Remember Eternity
Menu
Book & contents

Treatise on Purgatory

IV. The difference between the damned and the souls being purified.

St. Catherine of Genoa

AI-assisted English translation from the Italian; selected passages reviewed. Source, method & review limits

1. And because the souls that are in Purgatory are without the guilt of sin, they have no impediment between God and themselves, save that pain which has held them back, so that the instinct has not been able to attain its perfection.

2. And seeing with certainty how much even the least impediment matters, and that by necessity of justice this instinct is held back, there is born in them an extreme fire, like that of Hell, except for guilt; for it is guilt that makes the malignant will of the damned in Hell, to whom God does not correspond with His goodness: and therefore they remain in that desperate, malignant will, set against the will of God.

3. From this it is manifestly seen that the perverse will, set against the will of God, is what makes the guilt; and as the evil will perseveres, so the guilt perseveres.

4. And because those in Hell passed from this life with the evil will, their guilt is not remitted, nor can it be remitted; for they can no longer change their will, since it is with that will that they passed from this life — in which passage the soul is established in good or in evil according as it is found with its deliberate will; as it is written: Ubi te invenero — "Where I find thee" — that is, in the hour of death, with whatsoever will, whether of sinning or of being displeased and repentant for sin — ibi te judicabo — "there will I judge thee."

5. From that judgment there is then no remission: for after death the freedom of the free will can no longer be turned, but remains fixed in that in which it is found at the point of death.

6. Those in Hell, because they were found at the point of death with the will to sin, bear their guilt with them infinitely, and the pain also — though not so great a pain as they deserve; yet the pain they have is without end.

7. But those in Purgatory have only the pain, because the guilt was cancelled at the point of death, since they were found displeased with their sins and repentant of having offended the divine goodness; and so that pain has an end, and keeps ever diminishing as to time, as has been said. Oh misery above every misery, and the greater for not being considered by human blindness!

About this translation

This English translation from the Italian was drafted with AI assistance using SWE-2 Max and prepared as a reading edition for this library. Review has included source provenance, section structure, and selected source comparisons and corrections. It has not included a complete independent, sentence-by-sentence translation audit.

Catherine’s teaching was transmitted by her disciples and first printed in 1551. This translation follows the supplied Italian transcription; the introductory note is editorial.

This is a reading copy, not a critical edition. No professional translation certification or ecclesiastical approval is claimed for this modern edition.

No general reuse licence is specified for this modern translation or its source transcription. The age of the original work does not by itself establish their reuse terms.

Remember Eternity · remembereternity.org. AI-assisted English translation drafted with SWE-2 Max from the Italian; selected source comparisons and corrections only. No complete independent translation audit or ecclesiastical approval is claimed. Catherine’s teaching was transmitted by her disciples and first printed in 1551. This translation follows the supplied Italian transcription; the introductory note is editorial. No general reuse licence is specified for this modern translation or its source transcription.