Monday, November 16, 2015

Month of Holy Souls in Purgatory - Fourteenth Day



      FOURTEENTH DAY

HE WHO GIVES SUFFRAGES TO THE SOULS IN PURGATORY GIVES PLEASURE TO JESUS IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.

In the institution of the most holy Sacrament, Jesus has, as it were, emptied the treasury of His immense love towards men. He wished us to feed on His body and on His blood, that we might partake of His Divine nature, and have sure token of the glory He has prepared for us in heaven. He wishes also that this should he frequently repeated in memory of Him in the sacrifice. But he who devotes himself with great zeal to giving suffrages to the souls in purgatory seconds these Divine intentions by hastening for them the enjoyment of that glory which He has prepared for them at the price of His blood. From this, any one may infer how much pleasure the sacrifice of Himself, offered by His priests for their benefit at the holy altar, gives to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. With reason, therefore, the Angelic Doctor thus comments upon the words of Leviticus: “I have given to you the blood, that is to say, the sacrifice of the body and the blood of Christ, in order that you may have upon my altar an expiation, to wit, for the souls that are in purgatory." If, then, the divine Sacrament is so pleasing to God, and so beneficial to the souls, why are we so often loath both to receive it and to offer it?

Ejaculation
O, by this wondrous Sacrament, To suffering souls allow, From mercy's shores upon their flames Some cooling gale to blow.

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.

The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus adored by Sts. Thomas Aquinas and Marguerite-Marie Alacoque

St. Thomas of Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, will be the protector of this day, who has supplied us with so many lights and encouragements, in regard to the souls in purgatory, by his angelic doctrine, who was so devout also to the most holy Sacrament, as appears by the office and Mass of Corpus Christi, which were composed by him, and who, in his mercy, was so devoted to the good of the souls in purgatory, and set free many of them, particularly his sister, from such cruel torments. (P. Jo. P. Maffeius in vita, &c.)

Example

That the communion of the living is useful as a suffrage for the dead, it is not my intention to prove here with arguments; it is expressly affirmed by Suarez, along with others. It is enough for me to set forth the necessity of making a good communion, in order to do good to one's self or the souls in purgatory. The following example will make my meaning clear. The venerable Ludovico Blosio, a great master of spiritual life, and of equal learning, relates that a devout servant of God, whom he was well acquainted with and loved, had it granted him to see a departed soul all surrounded with flames, and he gave him to understand that he was deprived of the beatific vision of God for having received the Saviour under the sacramental species without being duly prepared; and that he lay immersed in burning flames for having come with culpable tepidity to the Eucharistic table. “I therefore beseech you, my dearest friend, for the sake of the love that was between us, to communicate once as a suffrage for me, but with devout preparation and great fervour of spirit; for so I hope for certain to be freed from these cruel pains, well deserved for my tepidity towards the Eucharist." The other readily corresponded to so pious a request; and, in fact, after the communion received with the required dispositions, this soul appeared to him again, mantled with glorious light, mounting with joyous flight to see the King of glory revealed face to face. Have you heard how to communicate for the suffrage of the souls in purgatory as well as for your own spiritual profit? Well, then, avail yourself of the opportunities of doing so. (Bios, in Mon. Spirit, cap vi.)




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