A Treatise on Purgatory
by St. Catherine of Genoa
How by Comparing it to the Divine Fire which she Felt in Herself, this Soul Understood what Purgatory was like and how the Souls there were Tormented. (1)
The state of the souls who are in Purgatory, how they are exempt from all self-love.
What is the joy of the souls in Purgatory. A comparison to shew how they see God ever more and more. The difficulty of speaking of this state.
Separation from God is the chief punishment of Purgatory. Wherein Purgatory
differs from Hell.
Of the state of the souls in Hell and of the difference between them and those in Purgatory. Reflections of this saint on those who are careless of their salvation.
Of the peace and the joy there are in Purgatory.
A comparison to shew with what violence and what love the souls in Purgatory desire to enjoy God.
Of God's admirable wisdom in making Purgatory and Hell.
Of the necessity of Purgatory. How terrible it is.
How God and the souls in Purgatory look at each other. The saint acknowledges that in speaking of these matters she cannot express herself.
How God uses Purgatory to make the soul wholly pure. The soul acquires in Purgatory a purity so great that were it well for it still to stay there after it had been purged of sin, it would no longer suffer.
Of the desire of souls in Purgatory to be wholly cleansed of the stains of their sins. The wisdom of God who suddenly hides their faults from these souls.
How suffering in Purgatory is coupled with joy.
The souls in Purgatory are no longer in a state to acquire merit. How these souls look on the charity exercised for them in the world.
Of the submission of the souls in Purgatory to God's will.
Reproaches which the souls in Purgatory make to people in the world.
This Soul shows again how the sufferings of the souls in Purgatory are no hindrance at all to their peace and their joy.
She concludes by applying all she has said of the souls in Purgatory to what she feels, and has proved in her own soul.
Footnotes
1. The chapter headings are unlikely to have been written by Saint Catherine, who would hardly refer to herself as a saint as do the headings to Chapter IV and IX.