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Lent is a time for the Truth about the need for acts of penance to be saved and to avoid purgatory.
What is Lent exactly?
Lent is the period of 40 days excluding Sundays from Ash Wednesday to Easter observed annually by Catholics as a season of penance which includes fasting and self-denial in preparation for the commemoration of the Passion, Death, and finally the glorious Resurrection of Christ.
Why 40 days?
The 40 days fast in Lent is an imitation of our Lord who fasted 40 days in the desert.
What is Penance? How does it differ from Repentance?
This comes from the Douay-Rheims version of the Bible - the definitive English Catholic Bible rooted in the tradition of the Church favored for doctrinal clarity and theological precision - translated from the Latin Vulgate as an almost word for word translation. One of the words that it is faithful to accurately translate is the word "penance" which was replaced in the newer Catholic translations of the bible with the word "repentance." That might seem like no big deal but it is a very big deal. I will explain below.
The Catholc understanding of repentance is sorrow for and turning away from sin. The traditonal Catholic understanding of the word "penance" includes repentance - it is necessary for worthy acts of penance - but is much fuller; by substituting the word repentance in place of penance, the life-saving - soul-saving - concepts of penance are watered down and/or completely lost on most Catholics. The word penance signifies perfect repentance, which includes not only contrition or sorrow for the offence and a turning away from it but also confession and amendment and painful satisfaction. Sorrowful, painful and satisfactory repentance is shown by acts of penance - fasting, prayer and almsgiving and fruits worthy of penance - for example: rejecting sin, growth in virtue and in love for God and others. (see below** Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13; 2 Cor. 7:9, Matthew 4:17, Acts 2:38).
Jesus's precursor was John the Baptist and his clarion call was not "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand" but "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Another example from St. Luke 3:3 of the DR reads: “And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins.”
As stated above, penance includes repentance, satisfaction for sin and amendment of life. It is not enough to merely say: "I am sorry"; instead what is needed is referred to as "perfect repentance" which not only includes confession but also contrition, amendment and painful, sorrowful satisfaction. It is unfortunate but most Catholics today do not understand this concept and believe that all they have to do is say they are sorry for their sins, whether in the sacrament of reconciliation or not, and nothing else is needed for the grace that Jesus won for us on the cross to be applied to our souls. Jesus continues to heal our souls through the application of his grace through penance that needs to follow our repentance in order to reach full reconcilation with God. Learn more about that here. The word penance was replaced because modernists in the Church do not like the concept of satisfaction for many reasons, one of which is because it could be a barrier to dialogue with Protestants and ecumenism. What a shame! How much time we have lost without this teaching.
**
Why does penance call us to fast and abstain?
The church commands us to fast and abstain for three reasons. In order that:
Thus enabling faithful Christians to grow in merit.
Jesus makes clear that acts of penance are not optional: “Unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3).
Since we have committed many sins that we have not sufficiently made amends for, and are continually barraged by the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, we must do penance in order to persevere in the grace of God, make amends and save our souls. But going even further, doing penance is necessary for saved souls to avoid purgatory.
The Church has always taught that every trace of sin and imperfection must be removed from the soul before it can enter heaven. If this has not happened before death, a soul who dies in the state of grace will be saved from eternal damnation but must necessarily go to Purgatory.
This may lead us to wonder how anyone goes straight to heaven when they die? Yet, it is also the experience of the Church that many souls have lived to such a heroic degree of virtue in this life that they avoided purgatory altogether. This is especially true of those who made atonement for their sins through charity and penance:
“There are … those who have made so much atonement for their sins with their good works that their souls shall know no punishment” (St. Bridget of Sweden).
We know that the saints (and faithful Catholics) down through the centuries are renowned for their penance. Take, for example, the incredible penance of the holy Cure of Ars, who subsisted on a few cold potatoes per day. We can read in the lives of the saints throughout Church history of an eagerness to perform penance. Why? Because they understood its value for spiritual growth and the necessity of atoning for sin. In this, they were simply following the example of the early Christians for whom daily penance was a normal way of life.
These saints teach us the necessity of penance. As stated above, by its means we atone for sin, we subdue the flesh and conquer temptation, and we grow in virtue and merit. By penance we not only save our souls, we can also avoid purgatory.
God takes such care for the purification of our souls because He is both perfectly loving and perfectly just. Penance and purgatory are loving, because each soul cannot be truly happy until it is pure. Penance and purgatory are just, because each soul must receive the reward or punishment they are due in regard to every other soul in heaven.
