EIGHTH DAY
THESE SOULS SUFFER MUCH AT THE SIGHT OF THE DEFORMITY
OF THEIR SINS.
Who can conceive the horror the souls
feel in gazing at the deformity of their sins — not only the grievous ones, but
even the slight ones — for which they were condemned to this fire, while they
know that one sin alone is a greater evil than all the evils that they suffer
in purgatory? Hence the holy Doctor Ambrose comes to say that there is no
greater pain than the wounds which sin makes in the conscience. Antiochus, a
proud and wicked king, in the agony of his death, being conscience- stricken by
the recollection of his sins, said in despair, ‘Into how much tribulation am I
come, and into what floods of sorrow, wherein now I am; I that was pleasant and
beloved in my power! Now, therefore, I am tormented by the memory of the evils
that I have done.'' (1. Mach. 6: 11.) What I to leave the Creator for the creature;
to postpone God, the highest good, for a vile pleasure; to offend an immortal
God to procure oneself the favour of a mortal man? Ah I such thoughts as
these, what a deep and painful impression, surely, must they make on these holy
souls! O, let us give them efficacious succour, where by, being loosened from
their sins, they may be consoled with the contemplation of Divine mercy.
Act of Virtue for one Day
Examine your conscience since the
last well-made confession.
Act of Virtue for the whole Month
Say often in the day: Mercy, O my
Jesus.
Ejaculation
‘Tis true their sins, O Lord, Thy
indignation move, Yet in Thy heart these souls Are objects of Thy love.
De profundis
Out
of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears
be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark
iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it. For with thee there is merciful
forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul
hath relied on his word: My soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From
the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord. Because with
the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption. And he shall redeem
Israel from all his iniquities.
A PRAYER FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED
God, the Creator and Redeemer of all
the faithful; give to the souls of thy servants departed, full remission of all
their offenses,
that through the help of pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon which
they have always been desirous of, who livest and reignest, world without end.
Amen.
V. Give
them eternal rest, O Lord.
R. And
let perpetual light shine unto them.
V. May
they rest in peace.
R. Amen.
St. Bridget the Widow will be the protectrix
of this day, who had from God such clear revelations of the souls in purgatory,
especially of a noble lady who suffered greatly there for her vanity, whose
liberation she brought about with her suffrages, (In Revel, lib. vi. c. 52.)
Example
There are few souls, even of the
just, who, directly after this life, pass immediately to the eternal joys of
heaven: even the little blemishes of the just have to be purged away by fire.
So we are told in the Prophet: “He
shall purge the Levites, that is, His elect, as gold filtered drop by drop, and
subtly refined." The following example, related by St. Peter Damian, will
serve to prove this. St. Severinus, Archbishop of Cologne, was a prelate of
such extraordinary sanctity, that God vouchsafed to distinguish him with
remarkable miracles. One day the Saint appeared after his death to a canon of
Cologne Cathedral, coming from a small branch of the Rhine, in which he stood
plunged beyond his middle. The canon having asked him why he stood there in the
water, he who for his extraordinary sanctity ought to be reigning gloriously in
heaven; — "If you wish to know," replied the Saint, " give me
your hand, in order that you may understand the pain in which I am, not only by
hearsay, but rather by touch." Then, having seized his hand, had dipped it
gently into the water; though he drew it rapidly out, so great was the heat
that he felt from it, that the flesh all about the piece fell off scorched, and
the bare bones, held together by the joints, remained in great pain. Then the
Saint went on to say:
“I do not suffer this great torment for anything more than for having
recited the canonical hours hastily and with distraction. For while I was
councillor in the emperor's court, having a great deal of business, I did not
recite the divine office at the proper hours, or with devotion. This is my only
fault." Then, begging him to join with him in prayer to implore for the
cure of his hand, and also for his own liberation from so great pains, by the
suffrage of prayers, alms, and Masses, he disappeared suddenly, leaving him
miraculously cured, and full of fear of God's judgments. Let us, too, fear
these examples, and set ourselves to pray with more fervour, not less for our
own spiritual advantage than for that of the souls in purgatory. (St. Pet. Dam.
Ep. 14, ed. Desid. cap. vii.)
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