There are many models of the Church. An old fashioned describes it in this way.
1. The Church Triumphant - those in heaven
2. The Church Suffering - those in purgatory, yes the Church still believes in purgatory. No, you are not just fine the way you are.
3. The Church Militant - members of the Church on earth, we are engaged in a struggle for eternal life.
1 comment:
Thanks for posting this, Father. So often we are told by some agenda-driven mortals that "We are Church" with no elaboration that we are not the total of the church.
May I venture to say that the Church Triumphant includes The Holy Trinity and then the saints and angels in Heaven. The Church Suffering includes only those souls in Purgatory, as far as I can tell. As for the Church Militant, it is subdivided into Clergy and Laity. Yet, all these make one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, the four marks that distinguish it.
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