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Purgatory by Mary Anne Madden Sadlier

M >> Mary Anne Madden Sadlier >> Purgatory




[Footnote 1: "Some souls proceed to rest after their departure; some go
to punishment for that which they have done, and are often released by
alms-deeds, but chiefly through the Mass, if it be offered for them;
others are condemned to hell with the devil." (Serm. ad. Pop. in Oct.
Pent.) "There be many places of punishment, in which souls suffer in
proportion to their guilt before the general judgment, so that some of
them are fully cleansed, and have nothing to suffer in that fire of the
last day." (Hom. apud. Whelock, p. 386.)]

This was a favorite form of devotion with our ancestors. It came to
them recommended by the practice of all antiquity; it was considered an
act of the purest charity on behalf of those who could no longer pray
for themselves; it enlisted in its favor the feelings of the survivor,
who was thus enabled to intercede with God for his nearest and dearest
friends, and it opened at the same time to the mourner a source of real
consolation in the hour of bereavement and distress. It is true,
indeed, that the petitioners knew not the state of the departed soul;
he might be incapable of receiving any benefit from their prayers, but
they reasoned, with St. Augustine, that, even so, the piety of their
intentions would prove acceptable to God. When Alcuin heard that
Edilthryde, a noble Saxon lady, lamented most bitterly the death of her
son, he wrote to her from his retreat at Tours, in the following
terms:--"Mourn not for him whom you cannot recall. If he be of God,
instead of grieving that you have lost him, rejoice that he is gone to
rest before you. Where there are two friends, I hold the death of the
first preferable to that of the second, because the first leaves behind
him one whose brotherly love will intercede for him daily, and whose
tears will wash away the frailties of his life in this world. Be
assured that your pious solicitude for the soul of your son will not be
thrown away. It will benefit both you and him--you, because you
exercise acts of hope and charity; him, because such acts will tend
either to mitigate his sufferings, or to add to his happiness."

[Footnote 1: Ep. Cli Tom. I, p. 212.]

But they did not only pray for others, they were careful to secure for
themselves, after their departure, the prayers of their friends. This
they frequently solicited as a favor or recompense, and for this they
entered into mutual compacts by which the survivor was bound to perform
certain works of piety or charity for the soul of the deceased. Thus
Beda begs of the monks of Lindisfarne that, at his death, they will
offer prayers and Masses for him as one of their own body; thus Alcuin
calls upon his former scholars at York to remember him in their prayers
when it shall please God to withdraw him from this world; and thus in
the multifarious correspondence of St. Boniface, the apostle of
Germany, and of Lullus, his successor in the See of Mentz, both of them
Anglo-Saxons, with their countrymen, prelates, abbots, thanes, and
princes, we meet with letters the only object of which is to renew
their previous engagements, and to transmit the names of their defunct
associates. It is "our earnest wish," say the King of Kent and the
Bishop of Rochester in their common letter to Lullus, "to recommend
ourselves and our dearest relatives to your piety, that by your prayers
we may be protected till we come to that life which knows no end. For
what have we to do on earth but faithfully to exercise charity towards
each other? Let us then agree, that when any among us enter the path
which leads to another life (may it be a life of happiness), the
survivors shall, by their alms and sacrifices, endeavor to assist him
in his journey. We have sent you the names of our deceased relations,
Irmige, Vorththry, and Dulicha, virgins dedicated to God, and beg that
you will remember them in your prayers and oblations. On a similar
occasion we will prove our gratitude by imitating your charity."

Such covenants were not confined to the clergy, or to persons in the
higher ranks of life. England, at this period, was covered with
"gilds," or associations of townsmen and neighbors, not directly for
religious purposes, but having a variety of secular objects in view,--
such as the promotion of trade and commerce, the preservation of
property and the prosecution of thieves, the legal defence of the
members against oppression, and the recovery of bots, or penalties, to
which they were entitled; but whatever might be their chief object, all
imposed one common obligation, that of accompanying the bodies of f the
deceased members to the grave, of paying the soul-shot for them at
their interment, and of distributing alms for the repose of their
souls. As a specimen of such engagements, I may here translate a
portion of the laws established in the gild at Abbotsbury. "If," says
the legislator, "any one belonging to this association chance to die,
each member shall pay one penny for the good of the soul, before the
body be laid in the grave. If he neglect, he shall be fined in a triple
sum. If any of us fall sick within sixty miles, we engage to find
fifteen men, who may bring him home; but if he die first, we will send
thirty to convey him to the place in which he desired to be buried. If
he die in the neighborhood, the steward shall inquire where he is to be
interred, and shall summon as many members as he can to assemble,
attend the corpse in an honorable manner, carry it to the minster, and
pray devoutly for the soul. Let us act in this manner, and we shall
truly perform the duty of our confraternity. This will be honorable to
us both before God and man. For we know not who among us may die first;
but we believe that, with the assistance of God, this agreement will
profit us all if it be rightly observed."

