NOTES
By FATHER KENT, O.S.C.
1. Page 7. The scholastic speculations on the place and the conditions of Purgatory were naturally in accordance with the mediaeval conception of the whole framework of the world and the Solar System. But it seems a mistake to perpetuate these crude notions at the present day. Our author's remarks on this matter are scarcely in keeping with the real opinions of the old theologians. In their simplicity they looked at the existence of volcanoes as a confirmation of their theories. But the whole question may be dismissed as one of those curiosities deprecated by the Tridentine Fathers.
2. Page 24. This opinion regarding the fire of Purgatory and of Hell has been held by great theologians including some one or other of the Fathers. But it seems somewhat misleading to ascribe it to the Fathers generally, as though it were their unanimous teaching.
3. Page 29. If the young girl in this story was not able to accomplish her vow, it is clear that the omission was not a sin. And if there was no sin, how could it add to her sufferings in Purgatory?
4. Page 41. The author says that the Venerable Angela's subsequent life " proved the truth of her words." But we cannot say that the frightful penances here described add to the credibility of the story.
5. Page 43. It is not easy to understand the reason given for the sufferings of Sister Teresa; for the rules of Religious Orders do not bind under pain of sin.
6. Page 70. This absurd calculation is based on a gross blunder. The Scripture does not say that "The just man falls seven times a day." The passage in Proverbs xxiv. 16 is, "For the just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again." The word " day" is not found in the Hebrew, the Septuagint or the Vulgate. For the rest, the calculation implies a strange exaggeration of the numbers of venial sins, and a very inadequate sense of the facilities for pardon and satisfaction. It is enough to refer the reader to the teaching of St. Thomas on the remission of venial sins.
7. Page 72. We are told that the story of the apparition of Innocent III. "is admitted by the gravest authors, and that it is not rejected by any single one." On the contrary, the Bollandist editor of the life of St. Lutgarda tells us that because Innocent III. was a most excellent Pope, some will have it that this story is an illusion and a fable. This certainly seems a very good reason for rejecting the legend; and the editor can only allege against it the inscrutable nature of God's judgments which are often different from those of man.
8. Page 81. These stories of these long terms of punishment in Purgatory must be received with caution. We know nothing regarding the duration of these expiatory sufferings.
