Clearing Out Purgatory

I am old enough to remember (and, perhaps, you are as well.)
I remember back in the day when we could annually clean out Purgatory!
Yep!
Clean it out!
Empty it!
Or at least come close.
Or so we thought and so we tried to do.
I am reminded of that time as we approach another November, a month to remember our beloved dead, a month that includes the Day of the Dead as well as All Souls' Day.
We had a chance in those days long ago to do our part in cleaning out Purgatory.
And let me say, we did take full advantage of it.
Purgatory Cleaning began at noon on November first, All Saints' Day and the period extended all through the following day, November second, All Souls Day.
We were assured that we could gain a plenary indulgence, which, it was believed, removed or remitted all temporal punishment due to sin.
And isn't that what Purgatory is all about - paying off that temporal punishment that is due.
To gain this plenary indulgence we had to enter a church, recite six Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be's, praying for the intentions of the Holy Father. We also had to go to Confession and Communion within a week. (In those days Communion was a very infrequent thing for many.)
Fulfill those requirements, you got a plenary!
However, you could not use it for yourself!
It had to be intended for someone in Purgatory!
That meant release! Freedom for someone in Purgatory! Full pardon!
That is what we understood "plenary" to involve.
So that visit to church, those prayers and Sacraments sent someone soaring out of Purgatory and straight into Heaven!
Glory be!
And that happened as often as you entered a church, said those prayers and named a beneficiary
from noon November first all the way to the end of November second.
Know what many of us did?
You guessed it!
In and out of church and in and out again and again and again and repeat.
Purgatory Cleaning was well under way.
Oh, there was one theological note of concern.
What if someone for whom our plenary was intended was no longer in Purgatory?
Theology had an answer for that, of course.
Then God could use that plenary for someone else, someone who needed it, perhaps someone now long forgotten.
And interestingly, for us just to be safe, the following year we would be at it again. We would still keep sending those plenaries for people we remembered the previous year. No worry. God could take care of things.
Can you imagine: every year on November third outside the Gates of Purgatory the sign would appear: "Vacancies!"
I suspect that even these days there is someone still making those plenary visits this year.
In many places now, while we still celebrate All Saints and remember All Souls, something different is to be found.
Sometimes it is a special Mass, sometimes it is a special prayer service. Sometimes these include candles or crosses marked with the names of the community's deceased from that year.
We gather to remember and we should gather, not just those who have lost loved ones in recent months but all of us. We are a community. We gather to remember and support and show faith and hope and most of all love for one another and for those who have gone before us.
Love has power, an incredible power.
Love has the power to transcend even the boundaries of death itself.
And love has the power to set free!
It was love that inspired us in days of old and it is love that inspires us still to profess that death does not have the final word.
Our loved ones and still our loved ones.