Matter of Expiation -- Worldliness -- St. Bridget -- the Young Person
-- The Soldier -- Blessed Mary Villani and the Worldly Lady.
 
Taken from the book "Purgatory Explained" by Fr. Shouppe, S.J. - Part
I, Chapter XXIX
 
Souls that allow themselves to be dazzled by the vanities of the
world, even if they have the good fortune to escape damnation, will
have to undergo terrible punishment. Let us open the Revelations of
St. Bridget, which are held in such esteem by the Church. We read
there in Book six that the saint saw herself transported in spirit
into Purgatory, and that, among others, she saw there a young lady of
high birth who had formerly abandoned herself to the luxury and
vanities of the world. This unfortunate soul related to her the
history of her life, and the sad state in which she then was.
"Happily," said she, "before death I confessed my sins in such
dispositions as to escape Hell, but now I suffer here to expiate the
worldly life that my mother did not prevent me from leading! Alas!"
she added, with a sigh, "this head, which loved to be adorned, and
which sought to draw the attention of others, is now devoured with
flames within and without, and these flames are so violent that every
moment it seems to me that I must die. These shoulders, these arms,
which I loved to see admired, are cruelly bound in chains of red-hot
iron. These feet, formerly trained for the dance, are now surrounded
with vipers that tear them with their fangs and soil them with their
filthy slime; all these members which I have adorned with Jєωels,
flowers, and divers other ornaments, are now a prey to the most
horrible torture. O mother, mother!" she cried, "how culpable have
you been in my regard! It was you who, by a fatal indulgence,
encouraged my taste for display and extravagant expense; it was you
that took me to theaters, parties, and balls, and to those worldly
assemblies which are the ruin of souls. . . . If I have not incurred
eternal damnation, it was because a special grace of God's mercy
touched my heart with sincere repentance. I made a good confession,
and thus I have been delivered from Hell, yet only to see myself
precipitated into the most horrible torments of Purgatory." We have
remarked already that what is said of the tortured members must not
be taken literally, because the soul is separated from the body; but
God, supply the want of corporal organs, makes the soul experience
such sensations as have just been described. The biographer of the
saint tells us that she related this vision to a cousin of the
deceased, who was likewise given to the illusions of worldly vanity.
The cousin was so struck that she renounced the luxuries and
dangerous amusements of the world, and devoted the remainder of her
life to penance in an austere religious order.
 
The same St. Bridget, during another ecstasy, beheld the judgment of
a soldier who had just died. He had lived in the vices too common in
his profession, and would have been condemned to Hell had not the
Blessed Virgin, whom he has always honored, preserved him from that
misfortune by obtaining for him the grace of a sincere repentance.
The saint saw him appear before the judgment seat of God and
condemned to a long Purgatory for the sins of all kinds which he had
committed. "The punishment of the eyes," said the Judge, "shall be to
contemplate the most frightful objects; that of the tongue, to be
pierced with pointed needles and tormented with thirst; that of the
touch, to be plunged in an ocean of fire." Then the Holy Virgin
interceded, and obtained some mitigation of the rigor of the
sentence.
 
Let us relate another example of the chastisements reserved for
worldlings in Purgatory, when they have not, like the rich glutton of
the Gospel, been buried in Hell.
 
Blessed Mary Villani, a Dominican Religious (Sa Vie, par Marchi, I, 2
c. 5; Merv., 41), had a lively devotion to the holy souls, and it
often happened that they appeared to her, either to thank her or to
beg the assistance of her prayers and good works. One day, whilst
praying for them with great fervor, she was transported in spirit to
their prison of expiation. Among the souls that suffered there she
saw one more cruelly tormented than the others, in the midst of
flames which entirely enveloped her. Touched with compassion, the
servant of God interrogated the soul. "I have been here," she
replied, "for a very long time, punished for my vanity and my
scandalous extravagance. Thus far I have not received the least
alleviation. Whilst I was upon earth, being wholly occupied with my
toilet, my pleasures, and worldly amusements, I thought very little
of my duties as a Christian, and fulfilled them only with great
reluctance, and in a slothful manner. My only serious thought was to
further the worldly interest of my family. See now how I am punished:
they bestow not so much as a passing thought upon me: my parents, my
children, those friends with whom I was most intimate -- all have
forgotten me."
 
Mary Villani begged this soul to allow her to feel something of what
she suffered, and immediately it appeared as though a finger of fire
touched her forehead, and the pain which she experienced instantly
caused her ecstasy to cease. The mark remained, and so deep and
painful was it that two months afterwards it was still to be seen,
and caused the holy Religious most terrible suffering. She endured
this pain in the spirit of penance, for the relief of the soul that
had appeared to her, and some time later the same soul came to
announce her deliverance.