PURGATORY (Lat. purgatorium., from purge, I cleanse), is the name given, in the Roman Catholic and Oriental churches, to a place of purgation, in which, according to their religious system, souls after death either are purified from venial sins (peeetea renalia), or undergo the temporal punishment which, after the guilt of mortal sin (peceata mortalia)has been remitted, still remains to be endured by the sinner. The ultimate eternal happiness of their souls is supposed to be secured; but they are detained for a time in a state of purgation, in order to be fitted to appear in that presence into which nothing imperfect can enter. As there is •some obscurity and,much misunderstanding on this subject, we shall briefly explain the doctrine of Catholics, as collected from authentic sources, distimmishing, those things which are held by them as "of faith," from the opinions which are freely discussed in their schools. Catholics hold as articles of their faith (1) that there, is a purgatory in the sense explained above, and (2) that the souls there detained derive relief from the prayers of the faithful and from the sacrifice of the mass. The Scriptural grounds alleged by them in support of this view are 20 Macc.,xii. 43-46 (on which they rely, not merely on the supposition of its being inspired, but even as a simple historical testimony), Matt. xii. 32, 1st Coy. iii. 11-15, 1st xv. 29; as well as on certain less dedisive indications contained in the language of some of the Psalms— as xxxvii. (in Auth. Vers. xxxviii.) 1, and lxv. 12. And in all these passages they argue not alone from the words themselves, but from the interpretation of them by the fathers, as containing the doctrine of a purgatory. The direct testimonies cited by Catholic writers from the fathers to the belief of their respective ages as to the existence of a purgatory, are very numerous, 'We may instance among the Greeks: Clement of Alex andria, Stromata, vii. 12;.Origen„ horn. xvi. c. 5, 6 in Jerendam; vi. Hoes. in Exod. • xiv. Rem: in Levit.; xxviii. horn. in Numb.; Eusebius, Dc Vita Constantini, iv. 71; AtLnas ius, Quast. xxxiv. ad Antioch.; Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. Mystag. v. 9; Basil, Hon. in
Psalm, v. 7; Gregory of Nazianzen, xli. Oral. de Lunde Athanasii; Gregory of Nyssa, Orat. de Bapt.; as also Epiphanies, Ephrem, Theodoret, and others. Among the Latins: Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Lactantius, Hilary, Ambrose, and, above all, Augustine, from whom many most decisive passages are cited; Paulinus of Nola; and Gregory the great, in whom the doctrine is found in all the fullness of its modern detail. The epitaphs of the ,catacombs, too, supply Catholic controversialists with some testimonies to the belief of a purgatory, and of the value of the intercessory prayers of the living in obtaining not merely repose, but relief from suffering, for the deceased; and the litur gies of the various rites are still more decisive and eifcumstantial: Beyond these two points, Catholic faith, as defined by the council of Trent, does not go; and the council expressly prohibits the popular discussion of the "more diflicult and subtle questions, and everything that tends to curiosity, or superstition, or savors of filthy lucre. Of the further questions as to time nature of purgatory, there is one of great historical impor tance, inasmuch as it constitutes one of the grounds of difference between the Greek and Latin churches. As to the existence of purgatory, both these churches are agreed; and they are further agreed that it is a place of suffering; but, while the Latins commonly hold that this sufferino. is " by fire," the Greeks do not determine the manner of the suffering, but are content to regard it as "through tribulation." The decree of union in the council of Florence (1439) left this point free for discussion. Equally free arc the questions as to the situation of purgatory; as to the duration of the purgatorial suffer ing; as to the probable number of its inmates; as to whether they have, while there detained, a certainty of their ultimate salvation; and whether a " particular judgment" takes place on each individual case immediate after death.—St,e Bellarminus, Ds Purgatorio; Suaresius, De Pargatorio; and on Um Greek portion of the subject, Leo Allatius, Da etriusque Eeclesin' in Doymate de Purgatorio perpetua Copsensione.