Read Me or Rue it

By Fr. Paul O'Sullivan

APPROVAL OF HIS EMINENCE THE CARDINAL PATRIARCH OF LISBON

Cardinal's Palace, Lisbon March 4, 1936

We approve and recommend with all our heart the beautiful little book Read

Me or Rue It by E. D. M. [These initials used by Fr. O'Sullivan stand for

Engant de Marie, that is, "Child of Mary" Ed.]

Although small, it is destined to do great good among Catholics, many of

whom are incredibly ignorant of the great doctrine of Purgatory. As a

consequence, they do little or nothing to avoid it themselves and little to

help the Poor Souls who are suffering there so intensely, waiting for the

Masses and prayers which should be offered for them.

It is our earnest desire that every Catholic should read this little book

and spread it about as widely as possible.

FOREWORD

"READ ME OR RUE IT"

This title is somewhat startling. Yet, Dear Reader, if you peruse this

little book, you will see for yourself how well deserved it is. The book

tells us how to save ourselves and how to save others from untold suffering.

Some books are good and may be read with profit. Others are better and

should be read without fail.

There are, however, books of such sterling worth by reason of the counsels

they suggest, the conviction they carry with them, the urge to action they

give us that it would be sheer folly not to read them.

Read Me or Rue It belongs to this class. It is for your best interest, Dear

Friend, to read it and reread it, to ponder well and deeply on its contents.

You will never regret it; rather, great and poignant will be your regret if

you fail to study its few but pregnant pages.

HELP, HELP, THEY SUFFER SO MUCH!

I. We can never understand too clearly that every alms, small or great,

which we give to the poor we give to God.

He accepts it and rewards it as given to Himself. Therefore, all we do for

the Holy Souls, God accepts as done to Himself. It is as if we had relieved

or released Him from Purgatory. What a thought! How He will repay us!

II. As there is no hunger, no thirst, no poverty, no need, no pain, no

suffering to compare with what the Souls in Purgatory endure, so there is no

alms more deserving, none more pleasing to God, none more meritorious for us

than the alms, the prayers, the Masses we give to the Holy Souls.

III. It is very possible that some of our own nearest and dearest ones are

still suffering the excruciating pains of Purgatory and calling on us

piteously for help and relief.

Is it not dreadful that we are so hardened as not to think more about them,

that we are so cruel as to deliberately forget them!

For the dear Christ's sake, let us do all, but all, we can for them.

Every Catholic ought to join the Association of the Holy Souls.

PURGATORY

"Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand

of the Lord hath touched me. " (Job 19:21).

This is the touching prayer that the Poor Souls in Purgatory address to

their friends on Earth, begging, imploring their help, in accents of the

deepest anguish. Alas, many are deaf to their prayers!

It is incomprehensible how some Catholics, even those who are otherwise

devout, shamefully neglect the souls in Purgatory. It would almost seem that

they do not believe in Purgatory. Certain it is that their ideas on the

subject are very hazy.

Days and weeks and months pass without their having a Mass said for the Holy

Souls! Seldom, too, do they hear Mass for them, seldom do they pray for

them, seldom do they think of them! Whilst they are enjoying the fullness of

health and happiness, busy with their work, engrossed with their amusements,

the Poor Souls are suffering unutterable agonies on their beds of flame.

What is the cause of this awful callousness? Ignorance: gross, inexplicable

ignorance.

People do not realize what Purgatory is. They have no conception of its

dreadful pains, and they have no idea of the long years that souls are

detained in these awful fires. As a result, they take little or no care to

avoid Purgatory themselves, and worse still, they cruelly neglect the Poor

Souls who are already there and who depend entirely on them for help.

Dear Reader, peruse this little book with care and you will bless the day

that it fell into your hands.

CHAPTER 1 : WHAT IS PURGATORY?

It is a prison of fire in which nearly all [saved] souls are plunged after

death and in which they suffer the intensest pain.

Here is what the great Doctors of the Church tell us of Purgatory:

So grievous is their suffering that one minute in this awful fire seems like

a century.

St. Thomas Aquinas, the Prince of Theologians, says that the fire of

Purgatory is equal in intensity to the fire of Hell, and that the slightest

contact with it is more dreadful than all the possible sufferings of this

Earth!

St. Augustine, the greatest of the Holy Doctors, teaches that to be purified

of their faults previous to being admitted to Heaven, souls after death are

subjected to a fire more penetrating, more dreadful than anything we can

see, or feel, or conceive in this life

"Though this fire is destined to cleanse and purify the soul, " adds the

Holy Doctor, "still it is more acute than anything we could possibly endure

on Earth. "

St. Cyril of Alexandria does not hesitate to say that "it would be

preferable to suffer all the possible torments of Earth until the Judgment

day than to pass one day in Purgatory. "

Another great Saint says: "Our fire, in comparison with the fire of

Purgatory, is as a refreshing breeze. "

The other holy writers speak in identical terms of this awful fire.

HOW COMES IT THAT THE PAINS OF PURGATORY ARE SO SEVERE?

1. The fire we see on Earth was made by the goodness of God for our comfort

and well-being Still, when used as a torment, it is the most dreadful one we

can imagine.

