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Reply: It can be summed up very briefly. At death the soul of man, if quite fit, goes at once to heaven; if not quite fit, to purgatory; if quite unfit, to hell. The soul whicih has repented of all its sins, and has fully expiated them in this life, is quite for heaven at once. The soul which departs this life in a state of unrepented mortal sin can never be fitted for heaven, and goes to hell. But a soul which has sincerely repented of its sins, yet has not fully expiated them, secures immunity from hell by repentance, and goes to purgatory until it has expiated all its deficiencies.

RR: Question: Have you been so atrociously wicked as to deserve purgatory?

Reply: There is no need to be atrociously wicked in order to need purification, any more than there is need to be on your death-bed before you need medicine. But there is need to attain to a high standard of purity and holiness before one could be fit to enter the glory of God's presence.

RR: Question: Do the souls of Protestants go to purgatory?

Reply: All souls, whether of Protestants or of Catholics, or of any other religion, will go to purgatory if they are not good enough for heaven at the moment of death, nor bad enough for hell. Non-Catholics may deny purgatory, but that makes no difference to purgatory.

RR: Question: The Bible only mentions heaven and hell!

Reply: It does not. It certainly mentions an intermediate state to which the soul of Christ went after His death on the cross (1 Peter 3:19). This state was neither heaven nor hell, but the Limbo of the Fathers of the Old Law. In addition to this, Scripture mentions the purgatorial state. In any case, it would not matter if the Bible did mention but two places. My mentioning only London and New York could not prove the non-existance of Paris. It would be a different matter if Christ had said, "There is no purgatory." But He did not.

RR: Question: How do you prove the existance of such a state?

Reply: In Matthew 5:26, Christ, in condemning sin, speaks of liberation only after expiation "Thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing." In Matthew 12:32, He speaks of sin which "shall not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come." Any remission of the effects of sin in the next world can refer only to purgatory. Above all, Saint Paul tells us that the day of judgement will try each man's work. That day after death, when the soul goes to meet its God. What is the result of that judgement? If a man's work will not stand the test St. Paul says that "he shall suffer lossl but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." (1 Corinthians 3:15). This cannot refer to eternal loss in hell, for no one is saved there. Nor can it refer to heaven, for there is no suffering in heaven. Purgatory alone can explain this text. As a matter of fact, all Christians believed in purgatory until the Reformation, when the reformers began their rejection of Christian doctrines at will. Prayer for the dead was ever the prevailing custom, in accordance with the recommendation of the Bible itself. "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins." (2 Machabees 12:46). Prayer for the dead supposes a soul not in heaven where it does not need the help of prayer, nor in hell where prayer cannot assist it. Some intermediate state of purification and need, where prayer can help, is necessary. And the doctrine is most reasonable. "Nothing defiled shall enter heaven." (Revelations 21:27). Yet not all defilement should cost man the loss of his soul. Even in this life, human justice does not inflict capital punishment for every crime. Small offenses are punished by fines or by temporary imprisonment, after which the delinquent is liberated. Those who deny purgatory teach the harder and more unreasonable doctrine.

RR: Question: God would not demand expiation after having forgiven the sin.

Reply: What you think God would or would not do cannot avail against that which He does do. When David repented of his great sin, God sent the prophet Nathan with the message to him, "The Lord hath taken away thy sin. Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, thy child shall surely die." (2 Samuel 12:14). To forgive the guilt of sin, and purify the spiritual scar and stain, which that disease of the soul leaves, by expiatory suffering, is better than to leave the soul still unpurified and indebted to God's justice. I too could fully forgive a friend his offense should he have robbed me, yet still insist that he make good the damage he has wrought me.

RR: Question: When did God make purgatory?

Reply: Heaven of course always existed. For where God is, there is heaven. Hell was made when the devil and his followers fell from grace. There was no purgatory for them. Purgatory then, was made when men began to sin and die with sins repented of , but not fully expiated by the sufferings of life. Men under the Old Law went to purgatory just as those do who live under the New Law.

RR: Question: How do you know that there are any souls in purgatory?

Reply: I know that 100,000 people die daily. I refuse to believe that they all go to hell, and feel quite sure that they are not all fit for immediate entry into heaven. Moreover, you would find far more difficulty in endeavoring to show that there are no souls in purgatory.

RR: Question: How do you know that you can help the souls in purgatory by your prayers?

Reply: God would not have inspired the Jews to pray for the departe if such prayers were of no avail. Christians have always prayed for the dead, a practice fully warranted by the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. And if we can pray for our dear ones who are in trouble in this life, our prayed can certainly follow them in their future difficulties. All prayed is addressed to the same God who is as present to the souls of our dear departed as He is to us.

RR: Question: Is your own personal conviction such that you will want others to pray for you?

Reply: It is. All who have the Catholic faith believe in prayer for the dead. It is not a doctrine for the laity only. And I sincerely hope that friends will pray for me and have Masses offered on my behalf when God has taken me from this world. I shall need them. Nothing defiled will enter heaven, and if at death one's soul is not absolutely perfect in virtue proportionately to the grace it has received, it is defiled by imperfection of some sort. "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8). Masses and prayers offered for me after my death will help to expiate such imperfections as I unfortunately possess.

RR: Question: So you expect to get redemption on the nod?! How fortunate.

Reply: I am. And not a soul will be saved who does not owe it to the death of Christ on the cross, and who will not admit that this was a purely free and gratuitous gift wholly undeserved by men. Mass merely applies the satisfactory value of Christ's death to my soul. Meantime, those who deny purgatory and the necessity of expiation wish to obtain salvation much more "on the nod", as you call it, than Catholics.