‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

New Zealand Tablet, 29 August 1912, Page 3

‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

(A Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z. Tablet by ‘ Ghimel.’) - ; LIFE AFTER (V) If it seems strange to speak of the joys of Purgatory, it should be remembered that the souls there are, in the words of Dante, the beloved of God, and their sufferings are made less harsh by justice and hope.’ While the sufferings are intense, deep contentment reigns there too, and abounding joy. , • When the spul is judged, its Guardian Angel lovingly commits it to the care of the Angels of Purgatory: ‘ Softly and gently, dearly-ransomed soul, In my most loving arms I now enfold thee, And, o’er the penal waters, as they roll, I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee; And carefully I dip thee in the lake, And thou, without a sob or a resistance, Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take, Sinking deep, deeper into the dim distance. - Angels, to whom the willing task is given,.. ■ Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou liest ; And Masses on the earth, and prayers in heaven, ■ Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest. Farewell, but not for ever! brother dear, ' Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow; Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here, And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.’ .. (Bream of Gerontius ). The first and most abundant source of-joy is found in the sure hope and certain knowledge that they are among the number of the saved. They may repeat, in a more confident way than we do, the words .of the Psalmist: ‘ I believe that L shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.! Their trial of faith; they are incapable of committing the least sin—the very memory of sin' is blotted out, if we may believe St. Catherine of Genoa; they cannot.experience*the least movement of impatience; they are confirmed in grace and live on in unbroken union with God.

Further, these happy souls have caught a glimpse of their Saviour, and the thought of that vision remains as a deep joy. The soul ‘ goes into Purgatory with its eyes fascinated and its spirit sweetly tranquillized by the face of Jesus, its-first sight of the Sacred Humanity, at the Particular Judgment which it has undergone. That vision abides with it still, and beautifies the uneven terrors of its prison, as if with perpetual silvery showers of moonlight which seem to fall from our Saviour’s loving eyes., In the sea of fire it holds fast by that image’ (Faber). • _ : A third source of joy is found in the sufferings themselves. The knowledge of God that the soul now possesses makes it understand the purpose of this severe discipline, and the love of Him with which its whole being throbs makes it accept these sufferings with resignation. ‘ The soul, separated' from the body/ writes St. Catherine of Genoa, ‘ not finding in itself all the requisite purity, and seeing in itself this impediment which cannot be taken away except by Purgatory, at once-throws itself into it with right good will. Nay, if it did not find this ordinance of Purgatory, aptly contrived for the removal of this hindrance, there would instantly be born in it a hell far worse than purgatory, inasmuch as it would see that because of this impediment, it could never get to God, Who is its End. Wherefore if the soul could find , another Purgatory, fiercer than this, in which it could the sooner get rid of the impediment it would speedily plunge itself, therein; because of the impetuosity of the love it bears to God.’ And again: ‘lf a soul, having still something left to be cleansed away, were presented to the vision of God, it would consider itself grievously injured, and its suffering would be worse than that of ten purgatories;

for it would be quite unable to endure that excessive Goodness and that exquisite Justice.’ With which compare the beautiful passage in The Dream of Gerontius: ' ‘Take me away, and in the lowest deep There let me be. And there in hope the lone night-watches keep, Told out for me. There, motionless and happy in my pain, Lone, not forlorn— There will I sing my sad perpetual strain, Until the morn. There will I sing, and soothe my stricken breast, Which ne’er can cease To throb, and pine, and languish, till possest Of its Sole Peace. There will I sing my absent Lord and Love: Take me away, That sooner I may rise, and go above, And see Him in the truth of everlasting day.’ Conclusion.—‘ Purgatory goes as near to the unriddling of the riddle of the world as any one ordinance of God that can be named ... it was an invention of God to multiply the fruit of our Saviour’s Passion and was intended for the great multitudes who die in charity with God, but in imperfect charity . . the continuance of death-bed mercies/beyond the grave’ (Faber).