2. The fire of Purgatory, on the contrary, was made by the Justice of God to

punish and purify us and is, therefore, incomparably more severe.

3. Our fire, at most, burns this gross body of ours, made of clay; whereas,

the fire of Purgatory acts on the spiritual soul, which is unspeakably more

sensitive to pain.

4. The more intense our fire is, the more speedily it destroys its victim,

who therefore ceases to suffer; whereas, the fire of Purgatory inflicts the

keenest, most violent pain, but never kills the soul nor lessens its

sensibility.

5. Unsurpassingly severe as is the fire of Purgatory, the pain of loss or

separation from God, which the souls also suffer in Purgatory, is far more

severe. The soul separated from the body craves with all the intensity of

its spiritual nature for God. It is consumed with an intense desire to fly

to Him. Yet it is held back. No words can describe the anguish of this

unsatisfied craving.

What madness, therefore, it is for intelligent beings to neglect taking

every possible precaution to avoid such a dreadful fate.

It is puerile to say that it cannot be so, that we cannot understand it,

that it is better not to think or speak of it. The fact remains always the

same -- whether we believe it, or whether we do not -- that the pains of

Purgatory are beyond everything we can imagine or conceive. These are the

words of St. Augustine.

CHAPTER 2 : CAN ALL THIS BE TRUE?

The existence of Purgatory is so certain that no Catholic has ever

entertained a doubt of it. It was taught from the earliest days of the

Church and was accepted with undoubting faith wherever the Gospel was

preached.

The doctrine is revealed in Holy Scripture and has been handed down by

Tradition, taught by the infallible Church and believed by the millions and

millions of faithful of all times.

Yet, as we have remarked, the ideas of many are vague and superficial on

this most important subject They are like a person who closes his eyes and

walks deliberately over the edge of a yawning precipice.

They would do well to remember that the best means of lessening our term in

Purgatory -- or of avoiding it altogether -- is to have clear ideas of it,

to think well on it and to adopt the means God offers for avoiding it.

Not to think of it is fatal. It is nothing else than preparing for

themselves a fearfully long and rigorous Purgatory.

THE POLISH PRINCE

A Polish prince who, for some political reason, had been exiled from his

native country bought a beautiful castle and property in France.

Unfortunately, he had lost the Faith of his childhood and was at the time of

our story engaged in writing a book against God and the existence of a

future life.

Strolling one evening in his garden, he came upon a poor woman weeping

bitterly. He questioned her as to the cause of her grief.

"Ah! Prince," she replied, "I am the wife of Jean [John] Marie, your former

steward, who died two days ago. He was a good husband to me and a faithful

servant to Your Highness. His sickness was long and I spent all our savings

on the doctors, and now I have nothing left to get Masses said for his

soul."

The Prince, touched by her grief, said a few kind words and, though

professing no longer to believe in a future life, gave her some gold coins

to have Masses said for her husband's soul.

Some time after, it was again evening, and the Prince was in his study

working feverishly at his hook.

He heard a loud rap at the door and without looking up called out to the

visitor to come in. The door slowly opened and a man entered and stood

facing the Prince's writing table.

On glancing up, what was not the Prince's amazement to see Jean Marie, his

dead steward, looking at him with a sweet smile.

"Prince, " he said, "I come to thank you for the Masses you enabled my wife

to have said for my soul. Thanks to the saving Blood of Christ, which was

offered for me, I am now going to Heaven, but God has allowed me to come and

thank you for your generous alms. "

He then added impressively: "Prince, there is a God, a future life, a Heaven

and a Hell. "

Having said these words he disappeared.

The Prince fell upon his knees and poured forth a fervent Credo ( I believe

in God.. ").

ST. ANTONINUS AND HIS FRIEND

Here is a narrative of a different kind, but not less instructive.

St. Antoninus, the illustrious Archbishop of Florence, relates that a pious

gentleman had died, who was a great friend of the Dominican Convent in which

the Saint resided. Many Masses and suffrages were offered for his soul.

The Saint was very much afflicted when, after the lapse of a long time, the

soul of the poor gentleman appeared to him, suffering excruciating pains.

"Oh, my Dear Friend, " exclaimed the Archbishop, "are you still in

Purgatory, you who led such a pious and devout life?"

"Yes, and I shall remain there still for a long time, " replied the poor

sufferer, "for when on Earth I neglected to offer suffrages for the souls in

Purgatory. Now, God by a just judgment has applied the suffrages which have

been offered for me to those souls for whom I should have prayed. "

"But God, too, in His Justice, will give me all the merits of my good works

when I enter Heaven; but first of all, I have to expiate my grave neglect in

regard to others. "

So true are the words of Our Lord: "By that measure with which you measure,

it will be measured to you again. "

Remember, you who read these lines, that the terrible fate of this pious

gentleman will be the fate of all those who neglect to pray for and ù refuse

to help the Holy Souls.

CHAPTER 3 : HOW LONG DO SOULS REMAIN IN PURGATORY?

