Twenty-third Day
The giving of alms for the benefit of the souls in purgatory, is one of the means over which the Fathers of the Church grew eloquent. Nor indeed is it necessary to make use of the sayings of the early Fathers, for we can find abundant proof of the efficacy of alms related in the Holy Scriptures. The angel Raphael said to Tobias: “Alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting.” Elsewhere we find: “Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sin.” But let us listen to the Fathers of the Church. St. Leo writes: “Alms atone for sin, destroy death, and extinguish the flames of eternal fire.” St. Chrysostom calls alms-giving “a heavenly ladder, leading to God’s right hand, and a sure refuge for those who give as well as for those who receive.” St. Paulinus praises a Roman nobleman, who on the death of his beloved wife assembled all the poor and destitute of the city in St. Peter’s Church, and distributed food among them in order to comfort and help her whose loss he bewailed. And St. Hieronymus, speaking of the same nobleman, says that while other husbands adorn their wife’s graves with violets, roses and lilies, this one pours the balm of alms over the sacred dust and venerable remains of his beloved wife. The petition for alms from the worthy poor is like the knocking at your door of a poor soul in purgatory.
Prayer.
Release, O Lord, etc., etc.