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Purgatory by Mary Anne Madden Sadlier

M >> Mary Anne Madden Sadlier >> Purgatory




Neither is devotion to the Saints without its interests in this
devotion for the dead. It fills them with the delights of charity as it
swells their numbers and beautifies their ranks and orders. Numberless
patron saints are personally interested in multitudes of souls. The
affectionate relation between their clients and themselves not only
subsists, but a deeper tenderness has entered into it, because of the
fearful suffering, and a livelier interest, because of the accomplished
victory. They see in the Holy Souls their own handiwork, the fruit of
their example, the answer to their prayers, the success of their
patronage, the beautiful and finished crown of their affectionate
intercession.

* * * * *

Another point of view from which we may look at this devotion for the
dead, is as a specially complete and beautiful exercise of the three
theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, which are the
supernatural fountains of our whole spiritual life. It exercises faith,
because it leads men not only to dwell in the unseen world, but to work
for it with as much energy and conviction as if it was before their
very eyes. Unthoughtful or ill-read persons almost start sometimes at
the minuteness, familiarity, and assurance with which men talk of the
unseen world, as if it were the banks of the Rhine, or the olive-yards
of Provence, the Campagna of Rome, or the crescent shores of Naples,
some place which they have seen in their travels, and whose
geographical features are ever in their memory, as vividly as if before
their eyes. It all comes of faith, of prayer, of spiritual reading, of
knowledge of the lives of the Saints, and of the study of theology. It
would be strange and sad if it were not so. For, what to us, either in
interest or importance, is the world we see, to the world we do not
see? This devotion exercises our faith also in the effects of the
sacrifice and sacraments, which are things we do not see, but which we
daily talk of in reference to the dead as undoubted and accomplished
facts. It exercises our faith in the communion of Saints to a degree
which would make it seem impossible to a heretic that he ever could
believe so wild and extravagant a creed. It acts with regard to
indulgences as if they were the most inevitable material transactions
of this world. It knows of the unseen treasure out of which they come,
of the unseen keys which open the treasury, of the indefinite
jurisdiction which places them infallibly at its disposal, of God's
unrevealed acceptance of them, and of the invisible work they do, just
as it knows of trees and clouds, of streets and churches--that is, just
as certainly and undoubtingly; though it often can give others no proof
of these things, nor account for them to itself.... It exhibits the
same quiet faith in all those Catholic devotions which I mentioned
before as centering themselves in this devotion for the dead.

* * * * *

Neither is this devotion a less heroic exercise of the theological
virtue of hope, the virtue so sadly wanting in the spiritual life of
these times. For, look what a mighty edifice this devotion raises;
lofty, intricate, and of magnificent proportions, into which somehow or
other all creation is drawn, from the little headache we suffer up to
the Sacred Humanity of Jesus, and which has to do even with God
Himself. And upon what does all this rest, except on a simple, child-
like trust in God's fidelity, which is the supernatural motive of hope?
We hope for the souls we help, and unbounded are the benedictions which
we hope for in their regard. We hope to find mercy ourselves, because
of our mercy; and this hope quickens our merits without detracting from
the merit of our charity.... For the state of the dead is no dream, nor
our power to help them a dream, any more than the purity of God is a
dream, or the Precious Blood a dream.

* * * * *

As to the charity of this devotion, it dares to imitate even the
charity of God Himself. What is there in heaven or on earth which it
does not embrace, and with so much facility, with so much gracefulness,
as if there were scarcely an effort in it, or as if self was charmed
away, and might not mingle to distract it? It is an exercise of the
love of God, for it is loving those whom He loves, and loving them
because He loves them, and to augment His glory and multiply His
praise.... To ourselves also it is an exercise of charity, for it gains
us friends in heaven; it earns mercy for us when we ourselves shall be
in Purgatory, tranquil victims, yet, oh! in what distress! and it
augments our merits in the sight of God, and so, if only we persevere,
our eternal recompense hereafter. Now if this tenderness for the dead
is such an exercise of these three theological virtues, and if, again,
even heroic sanctity consists principally in their exercise, what store
ought we not to set upon this touching and beautiful devotion?