But the clerical and monastic bodies inhabiting the more celebrated
monasteries offered guildships of a superior description. Among them
the service for the dead was performed with greater solemnity; the
rules of the institute insured the faithful performance of the duty;
and additional value was ascribed to their prayers on account of the
sanctity of the place and the virtue of its inmates. Hence it became an
object with many to obtain admission among the brotherhood in quality
of honorary associates; an admission which gave them the right to the
same spiritual benefits after death to which the professed members were
entitled. Such associates were of two classes. To some the favor was
conceded on account of their reputation for piety or learning; to
others it was due on account of their benefactions. Instances of both
abound in the Anglo-Saxon records. Beda, though a monk at Jarrow,
procured his name to be entered for this purpose on the bead-roll of
the monks at Lindisfarne; and Alcuin, though a canon at Tours, in
France, had obtained a similar favor from the monks at Jarrow. It
belonged, of right, to the founders of churches, to those who had made
to them valuable benefactions, [1] or had rendered to them important
services, or had bequeathed to them a yearly rent charge [2] for that
purpose.

[Footnote 1: When Osulf, ealdorman, by the grace of God, gave the land
at Stanhamstede to Christ Church, he most humbly prayed that he and his
wife, Beornthrythe, might be admitted "into the fellowship of God's
servants there, and of their lords who had been, and of those who had
given lands to the Church."--Cod. Dipl. I. 292. The following is an
instance of a rent charge given by Ealburge and Eadwald to Christ
Church for themselves, and for Ealred and Ealwyne forty ambres of malt,
two hundred loaves, one wey, &c, &c.; "and I, Ealburge," she adds,
"command my son Ealwyne, in the name of God, and of all the saints,
that he perform this duty in his day, and then command his heirs to
perform it as long as Christendom shall endure."]

[Footnote 2: I Monast. Ang. i. 278. A similar regulation is found among
the laws of the gild in London. "And ye have ordained respecting every
man who has given his 'wed' in our gildships, if he should die, that
each gild brother shall give a 'genuine loaf' for his soul, and sing a
ditty, or get it sung, within thirty days."--Thorpe's Laws of London
Gilds.]

Of all these individuals an exact catalogue was kept; the days of their
decease [1] were carefully noted, and on their anniversaries a solemn
service of Masses and psalmody was yearly performed. [2] It may be
easily conceived that to men of timorous and penitent minds this custom
would afford much consolation. However great might be their
deficiencies, yet they hoped that their good works would survive them;
they had provided for the service of the Almighty a race of men, whose
virtues they might in one respect call their own, and who were bound,
by the strongest ties, to be their daily advocate at the throne of
divine mercy. [3] Such were the sentiments of Alwyn, the caldorman of
East Anglia, and one of the founders of Ramsey. Warned by frequent
infirmities of his approaching death, he repaired, attended by his sons
Edwin and Ethelward, to the abbey. The monks were speedily assembled.
"My beloved," said he, "you will soon lose your friend and protector.
My strength is gone: I am stolen from myself. But I am not afraid to
die. When life grows tedious death is welcome. To-day I shall confess
before you the many errors of my life. Think not that I wish to solicit
a prolongation of my existence. My request is that you protect my
departure by your prayers, and place your merits in the balance against
my defects. When my soul shall have quitted my body, honor your
father's corpse with a decent funeral, grant him a constant share in
your prayers, and recommend his memory to the charity and gratitude of
your successors." At the conclusion of his address the aged thane threw
himself on the pavement before the altar, and, with a voice interrupted
by frequent sighs, publicly confessed the sins of his past years, and
earnestly implored the mercies of his Redeemer.... He exhorted the
brethren to a punctual observance of their rule, and forbade his sons,
under their father's malediction, to molest them in possession of the
lands which he had bestowed on the abbey.... Within a few weeks he
died, his body was interred with proper solemnity in the Church; and
his memory was long cherished with gratitude by the monks of Ramsey.
[4]

