SEVENTEENTH DAY
HE WHO GIVES SUFFRAGES TO THE SOULS IN PURGATORY DOES A THING ACCEPTABLE
TO MARY, QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
There is no doubt that Mary, being Queen of heaven and earth, has
absolute dominion over the Church triumphant as well as the militant, yet as a
creature subject to God. This dominion, however, St. Bernard of Sienna extends
to the suffering Church; and in such way that, if she confers the treasures of
her glory upon the first, and upon the second those of her grace, she deals out
to the third the influences of her suffrages. Hence the Saint makes her say,
"I walk upon the waves of the sea," which meant to signify that she
passed over this stormy sea of fire, and mitigated its painful fires, at all
events by means of the angels whom she commands. What pleasure, then, will not
this Queen be sure to feel in seeing freed, by means of our suffrages, from the
dark prison of purgatory, those blessed souls which were devout to her, and
faithful, at least in death, to her Divine Son! Let us, then, endeavour with
abundant suffrages to set those souls free, so that the number of those who
venerate this glorious Queen may be increased in heaven.
Ejaculation
For the merits of Thy mother, May Thy gracious heart concede To the
souls, my loving Jesus, That refreshment which they need.
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.
St. Catherine of Sienna, of the order of St. Dominic, will be the protectrix
of this day, as one who not only honoured Mary with especial dutifulness, but
also showed herself charitable towards her daughters, the souls in purgatory,
for the liberation of whom die offered to God all her satisfactions. (In ejus
vita.)
Example
Dionysius (Denis) the Carthusian attests that at the most holy name of Mary the
souls in purgatory feel that relief which a sick man, lying upon his bed, feels
when he hears a word of great comfort to him. And with good reason, for she not
only bestows her assistance upon them, but also defends those who show
themselves merciful to them. The following example will serve to prove this: A
person devout to this divine Mother, and benevolent to the souls in purgatory,
to aid whom he recited every evening upon his knees the Litany of the Virgin,
had certain sworn enemies, who laid snares for his life. One evening, when this
merciful man lay unsuspiciously asleep in his chamber, these murderous men
found a mode of entering into his house to dispatch him in a way which would
not be found out, by a secret way of killing him. Having gone up very softly to
him, and finding on a chair the clothes he had taken off, they went with weapon
in hand to kill him cruelly. However, they could not see him whom they had
looked for so anxiously, because, by a marvellous favour from heaven, he had become
invisible. Hence, imagining that he was in some hidden place in his house, they
went all over it in quest of him; but, after all their search, finding no trace
of him, they went away confused and enraged, with an ill will in their heart,
which gave them still greater torment. In this way Mary undertakes, by blinding
the wicked, to protect those who so zealously set themselves to honour her, and
give suffrages to the souls in purgatory. Ah, if Mary would free us from
blindness of heart, and make us invisible to the dangerous objects on this
earth, then happy should we be! Let us pray to her with our whole heart, and
show more affection to the souls in purgatory.
(Rosignoli, Maraviglia di Dio nel Anime del Purg. M. 40.)
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