* * * * *

Look at that vast kingdom of Purgatory, with its empress-mother, Mary!
All those countless throngs of souls are the dear and faithful spouses
of Jesus. Yet in what a strange abandonment of supernatural suffering
has His love left them! He longs for their deliverance; He yearns for
them to be transferred from that land, perpetually overclouded with
pain, to the bright sunshine of their heavenly home. Yet He has tied
His own hands, or nearly so. He gives them no more grace; He allows
them no more time for penance; He prevents them from meriting; nay,
some have thought they could not pray. How, then, stands the case with
the souls in the suffering Church? Why, it is a thing to be meditated
on when we have said it--they depend almost more on earth than they do
on heaven, almost more on us than on Him; so He has willed it on whom
all depend, and without whom there is no dependence. It is clear, then,
that Jesus has His interests there. He wants His captives released.
Those whom He has redeemed He now bids us redeem, us whom, if there be
life at all in us, He has already Himself redeemed. Every satisfaction
offered up to God for these suffering souls, every oblation of the
Precious Blood to the Eternal Father, every Mass heard, every communion
received, every voluntary penance undergone; the scourge, the hair-
shirt, the prickly chain, every indulgence gained, every jubilee whose
conditions we have fulfilled, every _De Profundis_ whispered,
every little alms doled out to the poor who are poorer than ourselves,
and, if they be offered for the intention of these dear prisoners, the
interests of Jesus are hourly forwarded in Mary's Kingdom of
Purgatory.... There is no fear of overworking the glorious secretary of
that wide realm, the blessed Michael, Mary's subject. See how men work
at the pumps on ship-board when they are fighting for their lives with
an ugly leak. Oh! that we had the charity so to work, with the sweet
instrumentality of indulgence, for the Holy Souls in Purgatory! The
infinite satisfactions of Jesus are at our command, and Mary's sorrows,
and the Martyr's pangs, and the Confessor's weary perseverance in well-
doing! Jesus will not help Himself here, because He loves to see us
helping Him, and because He thinks our love will rejoice that He still
leaves us something we can do for Him. There have been Saints who have
devoted their whole lives to this one work, mining in Purgatory; and,
to those who reflect in faith, it does not seem, after all, so strange.
It is a foolish comparison, simply because it is so much below the
mark; but on all principles of reckoning, it is a much less work to
have won the battle of Waterloo, or to have invented the steam-engine,
than to have freed one soul from Purgatory.


WHY THE SOULS IS PURGATORY ARE CALLED "POOR" SOULS.

FATHER MULLER, C.S.S.R. [1]

[Footnote 1: Charity to the Holy Souls in Purgatory]

We have just seen that the Jews believed in the doctrine of Purgatory;
we have seen that their charity for the dead was so great that the Holy
Ghost could not help praising them for it. Yet for all that, we may
assert in truth that the people of God under the Old Law were not so
well instructed in this doctrine as we are, nor had they such powerful
means to relieve the souls--in Purgatory as we have. Our faith,
therefore, should be more lively, and our charity for the souls in
Purgatory more ardent and generous.

A short time ago a fervent young priest of this country had the
following conversation with a holy Bishop on his way to Rome. The
Bishop said to him: "You make mementoes now and then, for friends of
yours that are dead--do you not?" The young priest answered:
"Certainly, I do so very often." The Bishop rejoined: "So did I, when I
was a young priest. But one time I was grievously ill. I was given up
as about to die. I received Extreme Unction and the Viaticum. It was
then that my whole past life, with all its failings and all its sins,
came before me with startling vividness. I saw how much I had to atone
for; and I reflected on how few Masses would be said for me, and how
few prayers. Ever since my recovery I have most fervently offered the
Holy Sacrifice for the repose of the pious and patient souls in
Purgatory; and I am always glad when I can, as my own offering, make
the 'intention' of my Masses for the relief of their pains."

