Thus far we have been speaking of those who may fairly be called the
faithful departed, the cases in which hope may be reasonable and assured
almost to certainty.

Now let us go a step further. The mind staggers as it contemplates the
tens of thousands being hurried into eternity who, either according to
the teaching of the Catholic Church or the notions of popular theology,
would be deemed unprepared.

We trust, in a dim sort of way, that the all-embracing mercy of God
will accept their sacrifice of themselves for their country, and in
some fashion place it to the credit side of their account. No doubt
He will. But can we not get a more evangelical, and at the same time
more catholic, view of the matter? We find it in an extension of our
conception of the possibilities of the intermediate state, the condition
of souls between death and judgment. Evangelical to the backbone,
because it is the work of Christ which we conceive of as being there
carried on. Catholic, because the Church from very early times has
recognised the idea of the discipline of souls as being a process
continued after death. The authority of S. Paul has been appealed to on
account of his words to the Philippians (i. 6), "being confident of this
very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until
the day of Jesus Christ"; and to the Corinthians in that mysterious
passage concerning "the fire which shall try every man's work" (1 Cor.
iii. 13). The doctrine was developed and materialised till it resulted
in those corruptions which were so largely responsible for the
Reformation. In their zeal to root out error, the Reformers fell into
the opposite extreme and abolished the idea of the intermediate state
altogether. Hence arose the popular notion, unknown to the Catholic
Church till then, of Heaven or Hell as the immediate issue of death.