The length of time souls are detained in Purgatory depends on:

a) the number of their faults;

b) the malice and deliberation with which these have been committed;

c) the penance done, or not done, the satisfaction made, or not made for

sins during life;

d) Much, too, depends on the suffrages offered for them after death

What can safely be said is that the time souls spend in Purgatory is, as a

rule, very much longer than people commonly imagine.

We will quote a few of the many instances which are recounted in the lives

and revelations of the Saints.

St. Louis Bertrand's father was an exemplary Christian, as we should

naturally expect, being the father of so great a Saint. He had even wished

to become a Carthusian monk until he learned that it was not God's will for

him.

When he died, after long years spent in the practice of every Christian

virtue, his saintly son, fully aware of the rigors of God's Justice, offered

many Masses and poured forth the most fervent supplications for the soul he

so dearly loved.

A vision of his father still in Purgatory forced him to intensify a

hundredfold his suffrages. He added most severe penances and long fasts to

his Masses and prayers. Yet eight whole years passed before he obtained the

release of his father.

St. Malachy's sister was detained in Purgatory for a very long time, despite

the Masses, prayers and heroic mortifications the Saint offered for her!

It was related to a holy nun in Pampluna, who had succeeded in releasing

many Carmelite nuns from Purgatory, that most of these had spent there terms

of from 30 to 60 years!

Carmelite nuns in Purgatory for 40, 50 and 60 years! What will it be for

those living amidst the temptations of the World and with all their hundreds

of weaknesses?

St. Vincent Ferrer, after the death of his sister, prayed with incredible

fervor for her soul and offered many Masses for her release. She appeared to

him at length and told him that had it not been for his powerful

intercession with God, she should have remained an interminable time in

Purgatory.

In the Dominican Order it is the rule to pray for the Master Generals by

name on their anniversaries. Many of these have been dead several hundred

years! They were men especially eminent for piety and learning. This rule

would not be approved by the Church were it not necessary and prudent.

We do not mean to imply that all souls are detained equally long periods in

the expiatory fires. Many have committed lesser faults and have done more

penance. Therefore, their punishment will be much less severe.

Still, the instances we have quoted are very much to the point, for if these

souls who enjoyed the intimacy, who saw the example and who shared in the

intercession of great Saints during their lives and were aided by their most

efficacious suffrages after death were yet detained for such a length of

time in Purgatory, what may not happen to us who enjoy none of these

wonderful privileges?

WHY SUCH LENGTHY EXPIATION?

The reasons are not difficult to find:

1. The malice of sin is very great. What appear to us small faults are in

reality serious offenses against the infinite goodness of God. It is enough

to see how the Saints wept over their faults.

We are weak, it may be urged. That is true, but then God offers us abundant

graces to strengthen our weakness, gives us light to see the gravity of our

faults, and the necessary force to

conquer temptation. If we are still weak, the fault is all our own. We do

not use the light and strength God so generously offers us; we do not pray,

we do not receive the Sacraments as we should.

2. An eminent theologian wisely remarks that if souls are condemned to Hell

for all eternity because of one mortal sin, it is not to be wondered at that

other souls should be detained for long years in Purgatory who have

committed countless deliberate venial sins, some of which are so grave that

at the time of their commission the sinner scarcely knows if they are mortal

or venial. Too, they may have committed many mortal sins for which they have

had little sorrow and done little or no penance. The guilt has been remitted

by absolution, but the pain due to the sins will have to be paid in

Purgatory.

Our Lord tells us that we shall have to render an account for each and every

idle word we say and that we may not leave our prison until we shall have

paid the last farthing. (Cf. Matt. 5:26.)

The Saints committed few and slight sins, and still they sorrowed much and

did severe penances. We commit many and grave sins, and we sorrow little and

do little or no penance.

VENIAL SINS

It would be difficult to calculate the immense number of venial sins that

any Catholic commits.

a) There is an infinite number of faults of selflove, selfishness; thoughts,

words and acts of sensuality, too, in a hundred forms; faults of charity in

thought, word and deed; laziness, vanity, jealousy, tepidity and innumerable

other faults.

b) There are sins of omission which we pay so little heed to. We love God so

little, yet He has a thousand claims on our love. We treat Him with

coldness, indifference and base ingratitude.

He died for each one of us. Do we ever thank Him as we ought? He remains day

and night on the Altar, waiting for our visits, anxious to help us. How

seldom we go to Him! He longs to come into our hearts in Holy Communion, and

we refuse Him entrance. He offers Himself up for us on the Altar every

morning at Mass and gives oceans of graces to those who assist at the Great

Sacrifice. Yet many are too lazy to go to this Calvary! What an abuse of

grace!

c) Our hearts are mean and hard, full of self-love. We have happy homes,

splendid food, warm clothing, an abundance of all good things. Many around

us live in hunger and misery, and we give them so little; whereas, we spend

lavishly and needlessly on ourselves.

d) Life is given us to serve God, to save our souls. Most Christians,

however, are satisfied to give God five minutes of prayer in the morning,

five minutes at night! The rest of the 24 hours is given to work, rest and

pleasure. Ten minutes to God, to our immortal souls, to the great work we

have to do, viz., our salvation. Twenty-three hours and 50 minutes to this

transitory life! Is it fair to God?