Indeed, dear reader, no one is more deserving of Christian charity and
sympathy than the poor souls in Purgatory. They are _really_ POOR
_souls_. No one is sooner forgotten than they are.

How soon their friends persuade themselves that they are in perfect
peace! How little they do for their relief when their bodies are
buried! There is a lavish expense for the funeral. A hundred dollars
are spent where the means of the family hardly justify the half of it.
Where there is more wealth, sometimes five hundred or a thousand, and
even more, dollars are expended on the poor dead body. But let me ask
you what is done for the _poor living soul_? Perhaps the poor soul
is suffering the most frightful tortures in Purgatory, whilst the
lifeless body is laid out in state, and borne pompously to the
graveyard. You must not misunderstand me: it is right and just to show
all due respect even to the body of your deceased friend, for that body
was once the dwelling-place of his soul. But tell me candidly, what joy
has the departed, and, perhaps, suffering soul, in the fine music of
the choir, even should the choir be composed of the best singers in the
country? What consolation does the poor suffering soul find in the
superb coffin, in the splendid funeral? What pleasure does the soul
derive from the costly marble monument, from all the honors that are so
freely lavished on the body? All this may satisfy, or at least seem to
satisfy, the living, but it is of no avail whatever to the dead.

Poor unhappy souls! how the diminution of true Catholic faith is
visited upon you while you suffer, and those that loved you in life
might help you, and do not, for want of knowledge or of faith!

Poor unhappy souls! your friends go to their business, to their eating
and drinking, with the foolish assurance that the case cannot be hard
on one they knew to be so good! Oh, how much and how long this _false
charity_ of your friends makes you suffer!

The venerable Sister, Catherine Paluzzi, offered up, for a long time,
and with the utmost fervor, prayers and pious works for the soul of her
deceased father. At last she thought she had good reason to believe
that her father was already enjoying the bliss of Paradise. But how
great was her consternation and grief when Our Lord, in company with
St. Catherine, her patroness, led her one day, in spirit, to Purgatory.
There she beheld her father in an abyss of torments, imploring her
assistance. At the sight of the pitiful state the soul of her father
was in, she melted into tears; she cast herself at the feet of her
Heavenly Spouse, and begged Him, through His precious Blood, to free
her father from his excruciating sufferings. She also begged St.
Catherine to intercede for him, and then turning to Our Lord, she said:
"Charge me, O Lord, with my father's indebtedness to Thy justice. In
expiation of it, I am ready to take upon myself all the afflictions
Thou art pleased to bestow upon me." Our Lord graciously accepted this
act of heroic charity, and released at once her father's soul from
Purgatory. But how heavy were the crosses which she, from that time,
had to suffer, may be more easily imagined than described. This pious
sister seemed to have good reason to believe that her father's soul was
in Paradise. Yet she was mistaken. Alas! how many are there who
resemble her! How many are there whose hope as to the condition of
their deceased friends is far more vain and false than that of this
religious, because they pray much less for the souls of their departed
friends than she did for her father.

* * * * *

It is related in the life of St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, that one day
she saw the soul of one of her deceased sisters kneeling in adoration
before the Blessed Sacrament, in the church, wrapped up in a mantle of
fire, and suffering great pains, in expiation of her neglecting to go
to Holy Communion on one day, when she had her confessor's permission
to communicate.

The Venerable Bede relates that it was revealed to Drithelm, a great
servant of God, that the souls of those who spend their whole lives in
the state of mortal sin, and are converted only on their death-bed, are
doomed to suffer the pains of Purgatory to the day of the last
judgment.

In the life and revelations of St. Gertrude we read that those who have
committed many grievous sins, and who die without having done due
penance, are not assisted by the ordinary suffrages of the Church until
they are partly purified by Divine Justice in Purgatory.

