From Exile to Holiness (24)

continued from part (23)...

Among the revelations of our Lord to St.Margaret Mary on the subject of Purgatory there is one which shows how particularly severe are the punishments inflicted for faults against Charity." One day," relates Monseigneur Languet," our Lord showed His servant a number of souls deprived of the assistance of the Blessed Virgin and the saints, and even of the visits of their angel-guardians ; this was," said her Divine Master, " in punishment for their want of union with their superiors, and certain misunderstandings. Many of those souls were destined to remain for a great length of time in horrible flames. The blessed sister recognized also many souls who had lived in religion, and who, on account of their lack of union and charity with their brethren, were deprived of their suffrages and received no alleviation." If it is true that God punishes thus severely those that have failed in Charity, He will be infinitely merciful towards those who have practiced this virtue so dear to His Heart. But before all things. He says to us by the mouth of His Apostle, St. Peter, have a constant mutual charity among yourselves, for charity covereth a multitude of sins.

Let us hear Monseigneur Languet again in the Life of Margaret Mary. It is Mother Greffier, he says, who, in the memoir she wrote after the death of the blessed sister, attests the following fact." I cannot omit the cause of certain particular circumstances which manifest the truth of a revelation made on this occasion to the servant of God. The father of one of the novices was the cause of it. This gentleman had died some time previous, and had been recommended to the prayers of the community. The charity of Sister Margaret, then Mistress of Novices, urged her to pray more especially for him. "Some days later the novice went to recommend him to her prayers. 'My daughter,' said her holy mistress, 'be perfectly tranquil; your father is rather in a condition to pray for us. Ask your mother what was the most generous action your father performed before his death ; this action has obtained for him from God a favorable judgment.' " The action to which she alluded was unknown to the novice; no one in Paray knew the circumstance of a death which had happened so far away from that town. The novice did not see her mother until long afterwards, on the day of her profession. She then asked what was that generous Christian action which her father had performed before dying. 'When the Holy Viaticum was brought to him,' replied her mother,' the butcher joined those who accompanied the Blessed Sacrament, and placed himself in a corner of the room. The sick, on perceiving him, called him by his name, told him to approach, and, pressing his hand with a humility uncommon in persons of his rank, asked pardon for some hard words which he had addressed to him from time to time, and desired that all present should be witness of the reparation which he made.' Sister Margaret had learned from God alone what had taken place, and the novice knew by that the consoling truth of what she had told her concerning her father's happy state in the other life." Let us add that God, by this revelation, has shown us once more how Charity covereth a multitude of sins, and will cause us to find Mercy in the day of Justice. Blessed Margaret Mary received from our Divine Lord another communication relative to Charity. He showed her the soul of a deceased person who had to undergo but a light chastisement, and he told her that among all the good works which this person had performed in the world, He had taken into special consideration certain humiliations to which she had submitted in the world, because she had suffered them in the spirit of charity, not only without murmuring, but even without speaking of them. Our Lord added, that, in recompense, He had given her a mild and favorable judgment.

The third means of satisfying in this world is the practice of Christian mortification and religious obedience. We bear about in our body the mortification of Jesus', says the Apostle, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies. This mortification of Jesus, which the Christian must bear about in him, is, in its broadest sense, the part that he must take in the sufferings of his Divine Master, by bearing in union with Him the trials he may have to encounter in this life, or the suffering which he voluntarily inflicts upon himself. The first and best mortification is that which is attached to our daily duties, the pains we have to take, the effort we must make to acquit ourselves properly of the duties of our state, and to bear the contradictions of each day. When St. John Berchmans said that his chief mortification was the common life, he said nothing else than this, because for him the common life embraced all the duties of his state. Moreover, he who sanctifies the duties and sufferings of each day, and who thus practises fundamental mortification, will soon advance, and impose voluntary privations and sufferings upon himself in order to escape the pains of the other life. The slightest mortifications, the most trifling sacrifice, especially when done through obedience, are of great value in the sight of God. Blessed Emily, a Dominican, and Prioress of the Monastery of St. Mary at Vercelli, inspired her Religious with a spirit of perfect obedience in view of Purgatory. One of the points of the Rule prohibited the Religious to drink between meals without express permission of the Superior. Now, the latter, knowing, as we have seen, the value of the sacrifice of a glass of water in the eyes of God, was generally accustomed to refuse this permission, that she might afford her sisters an opportunity to practice an easy mortification, but she sweetened her refusal by telling them to offer their thirst to Jesus, tormented by a cruel thirst upon the cross. She then advised them to suffer this slight privation (the glass of water , which they are refusing themselves is offered in reverence and remembrance of the thirst of Jesus on the cross.) with a view of diminishing their torments in the expiatory flames of Purgatory. There was in her community a sister named Mary Isabella, who was too prone to levity, being fond of conversation and other exterior distractions. The consequence was that she had little relish for prayer, was negligent in reciting the Office, and only acquitted herself of this her chief duty with the greatest repugnance. Thus she was never in any haste to go to choir, and as soon as the office was ended she was the first to go out. One day whilst she was hurrying to leave the choir, she passed by the stall of the Prioress, who stopped her." Where are you going in such haste, my good sister ? " she said to her, " and why are you so anxious to get out before the other sisters?" The sister, taken by surprise, at first observed a respectful silence, then she acknowledged with humility that the Office was wearisome to her and seemed too long. " That is all very well," replied the Prioress," but if it costs you so much to chant the praises of God seated comfortably in the midst of your sisters, what will you do in Purgatory, where you will be obliged to remain in the midst of flames? To spare you that terrible trial, my daughter, I order you to leave your place the last of all." The sister submitted with simplicity, like a truly obedient child ; she was recompensed. The disgust which she had experienced thus far for the things of God was changed into devotion and spiritual joy. Moreover, as God revealed to Blessed Emily, having died some time afterwards, she obtained a great diminution of the suffering which awaited her in the other life. God counted as so many hours in Purgatory the hours which she passed in prayer through a spirit of obedience.