It may be alleged that our work, our rest, our sufferings are done for God!

They should be, and then our merits would be indeed great. The truth is that

many scarcely ever think of God during the day. The one engrossing object of

their thoughts is self. They think and labor and rest and sleep to satisfy

self. God gets a very little place in their day and in their minds. This is

an outrage to His loving Heart, which is ever thinking of us.

MORTAL SINS

Many Christians unfortunately commit mortal sins during their lives, but

though they confess them, they make no due satisfaction for them, as we have

already said.

The Venerable Bede appears to be of the opinion that those who pass a great

part of their lives in the commission of grave sins and confess them on

their deathbed may be detained in Purgatory even until the Last Day.

St. Gertrude in her revelations states that those who have committed many

grave sins and have not done due penance may not share in the ordinary

suffrages of the Church for a very considerable time!

CONCLUSION

All those sins, mortal and venial, are accumulating for the 20, 30, 40, 60

years of our lives. Each and every one has to be atoned for after death.

Is it, then, any wonder that souls have to remain so long in Purgatory?.

CHAPTER 4 : WHY PRAY FOR THE POOR SOULS?

Our Lord's Great Law is that we must love one another, genuinely and

sincerely. The First Great Commandment is to love God with all our heart and

soul. The Second, or rather a part of the First, is to love our neighbor as

ourselves. This is not a counsel or a mere wish of the Almighty. It is His

Great Commandment, the very base and essence of His Law. So true is this

that He takes as done to Himself what we do for our neighbor, and as refused

to Himself what we refuse to our neighbor.

We read in the Gospel of St. Matthew (Matt. 25:34-46) the words that Christ

will address to the just on Judgment Day:

Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye

blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was

thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in:

Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and

you came to me. Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we

see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? And when did we

see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? Or when

did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee? And the king answering,

shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these

my least brethren, you did it to me. Then he shall say to them also that

shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire

which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you

gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. I was a

stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in

prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also shall answer him, saying:

Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or

sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? Then he shall answer them,

saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least,

neither did you do it to me. And these shall go into everlasting punishment:

but the just, into life everlasting.

Some Catholics seem to think that this Law has fallen into abeyance in these

days of self-assertion and selfishness, when everyone thinks only of himself

and his personal aggrandizement.

"It is useless to urge the Law of Love nowadays, " they say, "everyone has

to shift for himself, or go under. "

No such thing! God's great Law is still and will ever he in full force. Nay,

it is more than ever necessary, more than ever our duty and more than ever

our own best interest.

WE ARE BOUND TO PRAY FOR THE HOLY SOULS

We are always bound to love and help each other, but the greater the need of

our neighbor, the more stringent and the more urgent this obligation is. It

is not a favor that we may do or leave undone, it is our duty: we must help

each other.

It would be a monstrous crime, for instance, to refuse the poor and

destitute the food necessary to keep them alive. It would be appalling to

refuse aid to one in direst need, to pass by and not extend a hand to save a

drowning man. Not only must we help others when it is easy and convenient,

but we must make every sacrifice, when need be, to succor our brother in

distress.

Now, who can be in more urgent need of our charity than the souls in

Purgatory? What hunger or thirst or dire sufferings on this Earth can

compare to their dreadful torments? Neither the poor nor the sick nor the

suffering we see around us have any such urgent need of our succor. Yet we

find many good-hearted people who interest themselves in every other type of

suffering, but alas, scarcely one who works for the Holy Souls!

Who can have more claim on us? Among them, too, there may be our mothers and

fathers, our friends and near of kin.

GOD WISHES US TO HELP THEM

In any event, they are God's dearest friends. He longs to help them; He

desires most earnestly to have them in Heaven. They can never again offend

Him, and they are destined to be with Him for all Eternity. True, God's

Justice demands expiation of their sins, but by an amazing dispensation of

His Providence He places in our hands the means of assisting them, He gives

us the power to relieve and even release them. Nothing pleases Him more than

for us to help them. He is as grateful to us as if we had helped Himself.

OUR LADY WANTS US TO HELP THEM

Never did a mother of this Earth love so tenderly a dying child, never did

she strive so earnestly to soothe its pains, as Mary seeks to console her

suffering children in Purgatory, to have them with her in Heaven. We give

her unbounded joy each time we take a soul out of Purgatory.

THE HOLY SOULS WILL REPAY US A THOUSAND TIMES OVER

But what shall we say of the feelings of the Holy Souls themselves? It would

be utterly impossible to describe their unbounded gratitude to those who

help them! Filled with an immense desire to repay the favors done them, they

pray for their benefactors with a fervor so great, so intense, so constant

that God can refuse them nothing St. Catherine of Bologna says: "I received

many and very great favors from the Saints, but still greater favors from

the Holy Souls. "

When they are finally released from their pains and enjoy the beatitude of

Heaven, far from forgetting their friends on Earth, their gratitude knows no

bounds. Prostrate before the Throne of God, they never cease to pray for

those who helped them. By their prayers they shield their friends from the

dangers and protect them from the evils that threaten them.