After St. Vincent Ferrer had learned the death of his sister Frances,
he at once began to offer up many fervent prayers and works of penance
for the repose of her soul. He also said thirty Masses for her, at the
last of which it was revealed to him that, had it not been for his
prayers and good works, the soul of his sister would have suffered in
Purgatory to the end of the world.

From these examples you may draw your own conclusion as to the state of
your deceased friends and relatives. Rest assured that the judgments of
God are very different from the judgments of men.

* * * * *

In heaven, love for God is the happiness of the elect; but in Purgatory
it is the source of the most excruciating pains. It is principally for
this reason that the souls in Purgatory are called "poor souls," they
being, as they are, in the most dreadful state of poverty--that of the
privation of the beatific vision of God.

After Anthony Corso, a Capuchin Brother, a man of great piety and
perfection, had departed this life, he appeared to one of his brethren
in religion, asking him to recommend him to the charitable prayers of
the community, in order that he might receive relief in his pains. "For
I do not know," said he, "how I can bear any longer the pain of being
deprived of the sight of my God. I shall be the most unhappy of
creatures as long as I must live in this state. Would to God that all
men might understand what it is to be without God, in order that they
might firmly resolve to suffer anything during their life on earth
rather than expose themselves to the danger of being damned, and
deprived forever of the sight of God." [1]

[Footnote 1: 1 Aunal. Pp. Capuc., A.D. 1548.]

* * * * *

The souls in Purgatory are _poor_ souls, because they suffer the
greatest pain of the senses, which is that of _fire_. Who can be
in a poorer or more pitiful condition than those who are buried in
fire? Now, this is the condition of these poor souls. They are buried
under waves of fire. It is from the smallest spark of this purgatorial
fire that they suffer more intense pains than all the fires of this
world put together could produce....

Could these poor souls leave the fire of Purgatory for the most
frightful earthly fire they would, as it were, take it for a pleasure-
garden; they would find a fifty years' stay in the hottest earthly fire
more endurable than an hour's stay in the fire of Purgatory. Our
terrestrial fire was not created by God to torment men, but rather to
benefit them; but the fire of Purgatory was created by God for no other
purpose than to be an instrument of His justice; and for this reason it
is possessed of a burning quality so intense and penetrating that it is
impossible for us to conceive even the faintest idea of it.

* * * * *

In the year 1150 it happened that, on the Vigil of St. Cecilia, a very
old monk, one hundred years of age, at Marchiennes, in Flanders, fell
asleep while sacred lessons were being read, and saw, in a dream, a
monk all clad in armor, shining like red-hot iron in a furnace. The old
man asked him who he was. He was told that he was one of the monks of
the convent; that he was in Purgatory, and had yet to endure this fiery
armor for ten years more, for having injured the reputation of another.

* * * * *

Another reason why these holy prisoners and debtors to the divine
justice are really _poor_ is because they are not able, in the
least, to assist themselves. A sick man afflicted in all his limbs, and
a beggar in the most painful and most destitute of conditions, has a
tongue left to ask for relief. At least they can implore Heaven; it is
never deaf to their prayer. But the souls in Purgatory are so poor that
they cannot even do this. Those cases in which some of them were
permitted to appear to their friends and ask assistance are but
exceptions. To whom is it they should have recourse? Is it, perhaps, to
the mercy of God? Alas! they send forth their sighs in plaintive
voices.... But the Lord does not regard their tears, nor heed their
moans and cries, but answers them that His justice must be satisfied to
the last farthing.

* * * * *

Oh, what cruelty! A sick man weeps on his bed and his friend consoles
him; a baby cries in his cradle and his mother at once caresses him; a
beggar knocks at the door for an alms and receives it; a malefactor
laments in his prison, and comfort is given him; even a dog that whines
at the door is taken in; but these poor, helpless souls cry day and
night from the depths of the fire in Purgatory: "Have pity on me, have
pity on me, at least you, my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath
smitten me;" and there is none to listen! Oh, what great cruelty, my
brethren!

