GOOD Christians, Priests, and
Religious, who wish to serve God with their whole hearts, must avoid the rock
of tepidity and negligence. God will be served with fervour; those who are
tepid and careless excite His disgust; He even goes so far as to threaten with
His malediction those who perform holy actions in a careless manner that is to
say, He will severely punish in Purgatory all negligence in His service.
Among the disciples of St.
Bernard, who perfumed the celebrated valley of Clairvaux with the odour of
their sanctity, there was one whose negligence sadly contrasted with the
fervour of his brethren. Notwithstanding his double character of Priest and of
Religious, he allowed himself to sink into a deplorable state of tepidity. The
moment of death arrived, and he was summoned before God without having given any
token of amendment. Whilst the Mass of Requiem was being celebrated, a venerable
Religious of uncommon virtue learned by an interior light, that though the
deceased was not eternally lost, his soul was in a most miserable condition.
The following night the soul appeared to him in a sad and wretched condition.
Yesterday, he said, you learned my deplorable fate ; behold now the tortures to
which I am condemned in punishment for my culpable tepidity. He then conducted
the old man to the edge of a large, deep pit, filled with smoke and
flames. Behold the place, said he, where
the ministers of Divine Justice have orders to torment me ; they cease not to
plunge me into this abyss, and draw me out only to precipitate me into it
again, with out giving me one moment s respite.
The next morning the Religious
went to St. Bernard to make known to him his vision. The holy Abbot, who had had a similar apparition,
received it as a warning from Heaven to his community. He convened a Chapter, and
with tearful eyes related the double vision, exhorting his Religious to succour
their poor departed brother by their charitable suffrages, and to profit by
this sad example to preserve their fervour, and to avoid the least negligence
in the service of God. The following instance is related by M. de Lantages in the Life of Venerable Mother
Agnes of Langeac, a Dominican Religious.
Whilst this Religious was one
day praying in choir, a Religious whom she did not know suddenly appeared
before her, miserably clad and with a countenance expressive of the deepest
grief. She looked at her with astonishment, asking herself who it might be ; when
she heard a voice saying distinctly, is Sister de Haut Villars.
Sister, de Haut Villars had
been a Religious in the monastery at Puy, and had died about ten years previous
to this vision. The apparition said not a word, but showed sufficiently by her
sad countenance how greatly she stood in need of assistance.
Mother Agnes understood this
perfectly, and began from that day to offer most fervent prayers for the relief
of this soul. The deceased was not content with the first visit ; she continued
to appear for the space of three weeks, almost everywhere and at all times,
especially after Holy Communion and prayer, manifesting her sufferings by the doleful
expression of her countenance. Agnes, by the advice of her confessor, without
speaking of the apparition, asked her Prioress to allow the community to offer
extra prayers for the dead, for her intention. Since, notwithstanding, these
prayers, the apparitions continued, she greatly feared some delusion. God, how ever,
deigned to remove this fear. He clearly made known to His charitable servant,
by the voice of her angel guardian, that it was really a soul from Purgatory,
and that she thus stiffered for her negligence in the service of God. From the
moment these words were uttered, the apparitions ceased, and it is not known
how long that unfortunate soul may have had to remain in Purgatory. Let us cite
another example, qualified to stimulate the fervour of the faithful.
A holy Religious named Mary of
the Incarnation, of the convent of the Ursulines, in Loudun, appeared some time
after her death to her Superior, a women of intelligence and merit, who wrote the
details of the apparition to Father Surin of the Company of Jesus. On November
6th, she wrote, between three and four o
clock in the morning, Mother of the Incarnation stood before me, with an
expression of sweetness on her countenance that appeared more like that of
humility than of suffering ; yet I saw that she suffered much. When I first
perceived her near me, I was seized with great fright, but as there was nothing
about her that inspired fear, I soon felt reassured. I asked her in what state she
was, and if we could render her any service. She replied, I satisfy Divine
Justice in Purgatory. I begged her to tell me why she was detained there. Then
with a deep sigh she answered, It is for being negligent in several common
exercises ; a certain weakness by which I allowed myself to be led by the example
of imperfect Religious ; finally, and especially, the habit which I had of
retaining in my possession things of which I had no permission to dispose, and
of making use
of them to suit my needs and
natural inclinations. Ah ! if Religious knew, continued the good Mother, the
wrong they do their souls by not applying themselves to perfection, and how
dearly they shall one day expiate the satisfactions which they give themselves
contrary to the light of their consciences, their efforts to do violence to themselves
during life would be very different. Ah ! God s point of view is different from
ours, His judgments are different. I asked her again if we could do anything to
relieve her sufferings. She replied, I desire to see and possess God, but I am
content to satisfy His Justice as long as it shall please Him. I asked her to
tell me whether she suffered much. My pains, she replied, are incomprehensible to
those who do not feel them. Saying these words, she drew near my face to take
leave of me. It seemed as though I was burned by a coal of fire, although her
face did not touch mine ; and my arm, which had barely grazed her mantle, was
burned and caused me considerable pain.
A month later she appeared to
the same Superior to announce her deliverance.
