SOULS that allow themselves to
be dazzled by the vanities of the world, even if they have the good fortune to escape
damnation, will have to undergo terrible punishment. Let us open the Revelations
of St. Bridget, which are held in such esteem by the Church. We read there in
Book vi. that the saint saw herself transported in spirit into Purgatory, and
that, among others, she saw there a young lady of high birth who had formerly
abandoned herself to the luxury and vanities of the world.
This unfortunate soul related
to her the history of her life, and the sad state in which she then was. Happily, said she, before death I confessed
my sins in such dispositions as to escape Hell, but now I suffer here to expiate
the worldly life that my mother did not prevent me from leading ! Alas ! she
added, with a sigh, this head, which loved to be adorned, and which sought to draw
the attention of others, is now devoured with flames within and without, and these
flames are so violent that every moment it seems to me that I must die. These shoulders,
these arms, which I loved to see admired, are cruelly bound in chains of
red-hot iron. These feet, formerly trained for the dance, are now surrounded
with vipers that tear them with their fangs and soil them with their filthy
slime ; all these members which I have adorned with jewels, flowers, and divers
other ornaments, are now a prey to the most horrible torture. O mother, mother
! she cried,how culpable have you been in my regard! It was you who, by a fatal
indulgence, encouraged my taste for display and extravagant expense; it was you
that took me to theatres, parties, and balls, and to those worldly assemblies
which are the ruin of souls. ... If I have not incurred eternal damnation, it
was because a special grace of God s mercy touched my heart with sincere
repentance. I made a good confession, and thus I have been delivered from Hell,
yet only to see myself precipitated into the most horrible torments of
Purgatory.”
We have remarked already that
what is said of the tortured members must not be taken literally, because the soul
is separated from the body ; but God, supplying the want of corporal organs,
makes the soul experience such sensations as have been just described. The
biographer of the saint tells us that she related this vision to a cousin of
the deceased, who was likewise given to the illusions of worldly vanity. The
cousin was so struck that she renounced the luxuries and dangerous amusements
of the world, and devoted the remainder of her life to penance in an austere
religious order.
The same St. Bridget, during
another ecstasy, beheld the judgment of a soldier who had just died. He had lived
in the vices too common in his profession, and would have been condemned to Hell
had not the Blessed Virgin, whom he had always honoured, preserved him from
that misfortune by obtaining for him the grace of a sincere repentance. The
saint saw him appear before the judgment-seat of God and condemned to a long
Purgatory for the sins of all kinds which he had committed. The punishment of
the eyes, said the Judge, shall be to contemplate the most frightful objects ;
that of the tongue, to be pierced with pointed needles and tormented with thirst
; that of the touch, to be plunged in an ocean of fire. Then the Holy
Virgin interceded, and obtained some
mitigation of the rigour of the sentence. Let us relate still another example
of the chastisements reserved for worldlings in Purgatory, when they have not,
like the rich glutton of the Gospel, been buried in Hell. Blessed Mary Villani,
a Dominican Religious, had a lively devotion
to the holy souls, and it often happened that they appeared to her, either to
thank her or to beg the assistance of her prayers and good works. One day,
whilst praying for them with great fervour, she was transported in spirit to
their prison of expiation. Among the souls that suffered there she saw one more
cruelly tormented than the others, in the midst of flames
which entirely enveloped her. Touched with compassion, the servant of God
interrogated the soul. I have been here,
she replied, for a very long time, punished for my vanity and my scandalous extravagance.
Thus far I have not received the least alleviation. Whilst I was upon earth,
being wholly occupied with my toilet, my pleasures, and worldly amusements, I
thought very little of my duties as a Christian, and fulfilled them only with
great reluctance, and in a slothful manner. My only serious thought was to
further the worldly interests of my family. See now how I am punished : they
bestow not so much as a passing thought upon me : my parents, my children,
those friends with whom I was most intimate all have forgotten me.
Mary Villani begged this soul to allow her to feel some thing of what she suffered, and immediately it appeared as though a finger of fire touched her forehead, and the pain which she experienced instantly caused her ecstasy to cease. The mark remained, and so deep and painful was it that two months afterwards it was still to be seen, and caused the holy Religious most terrible suffering. She endured this pain in the spirit of penance, for the relief of the soul that had appeared to her, and some time later the same soul came to announce her deliverance.
Mary Villani begged this soul to allow her to feel some thing of what she suffered, and immediately it appeared as though a finger of fire touched her forehead, and the pain which she experienced instantly caused her ecstasy to cease. The mark remained, and so deep and painful was it that two months afterwards it was still to be seen, and caused the holy Religious most terrible suffering. She endured this pain in the spirit of penance, for the relief of the soul that had appeared to her, and some time later the same soul came to announce her deliverance.
