By Limbo I mean a place of rest, where the souls of the just who died before Christ were detained.
In the Penny Catechism, the word "Limbo" refers to what is traditionally called the Limbo of the Fathers or Abraham's Bosom. It was not a place of punishment but a state of peace where the righteous who had died before Christ awaited the coming of the Redeemer. These holy men and women had lived by faith and friendship with God, but Heaven had not yet been opened through Christ's saving Death and Resurrection. The Church teaches that when Jesus descended among the dead, He announced the Good News of salvation and brought these just souls into the presence of God. Modern Catholic teaching more commonly speaks of the "abode of the dead" or the state of the righteous awaiting redemption, but the reality remains the same. This doctrine emphasises that Christ's saving work extends not only to those living after His coming but also to the faithful who awaited Him throughout salvation history.
Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, but to free the just who had gone before him. The Gospel was preached even to the dead.
Luke 16:22
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
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