In it, as in the Father's house, there are many mansions. Whilst the saint may be punished with the pain of loss only, the sinner may be racked with fiery torments, "saved yet so as by fire." Whatever the "mansion," the suffering proceeds from the same cause, varying in degree: remorse for the past, love of God in the present. That which on earth causes our torture and our joy is prolonged in Purgatory, with this difference: _Here_ our minds and hearts are unquiet because they are not fixed on God: _there_ knowledge and love will be first established on their true centre, and then perfected. There is one single and unique instance of purgatory on earth--not purgatory in the loose sense in which the expression is often used. Suffering by itself is not synonymous with Purgatory. There must be the absolute certainty of heaven, which has been given only once. _Amen, Amen, I say to thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise_. The word was spoken by our Lord himself to one in fearful torture and ignominy. Was the good thief conscious of pain with that divine promise ringing in his dying ears? It may well be doubted. He has spoken the same word to each of the holy souls: "Thou shalt be with me in paradise"; and they are so moulded to his will that his hour is theirs. They long to hear _this day_, but the security of Our Lord's promise tempers their suffering and puts it far above all pains and sorrows of earth. Who would not submit to be crucified, if _To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise_ were the reward? Yet a state of crucifixion and perfect security is that of the souls whose blessedness exceeds their torments. These thoughts may possibly suggest comfort to some who confuse suffering with unhappiness. They are not synonymous. Let us rather think of the holy souls as in the condition of the good thief. If they are suffering the torments of crucifixion they have heard the word which is to be their joy through eternity: _Thou shalt be with me in paradise!_ End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Happiness in Purgatory, by Anonymous