Ancient Church Fathers on the Catholic Doctrine of Purgatory.

Started by Xavier, April 15, 2020, 01:26:10 AM

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ermy_law

If you go research what the Orthodox church teaches about the afterlife, you'll be able to figure it out. I'm not going to research it for you. I summarized it. That's enough.

EDIT: Actually, I was able to use google and found this from Fr. Thomas Hopko. I haven't read it entirely, but I assume he gives a good summary of Orthodox teaching: http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/afterdeath.htm

Xavier

The existing statement of greatest authority - on the fate of the departed and the manner in which the prayers of the Church avails them - within the Orthodox Church is the Confession of the Patriarch Dositheus.

When the Orthodox Churches are at last happily re-united to the Mother Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Truth will be confessed by all in East and West. From a Roman Catholic viewpoint, the Council under Patriarch Dositheus is Catholic and orthodox.
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)

ermy_law

Quote from: Xavier on May 01, 2020, 08:58:45 AM
The existing statement of greatest authority - on the fate of the departed and the manner in which the prayers of the Church avails them - within the Orthodox Church is the Confession of the Patriarch Dositheus.

No, it's not.

Xavier

Then show a greater one with reference and dates. Quote me a Patriarch or higher, in a Council or higher.

Fr. Thomas Hopko is not a Patriarch, he did not preside over a Council; his authority is therefore considerably much less. I read it briefly, and it has some good parts, like this, which is correct: "When we die, is there a post-mortem repentance? Is there purification after we die? Can we change our mind after our earthly life is over? How do we relate to all of that? Here I think the simplest answer would be that death is the finally test. That is why the quintessential Christian is the marker; you prove your whole life by how you die. Christian life has only one purpose, to trample down death by death through the grace of God. So the transfiguration of death is where everything is proved, and how we die proves everything. Anything that we do up until that moment is prepared for that moment. That is why if we don't die daily we will not be able to transfigure death when the moment comes when we have to go through our passion, crucifixion and death by whatever way that is going to happen. As it is clearly the Orthodox teaching that death is the moment of truth, death therefore also is the final judgement on our life and it is the final chance and opportunity.

Here I think the teaching simplicity put is this, we do not believe in post-mortem conversions or eons of life where you can keep on repenting like Buddhists believe. However, I believe that from the Holy Scripture, the lives of the Saints and the funeral service tell us that in the process of dying and entering into the presence of the risen Christ we have to be purified from everything that is contrary to life, God and truth in that particular activity. It is in the very presence of the fire of God, or the consuming fire of God as put by the Scripture, that will burn out of us in that process of dying, everything that can not enter into life or God's kingdom."


That's true, and that consuming fire of God, that purifies us from everything that cannot enter God's Kingdom is Purgatory. Fr. Hopko's other statements are based on the misunderstanding that purgatory is necessarily a material fire (the Church has not defined anything on that, as the Acts of the Council of Florence, and Abp. Bessarion's statements etc prove) and so on.
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)

ermy_law

I can't teach you to understand how Orthodox teaching works. Based on my attempts to explain it here, I don't think that would be worthwhile. But essentially, you have to move past the idea that you can cite one person or one council as having proven your point. And then you need to work through actual Orthodox sources who explain things.

Here, if you google "Orthodox afterlife," you'll find a multitude of articles. Read those and get a sense of what they say. Once you do that, you should conclude that your method of citing some patriarch from some council is worthless.

Xavier

I think you don't understand how authority works. A lower authority can only be superseded at best by a higher authority. You try to cite a single Priest against an entire Council presided over by a Patriarch. That's like citing one advocate's opinion against a Supreme Court. Orthodox claim Councils are the highest authority. Therefore there is no authority over them that can supersede a declaration by a Council. The very fact that you are opposing Patriarch Dositheus and the Council of Jerusalem's statements so much shows that you know that that Council, which was convened to choose between Calvinism and Catholicism, sided much more with Catholicism than with Calvinism.

That will do. I'm content to let the matter rest at that. The case for Purgatory is crystal clear in Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, the historical Magisterium of Church Councils and the decrees of the Popes until the present day.
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)

ermy_law

Quote from: Xavier on May 01, 2020, 09:20:19 AM
I think you don't understand how authority works. A lower authority can only be superseded at best by a higher authority. You try to cite a single Priest against an entire Council presided over by a Patriarch. That's like citing one advocate's opinion against a Supreme Court. Orthodox claim Councils are the highest authority. Therefore there is no authority over them that can supersede a declaration by a Council. The very fact that you are opposing Patriarch Dositheus and the Council of Jerusalem's statements so much shows that you know that that Council, which was convened to choose between Calvinism and Catholicism, sided much more with Catholicism than with Calvinism.

