Suffering On Earth And Suffering In Purgatory

Quite some time ago, this blogger had read somewhere online that the Blessed Virgin Mary had during one of Her apparitions said something to the effect that it is better to drag the body through much suffering in life than to endure suffering in Purgatory.  He is now unable to find support for it.  Perhaps this was another one of his vivid imaginations having no basis in reality.  Regardless, he will assume that he did read what he thought he had read.  As crazy as his imaginations can be at times (at all times), there are some connections his imagination cannot make, and this is one of them, between suffering on earth and suffering in Purgatory.

First of all, Purgatory is something this blogger knows little about, and his imagination does not go there, as if that could be believed, except to the extent that he had often referred to it as a place for the cleansing of sins before entering Heaven.  Purgatory is a place he had read about in Dante Alighieri's poem, The Divine Comedy, and had heard Mother Angelica talk about on television, but this entry has nothing to do with Dante's journey through Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, and nothing to with what this blogger remembers Mother Angelica to have said about Purgatory which was a little fire, but then he could be wrong here as well, for his memory is not very good.

In this entry, his imagination will enter Purgatory, and he will try to give credence to what he remembers to have read.  If indeed, that it is better to suffer in this life than in Purgatory, the question to ask is why?  Is not a person's flesh more prone to pain than a person's spirit?  This blogger has no clue but he can speculate that suffering in one's flesh, even though painful, is far less so than suffering in one's spirit.

In the flesh, especially in the present age with all kinds of medication and medical care, one can be taken care of well by healthcare workers in a healthcare facility.  Under their care, patients' discomforts are being alleviated as much as possible.  At home, one can lie down in bed when not feeling well, which is relatively more comfortable than standing while feeling light-headed, and having to walk around and do chores while one is sick and weak, and in pain.  In Purgatory, this blogger doubts that there are beds available on which spirits can rest.  They are there, in full consciousness, suffering without pain medication, unable to rest or sleep. That is like Hell except that Purgatory is not an eternity, and the spirits there know that at the end of their journey, they would enter Heaven.

It is speculative that sufferings on earth mitigates sufferings in Purgatory, in duration and intensity.  On the other hand, it is also speculative that those who do not have much to suffer in life may actually be blessed, and could equally be blessed in Purgatory during which their suffering could be short and minimal.

As to who goes to Purgatory, how much and how long a spirit has to suffer there is not for this blogger to speculate on but for God to know.