Author Topic: Meditatiions on the poor Souls in purgatory (Read 8834 times)

Binechi · « **on:** November 12, 2014, 03:37:21 PM »

Meditations on the Poor Souls in Purgatory

November 11th

The Meditations of the Souls in Purgatory

The Holy Souls will mourn and lament over their blindness and folly in accepting the miserable satisfaction of the transitory pleasures of earth at the cost of the separation from God and the physical torment that is their due. "Fools that we were!" they will cry out, "All the pleasures of our past life are not worth mentioning in comparison with the pain of one hour, nay, of one moment in Purgatory. They were but a shadow that passed by, the remembrance of them does but add to our suffering."

"Fools that we were!" they will again cry out, "We did not accept with resignation the sorrows and trials of earth. By our impatience, our murmuring, our discontent, we only made ourselves more miserable, and, for this very misery, added to our lot on earth by our own folly, we are suffering now far greater misery in these torturing flames, and by our separation from Him Who is the source of all happiness and all joy."

"Fools that we were! We might have turned all those sufferings into happiness, if we had used them as we ought. We might have lightened them, and made them comparatively easy to bear, if we had been resigned to the holy will of God; nay, we might have earned merit from each and all, and learned willingly and of our own accord that lesson of patience that here we learn, willingly, indeed, but nevertheless painfully, and as a just penalty of our impatience." Reflect what will be to you the chief cause of suffering when you come to Purgatory? Pleasures wrongfully indulged? or self-love? or sufferings badly borne?

Binechi · « **Reply #1 on:** November 12, 2014, 05:03:02 PM »

Meditations on the Poor Souls in Purgatory

November 12th

Some Further Meditations of the Souls in Purgatory

There are other thoughts still more painful, which will be continually present to the Holy Souls. "If we had used our time on earth more prudently, we might have avoided our Purgatory altogether. How often the whispers of God's grace suggested to us some pious work, some deed of charity to others, some little sacrifice of present comfort for the sake of helping those in need, some mortification of our senses, a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, the devotion of some portion of time to prayer or spiritual reading! If we had only listened and obeyed, we should be in Heaven now instead of in the agony of the tormenting fire." Am I obedient to such daily inspirations?

"If we had taken all the means in our power to atone while on earth for sins already committed, we might have anticipated a part or perhaps the whole, of our Purgatory. But we were satisfied with confessing our sins, and so getting rid of the guilt; and then we thought that we had done all that was necessary, instead of making frequent acts of contrition, and performing penances and good works with the object of freeing ourselves from the punishment still due."

"How generous God would have been to us in remitting the penalty still remaining, if we had shown an anxiety to do our part in freeing ourselves from the debt that still had to be paid. How liberal He would have been in rewarding each prayer, each aspiration, each kind word or thoughtful act! Fools that we were to prefer our own will, comfort, ease, to the holy will of God!" See what you can do to expiate past sins.

by the Rev. R.F. Clarke, S.J.

Binechi · « **Reply #2 on:** November 12, 2014, 05:17:14 PM »

Binechi · « **Reply #3 on:** November 13, 2014, 06:59:38 AM »

Meditations on the Poor Souls in Purgatory

November 13th

The Sorrows of Purgatory

What is it that will cause the chief sorrows of Purgatory? Above all and before all, the Holy Souls will sorrow at the thought of their having ventured to offend that God whom they love with every power of their soul, and whose Love eclipses all other love. "How could we have dared to offend a God so holy, a God so loving, a God of infinite power, glory, and majesty?" They will hate and loathe themselves at the thought, and would gladly endure their physical pain multiplied a thousand-fold, if only they could be rid of the gnawing pain at the thought of their having sinned against God.

They will also sorrow at the thought of the happiness they have lost to all eternity. They will appreciate the immeasurable loss that they will suffer through all eternity for each venial sin, for each deliberate neglect of grace. On earth they never appreciated, as they do now, how it would have been better to accept any temporal anguish rather than lose one single degree of glory in Heaven; but now they are cut to the heart at thinking how they have thrown away, not one degree alone, but countless degrees of the happiness after which they long; all this thrown away irreparably and for ever!

This sorrow swallows up their present suffering, or rather they would willingly endure their present suffering for ten thousand years more, if only they could regain the degree of happiness they have forfeited. What is any temporal pain compared with an eternal loss? and a loss, too, which means a certain loss of God and loss of Heaven-- and that for ever. Pray for greater sorrow now, and a sorrow that may avert the sorrow of Purgatory.

by the Rev. R.F. Clarke, S.J.

Binechi · « **Reply #4 on:** November 14, 2014, 07:13:32 AM »

Meditations on the Poor Souls in Purgatory

November 14th

The Fire of Purgatory

Every work of God is perfect in its kind, and that which He does immediately by the exercise of His Divine power has always a greater force than that which He does through the agency of Others. God Himself kindles the fire of Purgatory. "The breath of the Lord, like a flame of fire, doth kindle it." Hence the fierceness of the torment it inflicts. It tortures the soul in Purgatory far more than the material fire of earth tortures the body. It reflects in some way the Infinite Majesty of God.

According to St. Augustine, the fire of Purgatory is of the same kind as the fire of Hell. Venerable Bede narrates how one, who was conducted by an angel in a vision to Purgatory, thought that such a place could be none other than Hell. In Purgatory, it is true, there is none of the despair of Hell. The Holy Souls have Heaven in prospect, but nevertheless their physical sufferings are scarcely different in kind from the awful agony of the lake of fire. How should I dread Purgatory!

The fire of Purgatory will search us through and through. It will be a penetrating fire; it will find out each fault still clinging to our soul at the hour of death; each stain not yet washed away by our tears of contrition will be burnt away before we can escape from our prison-house. When I think of the state of my soul before God, of my past sins and present detects, what reason I have to tremble at the thought of that crucible where the dross will be burnt from me. What a long process it will be! Pray that you may be more earnest in cleansing yourself from sin now.

by the Rev. R.F. Clarke, S.J.