Purgatory by Mary Anne Madden Sadlier

M >> Mary Anne Madden Sadlier >> Purgatory

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34

In Winchester we read, also, of the College of the Holy Trinity,
endowed as a "carnarie," or charnel-house, of the city. The chief
duties of the priests belonging to the chantry attached thereto were to
bury the dead, and keep up perpetual Masses for the souls of the
departed.

Those Colleges of Winchester, with their simple beauty and grandeur of
design, with their conventional rule of life, the singing of Matins,
and the daily chanting of the divine office by chaplains and fellows,
offer to us a very fair picture, indeed. But we observe that in the
Masses sung with "note and chant," there is one specially mentioned for
the souls of the founder's parents, and of all the faithful departed; a
second for the souls of King Edward III., Queen Philippa, the Black
Prince, Richard II., Queen Anne, and certain benefactors.

On the 24th of July, 1403, the saintly Wykeham made his will. He
directed that his body should be laid in a chantry which he had himself
founded, and at the altar of which he was wont to offer up the Holy
Sacrifice. He desired that on the day of his burial, "to every poor
person coming to Winchester, and asking alms, for the love of God, and
for the health of his soul, there should be given fourpence." Alms were
likewise to be distributed in every place through which his body was to
pass, and large provision was made for Masses and prayers for the
repose of his soul. He had, besides, made an agreement with the monks
of St. Swithin's, by which they were to offer three Masses daily for
his parents and benefactors in the chantry chapel; the first of these
was a Mass of Our Lady, to be said very early. The boys attached to the
College were, moreover, to sing every night in perpetuity, either the
_Salve Regina_ or _Ave Regina_, with a _De Profundis_ for his soul's
repose. So, as the hour of his death drew near, he who had concerned
himself through life with the souls of the departed, essayed to make
provision for his own. Since that hour when he proceeded to the high
altar of Winchester Cathedral, escorted by the Lord Prior of Winchester
and the Abbot Hyde, to celebrate his first Pontifical Mass, the same
constant memory of the dead had been with him, as when kneeling he
prayed aloud for the soul of his predecessor,
William de Edyndon, and bade the choir chant the _De Profundis_,
while he himself recited the _Fidelium omnium conditor_.

But leaving Oxford and its pious founder, we turn our gaze upon that
ancient foundation of Eton, which was to serve as a preparatory school
for the new establishment of King's College of Cambridge, which Henry
had in contemplation. Henry, in his famous Eton charter, makes mention
of his desire that this college shall be, as it were, a memorial of
him, and be composed of clerks, "who," he says, "shall pray for our
welfare whilst we live, and for our soul when we shall have departed
this life." The Pope, Eugenius IV., afterwards granted a plenary
indulgence to all who should visit the College Chapel of Our Lady of
Eton, after Confession and Communion. Henry having visited the
Colleges of Winchester, first met there with William Wayneflete, with
whom he was to be united in so warm and beautiful a friendship. The
"Master of Winton," as Wayneflete then was, is described as "simple,
devout, and full of learning." But a short time after he was removed
to Eton, and presently raised to the Provostship. Among many beautiful
and pious customs, the memory of the dead was carefully preserved
among the Eton scholars, and their verses on All Souls' Day were on
the blessedness of those who die in the Lord. But Wayneflete is, of
course, chiefly identified with Magdalen College, Oxford, said to be
"the finest collegiate building in England," and of which he was the
founder. It was, in truth, his dream, and one which he was destined
to see realized. Here is neither the place nor time to dwell upon its
beauties. The first stone was laid by the venerable Tybarte, its first
president. He was buried in the middle of the inner chapel, and upon a
cope, preserved among the ancient church vestments, is one upon which
is worked the inscription, "_Orate pro anima Magistri Tybarte_." [1]

[Footnote 1: Pray for the soul of Master Tybarte.]