[Footnote 1: According to Wanly there is in the Cotton Library (Dom. A.
7) of the reign of Athelstan, in which the names of the chief
benefactors of the Church of Lindisfarne are written in letters of gold
and silver, which catalogue was afterwards continued, but not in the
same manner (Wanly, 249). This is probably the same book which was
published in 1841 by the Surtees Society, under the name of _Liber
Vitae Ecclesiae Dunelmensis_. It contains the names of all the
benefactors of St. Cuthbert's Church from its foundation, and lay
constantly on the altar for upwards of six centuries.]

[Footnote 2: According to Wanly there is in the Cotton Library (Dom. A.
7) of the reign of Athelstan, in which the names of the chief
benefactors of the Church of Lindisfarne are written in letters of gold
and silver, which catalogue was afterwards continued, but not in the
same manner (Wanly, 249). This is probably the same book which was
published in 1841 by the Surtees Society, under the name of _Liber
Vitae Ecclesiae Dunelmensis_. It contains the names of all the
benefactors of St. Cuthbert's Church from its foundation, and lay
constantly on the altar for upwards of six centuries.]

[Footnote 3: Thus when Leofric established canons in the Church of
Exeter, he made them several valuable presents, on condition that, in
their prayers and Masses, they should always remember his soul, "that
it might be the more pleasing to God." Monas. Ang. tom i. p. 222.]

[Footnote 4: Hist. Rames, p. 427.]

There were three kinds of good works usually performed for the benefit
of the dead: One consisted in the distribution of charity. To the
money, which the deceased, if he were in opulent or in easy
circumstances, bequeathed for that purpose, an addition was often made
by the contributions of his relatives and friends. Large sums were
often distributed in this manner. King Alfred the Great says in his
will: "Let there be given for me, and for my father, and for the
friends that he prayed for, and that I pray for, two hundred pounds;
fifty among the Mass-priests throughout my kingdom; fifty among the
servants of God that are in need, fifty among lay paupers, and fifty to
the church in which my body shall rest." [1] Archbishop Wulfred in his
will, (an. 831) made provision for the permanent support and clothing
of twenty-seven paupers, out of the income from certain manors which,
at his own cost and labor, he had recovered for the Church of
Canterbury. Frequently the testator bequeathed a yearly dole of money
and provisions to the poor on the anniversary of his death. Thus the
clergy of Christ-church gave away one hundred and twenty suffles, or
cakes of fine flour, on the anniversaries of each of their lords, by
which word we are probably to understand archbishops; but Wulfred was
not content with his accustomed charity; he augmented it tenfold on his
own anniversary, having bequeathed a loaf, a certain quantity of
cheese, and a silver penny to be delivered to twelve hundred poor
persons on that day. Of such dole some vestiges still remain in certain
parts of the kingdom.

[Footnote 1: Cod Diplom (double S?) i. 115.]

Another species of charity, at the death of the upper ranks, was the
grant of freedom to a certain number of slaves, whose poverty, to
render the gift more valuable, was relieved with a handsome present. In
the Council of Calcuith, it was unanimously agreed that each prelate at
his death should bequeath the tenth part of his personal property to
the poor, and set at liberty all bondmen of English descent, whom the
Church had acquired during his administration; and that each bishop and
abbot who survived him, should manumit three of his slaves, and give
three shillings to each, for the benefit of the soul of the deceased
prelate.

The devotions in behalf of the dead consisted in the frequent
repetition of the Lord's Prayer, technically called a belt of
Paternosters, which was in use with private individuals, ignorant of
the Latin tongue; 2d, in the chanting of a certain number of psalms,
generally fifty, terminating with the collect for the dead, during
which collect all knelt down, and then repeated the anthem in Latin or
English: "According to Thy great mercy give rest to his soul, O Lord,
and of Thine infinite bounty grant to him eternal light in the company
of the saints;" [1] 3d, in the sacrifice of the Mass, which was offered
as soon as might be after death, again on the third day, and afterwards
as often as was required by the solicitude of the relatives or friends
of the deceased. No sooner had St. Wilfred expired than Talbert, to
whom he had intrusted the government of his monastery at Ripon, ordered
a Mass to be celebrated, and alms to be distributed daily for his soul.
On his anniversary the abbots of all the monasteries founded by Wilfred
were summoned to attend; they spent the preceding night in watching and
prayer, on the following morning a solemn Mass was performed, and then
the tenth part of the cattle belonging to the monastery was distributed
among the neighboring poor.

