Purgatory is often pictured as a purifying fire, but what exactly does it burn?
The Catholic Church firmly upholds the existence of purgatory, a preparatory stage of the afterlife that leads a soul into Heaven.
Little is known about what happens when a soul reaches purgatory, but many saints and theologians have described it as a "purifying fire." Even the Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to purgatory with this type of image.
However, the image of a fire can make it seem like there are souls burning in fire, similar to souls in Hell burning for eternity.
Origen, a theologian of the early Church, provides a clarified view of this fire and what exactly it "burns."
This image can help us understand that God isn't sending us to a punishment of fire to torture us before entering Heaven, but instead we pass through a purifying fire, that burns away any smaller sins that we are holding onto when we die.
Above all, the fire of purgatory is not meant to part of a gruesome torture, but a way to prepare our hearts to more fully embrace the joys of Heaven.