Among the rules and regulations of this new foundation was one which
obliged the president, fellows, and scholars to recite, while dressing,
certain prayers in honor of the Blessed Trinity, and a suffrage for the
founder. Daily prayers were offered up for the repose of the souls of
the founder's father and mother, "those of benefactors of the college,
and for all the souls of the faithful departed." These suffrages were
to be made by every one, at whatever hour of the day was most
convenient.

There were many foundations of Masses attached to this College of
Magdalen. Of these daily Masses, offered at the six altars of the
chapel, the early "Morrow Mass" was always said in the Arundel Chapel,
for the soul of Lord Arundel, the chief benefactor of the institute.
Another Mass was to be said every day for "souls of good memory,"
including, besides the two kings, Henry III. and Edward III., his dear
and never forgotten friends, Henry VI., Lord Cromwell, and Sir John
Fastolfe, as well as King Edward IV. Other Masses and prayers were said
for other intentions. The founder was to be especially remembered every
quarter. Every day, after High Mass, one of the demys was to say aloud
in the chapel, "_Anima fundatoris nostri Willielmi, et animae omnium
fidelium defunctorum, per miscricordiam Dei in pace requiescat._"
[1] The same prayer was to be repeated in the hall after dinner and
supper.

[Footnote 1: "May the soul of our founder, William, and the souls of
all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace."]

But the life of the Founder of Magdalen, the great Bishop, was drawing
to a close. We shall see by his will how firm his faith in that most
Catholic of all doctrines--Purgatory. After various bequests, he left a
certain portion of his property for Masses and alms-deeds for his own
soul and the souls of his parents and friends. On the day of his
burial, and on the thirtieth day from the time of his decease, and on
other appointed days, his executors are charged to have 5,000 Masses
said in honor of the Five Wounds of Christ, and the Five Joys of Mary--
his favorite devotions--for the same intention. His remains were buried
at Winchester, in a tomb which he had prepared as a place of burial
during his lifetime. His was, indeed, the third chantry chapel in
Winchester, the others being those of his predecessor. This custom was
common to all the great prelates of the time. They prepared a place of
sepulture during their life, and there where they officiated at all
solemn offices, and so frequently celebrated requiems for the departed,
they knew that their remains were one day to be laid, and prayers and
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to be offered for themselves. It was
thus a constant reminder of death.

A ceremony connected with Magdalen Tower seems likewise to have had its
origin in this pious custom of remembrance of the dead. "On the 1st of
May," says Anthony Wood, "the choral ministers of this house do,
according to ancient custom, salute Flora from the top of the tower, at
four in the morning, with vocal music of several parts." Of course, as
a chronicler remarks, it was not to salute Flora that any Catholic
choristers thus made vocal the sweet air of May. "The sweet music of
Magdalen Tower," remarks the author of the Knights of St. John, "had a
directly religious origin. On the 1st of May the society was wont
annually to celebrate the obit or Requiem Mass of King Henry VII., who
proved a generous benefactor to the College, and who is still
commemorated as such upon that day. The requiem was not, indeed,
celebrated _on the top of the tower_, as Mr. Chalmers, in his
history of the university, affirms, in total ignorance that a
_requiem_ is a Mass, and that a Mass must be said upon an altar;
but it is probable that the choral service chanted on the 1st of May
consisted originally of the _De Profundis_, or some other psalm,
for the repose of Henry's soul, and as a special mark of gratitude."
Some semblance of the old custom is still kept up, as ten pounds is
still annually paid by the rectory of Slimbridge, in Gloucestershire,
for the purpose of keeping up this ceremony.

