The Meeting of Dante
and Beatrice in Purgatory by Andrea Pierini, 1853
THIRD DAY
REFLECTION
THE SOULS IN PURGATORY DESIRE THE JOYS OF PARADISE, BUT CANNOT OBTAIN
THEM.
Hence St. Austin says that our whole
reward consists in the vision of God; he that cannot see God cannot enjoy
Paradise. It is the beatific vision in which the joys of Paradise consist.
These holy souls, as they are carried by nature towards felicity and joy, so
they desire with great ardour the joys of Paradise. But as they are deprived of
the vision of God, so they remain deprived, also, of so great a happiness. This
deprivation increases immeasurably their pain. If the great Apostle St. Paul
wept bitterly to find himself kept back among the snares of this body from the
possession of so great goods, saying, "Unhappy man that I am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?" what must be the grief of those
souls in finding, even after their death, that they are kept back from the
possession of a felicity after which they so often sigh! We, by our suffrages,
shall be able to console them; why, then, do we not do it?
Act of Virtue for one Day.
Make a confession with great
exactness and contrition.
Act of Virtue for the whole Month.
Correct with charity the defects of
your neighbours.
Ejaculation.
When severed from its loving spouse,
How sadly mourn the turtle dove! Sweet Lord,
how sad then are the souls That feel the absence of Thy love! St. Augustin,
Bishop and Doctor, will be the protector of this day, who, in various passages
of his works, warmly commends to the pity of the faithful the souls in purgatory;
he having himself given to them, especially to his saintly mother Monica, such
tokens of his love as make one's heart melt to read them.
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.
Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord;
and. let perpetual light shine upon them.
Prayer
Deus, Venice largitor
O God, bountiful in forgiving, and
lovingly desirous of man's salvation, we beg Thy mercy for the brethren of our
congregation, its friends, and benefactors, who have passed away from this
life, that by the intercession of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, and that of all the
Saints, Thou mayest allow them to come to the full participation of everlasting
bliss. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and
let perpetual light shine upon them. The glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
will be the Protectrix of this day, as being she who is the Queen of all
Saints, and who, according to St. Bridget, is called Consolatrix of the souls
in purgatory, and Mother of the same.
Example
That to make a confession with a
contrite heart is necessary for such as find themselves in sin, in order to
their giving suffrages with advantage to the souls in purgatory, and it is also
shown by the following example: Before his death, a parent besought his son to
remember to give suffrages to his soul after death. The son executed his
father's commands, and applied many suffrages to relieve him. After thirty-two
years, the poor father appeared to him, all surrounded with horrible flames,
who, explaining to him the dreadful pains which he endured, complained bitterly
of him because during so many years he had not given him a single suffrage. “How?"
answered the son, all astonishment; not given you any suffrage, when I have
made so many alms, so many fasts, so many prayers, and continue every hour to
pray for you? “Know, O my son,'' replied
the father, " that all the good that you have done and are doing, as it
has profited you nothing, so it has also profited me nothing, because you have
done it in mortal sin; your confessions always being useless, inasmuch as they were devoid of the necessary
grief. God, by reason of His mercy, has ordained that I should make you aware
of this, for my advantage and for your improvement." Having thus said, the
dead man disappeared, and left his son salutarily frightened; for, having
examined his interior state, he made a contrite confession, began a moral and
Christian life, and, by the practice of many good works, freed the soul of his
parent from purgatory, and his own from hell. Let this example serve as a rule
to us, also, for our spiritual improvement. (Campadelli, Disc. sacr. 19.)
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