"[I would} do injury to the angel in heaven, if the spirit of an unclean person were put on the same level as one who is clean and fervently in love. Accordingly, no one will enter heaven, except for those who have been tried like gold in the fire of purgatory or who have proved themselves over time in good works on earth in such a way that there is no stain in them left to be purged away” (Our Lord to St. Bridget).
Christ wants us to aim for the perfect love of God in this life, so that we will go straight to heaven when we die sharing in degrees of His glory that would not be possible if our aim was only a mediocre love.
DO ALL THOSE IN PURGATORY SUFFER THE SAME PAIN?
No two people sin alike in this world, therefore no two people will suffer in the same way in purgatory. Each soul experiences punishment in different degrees according to the particular sins that need to be purified from their soul.
For this reason the saints report that purgatory is divided into different regions or levels where the punishments are more or less severe. Many souls move through each of these levels until they are completely cleansed from their sins.
“Love nothing as much as me. Purify yourself constantly from sin … Hide no sin! Leave nothing unexamined! Do not consider any sin to be light or worthy of disregard! For anything you forget, I will remind you of and judge. None of the sins you have done will come before my judgment if they are punished and expiated through your penance while you live. But those sins for which you made no penance will be purged either in purgatory or by some secret judgment of mine, unless you make full satisfaction and amendment for them here in the world” (Our Lord said to St. Bridget of Sweden).
SHOULD WE TRY TO AVOID PURGATORY?
We should thank God for purgatory, because through this grace many souls will gain heaven and escape hell. Although purgatory is a great mercy of God, we should not aim to go there.
God has warned us of the severe pains and sufferings of the Holy Souls through countless saints over the centuries. These experiences of purgatory should encourage us to live a virtuous, penitential life while we can.
The common teaching of the saints and doctors is that the slightest pains endured in the terrible fire of Purgatory will be more painful than all the pains of the present life.
St. Thomas also teaches the fire of Purgatory is one and the same as the fire of Hell, the difference being in the way the fire operates on those who die in grace with only venial sins remaining, who can still be purified, and in those who die in mortal sin and dead to grace, who are irrevocably, eternally lost: “Even as in the same fire gold glistens and straw smokes, so in the same fire the sinner burns and the elect is cleansed.” Therefore, “the fire of Purgatory is the same as the fire of Hell: and hence they are in the same place.”
In many of her apparitions (Fatima, Lourdes, LaSalette, etc.), Our Lady repeatedly called for penance – penance for our own sins and for the sins of others. But what is penance? So many people assume penance is only fasting or praying an extra Rosary. There are actually six major types of penance which we can perform in order to satisfy for sin (our own sins and those of others) and to help prevent future sins.
SIX TYPES OF PENANCE (all of these should be united to the perfect sacrifice of Christ made present on the altar at every Mass):
1. Willing Acceptance of Crosses.
In this life, we are prone to receive daily crosses which Divine Providence chooses to send to us. These range from small trifling matters to huge issues which can hang over our life. Yet whether they be headaches, car troubles, financial problems, job terminations, family issues, or spiritual difficulties, if we willingly and patiently accept these with the intention of making reparation and as penance for our sins, they are very meritorious. In fact, such crosses are called “tokens of God’s love” by the Council of Trent. God often uses these penances to mold and refine us. The saints teach that willingly accepting these hardships is more meritorious than choosing severe penances. Moreover, the merit we gain can be dramatically increased by the degree of joy with which we embrace them.
2. Faithful Fulfilling the Duties of Our State in Life
If we perform our duties of state with the proper intention, and of course in the state of grace, we can make fitting penance in reparation for sins. Rather than doing them in the spirit of rancor, if we accept our long days, difficulties in raising the children, difficulties in living our vows or promises, etc., we can make reparation. Like the first category, it is more meritorious to faithfully fulfill our state in life than to choose to fast – especially if in so doing, we are neglecting the responsibilities that God has placed in our lives. Note how this kind of penance is also intimately connected with the Message of Fatima. In a letter dated February 28, 1943 to the Spanish Bishop of Gurza, Sister Lucy wrote: “Being in the chapel with my superiors’ permission, at midnight, Our Lord told me: The penance that I request and require now is the sacrifice demanded of everybody by the accomplishment of his own duty and the observance of My law.”
3. Fasting
Fasting is the denial of pleasure, which therefore helps put order in our souls and makes satisfaction for sin. Fasting also helps us to combat the vices of impurity and to grow in the virtue of temperance. Some sins, Our Lord taught, can only be conquered through prayer and fasting (cf. Matthew 17:21). See this for more information about fasting.