They will never cease these prayers until they see their benefactors safely

in Heaven, and they will be forever their dearest, sincerest and best

friends.

Did Catholics only know what powerful protectors they secure by helping the

Holy Souls, they would not be so remiss in praying for them.

THE HOLY SOULS WILL LESSEN OUR PURGATORY

Another great grace that they obtain for their helpers is a short and easy

Purgatory, or possibly its complete remission!

Saint John Massias, the Dominican lay brother, had a wonderful devotion to

the Souls in Purgatory. He obtained by his prayers (chiefly by the

recitation of the Rosary) the liberation of one million four hundred

thousand souls!

In return, they obtained for him the most abundant and extraordinary graces

and came at the hour of his death to help and console him and accompany him

to Heaven.

This fact is so certain that it was inserted by the Church in the bull of

his beatification.

The learned Cardinal Baronius recounts a similar incident.

He was himself called to assist a dying gentleman. Suddenly, a host of

blessed spirits appeared in the chamber of death, consoled the dying man and

chased away the devils who sought, by a last desperate effort, to compass

his ruin.

When asked who they were, they made answer that they were 8, 000 souls whom

he had released from Purgatory by his prayers and good works. They were sent

by God, so they said, to take him to Heaven without his passing one moment

in Purgatory.

St. Gertrude was fiercely tempted by the devil when she came to die. The

evil spirit reserves a dangerous and subtle temptation for our last moments.

As he could find no other ruse sufficiently clever with which to assail the

Saint, he thought to disturb her beautiful peace of soul by suggesting that

she would surely remain long years in the awful fires of Purgatory since, he

reminded her, she had long ago made over all her suffrages to other souls.

But Our Blessed Lord, not content with sending His Angels and the thousands

of souls she had released to assist her, came Himself in person to drive

away Satan and comfort His dear Saint. He told St. Gertrude that in exchange

for all she had done for the Holy Souls, He would take her straight to

Heaven and would multiply a hundredfold all her merits.

Blessed Henry Suso, of the Dominican Order, made a compact with a fellow

religious to the effect that, when one of the two died, the survivor would

offer two Masses each week for his soul, and other prayers as well.

It so fell out that his companion died first, and Blessed Henry commenced

immediately to offer the promised Masses. These he continued to say for a

long time. At last, quite sure that the soul of his saintly friend had

reached Heaven, he ceased offering the Masses.

Great was his sorrow and consternation when the soul of the dead brother

appeared to him suffering intensely and chiding him for not celebrating the

promised Masses. Blessed Henry replied with deep regret that he had not

continued the Masses, believing that his friend must be enjoying the

Beatific Vision but he added that he had ever remembered him in prayer.

"O dear Brother Henry, please give me the Masses, for it is the Precious

Blood of Jesus that I most need!" cried out the suffering soul. Blessed

Henry began anew and, with redoubled fervor, offered Masses and prayers for

his friend until he received absolute certitude of his delivery.

Then it was his turn to receive graces and blessings of all kinds from the

dear brother he had relieved, and very many times more than he could have

expected.

CHAPTER 5 : HOW WE CAN HELP THE HOLY SOULS

I. The first means is by joining the Association of the Holy Souls. The

conditions are easy:

a) Have your name registered in the Book of the Association.

b) Hear Mass once a week (Sunday suffices) for the Holy Souls.

c) Pray for and promote devotion to the Holy Souls.

d) Contribute once a year an offering to the Mass Fund, which enables the

Association to have perpetual Masses said every month.

(If special Masses for the Holy Souls are desired, it is important to

mention how many Masses you want offered. )

Those who wish to join and do not have the Association in their parish can

send their name, address and annual alms to the Association of the Holy

Souls, Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary, Pius XII Monastery, Rua do

Rosario 1, 2495 Fatima, Portugal. This Association is approved by the

Cardinal Archbishop of Lisbon.

II. A second means of helping the Holy Souls is by having Masses offered for

them. This is certainly the most efficacious way of relieving them.

III. Those who cannot get many Masses offered, owing to the want of means,

ought to assist at as many Masses as possible for this intention.

A young man who was earning a very modest salary told the writer: "My wife

died a few years ago. I got 10 Masses said for her. I could not possibly do

more, but heard 1, 000 for her dear soul. "

IV. The recital of the Rosary (with its great indulgences) and making the

Way of the Cross (which is also richly indulgenced) are excellent means of

helping the Holy Souls.

St. John Massias, as we saw, released from Purgatory more than a million

souls, chiefly by reciting the Rosary and offering its great indulgences for

them.

V. Another easy and efficacious way is by the constant repetition of short

indulgenced prayers [applying the indulgence to the Souls in Purgatory].

Many people have the custom of saying 500 or 1,000 times each day the little

ejaculation, "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee!" or the one

word, "Jesus. " These are most consoling devotions; they bring oceans of

grace to those who practice them and give immense relief to the Holy Souls.

