ACCORDING to St. Thomas and
other doctors, as we have previously seen, Divine Justice, in particular cases,
assigns a special place upon earth for certain souls. This opinion we find
confirmed by several facts, among which we quote the two mentioned by St.
Gregory the Great in his “Dialogues. “Whilst I was young and still a layman, I
heard told to the seniors, who were well-informed men, how the Deacon
Paschasius appeared to Germain, Bishop of Capua. Paschasius, Deacon of the
Apostolic See, whose books on the Holy Ghost are still extant, was a man of eminent
sanctity, devoted to works of charity, zealous for the relief of the poor, and
most forgetful of self. A dispute having arisen concerning a pontifical
election, Paschasius separated himself from the Bishops, and joined the party disapproved
by the Episcopacy. Soon after this he died, with a reputation for sanctity
which God confirmed by a miracle: an instantaneous cure was effected on the day
of the funeral by the simple touch
of his dalmatic. Long after this, Germain, Bishop of Capua, was sent by the
physicians to the baths of St. Angelo. What was his astonishment to find the
same Deacon Paschasius employed in the most menial offices at the baths?” I
here expiate,” said the apparition, “the wrung I did by adhering to the wrong party.
I beseech of you, pray to the Lord for me : you will know that you have been
heard when you shall no longer see me in these places.” Germain began to pray
for the deceased, and after a few days, returning to the baths, sought in vain
for Paschasius, who had disappeared. “He had but to undergo a temporary punishment,”
says St. Gregory, “because he had sinned through ignorance, and not through malice.”
The same Pope speaks of a
priest of Centumcellse, now Civita Vecchia, who also went to the warm baths. A man presented himself to serve
him in the most menial offices, and for several days waited upon him with the
most extreme kindness, and even eagerness. The good priest, thinking that he
ought to reward so much attention, came the next day with two loaves of blessed
bread, and, after having received the usual assistance of his kind servant, offered
him the loaves. The servant, with a sad countenance, replied,”Why, Father, do
you offer me this bread? I cannot eat it. I, whom you see, was formerly the
master of this place, and, after my death, I was sent back to the condition in
which you see me for the expiation of my faults. If you wish to do me good, ah!
offer up for me the Bread of the Eucharist. “At these words he suddenly
disappeared, and he, whom the priest had thought to be a man, showed by
vanishing that he was but a spirit. For a whole week the good priest devoted
himself to works of penance, and each day offered up the Sacred Host in favour
of the departed one : then, having returned to the same baths, he no longer
found his faithful servant, and concluded that he had been delivered.
It seems that Divine Justice sometimes
condemns soul to undergo their punishment in the same place where they have
committed their sins. We read in the chronicles of the Friars Minors, 1 that
Blessed Stephen, Religious of that Order, had a singular devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament, so that he passed a part of the night in adoration before
it. On one occasion, being alone in the chapel, the darkness broken only by the
faint glimmer of the little lamp, he suddenly perceived a Religious in one of
the stalls. Stephen approached him, and asked if he had permission to leave his
cell at such an hour. “I am a deceased Religious, “he replied. “Here, by a decree
of God s Justice, must I undergo my Purgatory, because here I sinned by
tepidity and negligence at the Divine Office. The Lord permits me to make known
my state to you, that you may assist me by your prayers. “Touched with these
words, B. Stephen immediately knelt down to recite the De Profundis and other
prayers ; and he noticed that whilst he prayed, the features of the deceased bore
an expression of joy. Several times, during the following nights, he saw the
apparition in the same manner, but more happy each time as it
approached the term of its deliverance. Finally, after the last prayer of B.
Stephen, it arose all radiant from the stall, expressed its gratitude to its
liberator, and disappeared in the brightness of glory.
The following incident is so marvelous,
that we should hesitate to reproduce it, says Canon Postel, had it not been narrated
by Father Theophilus Renaud, theologian and controversialist, who relates it as
an event which happened in his time, and almost under his very eyes.
The Abbe Louvet adds, that the
Vicar-General of the Archbishop of Besangon, after having examined all the details,
recognized its truth. In the year 1629, at Dole, in Franche-Comte, Hugette Roy,
a woman of the middle station in life, was confined to bed by inflammation of
the lungs, which endangered her life. The physician considering it necessary to
bleed her, in his awkwardness cut an artery in the left arm, which speedily
reduced her to the last extremity. The following day, at dawn, she saw enter into
her chamber a young girl clad in white, of most modest deportment, who asked
her if she was willing to accept her services and to be nursed by her. The sick
person, de lighted with the offer, answered that nothing could give her greater
pleasure ; and instantly the stranger lighted the fire, approached Hugette, and
placed her gently on the bed, and then continued to watch by her and serve her
like the most devoted infirmarian. But, oh wonder! contact with the hands of
the unknown one was so beneficial that the dying person found herself greatly relieved,
and soon felt entirely cured. Then she would absolutely know who the amiable stranger
was, and called her that she might question her ; but she withdrew, saying that
she would return in the evening. In the meantime astonishment and curiosity
were extreme when the tidings of this sudden cure spread abroad, and nothing
was spoken of in Dole but this mysterious event.
When the unknown visitor
returned in the evening, she said to Hugette, without trying to disguise
herself, Know, my dear niece, that I am your aunt, Leonarde Collin, who died
seventeen years ago, leaving you an inheritance from her little property. Thanks
to the Divine bounty, I am saved, and it was the Blessed Virgin, to whom I had
great devotion, who obtained for me this happiness. Without her I was lost.
When death suddenly struck me, I was in the state of mortal sin, but the
merciful Virgin Mary obtained for me perfect contrition, and thus saved me from
eternal damnation. Since that time I am in Purgatory, and our Lord permits me
to finish my expiation by serving you during fourteen days. At the end of that
time I shall be delivered from my pains if, on your part, you have the charity
to make three pilgrimages for me to three holy sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin.
Hugette, astonished, knew not what to think of this language. Not being able to
believe the reality of the apparition, and fearing some snare of the evil
spirit, she consulted her confessor, Father Antony
Roland, a Jesuit, who advised her to threaten the unknown person with the
exorcisms of the Church. This menace did not disturb her ; she replied tranquilly,
that she feared not the prayers of the Church. “They have no power,” she added,”
but against the demons and the damned ; none whatever against predestined
souls, who are in the grace of God as I am.” Hugette was not yet convinced. “How,”
said she to the young girl, “can you be my Aunt Leonarde? She was old and worn,
disagreeable and whimsical, whilst you are young, gentle, and obliging? “Ah, my
dear niece,” replied the apparition, “my real body is in the tomb, where it
will remain until the resurrection ; this one which you see is one miraculously
formed from the air to allow me to speak to you, to serve you, and obtain your
suffrages. As regards my irritable disposition, seventeen years of terrible
suffering have taught me patience and meekness. Know, also, that in Purgatory
we are confirmed in grace, marked with the seal of the elect, and therefore
exempt from all vice.”After such explanation, incredulity was impossible. Hugette,
at once astounded and grateful, received with joy the services rendered during
the fourteen days designated. She alone could see and hear the deceased, who came
at certain hours and then disappeared. As soon as her strength permitted, she
devoutly made the pilgrimages which were asked of her.
At the end of fourteen days
the apparition ceased. Leonarde appeared for the last time to announce her deliverance
; she was then in a state of incomparable glory, brilliant as a star, and her
countenance bore an expression of the most perfect beatitude. In her turn, she
testified her gratitude to her niece, promised to pray for her and her whole
family, and advised her ever to remember, amid the sufferings of this life, the
end of our existence, which is the salvation of our soul.