[Footnote 1: On the death of St. Guthlade, his sister Pega recommended
his soul to God, and sang psalms for that purpose during three days.]

In like manner we find the ealdorman Osulf, "for the redemption and
health of his own soul, and of his wife, Beornthrythe," giving certain
lands to the Church of Liming, in Kent, under the express condition
that "every twelve months afterwards, the day of their departure out of
this life should be kept with fasting and prayer to God, in psalmody
and the celebration of Masses."

It would appear that some doubt existed with respect to the exact
meaning of this condition; and a few years later the archbishop, to set
the question at rest, pronounced the following decree: "Wherefore I
order that the godly deeds following be performed for their souls at
the tide of their anniversary; that every Mass priest celebrate two
Masses for the soul of Osulf, and two for Beornthrythe's soul; that
every deacon read two passions (the narratives of our Lord's sufferings
in the gospels) for his soul, and two for hers; and each of God's
servants (the inferior members of the brotherhood) two fifties" (fifty
psalms) "for his soul, two for hers; that as you in the world are
blessed with worldly goods through them, so they may be blessed with
godly goods through you."

It should, however, be observed, that such devotions were not confined
to the anniversaries of the dead. In many, perhaps in all, of these
religious establishments, the whole community on certain days walked,
at the conclusion of the matin service, in procession to the cemetery,
and there chanted the dirge over the graves of their deceased brethren
and benefactors.

Respecting these practices some most extraordinary opinions have
occasionally been hazarded. We have been told that the custom of
praying for the dead was no part of the religious system originally
taught to the Anglo-Saxons, that it was not generally received for two
centuries after their conversion, and that it probably took its rise
"from a mistaken charity, continuing to do for the departed what it was
only lawful to do for the living." To this supposition it may be
sufficient to reply, that it is supported by no reference to ancient
authority, but contradicted in every page of Anglo-Saxon history.
Others have admitted the universal prevalence of the practice, but have
discovered that it originated in the interested views of the clergy,
who employed it as a constant source of emolument, and laughed among
themselves at the easy faith of their disciples. But this opinion is
subject to equal difficulties with the former. It rests on no ancient
testimony: it is refuted by the conduct of the ancient clergy. No
instance is to be found of any one of these conspirators as they are
represented, who in an unguarded moment, or of any false brother who,
in the peevishness of discontent, revealed the secret to the ears of
their dupes. On the contrary, we see them in their private
correspondence holding to each other the same language which they held
to their disciples; requesting from each other those prayers which we
are told that they mutually despised, and making pecuniary sacrifices
during life to purchase what, if their accusers be correct, they deemed
an illusory assistence after death.


A SINGULAR FRENCH CUSTOM.

Vernon is perhaps the only town in France wherein the ancient custom of
which we are about to speak still exists. When a death occurs, an
individual, robed in a mortuary tunic, adorned with cross-bones and
tear-drops, goes through the streets with a small bell in either hand,
the sound of which is sharp and penetrating; at every place where the
streets cross each other, he rings his bells three times, crying out in
a doleful voice: "Such-a-one, belonging to the Confraternity of St.
Roch, or the Confraternity of St. Sebastian, &c., &c., is recommended
to your prayers. He is dead. The funeral will take place at such-an-
hour." Then he rings again three times. The first Sunday of each month
arrives. Then, at the dawn of day the same individual goes again
through the town, ringing continuously, knocking thrice at the door of
each member of the confraternity, and stopping at the corners of the
streets, he sings: "Good people," or "good souls, who sleep, awake!
awake! pray for the dead! &c."--_Voix de la Verite_, July 22,
1846.


DEVOTION TO THE HOLY SOULS AMONGST THE EARLY ENGLISH.

ANNA T. SADLIER.

