sins. We may not be able to refrain from committing all kinds of sins but at least we can avoid the mortal sins .

2. Avoid deliberate and grave venial sins.

"It is an awful thing to offend the good God deliberately."

We should also try our hardest to break our bad habits.

"If a Christian avoids,...these three classes of sin. viz, mortal sins, deliberate and grave venial sins, and habits of sin, it will be relatively easy for him to atone for faults of frailty..."

3. Giving special attention when we pray:

"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

These words given to us by our Lord Himself said frequently and fervently will no doubt obtain us pardon for our many offenses.

4. Doing penance.

Bearing our little crosses without complaint during our day. Doing mortifications (which helps us to die to self). These are little penance which will also help lessen the time in Purgatory.

"Penance is not only easy, it is useful and necessary and it will bring us very great happiness...Daily acts of self restraint, of patience with others, of kindness to others, the exact fulfillment of duty are splendid penances and a great aid to happiness."

5. Accepting our sufferings with patience.

Bearing patiently what we cannot avoid, all the more as suffering, born patiently, becomes easy and light. Suffering if accepted with calmness and for God's sake loses all its sting. If received badly, in the spirit of revolt and with repugnance it is intensified a hundredfold, and becomes almost intolerable...

How sad it is that so many Christians for want of thought make their sufferings a thousands times worse than they are and lose all the immense merits that they could so easily gain.

6. By frequent Confession, Communion and daily assistance at Mass.

"Confession applies to our souls the Precious Blood of Christ, wipes out our sins, gives us light to see their malice, fills us with horror of sin, and above all, it give us strength to avoid it.

The Mass is identical with the Sacrifice of Calvary, in its essence, in its value, in the graces it bestows. The Sacrifice of Calvary saved all the world millions and millions of souls...By assisting at Mass we can apply all these oceans of graces to our own souls, and that not once but every day."

I think that is enough for today. The rest of the list will be posted tomorrow.

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More Ways to Avoid Purgatory

Mortifications: One Way of Avoiding Purgatory