We have indicated, as a fourth means of satisfying in this world, the use of the Sacraments, and especially a holy and Christian reception of the last Sacraments on the approach of death. The Divine Master admonishes us in the Gospel to prepare ourselves well for death, in order that it may be precious in His eyes and the worthy crowning of a Christian life. His love for us makes Him desire ardently that we should leave this world entirely purified, divested of all debt towards Divine Justice ; and that on appearing before God, we should be found worthy to be admitted among the elect, without need of passing through Purgatory. It is for this end that He ordinarily sends us the pains of sickness before death, and that He has instituted the Sacraments, to aid us in sanctifying our sufferings, and the more perfectly to dispose us to appear before His face. The Sacraments which we receive in time of sickness are three : Confession, which we may receive as soon as we wish ; Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction, which we may receive as soon as there is danger of death. This circumstance of the danger of death must be taken in the broad sense of the word. It is not necessary that there should be an imminent danger of dying, and that all hope of recovery be lost; it is not even necessary that the danger of death be certain ; it suffices that it be probable, and prudently presumed, even when there is no other infirmity than old age.

                The effects of the Sacraments, well received, correspond to all the needs, all the lawful desires of the sick. These divine remedies purify the soul from her sins, and increase her treasure of sanctifying grace ; they fortify the sick person, and enable him to bear his sufferings with patience, to triumph over the assaults of the demon at the last moment, and to make a generous sacrifice of his life to God. Moreover, besides the effects which they produce upon the soul, the Sacraments exert a salutary influence upon the body. Extreme Unction especially comforts the sick person and alleviates his sufferings ; it even restores him to health, if God judges it expedient for his salvation. The Sacraments are, then, for the faithful, an immense assistance, an inestimable benefit. It is not, therefore, surprising that the enemy of souls makes it his first object to deprive them of so great a good. Not being able to rob the Church of her Sacraments, he endeavours to keep them from the sick, either by making them entirely neglect to receive them, or that they receive them so late as to lose all their benefit. Alas ! how many souls allow themselves to be taken in this snare ! How many souls for not promptly receiving the Sacraments fall into hell, or into the deepest abyss of Purgatory! To avoid this misfortune, the first care of a Christian, in case of sickness, must be to think of the Sacraments, and to receive them as promptly as possible.

We say, that he should receive them promptly, whilst he is still in possession of the use of his faculties, and we dwell upon this circumstance for the following reasons:

1. In receiving the Sacraments promptly, the patient having yet sufficient strength to prepare himself properly, derives all the fruit of them.

2. He needs to be provided as soon as possible with the Divine assistance, in order to support his sufferings, to overcome temptation, and to sanctify the precious time of sickness.

3. It is only by receiving the holy oils in time, that we can experience the effects of a bodily cure.

For we must here remark an important point : the sacramental remedy of the holy unction produces its effect upon the sick person in the same manner as medical remedies. It resembles an exquisite medicine that assists nature, in which there is still supposed to be a certain vigour ; so that extreme unction cannot exercise a medicinal virtue when nature has become too feeble, and life is almost extinguished. Thus a great number of sick persons die because they put off receiving the Sacraments until they are at the last extremity ; whilst it is not unusual to see those entirely recover who hasten to receive them.