That will do. I'm content to let the matter rest at that. The case for Purgatory is crystal clear in Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, the historical Magisterium of Church Councils and the decrees of the Popes until the present day.

That's my point: you don't understand that's not how it works in Orthodoxy. Your ideas about how authority works (or should work) are not in line with Orthodoxy. What is truly remarkable is that you can't seem to understand that, and you are apparently making zero effort to do so.

Xavier

Disbelieving in Purgatory is a mortal sin and is heresy. If someone doesn't believe in Purgatory, and dies unrepentant, he cannot go even to Purgatory.
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)

ermy_law

Quote from: Xavier on May 01, 2020, 09:43:46 AM
Disbelieving in Purgatory is a mortal sin and is heresy. If someone doesn't believe in Purgatory, and dies unrepentant, he cannot go even to Purgatory.

Okay.

Xavier

Our Lord's and Our Lady's Messages to countless Saints has been crystal clear for a long time, from St. Bridget to St. Catherine to St. Margaret Mary to St. Faustina to St. Padre Pio to several others: believe in Purgatory, be converted to a life of holiness, strive to deliver many of the Holy Souls there, and make many sacrifices for their hasty release.

https://www.michaeljournal.org/articles/roman-catholic-church/item/a-manuscript-of-a-soul-in-purgatory



"A suffering soul in Purgatory to Sister M.
If you could only know what I suffer! Pray for me, please. I suffer intensely everywhere. My God, how merciful You are! No one can imagine what Purgatory is like. Be kind and take pity on the poor souls.

May 1874. I have been in the second Purgatory since the Feast of the Annunciation. On that day I saw the Blessed Virgin for the first time. In the first stage, we never saw her. The sight of her encourages us and this beloved Mother speaks to us of Heaven. While we see her, our sufferings are greatly diminished.

You do well to pray to St. Michael and to urge others to do so. One is indeed happy at the hour of death when he has had confidence in some of the saints. They will be his protectors before God in that terrible moment.

Make it a practice to live in the presence of God with a pure intention. God seeks devoted souls who will love Him for His own sake. These are very few. He wants you to be one of His true friends. Many think they love God, but they love Him for their own sakes.

February 1875. Watch carefully over your interior life. Keep all your small troubles for Jesus alone. He is well able to make up to you for whatever He takes from you. Your life must be one of unceasing interior acts of love and of mortification, but God alone must know of it. Do nothing extraordinary. Lead a very hidden life, yet one closely united to Jesus.

Love God very much. How happy are the souls that do this. They possess a treasure! The great penance of your life will be, not the absence of your Jesus but great sorrow for all the pain you have given Him, by your failure to love Him as you desire, in return for the overwhelming number of graces which He has showered upon you and which He will continue to shower upon you.

Love everyone, but do not put your trust entirely in anyone, because Jesus wants to be your great confidant. Everything for Him and for Him alone. Perform all your actions in the presence of God as I have so often told you. Consult Him before all you do or say. Let your life be one of faith and love... Do nothing to distinguish yourself. Without offending anyone, avoid the company of those who are too unreserved and those who are uncharitable. As for yourself, be busy about your own affairs. Keep your opinions to yourself and never express them unless obliged to do so. Be preoccupied with only that one subject, the mainspring of your life, Jesus.

December 8, 1875. Love God intensely. Do not fear your own suffering. Trust in Him, never in yourself. Die to yourself from morning to night... Do not breathe or live except for Jesus Christ. God must be your only confidant. Complain to no one except for Him. Be quite hidden from the eyes of everyone else.

Feast of the Annunciation. When God wishes a soul to be entirely His, He begins by crushing it, very much as apples are crushed in the press—to extract its passions, its self-seeking, in a word, all its defects. When a soul is sufficiently broken, He reshapes it according to His will. If it is faithful, it is soon transformed. Only then does Jesus load it with His choicest graces and inundate it with His love.

