Tolkien And Purgatory

Someone asked me about yesterday's post - that the Lord of the Rings could be used as an evangelical tool. They asked me how. Well, there are many great Christian virtues displayed, and the central theme of the little one being at the heart of it all is Christ's teaching on the least being the greatest (I also see St Therese's Little Way in the adventure of the hobbits).

But there are excellent examples of how Tolkien's work can be used to reveal Catholic teaching and one concerns purgatory. It is the third volume, The Return of the King, Aragorn needs assistance and he turns to the souls of treacherous soldiers who now haunt what is called the "Paths of the Dead". These soldiers had sworn allegiance to the King of Gondor to come to assist it in war, however when the need was greatest these men fled and took refuge in the mountains, safe (or so they thought). They died, but their souls could not rest - they had sinned, they had a debt to repay for their cowardice and treachery and they could not enter into their rest until the debt was paid and atoned for.

And so Aragorn arrives, he is the true King of Gondor and holds them to their oath, they now go to the aid of Gondor and when the city is saved, they are finally released from their oath, they have repaid the debt, atoned for their treachery and they can now enter their rest. That, as you can see, is a wonderful exposition of purgatory, it is the place where we repay the debt our "treachery" (sin) to the King (God) has caused. And so the discussion can begin!

All Souls

We hear so little about Purgatory these days, and yet without it, there is no sense to today's commemoration.  I'm not going to provide a defence of the Church's teaching on Purgatory - it is in Scripture and in Tradition (that teaching handed down to us from the apostles), so that should be enough for the disciples of Christ.   But I am concerned about the souls who are no longer being prayed for.  As a priest in modern Ireland I have had to deal with immediate canonisation ceremonies (aka funerals).  Everyone now goes straight to heaven, it seems, even those who did not believe in God or did not live a good, moral life.  Today's commemoration reminds us that we cannot be so presumptuous, that we must realise that our sinfulness does have consequences and damages us.  While we may not be damned, we do need to undergo a period of purification so we can enter into glory of heaven.  That purification requires assistance from the living by means of prayers, sacrifices and acts of charity.  The effectiveness of these pious works on behalf of the dead is a indication of the union which exists within the Body of Christ.

Today I will offer my three Masses for the Holy Souls: I encourage all my brother priests to avail of that privilege for the sake of our brothers and sisters being purified.   I would also appeal to them to remind the faithful of the Church's teaching on Purgatory so prayer for the Holy Souls will not be neglected as it has been for many years.  We ourselves hope to one day benefit from the prayers and sacrifices of the Church on earth.  I would also encourage the laity to have Masses offered for the Holy Souls.  My late singing teacher, Evelyn Dowling, made a resolution to have a Mass offered every month for the Holy Souls, and she remained faithful to that until her death.  I imitated her practice and as a layman arranged for Mass to be offered each month for the Holy Souls - now I offer the monthly Mass myself - one of my own and separate from Mass requests -not a bad practice for priests to adopt. 

In honour of the Holy Souls on their day, a little piece from Blessed John Henry Newman's Dream of Gerontius in which Gerontius asks to be taken into Purgatory so he may be purified and prepared for heaven:

"Take me away, and in the lowest deep
              There let me be,
And there in hope the lone night-watches keep,
              Told out for me.
There, motionless and happy in my pain,
              Lone, not forlorn,—
There will I sing my sad perpetual strain,
              Until the morn.
There will I sing, and soothe my stricken breast,
              Which ne'er can cease
To throb, and pine, and languish, till possest
              Of its Sole Peace.
There will I sing my absent Lord and Love:—
              Take me away,
That sooner I may rise, and go above,
And see Him in the truth of everlasting day."

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them

may they rest in peace.