November 2, 2026
(FIRST MEDITATION.)
Summary of the Morrow's Meditation.
We will consider to-morrow that we owe it: 1st, to God; 2d, to our neighbor; 3d, to ourselves, to help the souls in purgatory. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to say with more devotion our prayers for the souls in purgatory, such as the "De profundis;" the verse, "Fidelium animae per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace;" the "Memento of the dead" during the holy sacrifice; 2d, to offer in their intention a decade of the rosary, and some of our actions or of our good works during the day. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of Job, which the Church places to-day in their mouth: "Have pity on me, at least you, my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me" (Job xix. 21).
Meditation for the Morning.
Let us descend in spirit into the dark prison where the souls in purgatory are detained until the entire and perfect expiation of their sins has been accomplished. Let us adore the infinite justice of God, who never passes over any fault, even the slightest; His ineffable purity, which cannot endure in His court anything which is not perfectly pure; His ineffable holiness, which cannot ally itself with the shadow of a stain; and at the sight of purgatory, as well as at the sight of heaven, let us repeat the eternal canticle: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord."
FIRST POINT.
We Owe it to God to Help the Souls in Purgatory.
What, in fact, in relation to God, are the souls in purgatory? They are His elect, His beloved children, the heirs of His glory, called to bless Him eternally in heaven, His spouses whom He tenderly loves. His heart will delight to introduce them into His paradise, to inundate them with a torrent of delights; but His justice and His holiness require that all the satisfaction due from these souls should be paid down to the last farthing. If some Christian or other upon earth paid the debt of one of these souls, God would receive it with joy into His bosom, and a saint more would sing His praises in heaven. Now, things being thus, should we love God if, having at our disposition several means for reuniting to Him the souls He desires and loves, we should leave them separated from Him, without trying to put Him in possession of them? Should we love His honor and His glory if, being able to make new worshippers enter into heaven, and enable another mouth to sing His praises, another heart to love Him, we took no trouble about it?
SECOND POINT.
We Owe it through Charity towards our Neighbor to Help the Souls in Purgatory.
For, 1st, they are persons who are in great suffering; they suffer above all from the privation of God. Sighing with indescribable ardor for their reunion to the Supreme Good, they dart towards Him as the arrow shoots towards the target, and are always repelled. They endure in addition sufferings which are unknown to nature, the least of which, the saints tell us, incomparably surpass the greatest torments it is possible to suffer here below. Now, would there be charity in our hearts if, being able to obtain for these souls the great blessing for which they sigh, we were not to procure it for them; if, being able to withdraw them from the extreme sufferings they endure, we were not to withdraw them? 2d. They are unfortunate beings who, sighing beneath the weight of misery, could not make their voices heard if they were to cry for help; and to whom could they cry?—to God? But justice, which is there, replies: The debt must be paid, the soul must be purified. If they were to cry to us, alas! we should not hear them; their only resource is to borrow the voice in which the Church speaks to-day, exclaiming: "Have pity on me, you at least, my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me!" Evidently we have no charity in our heart if this voice does not touch us. 3d. They are persons worthy of all our interest, called to reign with us in glory. Would it not be unworthy of us to allow such excellent persons to perish without putting ourselves to any trouble to help them? 4th. They are perhaps a father or a mother, a brother or a sister, a person dear to us for more than one reason, but in any case they are Christians, that is to say, brethren in Jesus Christ, members of the same body, heirs of the same kingdom, companions of eternity, souls that we are commanded to love as we love ourselves, or rather to love as Jesus Christ has loved us. Let us judge, after having made these considerations, where our charity is if we do not help them.
THIRD POINT.
We Owe it to our own Interests to Help the Souls in Purgatory.
For, 1st, these good souls, which we have withdrawn from their prison and introduced into heaven, will be our protectors in the presence of God, and will there pray continually for us. 2d. Jesus Christ Himself will be our advocate, as being also indebted to us, seeing that He was in prison in the person of one of His members, and we withdrew Him from it; He was thirsty, and we made Him drink from the fountain of life; He was naked, and we clothed Him with eternal glory. Oh, if the works of mercy here below, if the glass of cold water given to a poor man, touch His heart and obtain for us an eternal recompense, what will He not do in return for the still more excellent mercy which is exercised on behalf of the suffering souls in purgatory? 3d. If it be written that we shall be treated as we treat others, God will not permit us to be forgotten when we in our turn shall be in the place of expiation, or He Himself will apply to us the merits which have no other destination, such as there are when those for whom they are offered have been damned or have already entered into heaven; whilst He will allow those who have not been helpful to their deceased brethren to languish without any succor being given them. 4th. At the same time that we procure for ourselves such great advantages, we shall lose nothing of the merits which we offer for the solace of these souls; for there will always remain to us the merit of charity, which abundantly compensates all that we give up for their deliverance. Would it not then be to understand our own interests very badly if we had no zeal for the solace of the souls in purgatory? Let us examine whether we have nothing to reproach ourselves with on this head.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.