Jesus wants you to deal with Him, as with an intimate friend, without any fear whatsoever. It is true that His Majesty is frightening and that you are not worthy to have such intimate converse with your Jesus, but is He not the Master that enriches whomsoever He wills? Ask Jesus to make you rich in every virtue, as He wishes you to be, but in the meantime, shape your life in accordance with His inspirations. Enlarge your heart because what Jesus desires above all things is to see in it His love. What wonderful graces you will receive if you are faithful, graces you have never even thought of.

May 12th. Mortify yourself corporally, but more especially spiritually. Forget yourself. Deny yourself in everything. Never look at what others are doing. God does not demand the same perfection from everyone. All are not enlightened in the same way, but you, whom Jesus Himself enlightens, look only to Him, let Him be your aim and object in everything.

Never grow weary in your work. Begin each day as if you had so far done nothing. This continual renouncement of one's will and comfort and one's own opinions is a long martyrdom, but it is most pleasing to God. God wants you to be something special, not as regards your exterior, but in your inner soul. He asks of you a union with Himself, so great that you never lose sight of Him, even amidst your absorbing occupations.

While on earth one truly cannot picture or imagine what God really is, but we (in Purgatory) know and understand Him for what He is, because our souls are freed from all the ties that fettered them and prevented them from realizing the holiness and majesty of God, and His great mercy. We are martyrs, consumed as it were by love. An irresistible force draws us towards God who is our center, but at the same time another force thrusts us back to our place of expiation. We are in the state of being unable to satisfy our longings. Oh, what a suffering that is, but we desire it and there is no murmuring against God here. We desire only what God wants. You on earth, however, cannot possibly understand what we have to endure.

Be ingenious in mortifying yourself and in breaking your own will. Be especially nice to those who are less agreeable to you than to others, no matter what wrong they may have done to you. This means renouncing yourself and pleasing Jesus. Nothing else matters. It is on these occasions that you must silence the human will, but you must do it because Jesus wills it. Do not allow self-love to get the upper hand, but do all blindly to please Jesus alone.

St. Michael

1879, Retreat in September. We see St. Michael as we see the angels. He has no body. He comes to get the souls that have finished their purification. It is he who conducts them to Heaven. He is among the Seraphim as Monsignor said. He is the highest angel in Heaven. Our own Guardian Angels come to see us but St. Michael is far more beautiful than they are. As to the Blessed Virgin, we see her in the body. She comes to Purgatory on her feasts and she goes back to Heaven with many souls. While she is with us we do not suffer. St. Michael accompanies her. When he comes alone, we suffer as usual. When I spoke to you of the great and the second Purgatory, it was to try and make you understand that there are different stages in Purgatory. Thus I call that stage of Purgatory great or worst where the most guilty souls are, and where I stayed for two years without being able to give a sign of the torments I was suffering. The year you heard me groaning, when I began to speak to you, I was still in the same place.

In the second Purgatory, which is still Purgatory but very different from the first, one suffers a great deal, but less than in the great place of expiation. Then there is the third stage, which is the Purgatory of desire, where there is no fire. The souls who did not desire Heaven ardently enough, who did not love God sufficiently, are there. It is there that I am at this moment. Further, in these three parts of purgatory, there are many degrees of variation. Little by little, as the soul becomes purified, her sufferings are changed.

The more a soul loves Jesus the more meritorious all its actions are in His sight. It is only love that will be rewarded in Heaven. All that is done for any other motive will count as nothing. Love Jesus truly, once and for all, as He wants you to. Then I also shall benefit in that I shall have great relief in all my sufferings.

Is God not more pleased with me these last few days? Yes, He is more pleased because you are striving more to give Him pleasure. Have you noticed His goodness and special watchfulness over you? Has He not also given you much joy these days? He will always act like that towards you. The more you do for Him the more He will do for you. I am so happy to see that you are really beginning to love God, who is so good, and to work seriously at your perfection. If by remaining a little longer in Purgatory I could obtain that you should arrive at perfection God demands of you to accomplish His designs, I would willingly bear that suffering. Never look back to examine your conduct in the past. Leave it entirely in the hands of God and go steadily forward. Your life must be summed up in two words: Love and Sacrifice. Sacrifice from morning to night, but always with Love. If only you knew what God is, there is no sacrifice that you would not be willing to make, no suffering that you would not endure for Him. If you could see Him for but one minute you would be perfectly satisfied and consoled... What then must it be to see Him for all eternity?