Such are a few brief glimpses of this belief in Purgatory, which was so
dear to the hearts of Englishmen, in those centuries before the blight
of heresy had fallen upon the Island of the Saints. These hints upon
the subject are given very much at random, and will simply serve to
show how prayer for the dead was a part of all Christian lives in those
ages of faith. It was incorporated in the rules of every collegiate
institute, and more especially those two most notable ones of Oxford
and Cambridge. It entered into every man's calculations, and was
provided for in every Will and Testament. Had it been in our power to
go backwards, into a still more remote antiquity, it would have been
our pleasant task to find this belief in suffrage for the dead taking
so vigorous root in every heart. Do we not find the Venerable Bede,
"the Father of English Learning," who was born in 673 and died in 734,
asking that his name may be enrolled amongst the monks of the monastery
founded by St. Aidan, in order that his soul after death might have a
share in the Masses and prayers of that numerous community, as he tells
us himself in his Preface to the Life of St. Cuthbert. "This pious
anxiety," says Montalembert, "to assure himself of the help of prayer
for his soul after death is apparent at every step in his letters. It
imprints the last seal of humble and true Christianity on the character
of the great philosopher, whose life was so full of interest, and whose
last days have been revealed to us in minute detail by an eye-witness."
[1]

[Footnote 1: "Monks of the West," Vol v, p 89.]

The passionate entreaties of Anselm, another of the shining lights of
early Anglo-Saxon days, that the soul of his young disciple Osbern be
remembered in prayers and Masses, proves what value he attached to
suffrages for the departed:

"I beg of you," he writes to his friend Gondulph, "of you and of all my
friends, to pray for Osbern. His soul is my soul. All that you do for
him during my life, I shall accept as if you had done it for me after
my death. ... I conjure you for the third time, remember me, and forget
not the soul of my well-beloved Osbern. And if I ask too much of you,
then forget me and remember him.... The soul of my Osbern, ah! I
beseech thee, give it no other place than in my bosom."

And do we not read of those "prayers for souls," incessant and
obligatory, which were identified with all the monastic habits--thanks
to that devotion for the dead which received in a monastery its final
and perpetual sanction. "They were not content," says Montalembert,
"even with common and permanent prayer for the dead of each isolated
monastery. By degrees, vast spiritual associations were formed among
communities of the same order and the same country, with the aim of
relieving by their reciprocal prayers the defunct members of each
house. Rolls of parchment, transmitted by special messengers from
cloister to cloister, received the names of those who had 'emigrated,'
according to the consecrated expression, 'from this terrestrial light
to Christ,' and served the purpose of a check and register to prevent
defalcation in that voluntary impost of prayer which our fervent
cenobites solicited in advance for themselves or for their friends."
And, of course, this was many years, even centuries, before the Feast
of All Souls was instituted by the Abbot Odilo and the monks of Cluny
in 998. English history, like every other history, furnishes us,
indeed, with innumerable traits of this pious devotion to the Holy
Souls. Obviously, our space must prevent us from entering more deeply
into the subject. May the few scattered hints we have been enabled to
throw out be of interest and profit to our readers!

DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY IN THE EARLY IRISH CHURCH.

WALSH. [1]

[Footnote 1: "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland." Rev J. Walsh.]

Coerced by the unvarying as well as unequivocal testimony of our
writers, our liturgies, our canons, Usher was obliged to admit that the
ancient Irish had been in the constant practice of offering up the
eucharistic sacrifice, and that Masses, termed _Requiem Masses_,
used to be celebrated daily. So interwoven is the doctrine of the
eucharistic sacrifice with the records of the nation, that the
antiquarian himself should reject the antiquities of Ireland if he had
ventured on the denial of this practice .... Admitting the practice of
the ancient Irish Church, Usher strives to escape from the difficulty,
as well as attempts to deceive his readers, by pretending that it had
been only a sacrifice of thanksgiving, offered as such for those souls
who were in possession of eternal happiness, and that it had not been
believed or practiced in the ancient Irish Church as a propitiatory
sacrifice. .... The ancient canons of the Irish Church as clearly point
out as the firmament demonstrates the glory of God, the doctrine of our
Church regarding the eucharistic sacrifice, as one of thanksgiving, and
also one of propitiation. In an ancient canon contained in D'Achery's
collection (lib. 2, cap. 20), the synod says: "The Church offers for
the souls of the deceased in four ways--for the very good, the
oblations are simply thanksgiving; for the very bad, they become
consolations to the living; for such as were not very good, the
oblations are made in order to obtain full remission; and for those who
were not very bad, that their punishment may be rendered more
tolerable." Here, then, is enunciated in plain terms, the doctrine of
the eucharistic oblation being a propitiatory sacrifice. When offered
for the first class of happy souls, it is an offering of thanksgiving.
When offered for those whose lives were bad in the sight of Heaven, its
oblation is a comfort to the faithful. When offered for those who were
not very good or very bad, the object of its oblation was to render
their state more tolerable, and that full pardon would be at length
accorded. The framers of this canon give us also the doctrine of a
middle state, as a tenet also believed by the Church of Ireland.