St. Alphonsus speaks of a sick man who delayed to receive extreme unction until it was almost too late, for he died shortly afterwards. Now, God made known by way of revelation, says the holy doctor, that if he had received that Sacrament earlier, he would have been restored to health. However, the most precious effect of the last Sacraments is that which it produces upon the soul ; they purify it from the remains of sin, and take away, or at least diminish, its debt of temporal punishment; they strengthen it to bear suffering in a holy manner ; they fill it with confidence in God, and assist it to accept death from His hands in union with that of Jesus Christ.

The fifth means for obtaining favour before the tribunal of God is to have great confidence in His Mercy. In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped ; let me never be confounded, says the Prophet. Surely He who said to the good thief, " This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise," well merits that we should have an unbounded confidence in Him. St. Francis De Sales avowed that if he considered his misery only, he deserved Hell ; but full of humble confidence in the mercy of God and in the merits of Jesus Christ, he firmly hoped to share the happiness of the elect. " And what would our Lord do with His eternal life," said he, "if not to give it to us, poor, little, insignificant creatures as we are, who have no hope but in His goodness? Blessed be God ! I have this firm confidence in the depth of my heart, that we shall live eternally with God. We shall one day be all united in Heaven. Take courage ; we shall soon be there above." " We must," he said again," die between two pillows; the one, of the humble confession that we merit nothing but Hell ; the other, of an entire confidence that God, in His mercy, will give us Paradise." Having one day met a gentleman who was filled with excessive fear of the judgments of God, he said to him, " He who has a true desire to serve God and to avoid sin, must in nowise allow himself to be tormented by the thought of death and judgment. If they are to be feared, it is not with that fear which dejects and depresses the vigour of the soul ; but a fear tempered with confidence, and therefore salutary. Hope in God: who hopes in Him shall never be confounded."

We read in the Life of St. Philip Neri, that having gone one day to the Convent of St. Martha in Rome, one of the Religious, named Scholastica, desired to speak to him in private. This lady had been tormented for a long time with a thought of despair, which she had not dared to make known to any one ; but, full of confidence in the saint, she resolved to open her heart to him. When she went to him, before she had time to say a word, the man of God said to her with a smile, "You are very wrong, my daughter, to believe that you are destined for eternal flames : Paradise belongs to you! " "I cannot believe it, Father," she replied with a deep sigh. "You do not believe it? That is folly on your part, you will see. Tell me, Scholastica, for whom did Jesus die?" "He died for sinners." "And now tell me, are you a saint ? " " Alas ! " replied she, weeping, " I am a great sinner." "Therefore Jesus died for you, and most assuredly it was to open Heaven for you. It is thus clear that Heaven is yours. For as to your sins, you detest them, I have no doubt." The good Religious was touched by these words. Light entered her soul, the temptation vanished, and from that moment those sweet words, Paradise is yours filled her with confidence and joy.

The sixth means to avoid Purgatory is the humble and submissive acceptation of death in expiation of our sins : it is a generous act, by which we make a sacrifice of our life to God, in union with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Do you desire an example of this holy resignation of life into the hands of the Creator?

 On December 2, 1638, there died at Brisach, on the right bank of the Rhine, Father George Aquitanus, of the Society of Jesus. Twice he had devoted his life to the service of the plague-stricken. It happened that on two different occasions the pest raged with such fury that it was almost impossible to approach the sick without being attacked by the contagion. Everyone fled and abandoned the dying to their unhappy fate. But Father Aquitanus, placing his life in the hands of God, made himself the servant and the apostle of the sick; he employed himself exclusively in relieving their sufferings and in administering to them the Sacraments. God preserved him during the first visitation of the pest ; but when it again broke out with renewed violence, and the man of God was called upon for the second time to devote himself to the care of the sick, God this time accepted his sacrifice. When, a victim of his Charity, he lay extended upon his bed of death, he was asked if he willingly made the sacrifice of his life to God. "Oh!" he replied, full of joy, " if I had a million lives to offer to Him, He knows how readily I would give them to Him." Such an act, it is easy to understand, is very meritorious in the sight of God. Does it not resemble that supreme act of charity accomplished by the martyrs who died for Jesus Christ, and which, like Baptism, effaces all sin and cancels all debts? Greater love than this, says our Lord, no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friend.To make this act in time of sickness, it is useful, not to say necessary, that the patient should understand his condition, and know that his end is approaching. It is therefore to do him great injury to withhold this knowledge from him through a false delicacy. " We must" says St. Alphonsus, " prudently impart to the sick person the knowledge of his danger." If the patient endeavours to deceive himself with illusions, if, instead of resigning himself into the hands of God, he thinks only of his cure, even when he receives all the Sacraments, he does himself a deplorable wrong.

