The Hen and Her Chicks

36.  Mary and purgatory

"Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."  This is a Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary, probably one of the most repeated prayers in the history of the world.  In the Middle Ages, as belief in purgatory became more and more widespread, Mary took on a new and enhanced role.  She, more so than Christ Himself, was the one who could soften a soul's punishment and time in purgatory.  While Christ was thought of as the just Judge o human sins, Mary played the role of comforter, who could lessen the punishments of those who prayed to her.  As belief in purgatory became more important in the church's life, so did devotion to the Virgin Mary.  When the Protestant Reformation came along in the 1500s, the Reformers attacked both the belief in purgatory and also the excessive devotion to Mary.