An English writer, the gifted author of the Knights of St. John, makes
the following assertion as regards the people of her own nationality:
"Our Catholic ancestors," she says, "are said to have been
distinguished above all other nations for their devotion towards the
dead; and it harmonizes with one feature in our national character,
namely, that gravity and attraction to things of solemn and pathetic
interest which, uncontrolled by the influence of faith, degenerates
even into melancholy." In view of this assertion, it will be
interesting to spend a few moments in gathering up the links of this
most ancient and most touching devotion, amongst a people who have
collectively, as it were, fallen away from grace. It is therefore our
purpose to look backwards into that solemn and beautiful past of which
heretical England can boast, and behold her, as Carlyle beheld her in
his "Past and Present," offering to the world the sublime spectacle of
a people devout and faithful, undisturbed by doubt, tranquilized by the
harmonious influence of religion, and unharassed by the spirit of so
called philosophic inquiry, which, misdirected, is the true bane of
English society at the present day.

This retrospection, as we shall have occasion later on to recur to the
subject of devotion to the dead in England, must necessarily be both
brief and cursory. But even the merest outlines are of interest, for
they prove that prayer for the departed was no less the favorite
devotion of the learned than of the simple, and that it had its home in
those ancient seats of learning, Oxford and Cambridge and their
dependencies, from the very hour of their foundation. Of the Founder of
Oxford, it is said, that prayer for the dead was one of his devotions
of predilection. It is not necessary here for us to follow him, the
great and good William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, and
subsequently Lord Chancellor of England, in the gradual unfoldings of
that project of founding a University, so dear to him from almost the
moment of his elevation to the episcopate. Suffice that in the March of
1379, he laid the corner-stone of "St. Marie's College of Winchester,
Oxenford." It is with his great charity towards the Holy Souls that we
are at present concerned, and of this we have ample proof in the
testimonies of his biographers. Here is one of them, in the paragraph
which follows:

"There was another devotion which was most dearly cherished by Wykeham,
and which is an equal indication of the singular _spirituality_ of
his mind,--we mean, that for the suffering souls in Purgatory. It may
be safely affirmed, that this devotion, so unselfish and unearthly in
its tendencies, carrying us beyond the grave, and making us familiar
with the secrets of the unseen world, could never find a place in the
heart of one who was engrossed by secular cares, or the love of money.
Its existence in any marked and special degree argues in the soul of
its possessor a profound sense of sin, a deep compassion for the
sufferings of others, and a habit of dwelling on the thoughts of death,
judgment, and eternity. Moreover, it is utterly opposed to anything of
that mercenary or commercial spirit which exists among men of the
world, who like to see some large practical result even in matters of
devotion. We pray, and are sensible of no return; we spend our money in
a Requiem Mass, and there is nothing but trust in God's word, and God's
fidelity, to assure us that the money is not thrown away. Every _De
Profundis_ that we say is as much an act of faith as it is an act of
charity; and it has its reward. We do not speak merely of the benefit
reaped by the souls of the faithful departed; but who can measure the
effect of this devotion on a man's own soul, bringing him (as it does)
into communion with the world of spirits, and realizing to him the
worth of Christian suffering, and the awful purity of God?"...

Wykeham's heart was full of compassion for suffering, and the dead
shared his charity with the living. Never did he offer the Holy
Sacrifice for the departed without abundant tears. His reverence for
the Holy Mysteries, and the singular devotion with which he celebrated,
are often referred to by those who have written his life; one of whom,
after speaking of his various charities, thus continues: "Not only did
he, as we have said, offer his goods, but also his very self, as a
lively sacrifice to God, and hence, in the solemn celebration of Mass,
and chiefly at that part where there is made a special memorial of the
living and the dead, he was wont to shed many tears out of the humility
of his heart, reputing himself unworthy, as he was wont to express it
in speaking to his secretary, to perform such an office, or to handle
the most sublime mysteries of the Church."

From the same biographer we add to the foregoing a further testimony as
to what a hold this devotion of predilection had taken upon the soul of
the Founder of Oxford:

"Among his charities we accordingly find a great many which were solely
directed to the relief of the suffering souls. Wykeham's benevolence
had in it one admirable feature: it was not left to be carried out
after his death by his executors, but all his great acts of munificence
were performed in his own lifetime. One of his first cares, after his
accession to the See of Winchester, was to found a chantry in the
Priory of Southwyke, near Wykeham, for the repose of the souls of his
father and mother and sister, who were buried within the priory church;
and in all his after foundations provisions were made for the continual
remembrance of the dead; and (ever grateful to his early friends) King
Edward III., the Black Prince, and King Richard II. were all commended
to the charity of those who, as they prayed for Wykeham, were charged
at the same time to pray for the souls of his benefactors."

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