What is the best way of honoring St. Michael? The best and most efficacious way of glorifying him in Heaven and honoring him on earth is to spread devotion to the souls in Purgatory, and to make known the great mission he fulfills towards these suffering souls. It is he who is entrusted by God to lead the souls to the place of expiation and to bring them to their eternal home after purification. Each time a soul arrives to increase the number of the elect, God is glorified, and this glory in some way communicates itself also to the celestial minister. It is an honor for him to present to Our Lord the souls that will sing their thanks and His mercies through all eternity. I could never make you understand the intense love which the Heavenly Archangel has for his Divine Master, and the love which God in His turn has for St. Michael. Neither can I convey to you a true idea of the love and pity St. Michael has for us. He encourages us in our sufferings by speaking to us of Heaven.

How do they celebrate the feast of St. Michael in Purgatory? On that day St. Michael comes to Purgatory and returns to Heaven with a great number of souls, especially with those who had been devout to him in life."
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)

Xavier

Jewish Encyclopedia on Purgatory: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12446-purgatory

"PURGATORY:

By: Kaufmann Kohler

An intermediate state through which souls are to pass in order to be purified from sin before they are admitted into the heavenly paradise. The belief in purgatory, fundamental with the Roman Catholic Church, is based by the Church authorities chiefly upon II Macc. xii. 44-45: "If he [Judas] had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the (dead. . . . Whereupon he made an atonement that they might be delivered from sin"; for this indicates that souls after death pass through an intermediate state in which they may by some intercession be saved from doom. The same view, that an atonement should be made for the dead, is expressed in Sifre, Deut. 210. The idea of an intermediate state of the soul, release from which may be obtained by intercession of the saints, is clearly dwelt upon in the Testament of Abraham, Recension A, xiv., where the description is given of a soul which, because its good and its evil deeds are equal, has to undergo the process of purification while remaining in a middle state, and on whose behalf Abraham intercedes, the angels joining him in his prayer, whereupon the soul is admitted into paradise.

Rabbinic Views.

The view of purgatory is still more clearly expressed in rabbinical passages, as in the teaching of the Shammaites: "In the last judgment day there shall be three classes of souls: the righteous shall at once be written down for the life everlasting; the wicked, for Gehenna; but those whose virtues and sins counterbalance one another shall go down to Gehenna and float up and down until they rise purified; for of them it is said: 'I will bring the third part into the fire and refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried' [Zech. xiii. 9.]; also, 'He [the Lord] bringeth down to Sheol and bringeth up again'" (I Sam. ii. 6)." ...

History of Purgatory.

The idea of the purging fire through which the soul has to pass is found in the Zend-Avesta ("Bundahis," xxx. 20): "All men will pass into the melted metal and become pure; to the righteous it will seem as though he walks through warm milk" (comp. Enoch, lii. 6-7, lxvii. 6-7). The Church Fathers developed the idea of the "ignis purgatorius" into a dogma according to which all souls, including those of the righteous who remain unscathed, have to pass the purgatory (Origen on Ps. xxxvii., Homily 3; Lactantius, "Divinæ Institutiones," vii. 21, 4-7; Jerome on Ps. cxviii., Sermon 20; Commodianus, "Instructiones," ii. 2, 9); hence prayers and offerings for the souls in purgatory were instituted (Tertullian, "De Corona Militis," 3-4; "De Monogamia," 10; "Exhortatio Castitatis," 11; Augustine, "Enchiridion ad Lauram," 67-69, 109; Gregory I., "Dialogi," iv. 57). Hence also arose in the Church the mass for the dead corresponding in the Synagogue to the ?addish (see ?addish).
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)

MaximGun

Had an Orthodox couple around for dinner last night and discussed this.  The concept of Hell that the Othodox have is so vague and immaterial and undefined that it strikes no fear into me.

They remove any frame of reference to do with time and eternity.  Nobody is sure whether 1 day is a thousand years or vice versa. If I don't know what threat I am facing then I don't fear it.  Ignorance or downright confusion really is bliss.

Catholic teaching.  You will be locked in a cage with titanium steel bars with a fiery dragon.  Hmmm.  This is bad.  Can't chew through titanium, (no escape) dragons are big scary things which is going to beat the crap out of me, yet I cannot die and cease the hurt.  This makes me feel the stress of a flood victim watching the waters rise and destroy their life's work.  Bloody awful.

Orthodox teaching. Your lack of enough love for God, (indeterminate from this side of the grave as I don't have a love-ometer), will put you in a mental, spiritual, metaphysical cage of the soul, in a timeless void where the doors are locked from the inside by you?