Those who say the ejaculations 1,000 times a day gain 300,000 days

Indulgence! What a multitude of souls they can thus relieve! What will it

not be at the end of a month, a year, 50 years? And if they do not say the

ejaculations, what an immense number of graces and favors they shall have

lost! It is quite possible -- and even easy -- to say these ejaculations 1,

000 times a day. But if one does not say them 1,000 times, let him say them

500 or 200 times.

VI. Still another powerful prayer is:

"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Jesus, with all the

Masses being said all over the world this day, for the Souls in Purgatory. "

Our Lord showed St. Gertrude a vast number of souls leaving Purgatory and

going to Heaven as a result of this prayer, which the Saint was accustomed

to say frequently during the day.

VII. The Heroic Act consists in offering to God in favor of the Souls in

Purgatory all the works of satisfaction we practice during life and all the

suffrages that will be offered for us after death. If God rewards so

abundantly the most trifling alms given to a poor man in His name, what an

immense reward will He not give to those who offer all their works of

satisfaction in life and death for the Souls He loves so dearly.

This Act does not prevent priests from offering Mass for the intentions they

wish, or lay people from praying for any persons or other intentions they

desire. We counsel everyone to make this act.

ALMS HELP THE HOLY SOULS

St. Martin gave half of his cloak to a poor beggar, only to find out

afterwards that it was to Christ he had given it. Our Lord appeared to him

and thanked him.

Blessed Jordan of the Dominican Order could never refuse to give an alms

when it was asked in the Name of God. One day he had forgotten his purse. A

poor man implored an alms for the love of God. Rather than refuse him,

Jordan, who was then a student, gave him a most precious cincture or

"girdle" which he prized dearly. Shortly after, he entered a church and

found his cincture encircling the waist of an image of Christ Crucified. He,

too, had given his alms to Christ. We all give our alms to Christ.

RESOLUTION

a) Let us give all the alms we can afford;

b) Let us have said all the Masses in our power;

c) Let us hear as many more as is possible;

d) Let us offer all our pains and sufferings for the relief of the Holy

Souls.

We shall thus deliver countless Souls from Purgatory, who will repay us ten

thousand times over.

CHAPTER 6 : "WHAT THE HOLY SOULS DO FOR THOSE WHO HELP THEM

St. Alphonsus Liguori says that, although the Holy Souls cannot merit for

themselves, they can obtain for us great graces. They are not, formally

speaking, intercessors, as the Saints are, but through the sweet Providence

of God, they can obtain for us as astounding favors and deliver us from

evils, sickness and dangers of every kind.

It is beyond all doubt, as we have already said, that they repay us a

thousand times for anything we do for them.

The following facts, a few hundred of which we might quote, are sufficient

to show what powerful and generous friends the Holy Souls are.

HOW A GIRL FOUND HER MOTHER

A poor servant girl in France named Jeanne Marie once heard a sermon on the

Holy Souls which made an indelible impression on her mind. She was deeply

moved by the thought of the intense and unceasing sufferings the Poor Souls

endure, and she was horrified to see how cruelly they are neglected and

forgotten by their friends on Earth.

Among other things the preacher stressed was that many souls who are in

reality near to their release -- one Mass might suffice to set them free --

are oftentimes long detained; it may be for years, just because the last

needful suffrage has been withheld or forgotten or neglected!

With her simple faith, Jeanne Marie resolved that, cost what it might, she

would have a Mass said for the Poor Souls every month, especially for the

soul nearest to Heaven. She earned little, and it was sometimes difficult to

keep her promise, but she never failed.

On one occasion she went to Paris with her mistress and there fell ill, so

that she was obliged to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, the illness

proved to be a long one, and her mistress had to return home, hoping that

her maid would soon rejoin her. When at last the poor servant was able to

leave the hospital, all she had left of her scanty earnings was one franc!

What was she to do? Where to turn? Suddenly, the thought flashed across her

mind that she had not had her usual monthly Mass offered for the Holy Souls.

But she had only one franc! That was little enough to buy her food. Yet her

confidence that the Holy Souls would not fail her triumphed. She made her

way into a church and asked a priest, just about to say Mass, if he would

offer it for the Holy Souls. He consented to do so, never dreaming that the

modest alms offered was the only money the poor girl possessed. At the

conclusion of the Holy Sacrifice, our heroine left the church. A wave of

sadness clouded her face; she felt utterly bewildered.

A young gentleman, touched by her evident distress, asked her if she was in

trouble and if he could help her. She told her story briefly, and ended by

saying how much she desired work.

Somehow she felt consoled at the kind way in which the young man listened to

what she said, and she fully recovered her confidence.

"I am delighted beyond measure, " he said, "to help you. I know a lady who

is even now looking for a servant. Come with me. " And so saying he led her

to a house not far distant and bade her ring the bell, assuring her that she

would find work.

In answer to her ring, the lady of the house herself opened the door and

inquired what Jeanne Marie required. "Madam, " she said, "I have been told

that you are looking for a servant. I have no work and should be glad to get

the position. "

The lady was amazed and replied: "Who could have told you that I needed a

servant? It was only a few minutes ago that I had to dismiss my maid, and

that at a moment's notice. You did not meet her?"