But it seems to me that I hear these poor souls exclaim: "Priest of the
Lord, speak no longer of our sufferings and pitiable condition. Let
your description of it be ever so touching, it will not afford us the
least relief. When a man has fallen into the fire, instead of
considering his pains, you try at once to draw him out or quench the
fire with water. This is true charity. Now, tell Christians to do the
same for us. Tell them to give us their feet, by going to hear Mass for
us; to give us their eyes, by seeking an occasion to perform a good
work for us; to give us their hands, by giving an alms for us, or by
often making an offering for the 'intention' of Masses in our behalf;
to give us their lips, by praying for us; to give us their tongue, by
requesting others to be charitable to us; to give us their memory, by
remembering us constantly in their devotions; to give us their body, by
offering up for us to the Almighty all its labors, fatigues, and
penance."...

We read in the Acts of the Apostles, that the faithful prayed
unceasingly for St. Peter when he was imprisoned, and that an Angel
came and broke his chains and released him. "We, too, should be good
angels to the poor souls in Purgatory, and free them from their painful
captivity by every means in our power."

* * * * *

In the time of St. Bernard, a monk of Clairvaux appeared after his
death to his brethren in religion, to thank them for having delivered
him from Purgatory. On being asked what had most contributed to free
him from his torments, he led the inquirer to the church, where a
priest was saying Mass. "Look!" said he; "this is the means by which my
deliverance has been effected; this is the power of God's mercy; this
is the saving Sacrifice which taketh away the sins of the world."
Indeed, so great is the efficacy of this Sacrifice in obtaining relief
for the souls in Purgatory, that the application of all the good works
which have been performed from the beginning of the world, would not
afford so much assistance to one of these souls as is imparted by a
single Mass. To illustrate: The blessed Henry Suso made an agreement
with one of his brethren in religion that, as soon as either of them
died, the survivor should say two Masses every week for one year, for
the repose of his soul. It came to pass that the religious with whom
Henry had made this contract, died first. Henry prayed every day for
his deliverance from Purgatory, but forgot to say the Masses which he
had promised; whereupon the deceased religious appeared to him with a
sad countenance, and sharply rebuked him for his unfaithfulness to his
engagement. Henry excused himself by saying that he had often prayed
for him with great fervor, and had even offered up for him many
penitential works. "Oh, brother!" exclaimed the soul, "blood, blood is
necessary to give me some relief and refreshment in my excruciating
torments. Your penitential works, severe as they are, cannot deliver
me. Nothing can do this but the blood of Jesus Christ, which is offered
up in the Sacrifice of the Mass. Masses, Masses--these are what I
need!"

* * * * *

Another means to relieve the souls in Purgatory is to gain indulgences
for them. A very pious nun had just died in the convent in which St.
Mary Magdalen of Pazzi lived. Whilst her corpse was exposed in the
church, the Saint looked lovingly upon it, and prayed fervently that
the soul of her sister might soon enter into eternal rest. Whilst she
was thus wrapt in prayer her sister appeared to her, surrounded by
great splendor and radiance, in the act of ascending into heaven. The
Saint, on seeing this, could not refrain from calling out to her:
"Farewell, dear sister! When you meet your Heavenly Spouse, remember us
who are still sighing for Him in this vale of tears!" At these words
our Lord Himself appeared, and revealed to her that this sister had
entered heaven so soon on account of the indulgences gained for her.
[1]

[Footnote 1: Vita S. Magd. de Pazzi, L. I., chap, xxxix.]

