St. Patrick's Purgatory

Since St. Patrick's Day falls during Lent, it seems appropriate to write this year about a lesser known St. Patrick story - his visit to purgatory, the place where those awaiting heaven become cleansed of the effects of sin so as to worthily enter the Kingdom of God. Throughout Lent, we do penance to atone for our sins, and Purgatory is the ultimate penance which remits the remaining temporal punishment for said sins. The teaching of Purgatory, fairly unique to Catholicism, is an ancient one, but also one that developed in fullness over time. St. Patrick's legendary look into this transitory stage of the afterlife helped give Catholics a vision of what it may look like.

The story goes that St. Patrick, asking God for a way to help convert the native Irish people, was directed to a small island off the northern coast of Ireland called Lough Derg. On Lough Derg he descended into a cave where he was shown the pains and torments of Purgatory. The hope was that he could convey the torment that awaited people if they did not turn their lives over to Christ.

Lough Derg received a PR boost in the 12th century when a monk wrote Treatise on St. Patrick's Purgatory, our earliest surviving written account of the legend. The monk learned about the island from a knight named Owen who had undertaken a pilgrimage to the island and witnessed the horrors of the cave - people hanging from hooks and tethered to a wheel of fire. He was also tormented by demons and only survived the trials by calling on Jesus. He eventually crossed over a bridge to a peaceful oasis - the heavenly realm where other purified souls landed after the purgation Owen just endured. After 24 hours, Owen emerged from the cave. The Treatise on St. Patrick's Purgatory spread far and wide and gave people a way to visualize the intangible reality of Purgatory. The Church doesn't teach exactly what Purgatory will look or feel like; it may or may not resemble St. Patrick's Purgatory, and yet this account has done much to cement how the faithful envisions it. 

A monastery has resided on the island since St. Patrick's time, and pilgrims have visited Lough Derg uninterrupted for 1500 years. Pilgrims who visit today stay for three days. Though St. Patrick's cave has been filled in, pilgrims still have an intense voluntary purgative experience. They cast off their socks and shoes for the whole visit, no matter the weather; they fast on dry toast and coffee and are supposed to stay awake for the first 24 hours. Most of the time is spent kneeling in prayer. Despite the severity of the penance, most pilgrims come away from the experience with a deep and abiding sense of peace.

While most of us won't undertake a penance as intense as those on Lough Derg this Lent, we should be inspired by their commitment to spiritual renewal. We can also look to Lough Derg as inspiration to ponder our eventual fate - memento mori!

By Anna Neal