Re-Establishing a Culture of Death

An Angel Frees the Souls of Purgatory c.1610, by Lodovico Carracci

There is perhaps no more obvious disparity between the outlook of modern Catholics and that of Catholics in ages past than the way in which each looks upon death, judgment, heaven, and hell, the four “last things”. For centuries, the Church saw judgment as something essential to the Faith, and encouraged a holy fear that gave rise to so many of Michelangelo’s brilliant works, the Baroque Ossuaries, the Dies Irae, and a multitude of artistic achievements which deeply moved people to contemplate their last end.

It would be difficult to argue, however, that there are many elements to modern liturgy or catechesis which exert any kind of influence similar to the past. The use of black vestments, the singing of the Dies Irae, and any mention of hell, judgment, or purgatory, have all become rare or extinct. This month of November, which the Church dedicates specifically to the poor souls in purgatory, often passes with little to no mention of their sufferings, or the importance of prayer for them.

Many would claim that such notions are a thing of the past, and that belief in a merciful, loving God naturally compels us to do away with them. Such an assertion, while right in its conception of God, nonetheless overlooks the logical consequences of such affirmations about Him. If God is essentially loving, and creates us to love and be united with Him for eternity, it is only fitting that He not coerce man or violate human free will. A divine coercion, however, would be necessary if hell were eliminated, as man’s free will would not be allowed to choose anything but eternal union with his Creator. This is why even hell is in fact an act of God’s mercy, as the souls of the damned are not brought into heaven contrary to their resistant wills, but rather are permitted to remain in the state which they have chosen for eternity. Hell is still a punishment in the sense that man finds himself there in a radical state of disorder, but he nonetheless sees his disorder in a proper place, which would not be the case were he to be in heaven, and suffer from seeing an additional level of it through a lack of Divine justice.

This ignorance of death and judgment can also be tied to the anthropocentric, worldly outlook of many modern Catholics, and it is principally on account of this that purgatory is so immensely ignored. The Church lists prayer for the dead among the spiritual works of mercy, and the great saints throughout history have always placed an immense emphasis on aiding the Church suffering. This dimension of the Church, though, is implicitly excluded when Christianity becomes merely a secondary tool for the purpose of introducing social change. If this world is the only one that matters, it is only natural that those souls suffering in the next life be disregarded. This sort of outlook, taken to its logical conclusion, also places heaven and hell as secondary concerns, and makes eternity an afterthought in the process of working for social justice.

When union with God in the beatific vision is seen as man’s true telos, and when Divine justice and mercy are understood in their proper harmony, the sense behind Catholic doctrine becomes immediately apparent. Prayer for the souls in purgatory ought to occupy a huge part of a Catholic’s life, as these souls are so close to reaching their ultimate happiness, yet suffer so immensely from their temporary deprivation of it. Prayer for them can relieve their spiritual suffering and shorten their stay in purgatory, an act of mercy at least on par with alleviating the sufferings of the homeless and the hungry. Our acts of charity will also ultimately lead them to become great advocates for us, should we find ourselves in the same position they currently occupy.

Likewise, Catholics ought not to see the just punishment of hell as something opposed to Divine mercy, but rather a glorification of God’s justice, and act of His mercy in permitting the reprobate to the avoid additional suffering they would endure through being forced to enter heaven. Furthermore, while Catholics ought to truly fear hell, such a fear, as St. Francis de Sales puts it, must always be the servant of a true, disinterested love for God. If hell is nothing but eternal separation from Him, we must fear it not with a selfinterested “mercenary spirit”, but rather because we know that a holy fear will keep us on guard, and encourage us to be united more deeply to the God whom we ought to love for His own sake above all things.

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