"No, Madam. The person who informed me that you required a servant was a

young gentleman. "

"Impossible!" exclaimed the lady. "No young man, in fact no one at all,

could have known that I needed a servant. "

"But Madam, " the girl answered excitedly, pointing to a picture on the

wall, "that is the young man who told me!"

"Why, child, that is my only son, who has been dead for more than a year!"

"Dead or not, " asserted the girl with deep conviction in her voice, "it was

he who told me to come to you, and he even led me to the door. See the scar

over his eye; I would know him anywhere. "

Then followed the full story of how, with her last franc, she had had Mass

offered for the Holy Souls, especially for the one nearest to Heaven.

Convinced at last of the truth of what Jeanne Marie had told her, the lady

received her with open arms. "Come, " she said, "though not as my servant,

but as my dear daughter. You have sent my darling boy to Heaven. I have no

doubt that it was he who brought you to me. "

HOW A POOR BOY BECAME A BISHOP, A CARDINAL, AND A SAINT

St. Peter Damian lost both father and mother shortly after his birth. One of

his brothers adopted him, but treated him with unnatural harshness, forcing

him to work hard and giving him poor food and scanty clothing.

One day Peter found a silver piece, which represented to him a small

fortune. A friend told him that he could conscientiously use it for him

self, as the owner could not be found.

The only difficulty Peter had was to choose what it was he most needed, for

he was in sore need of many things.

While turning the matter over in his young mind, it struck him that he could

do a still better thing, viz., have a Mass said for the Holy Souls in

Purgatory, especially for the souls of his dear parents. At the cost of a

great sacrifice, he put this thought into effect and had the Mass offered.

The Holy Souls repaid his sacrifice most generously. From that day forward a

complete change became noticeable in his fortunes.

His eldest brother called at the house where he lived and, horrified at the

brutal hardships the little fellow was subjected to, arranged that he be

handed over to his own care. He clad him and fed him as his own child, and

educated and cared for him most affectionately. Blessing followed upon

blessing. Peter's wonderful talents became known, and he was rapidly

promoted to the priesthood; sometime after he was raised to the episcopacy

and, finally, created Cardinal. Miracles attested his great sanctity, so

that after death he was canonized and made a Doctor of the Church.

These wonderful graces came to him after that one Mass said for the Holy

Souls.

AN ADVENTURE IN THE APENNINES

A group of priests was called to Rome to treat of a grave business matter.

They were bearers of important documents, and a large sum of money was

entrusted to them for the Holy Father. Aware that the Apennines, over which

they had to pass, were infested by daring bandits, they chose a trusty

driver. There was no tunnel through the mountains nor train in those days.

They placed themselves under the protection of the Holy Souls and decided to

say a De Profundis every hour for them.

When right in the heart of the mountains, the driver gave the alarm and at

the same time lashed the horses into a furious gallop. Looking around, the

priests saw fierce bandits at each side of the road with rifles aimed, ready

to fire. They were amazed that no shot rang out. They were completely at the

mercy of the bandits.

After an hour's headlong flight, the driver stopped and, looking at the

priests, said: "I can not understand how we escaped. These desperadoes never

spare anyone. "

The Fathers were convinced that they owed their safety to the Holy Souls, a

fact that was afterwards confirmed beyond doubt.

When their business was concluded in Rome, one of their number was detained

in the Eternal City, where he was appointed chaplain to a prison Not long

after, one of the fiercest brigands in Italy was captured, condemned to

death for a long series of murders and was awaiting execution in this

prison.

Anxious to gain his confidence, the chaplain told him of several adventures

he himself had had and, finally, of his recent escape in the Apennines. The

criminal manifested the greatest interest in the story. When it was ended,

he exclaimed: "I was the leader of that band! We thought that you had money

and we determined to rob and murder you. An invisible force prevented each

and all of us from firing, as we assuredly would have done had we been able.

The chaplain then told the brigand of how they had placed themselves under

the protection of the Holy Souls, and that they ascribed their deliverance

to their protection.

The bandit found no difficulty in believing it. In fact, it made his

conversion more easy. He died full of repentance.

HOW POPE PIUS IX CURED A BAD MEMORY

The venerable Pontiff, Pius IX, appointed a holy and prudent religious named

Padre Tomaso to be bishop of a diocese. The priest, alarmed at the

responsibility put upon him, begged earnestly to be excused.

His protests were in vain. The Holy Father knew his merits.

Overcome with apprehension, the humble religious solicited an audience with

the Pope, who received him most graciously. Once more he pleaded earnestly

to be excused, but the Pope was immovable.

As a last recourse, Padre Tomaso told the Holy Father that he had a very bad

memory, which would naturally prove to be a grave impediment in the high

office put upon him.

Pius IX answered with a smile: "Your diocese is very small in comparison

with the Universal Church, which I carry on my shoulders. Your cares will be

very light in comparison with mine.

"I, too, suffered from a grave defect of memory, but I promised to say a

fervent prayer daily for the Holy Souls, who, in return, have obtained for

me an excellent memory. Do you likewise, Dear Father, and you will have

cause to rejoice. "

THE MORE WE GIVE, THE MORE WE GET

A businessman in Boston joined the Association of the Holy Souls and gave a

large sum of money annually that prayers and Masses might be said for them.