We read in the Life of Venerable Mother Frances of the Blessed Sacrament, a Religious of Pampeluna, that a soul was condemned to a long Purgatory for not having had a true submission to the Divine will upon her deathbed. She was otherwise a very pious young person, but when the icy hand of death came to touch her in the flower of her youth, nature recoiled, and she had not the courage to resign herself into the ever-loving hands of her Heavenly Father—she would not die yet. She expired, nevertheless, and the Venerable Mother Frances, who received frequent visits from the souls of the departed, learned that this soul had to expiate by long sufferings her want of submission to the decrees of her Creator.

The Life of Venerable Father Caraffa furnishes us with a more consoling example:

                Father Vincent Caraffa, General of the Society of Jesus, was called to prepare for death a young nobleman who was condemned to be executed, and who thought himself condemned to death unjustly. To die in the flower of one's age, when one is rich, happy, and when the future smiles upon us, is hard, we must own; yet a criminal who is a prey to remorse of conscience may resign himself to it, and accept it as a chastisement in expiation for his crime. But what shall we say of a person who is innocent ? The Father had, therefore, a difficult task to accomplish. Nevertheless, assisted by grace, he knew so well how to manage this unhappy man, he spoke with such unction of the faults of his past life and of the necessity of making satisfaction to Divine Justice, he made him understand so thoroughly how God permitted this temporal chastisement for his good, that he crushed rebellious nature and completely changed the sentiments of his heart. The young man looked upon his sentence as an expiation which would obtain for him the pardon of God, mounted the scaffold not only with resignation, but also with a truly Christian joy. Up to the last moment, even under the axe of the executioner, he blessed God and implored His Mercy, to the great edification of all those who assisted at his execution. At the moment when his head fell, Father Caraffa saw his soul rise triumphantly to Heaven. He immediately went to the mother of the young man to console her by relating what he had seen. He was so transported with joy, that on returning to his cell he ceased not to cry aloud, " O happy man ! O happy man ! " The family wished to have a great number of Masses celebrated for the repose of his soul." It is superfluous," replied the Father ; " we must rather thank God and rejoice, for I declare to you that his soul has not even passed through Purgatory." Another day, whilst engaged in some work, he suddenly stopped, his countenance changed, and he looked towards Heaven ; then he was heard to cry out, "O happy lot ! O happy lot!" And when his companion asked him an explanation of these words," Ah ! my dear Father," he replied, "it was the soul of that condemned man which appeared to me in glory. Oh, how profitable to him has been his resignation ! "

Sister Mary of St. Joseph, one of the four first Carmelites who embraced the reform of St. Teresa, was a Religious of great virtue. The end of her career approached, and our Lord, wishing that His spouse should be received into Heaven in triumph on breathing her last sigh, purified and adorned her soul by the sufferings which marked the end of her life. During the four last days which she passed upon earth, she lost her speech and the use of her senses ; she was a prey to frightful agony, and the Religious were heart-broken to see her in that state. Mother Isabella of St. Dominic, Prioress of the convent, approached the sick Religious, and suggested to her to make many acts of resignation, and total abandonment of herself into the hands of God. Sister Mary of St. Joseph heard her, and made these acts interiorly, but without being able to give any exterior sign thereof. She died in these holy dispositions, and, on the very day of her death, whilst Mother Isabella was hearing Mass and praying for the repose of her soul, our Lord showed her the soul of His faithful spouse crowned in glory, and said," She is of the number of those who follow the Lamb." Sister Mary of St. Joseph, on her part, thanked Mother Isabella for all the good she had procured for her at the hour of death. She added that the acts of resignation which she had suggested to her had merited for her great glory in Paradise and had exempted her from the pains of Purgatory.

                What happiness to quit this miserable life, to enter the only true and blessed one ! We all may enjoy this happiness, if we employ the means which Jesus Christ has given us for making satisfaction in this world, and for preparing our souls perfectly to appear in His presence. The soul thus prepared is filled in her last hour with the sweetest confidence; she has, as it were, a foretaste of Heaven ; the experiences which St. John of the Cross has written on the death of a saint in his Living Flame of Love. "Perfect love of God," he says, "renders death agreeable, making the soul taste the greatest sweetness therein. The soul that loves is inundated with a torrent of delights at the approach of that moment when she is about to enjoy the full possession of her Beloved. On the point of being delivered from this prison of the body, she seems already to contemplate the glories of Paradise, and all within her is transformed into love."

                                                                          ---THE END---

The  excerpts for these journals were taken from the book " Purgatory " by REV. F. X. SCHOUPPE, S.J. ( 

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