SIXTEENTH DAY
HE THAT GIVES SUFFRAGES TO THIS SOULS IN PURGATORY
DOES A THING AGREEABLE TO MARY THE MOTHER OF LOVE.
As the great Virgin has, in the Hierarchy above,
the fullness of grace and glory, above all the angels and saints of heaven, so
she has also the fullness of love towards God and her neighbour. St. Bernard, a
very devout servant of this mother, described her charity as immense, as extending
to the very end of time, and spreading from pole to pole; as reaching up to the
highest heaven, and down to the subterraneous abyss of the prison of purgatory;
and affirms that, as she is full for herself, she must pour forth herself abundantly
for the good of men, alive or dead. St. Bridget, in her famous revelations, was
divinely informed that Mary was the consolatrix of all those that are in
purgatory. If she be so, who can explain the satisfaction this great Virgin
feels in seeing the devout succour these souls, towards whom she maintains such
tender feelings of love? Let us, then, also give to the Mother of love this
satisfaction, by giving abundant suffrages to the souls in purgatory.
Ejaculation
Mother of love, uplift the voice Of thy most
fervent prayer, To Jesus, for the suffering souls That breathe that torturing
air.
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.
St. Bernardine of Sienna, the Franciscan, will be the
protector of this day, whose devotion to Mary is not less celebrated by all,
than that to the souls in purgatory, one of which, as the Bollandists tell us,
he called from purgatory, and united to the body, that it might explain to
friends and relations the state of the dead, and procure their suffrages.
(Cant. Bolland. in Act. Sauct. ad. May 20.)
Example
It is the opinion of many doctors, according to
Salmeron, that the great Virgin, before she died, asked and obtained of her
Son, that all those souls who, up to that time, were in torments, should be set
free from the flames of purgatory, by whom she was accompanied in her solemn Assumption
into heaven; for at that same time, as Gerson observes, she was crowned the
Queen, I say, of mercy, the Mother of grace, at whose coronation it was
suitable that pardon should be given to prisoners. Such indulgences the same
doctors extend to every feast of the Assumption, and even to all our Lady's
feasts. Be this as it may, St. Peter Damian relates, that while the feast of
the Assumption was being celebrated in the city of Rome, and a great multitude
of people were keeping the vigil with devout prayers, and processions at night,
after the customs of those days, a certain Manzia, who had died a few days
before, made herself visible to a certain friend, and, when asked how it fared
with her in the other world, replied, “Hitherto badly, but now well, thanks to
the prayers of the most holy Mary, who on this day has delivered more souls
than the city of Rome counts inhabitants. And, as a sign that this vision is a
true one, I give you to understand, that ere the year is out, you will have passed
into a better life." And so it really came to pass. So, then, let us give
special honour to Mary; and, particularly on her feasts, let us pray to her for
the souls in purgatory. (St. Pet. Dam. lib, iii. Ep. 52.)
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