4. Almsgiving
Amsgiving refers to giving to the poor. By giving to the poor, we make reparation for sins as we see in the poor the person of Christ Himself. Though, while not strictly almsgiving, the giving of our time to visit the sick, the elderly, or those in prison also makes reparation for sin. Remembering that two of the principal enemies of our soul’s salvation are ‘the world’ and ‘the flesh’, it is easy to see how necessary almsgiving and fasting penances are in resisting and overcoming these foes.
5. Prayers and Privations
Praying an extra Rosary, visiting a cemetery to pray for the souls of the faithful departed interred there, saying the Stations of the Cross every Friday, and other such practices are ways we can add prayer to our own lives. Taking this time for prayer and depriving ourselves of time for other pursuits is extremely beneficial.
6. Mortifications
In the Catholic tradition, mortification is the deliberate practice of denying oneself legitimate pleasures to discipline the will, subdue sinful impulses, and unite one’s sufferings with the Passion of Christ. Derived from the Latin mortificare (“to put to death”), it is not an act of self-hatred, but a spiritual training method to “put to death” the deeds of the flesh so that the life of the Spirit may grow. Mortifications are helpful as well. But unlike penance in atonement for past sins, they are more focused on preventing future sins.
Internal vs. External Mortification
It is helpful to distinguish between the two types of mortification. While the saints practiced both, the Church teaches that internal mortification is often more difficult and more meritorious because it attacks our pride directly.
External Mortification (The Body)
This involves the senses and physical appetites. It includes fasting, waking up early, enduring cold or heat without complaint, and limiting physical comforts. While valuable, these must always be done with prudence and without damaging one’s health.
Internal Mortification (The Spirit)
This involves the memory, the imagination, and the will. It is the “dying to self” in our interactions with others. St. Francis de Sales famously taught that it is better to eat what is set before you without complaint (internal mortification) than to insist on a visible fast that makes you proud (external mortification).
20 Simple Ways to Practice Mortification in Daily Life
St. Thérèse of Lisieux taught that we do not need to perform great feats of severe penance to become holy. Instead, we can offer small, hidden sacrifices with great love. Here are 20 practical ways to incorporate the “Little Way” of mortification into your modern daily routine.
Mortification of the Body & Senses
Mortification of the Will & Spirit
Forging a Disposition of Love
We read in The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori: “St. Francis Borgia says that prayer introduces the love of God into the soul, but penance prepares a place for it by banishing from the heart earthly affections – the most powerful obstacles to charity.”
As our hearts become filled with the love of God, we can then extend His selfless love to others by seeking their well-being above our own. Rather than focusing on ourselves and what we want, we choose to serve and support our neighbors, especially when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable.
Practicing penance can also soften our hearts toward those who suffer. By embracing suffering and sacrifice, we gain a greater understanding of the pain and challenges that others face. This allows us to approach their struggles with greater empathy, compassion, and a desire to alleviate their burdens.
In this way, penance becomes an act of love that extends beyond ourselves and into the world. It helps us to cultivate other virtues, such as humility and generosity. It becomes a powerful means of drawing others to Christ and helping them to see the value of their sufferings.
Conclusion
Penance is not about gloom or sadness; it’s about love. It is the language of love that says, “Lord, I love You more than this comfort, more than this flavor, and more than my own opinion.” By incorporating these small acts of self-denial into our daily life, we are purified from the temporal consequences of our sins, make satisfaction for them and prepare our hearts for the ultimate life—eternal union with God. This helps us to avoid purgatory so that we are ready to go straight to heaven when we die.
I am a daughter of the Most High and of His Catholic Church. I introduce myself that way because I am so grateful for that! I have been married to Dan for 36 years and we have three young adult children - Brett, Nicole and Eryn - and three grandchildren - Cash, Bowie and Indy. I was employed as the Adult Faith Formation Coordinator at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City, Georgia for 14 years from December of 2008 to January of 2023. I earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology from Catholic Distance University and a certificate as a Catholic Spiritual Mentor from the Catholic Spiritual Mentorship Program.
I left fulltime ministry in the parish to concentrate on organizing events. I would like to extend my outreach to other parishes and organizations who would like to host a wonderful Adult Faith formation event but might not have the experience or confidence to do that on their own. I offer various services including but not limited to (fees are charged hourly for most services):
+ Event Planning: event planning from start to finish,
+ Consultation: consultation about an event,
+ Consultation about running a successful Adult Faith Formation Program.
+ I also offer different Adult Faith classes and courses that can be accessed by an individual or a group or can be taught by me via zoom or locally in person.
Website https://www.catholiceventplanning.com/ or www.redemptivesuffering.net