Another canon, still more ancient, and which is reckoned among those of
St. Patrick, is entitled "Of the Oblation for the Dead." This canon is
couched in the following words: "There is a sin unto death, I do not
say that for it any do pray." This sin is final impenitence.

The ancient Irish Missal, "the _Cursus Scotorum"_ contains an
oration for the dead: "Grant, O Lord, to him, Thy servant, deceased,
the pardon of all his sins, in that secret abode where there is no
longer room for penance. Do Thou, O Christ, receive the soul of Thy
servant, which Thou hast given, and forgive him his trespasses more
abundantly than he has forgiven those who have trespassed against him."
An oration is also given for the living and the dead: "Propitiously
grant that this sacred oblation may be profitable to the dead in
obtaining pardon, and to the living, in obtaining salvation; grant to
them (living and dead) the full remission of all their sins, and that
indulgence they have always deserved."

The liturgy usually called _"Cursus Scotorum"_ was that which had
been first brought to Ireland by St,. Patrick, and was the only one
that had been used, until about the close of the sixth century. About
this period the Gallican liturgy, _"Cursus Gallorum"_ was, it is
probable, introduced into Ireland. The _"Cursus Scotorum"_ is
supposed to have been the liturgy originally drawn up and used by St.
Mark the evangelist; it was afterwards followed by St. Gregory
Nazianzen, St. Basil, and other Greek Fathers; then by Cassian,
Honoratus, St. Cassarius of Aries, St. Lupus of Troyes, and St.
Germaine of Auxerre, from whom St. Patrick received it, when setting
out on his mission to Ireland. A copy of the "_Cursus Scotorum_"
was found by Mabillon, in the ancient monastery of Bobbio, of which St.
Columbanus was founder, and which missal that learned writer believes
to have been written at least one thousand years before his time. ...
It contains two Masses for the dead; one a general Mass, and the other
"_Missa Sacerdotis defuncti_" (Mass for a deceased priest).

PRINCE NAPOLEON'S PRAYER.

This prayer, in the handwriting of the Prince Imperial, was found among
the papers in his desk at Camden Palace. In publishing it the Morning
Post adds: "The elucidation of his character alone justifies the
publication of such a sacred document, which will prove to the world
how intimately he was penetrated with all the feelings which most
become a Christian, and which give higher hopes than are afforded by
the pains and merits of this transitory life." The following is a
translation: "O God, I give to Thee my heart, but give me faith.
Without faith there is no strong prayer, and to pray is a longing of my
soul. I pray, not that Thou shouldst take away the obstacles on my
path, but that Thou mayst permit me to overcome them. I pray, not that
Thou shouldst disarm my enemies, but that Thou shouldst aid me to
conquer myself. Hear, O God, my prayer. Preserve to my affection those
who are dear to me. Grant them happy days. If Thou only givest on this
earth a certain sum of joy, take, O God, my share, and bestow it on the
most worthy, and, may the most worthy be my friends. If thou seekest
vengeance on man, strike me. Misfortune is converted into happiness by
the sweet thought that those whom we love are happy. Happiness is
poisoned by the bitter thought: while I rejoice, those whom I love a
thousand times better than myself are suffering. For me, O God, no more
happiness. Take it from my path. I can only find joy in forgetting the
past. _If I forget those who are no more, I shall be forgotten in my
turn_, and how sad the thought that makes me say, 'Time effaces
all.' The only satisfaction I seek is that which lasts forever, that
which is given by a tranquil conscience. O, my God! show me where my
duty lies, and give me strength to accomplish it always. Arrived at the
term of my life, I shall turn my looks fearlessly to the past. Remember
it will not be for me a long remorse. I shall be happy. Grant, O God,
that my heart may be penetrated with the conviction that those whom I
love and who are dead shall see all my actions. My life shall be worthy
of this witness, and my innermost thoughts shall never make them
blush."