This sounds no more threatening than having a liquid session on the toilet after a hot curry combined with the stress of avoiding debt collectors knocking on your door every 10 days.  It is so vague and unreferenced to other things I know how and why to fear, that I don't fear it.

The good thing about Catholic Hell is that I really don't want to go there.  Orthodox Hell sounds no worse than being on hold when trying to renew your car insurance.  Or your first girlfriend dumping you, which seemed really bad at the time but today I really don't give a crap about.  Can't remember her birthday or even her surname.

I told the guy, 'the problem with your hell is that after 3 hours of you explaining it, I still don't know what it is'

Make it simple, stupid. Most people are dim.

Xavier

Yes, Maxim. The Catholic Church has done a great favor to Her faithful especially, and also to the world at large, by being clear in defining these matters explicitly. Hell is real and literal fire. So is Purgatory. The only difference, as St. John Marie Vianney says is "the one fire is eternal, the other is not". Fear of hell, and sorrow over past sins by which we have earned hell because of it, is a good and only thing called attrition. Although it is not yet as perfect a motive of repentance over sin as Contition, or Love of God, and sorrow for having gravely offended His Infinite Goodness is, still it is good for our souls, pleasing to God, and disposes us to obtain forgiveness in Confession.

Hell is real, and we should fear going there. We should know the slightest pains of even Purgatory exceed all the pains of the present life. If we had this disposition, we would see what a great gift the Confessional is, where with one good Confession, all and any sins can be forgiven just like, through the Grace of Christ's Blood, and the Power of the Keys granted to the Priests of the Church. Imagine if you owed someone 1 trillion dollars, you could never repay, and yet, in His Mercy, He just chose to forgive you if you would confess having sinned. That's what God has done. We owed a debt through sin we could never pay. So He came to pay the debt of sin for our sake.

And, after being forgiven, unless we have clear ideas on the afterlife, we don't understand the importance of Indulgences, such as those attached, most commonly, to the Rosary. Without Indulgences, especially if we have sinned repeatedly, we may have to do 100s of years of Penance for our past sins. The ancient Canons established 10 or 15 years of Penance for one mortal sin, as St. Montfort says in his Book on the Rosary. But by the Church's Mercy, and the Treasury of Merit of Christ and His Mother and the Saints, by praying all 15 decades of the Rosary, after Communion and Confession, we can immediately be restored to Baptismal Innocence, through the Plenary Indulgence granted to it. What a Great Grace! If we only appreciated the value, we would say 15 decades of the Rosary every day.

Especially since we should do lifelong penance. And then we would have a very good chance of going to Heaven even without Purgatory. Since we're on the subject of Orthodoxy, as mentioned in a recent video of Dr. Taylor Marshall, here's the "Eastern Rosary" promoted by some Eastern Saints, also called as the "Rule of the Theotokos": it consists of saying 150 Angelic Salutations, what we call Ave Marias.

All Eastern Christians especially, Catholics and Orthodox alike, should say it, and then we can well hope to avoid Purgatory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_the_Theotokos

"Father Dorland says that in 1481 Our Lady appeared to Venerable Dominic, the Carthusian, who lived at Treves, and said to him: "Whenever one of the faithful who is in a state of grace says the Rosary while meditating on the mysteries of the life and passion of Jesus Christ, he obtains full and entire remission of all his sins."

Our Lady also said to Blessed Alan: "I want you to know that, although there are numerous indulgences already attached to the recitation of my Rosary, I shall add many more to every fifty Hail Marys (each group of five decades) for those who say them devoutly, on their knees----being, of course, free from mortal sin. And whosoever shall persevere in the devotion of the Holy Rosary, saying these prayers and meditations, shall be rewarded for it; I shall obtain for him full remission of the penalty and of the guilt of all his sins at the end of his life [meaning, no Purgatory]. Do not be unbelieving, as though this is impossible. It is easy for me to do because I am the Mother of the King of Heaven, and He calls me Full of Grace. And, being Full of Grace, I am able to dispense grace freely to my dear children."


From: http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/secret-rosary28.htm
Bible verses on walking blamelessly with God, after being forgiven from our former sins. Some verses here: https://dailyverses.net/blameless

"[2] He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice:[3] He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.(Psalm 14)

"[2] For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man."(James 3)

"[14] And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations; [15] That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Phil 2:14-15)