Considerations and Prayers for Every Day
First Day
Often meditate on the sufferings of the souls in purgatory. The thought will inspire you with the proper and holy fear of God’s justice, which requires expiation in purgatory for sins unatoned for in this life. It will also move you to have compassion on the poor souls, and to relieve them by your good works. The souls in purgatory endure dreadful punishments; it is the opinion of theologians that they suffer the pains of fire. They also suffer the pain of loss, which is more severe than that of sense. You should ask yourselves: Shall we suffer these dreadful pains in purgatory, or shall we escape them? Let us take warning from the unhappy souls who are to be miserable for eternity, and cultivate a salutary fear of God’s justice and so avoid sin. Let the happiness of the saints encourage us to lead virtuous lives, and confide in the mercy and goodness of God. Standing between the eternity of happiness and the eternity of misery, we must make our choice. Through God’s grace and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and the members of the heavenly court, let us resolve, in future, to avoid not only mortal but also venial sin. Let us resolve also to atone for our past sins, and pay the debt which we owe to God’s justice, so that when our souls are separated from our bodies we may go at once to enjoy God in heaven.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from the bonds of their sins; and by the assistance of Thy grace may they escape the sentence of condemnation, and enjoy the bliss of eternal light. Amen.