Very many plenary indulgences can be gained for the souls in Purgatory,
if you make the Stations of the Cross. The merit of this exercise, if
applied to these souls, obtains great relief for them. We read in the
life of Catherine Emmerich, a very pious Augustinian nun, that the
souls in Purgatory often came to her during the night, and requested
her to rise and make the Stations for their relief. It is also related
in the life of the venerable Mary of Antigua, that a deceased sister of
her convent appeared to her and said: "Why do you not make the Stations
of the Way of the Cross for me?" Whilst the servant of the Lord felt
surprised and astonished at these words, Jesus Christ Himself spoke to
her, thus: "The exercise of the Stations is of the greatest advantage
to the souls in Purgatory; so much so that this soul has been permitted
by Me, to ask of you its performance in behalf of them all. Your
frequent performance of this exercise to procure relief for these souls
has induced them to hold intercourse with you, and you shall have them
for so many intercessors and protectors before My justice. Tell your
sisters to rejoice at these treasures, and the splendid capital which
they have in them, that they may grow rich upon it."

* * * * *

After St. Ludgarde had offered up many fervent prayers for the repose
of the soul of her deceased friend Simeon, Abbot of the monastery of
Toniac, Our Lord appeared to her, saying: "Be consoled, My daughter; on
account of thy prayers, I will soon release this soul from Purgatory."
"O Jesus, Lord and Master of my heart!" she rejoined, "I cannot feel
consoled so long as I know that the soul of my friend is suffering so
much in the Purgatorial fire. Oh! I cannot help shedding most bitter
tears until Thou hast released this soul from its sufferings." Touched
and overcome by this fervent prayer, Our Lord released the soul of
Simeon, who appeared to Ludgarde all radiant with heavenly glory, and
thanked her for the many fervent prayers which she had offered up for
his delivery. He also told the Saint that, had it not been for her
fervent prayers, he should have been obliged to stay in Purgatory for
eleven years....

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Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by author David Benedictus picks up from the poignant ending of Milne's last Pooh book, The House at Pooh Corner, in which Christopher Robin is growing up and heading away to school. "Pooh, promise you won't forget about me, ever. Not even when I'm a hundred," he tells the bear, and they leave together.

The estates of Milne and EH Shepard, who provided the simple but enduring illustrations for the books, said they had been searching for a sequel that would do justice to the original stories for "a good many years".

Although Disney has franchised the characters in a number of films, there has not previously been an authorised literary sequel to Milne's books, Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, first published in 1926 and 1928. Milne wrote the books for his son Christopher Robin, naming Pooh after his teddy bear.

The sequel, to be published by Egmont Publishing in Britain and Penguin imprint Dutton Children's Books in the US, is due out on 5 October, illustrated by Mark Burgess. Benedictus, who is familiar with the world of Winnie the Pooh after adapting and producing audio versions of the books starring Judi Dench, Stephen Fry and Jane Horrocks, did not reveal any more details, but promised that the book would both "complement and maintain Milne's idea that whatever happens, a little boy and his bear will always be playing".

Michael Brown, chairman of Pooh Properties, which manages the affairs of the Milne and Shepard estates, said the sequel would capture "the spirit and quality" of the original books.

Benedictus said all Milne's well-loved characters, from Tigger to Eeyore, would be making an appearance in his sequel, which features 10 stories and around 150 illustrations. The stories retain their original 1920s setting.

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One might say that Margarete Buber-Neumann had a charmed life, had it not been so horrible. She was fortunate - if that is the word - to be sent to a Soviet labour camp in 1939, during a momentary lull in the mass shooting of prisoners. Handed over to the Nazis in 1940, she was similarly lucky to be released from an SS concentration camp in 1945, just days before the remaining prisoners were forced on evacuation marches ending in death. It is a measure of the dismal times she lived through that such events marked her as fortunate, and it is a testament to her skill as a writer that this thoughtful, humane memoir (published in English in 1949) became an international bestseller. From the very first page we are with her, scurrying through Moscow surrounded by images of Stalin. We accompany her throughout the gruelling years ahead, encountering a host of characters, good and bad, and share in her dogged attempt to make sense of the madness of totalitarianism. This revised text is the definitive edition.

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