THE celebrated Blasio Massei,
who was raised from the dead by St. Bernardine of Sienna, saw that there was
great diversity in the pains of Purgatory. The account of this miracle is given
at length in the Acta Sanctorum (Appendix, May 20).
A short time after the canonisation
of St. Bernardine of Sienna, there died at Cascia, in the kingdom of Naples, a child
aged eleven years, named Blasio Massei. His parents had inspired him with the
same devotion which they them selves had towards this new saint, and the latter
was not slow to recompense it. The day after his death, when the body was being
carried to the grave, Blasio awoke as from a profound slumber and said that St.
Bernardine had restored him to life, in order to relate the wonders which
the saint had shown him in the
other world.
We can easily understand the
curiosity which this event produced. For a whole month young Blasio did nothing
but talk of what he had seen, and answer the questions put to him by visitors. He
spoke with the simplicity of a child, but at the same time with an accuracy of
expression and a knowledge of the things of the other life far above his years.
At the moment of his death, he
said, St. Bernardine appeared to him, and taking him by the hand, said, “Be not afraid, but pay great attention
to what I am going to show you, so that you may remember, and afterwards be
able to relate it.” Now the saint conducted his young protege successively into
the regions of Hell, Purgatory, Limbo, and finally allowed him to see Heaven.
In Hell, Blasio saw indescribable
horrors, and the divers tortures by which the proud, the avaricious, the
impure, and other sinners are tormented. Amongst them he recognised several
whom he had seen during life, and he even witnessed the arrival of two who had
just died, Buccerelli and Frascha. The latter was damned for having kept
ill-gotten goods in his possession. The son of Frascha, struck by this
revelation as by a thunderbolt, and knowing well the truth of the statement,
hastened to make complete restitution ; and not content with this act of
justice, that he might not expose himself to share one day the sad lot of his father,
he distributed the rest of his fortune to the poor and embraced the monastic
life.
From thence conducted into
Purgatory, Blasio there saw the most
dreadful torments, varied according to the sins of which they were the
punishment. He recognised a great number of souls, and several begged him to
acquaint their parents and relatives with their suffering condition ; they even
indicated the suffrages and good works of which they stood in need. When
interrogated as to the state of a departed soul, he answered without
hesitation, and gave the most precise details,”Your father,” said he to one of
his visitors, has been in Purgatory
since such a day ; he charged you to pay such a sum in alms, and you have neglected
to do so.” Your brother," he said to another, asked you to have so
many Masses celebrated ; you agreed to do so, and you have not fulfilled your
engagement ; so many Masses remain to be said.” Blasio also spoke of Heaven,
the last place into which he had been taken ; but he spoke almost like St.
Paul, who, having been ravished to the third Heaven, whether with his body or
without his body he knew not, there heard mysterious words which no mortal
tongue could repeat. What most attracted the attention of the child was the
immense multitude of angels that surrounded the throne of God, and the
incomparable beauty of the blessed Virgin Mary, elevated above all the choirs
of angels. The life of Venerable Mother Frances of the Blessed Sacrament, a
Religious of Pampeluna, presents several facts which show that the pains of
Purgatory are suited to the faults to be expiated. This venerable servant of
God had the most intimate communication with the souls in Purgatory, so that
they came in great numbers and filled her cell, humbly awaiting each one in
turn to be assisted by her prayers. Frequently, the more easily to excite her compassion,
they appeared with the instruments of their sins, now become the instruments of
their torture. One day she saw a Religious surrounded by costly pieces of furniture,
such as pictures, arm-chairs, all in flames. She had collected these things in
her cell contrary to her vow of religious poverty, and after her death they
became her torment.
A notary appeared to her one
day with all the insignia of his profession. Being heaped around him, the
flames which issued therefrom caused him the most intense suffering.
I have used this pen, this
ink, this paper, said he, to draw up illegal deeds. I also had a passion for gambling,
and these cards which I am forced to hold continually in my hands now
constitute my punishment.
This flaming purse contains my
unlawful gains, and causes me to expiate them. ”From all this we should draw
great and salutary instruction. Creatures are given to man as a means to serve
God ; they must be the instruments of virtue and good works. If he abuse them,
and make them instruments of sin, it is just they should be turned against him,
and become the instruments of his chastisement.
The Life of St. Corpreus an
Irish* Bishop, which we find in the Bollandists on March 6, furnishes us with
another example of the same kind. One day, whilst this holy prelate was in
prayer after the Office, he saw appear before him a horrible spectre, with livid
countenance, a collar of fire about his neck, and upon his shoulders a
miserable mantle all in tatters. “ Who are you ? “asked the saint, not in the
least disturbed. “I am a soul from the other life.” What has brought you to the
sad condition in which I see you ?
My faults have drawn this
chastisement upon me. Notwithstanding the misery to which I now see my self
reduced, I am Malachy, formerly king of Ireland. In that high position I could
have done much good, and it was my duty to do so. I neglected this, and
therefore I am punished.
“Did you not do penance for
your faults ?” I did not do sufficient penance, and this is due to the culpable
weakness of my coniessor, whom I bent to my caprices by offering him a gold
ring. It is on this account that I now wear a collar of fire about my neck. “I
should like to know, continued the Bishop, why you are covered with these rags?
It is another chastisement. I did not clothe the naked. I did not assist the
poor with the charity, respect, and liberality which became my dignity of king
and my title of Christian. This is why you see me clothed like the poor and
covered with a garment of con fusion.” The biography adds that St. Corpreus
with his Chapter united in prayer, and at the end of six months obtained a
mitigation of the suffering, and somewhat later the entire deliverance of King
Malachy.