That single line, "If I forget those who are no more, I shall be
forgotten in my turn," is an epitome of what is taught us, and what our
own hearts feel in relation to the dead. May the noble young heart that
poured forth this beautiful prayer be remembered by Christian charity
now that he is amongst the departed!

THE HELPERS OF THE HOLY SOULS. BY LADY GEORGIANA ILLERTON.

It has always seemed to me a particularly interesting subject of
thought to trace as far back as possible the origin of great and good
works,--to ascertain what were the tendencies or the circumstances
which concurred in awakening the first ideas, or giving the first
impulses, which have eventually led to results the magnitude of which
was little foreseen by those destined to bring them about; how much of
natural character, and what peculiar gifts, united with God's grace in
the formation of some of those grand developments of religion which
have been the joy and the glory of the Church.

What would we not give to know, for instance, at what page, at what
sentence, of the volume of the "Lives of the Saints" which St. Ignatius
was reading on his sick couch at the Castle of Loyola, the thought came
into his mind the ultimate development of which was the foundation of
the Society of Jesus? or when the blessed Father Clavers' soul was for
the first time moved by a casual mention, perhaps, of the sufferings of
the negro race? or the particular disappointment at some Parisian lady
going out of town in the midst of her works of charity, or at another
being detained at home by the sickness of some relative, which
suggested to St. Vincent de Paul the first idea of gathering together a
few servant girls from the country, to do with greater regularity, if
not more zeal, the visiting amongst the poor which the ladies had
undertaken, and thus founding the Order of the Sisters of Charity? I
suppose that every one who has done anything worth doing in the course
of their lives could call to mind the moment when a book, a sermon, a
conversation, a casual word, perhaps,--or, if they have been so
favored, a direct inspiration from God in the hour of prayer,--has
given the impulse--set fire, as it were, to the train lying ready in
their hearts. But long before this decisive time has come, indications
have existed, thoughts have arisen, feelings have been awakened, which,
like the cloud big as a man's hand, have foreshadowed the deluge of
graces and mercies about to inundate their souls.

As an instance of these indications of a particular bias, I was struck
with the mention of a childish fancy in the early years of the
foundress of the Order of Helpers of the Souls in Purgatory,--a new
community, which has sprung up during the last ten years, and has a
history well worth relating. To many this fresh manifestation of the
spirit of the Church on earth, and of its close affinity with the
suffering Church in Purgatory, has come as a wonderful blessing and
consolation, and inspired them with a grateful regard for these new
oblates and victims of charity to the dead.

About thirty years ago a little girl in the town of N--, in France, had
been much struck with the mention of Purgatory. It made a very great
impression upon her. She used to picture it to herself as a dark
closet, in which a little friend of hers who had lately died was
perhaps shut up, whilst she herself was playing in the garden and
running after butterflies; and she kept longing to open the door and
let her out. This little girl was subsequently educated in one of the
Convents of the Sacred Heart, and learnt in that school lessons of
self-devotion and ardent zeal for souls which were hereafter to bear
fruit. She has retained to this day an enthusiastic affection for the
religious teachers of her childhood; and devotion to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus is one of the principal devotions of the order she has
founded.