The Director of the Association was surprised at the gentleman's generosity,

for he knew that he was not a rich man. He asked kindly one day if the alms

he so generously gave were his own offering or donations which he had

gathered from others.

"What I offer, Dear Fathers, " the gentleman said, "is my own offering. Be

not alarmed. I am not a very rich man, and you may think that I give more

than I am able to do. It is not so, for far from losing by my charity, the

Holy Souls see to it that l gain considerably more than I give. They are

second to none in generosity. "

THE PRINTER OF COLOGNE

The celebrated printer of Cologne, William Freyssen, gives us the following

account of how his child and wife were restored to health by the Holy Souls.

William Freyssen got the order to print a little work on Purgatory. When he

was correcting the proofs, his attention was caught by the facts narrated in

the book. He learned for the first time what wonders the Holy Souls can work

for their friends.

Just at that time his son fell grievously ill, and soon the case became

desperate. Remembering what he had read about the power of the Holy Souls,

Freyssen at once promised to spread, at his own expense, a hundred copies of

the book which his firm was printing. To make the promise more solemn, he

went to the church and there made his vow. At once a sense of peace and

confidence filled his soul. On his return home, the boy, who had been unable

to swallow a drop of water, asked for food. Next day he was out of danger

and soon completely cured.

At once, Freyssen ordered the books on Purgatory to be distributed, feeling

sure that it was the best way to obtain help for the suffering souls, by

interesting a hundred people in them. No one who knows what the Poor Souls

suffer can refuse to pray for them.

Time passed, and a new sorrow fell to the share of the printer. This time

his dear wife was stricken down and, despite every care, grew daily worse.

She lost the use of her mind and was almost completely paralyzed, so that

the doctor gave up all hope.

The husband, bethinking him of what the Holy Souls had done for his boy,

again ran to the church and promised to distribute 200 of the books on

Purgatory, begging in exchange the urgent succor of the Holy Souls.

Wonderful to relate, the mental aberration ceased, his wife's mind became

normal, and she recovered the use of her limbs and of her tongue. In a short

time she was perfectly restored to health.

THE CURE OF A CANCER

D. Joana de Menezes thus tells of her cure: She was suffering severely from

a cancerous growth in the leg and was plunged in grief.

Remembering what she had heard of the power of the Souls in Purgatory, she

resolved to place all her confidence in them and had nine Masses offered for

them. She promised, moreover, to publish news of her cure if it were

granted.

Gradually the swelling went down, and the tumor and cancer disappeared.

AN ESCAPE FROM BRIGANDS

Father Louis Manaci, a zealous missionary, had great devotion to the Souls

in Purgatory. He found himself obliged to set out on a dangerous journey,

but confidently asked the Holy Souls to protect him in the dangers that he

was likely to meet with. His road lay through a vast desert, which he knew

to be infested with brigands. While plodding along, saying the Rosary for

the Holy Souls, what was not his surprise, on looking around, but to find

himself surrounded by a bodyguard, as it were, of blessed spirits. Soon he

discovered the reason. He had fallen into an ambuscade of brigands, but the

Holy Souls at once surrounded him and drove off the miscreants, who sought

his life. The Holy Souls did not abandon him until he was well out of

danger.

A RETURN TO LIFE

The Prior of Cirfontaines gives us his story: "A young man of my parish fell

dangerously ill with a typhoid fever. His parents were overcome with grief

and asked me to recommend him to the prayers of the members of the

Association of the Holy Souls.

"It was Saturday. The boy was at death's door. The doctors had had recourse

to every remedy. All in vain. They could think of nothing more. They were in

despair.

"I was the only one who had hope. I knew the power of the Holy Souls, for I

had already seen what they could do.

"On Sunday I begged the Associates of the Holy Souls to pray fervently for

our sick friend.

"On Monday the danger passed. The boy was cured."

READ AND WAKE UP!

"In my long life, " writes a priest, "I have noticed with amazement how few

Catholics give generously to the poor and needy, notwithstanding what Our

Blessed Lord commands them to do.

"I have also remarked that some Catholics are, indeed, very generous and

good. Some care for the poor, others look after the sick. Lepers,

consumptives, cancer patients, the mentally deficient, all have their

friends. Some prefer to help the young, the hearts of others go out to the

old. All the various classes of the poor and needy find champions -- though,

as I have said, these are not nearly as many and generous as they should be.

"The strangest thing of all is that I have never met one man or woman who

has dedicated himself or herself entirely, wholeheartedly, to the greatest

of all charities, to the greatest of all the needy -- viz., the Holy Souls

in Purgatory. "There may be a few who do so, but in my long and very varied

experience, I have never met any. "

Alas, the words of this good priest are only too true!

We appeal to those who have not as yet dedicated themselves to any

particular form of charity to dedicate all their energies to the Holy Souls.

Let them do what they can personally, and also induce others to help.

The best way is to practice the counsels contained in this booklet and to

spread about hundreds of copies of this inexpensive little book and thus

make hundreds of friends for the Holy Souls. For who can read it and refuse

to help them?