The thought which had occurred to her almost in infancy continued to
haunt her in another form as she grew older. She kept asking herself,"
How could I help God? He is our helper: how can we help Him? He gives
me everything: how could I give Him everything?" And the answer which
grace put into her heart to these oft-repeated questions was always, "By
paying the debts of the souls in Purgatory."

The inevitable result of this thought was the desire to have wherewith
to pay these debts. For this object the necessity of a perfect life, of
a daily sanctification, of an ever-increasing store of merits and
satisfactions, was obvious. Hence naturally arose the idea of the
community-life, of the practice of the evangelical counsels, and of a
meritorious, arduous, self-sacrificing charity towards the poor, in
order worthily to pray, to act, and to suffer for the souls in
Purgatory--to become, as it were, a co-operator with our Lord, by
aiding His designs of mercy towards them, whilst satisfying His justice
by voluntary expiation. This lady was not led by one of those startling
bereavements which close a person's prospects of earthly happiness, and
leave them no object to live for but the hope of winning mercy at God's
hands for some dear departed one; or by the terrible anxiety about the
state of some beloved soul which forces on the survivor the practice of
a continual appeal to His compassionate goodness. Her zeal for the
souls in Purgatory was perfectly free from any earthly attachment; it
was as disinterested as possible, and sprung up in her heart before she
had known what it is to lose a friend or a relative, before she had
experienced the keen anguish of bereavement. She was a happy, contented
girl, living in a cheerful and comfortable home, beloved by her family,
enjoying all innocent pleasures, going occasionally into society, and
amusing herself like other young people; devoted, indeed, to good
works, and taking the lead in the numerous charities existing in her
native town. But this was not to be her eventual mode of life. It was
good as far as it went; but she had been chosen for the accomplishment
of a special work, and grace was continually urging her to its
fulfilment.

On the 1st of November, 1853, Mdlle. ---- was hearing vespers with her
father and her mother in a church dedicated to Our Lady. Whilst the
Blessed Sacrament was being exposed on the altar, she felt a strong
internal inspiration prompting her to form an association of prayers
and offerings for the dead; but, afraid of being misled by her
imagination, she prayed earnestly that God would give her a sign that
this was indeed His will. As she was coming out of the church, a friend
of hers stopped her in the porch, and of her own accord proposed that
they should offer up jointly, during the month set apart for special
devotion to the souls in Purgatory, all their prayers and works for
their relief. This seemed to her a token that her inspiration had been
a true one, and that very evening an association was begun which by
this time numbers not less than fifteen thousand members. On the
following day, the 2d of November, during her thanksgiving after
Communion, Mdlle. ---- was strongly impressed with the thought that there
existed orders intended to supply every need in the Church militant,
but none exclusively devoted to the relief of the suffering portion of
the Church, and it appeared to her that she was called upon to fill up
this void. This idea seemed at the outset too bold a one. She felt
startled, almost alarmed, at its magnitude, and earnestly entreated our
Lord to make known to her if such was indeed to be her mission. She
begged of Him, by His Five Sacred Wounds, to give her five indications
of His will in this respect. Her prayers were heard, and during the
course of the years 1854 and 1855 these tokens were successively
vouchsafed to her. What she had asked for was, 1st, that the Holy
Father should approve of in writing, and give his blessing to, the
association of prayers set on foot on All Saints' Day (on the 7th of
July, 1854, Pius IX. wrote, with his own hand, at the bottom of the
petition presented to him, "_Benedicat vos Deus benedictione
perpetua_"--may God bless you with an everlasting blessing); 2d,
that a great number of Bishops should approve of this association; 3d,
that it should extend rapidly; 4th, that a few pious persons should co-
operate in the scheme, and devote themselves to works of charity in
behalf of the souls in Purgatory; 5th, that a priest might be met with
who had previously formed a similar project.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34