The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-10-31
=. ,nt ,1ar ana Catholic Messenger.



CCehtinued from nrst page)
perfect contrition 10 SO difficult to acquire tina
if you knew how difficult it is, you woul
tremble for very fear, and would be muo
more certain of not gaining the indulgenc
than of obtaining such grace.
CHAPTER XVI
In which 10 y howu that the torments of purgAfory
nos saeettl peace ard joy of tho souls therein dc
lice that the souls suffering in purgator,
are conscious of Two operations of divine grac'
in them.
By the first of these operations they willing
~ endure their suferings. Considering, OF
the one hand, what they have merited, and, OF
the other, the incomprehensible majesty of al
offended God, they understand the extent o
rts o thousand bells eternal in duration (; bu
the goodness of God tempers justice with
mercy in accepting the precious blood of Jesul
Christ in satisfaction for sin. So that thest
sonls endure their torments SO willingly tina
they would not have them diminish one iota
They see how fully they arc merited, aud how
righteonsly they are ordained ; and as t.
their will, it no more revolts against that o.
God than If they were participating in thu
Joys of eternal life.
The second operation of grace in these soul,
. consists in the peace with which they are filled
in view of the divine ordinances, aud the love
and mercy of God manifested in their be-
half.
imprinted by God on these souls in an instant
and, as they are in q state of grace, they com-
prehend them, every one according to his cap
aoty. They feel q great joy, which, far from
diminishing, goes on increasing in proportion
as the time for their union with God ap-
proacbes.
These souls do mot visw these things in
themselves or as belonging to themselves
they view them in God, with whom they are
far more occupied than with their own tor
ments. For the least glimpse man has of God
transcenas every pain and every imaginable
joy.
Nevertheless, their excessive joy does NOT
in the least detract from their pain. nor their
extreme pain in the least from their joy.
cHApTERxvn.
In which ST. Catharine applies what she has written
experienced in her own soul
My own soul has experienced the same state
of publication as that of the souls in purga-
tory-especially within two years-aud each
day see and feel this more clearly. Ny soul
remains in the body as in a purgatory, but only
endure without dying. And this suffering
will go on increasing by degrees till the body
is no longer able to support it, and will really
die.
My mind has become unused to all things,
even spiritual, which could refresh it, such as
joy, pleasure, or consolation. 1t is no longer
relish anything, whether of temporal or
spiritual nature, 80 that l can say one thing
pleases me more than another.
My soul has been 30 besieged, as it were, that
by degrees IL has been deprived of all that
could refresh me spiritually or corporally.
Even this privation makes me feel the power
these things have of nourishing aud refroshing
me; bat the soul, conscious of this power,
loathes and abhurs them to such degree that
they have ceased for ever to tempt me.
For il is an instinct of the soul to strive to
overcome every obstacle to its perfectiou-an
instinct 50 crnelly exacting that it would, as 1t
were, allow itself to be cast into hell to achieve
its object 1t goes on then depriving itself OF
everything in which the inner man can de-
Light, and this with so much subtlety that the
slightest imperfection is noted and detested.
The outer man, being no longer sustained by
she consultations of the SOUL suffers to such a
degree that, humanity speaking, it can find
nothing on earth to sustain it. There remains
Tor IL otEcr consolation than God, who
ordereth all these things in ipfute mercy and
love, Cor the satisfaction of his Justice, This
view inspires me With great peace and Joy,
which, nevertheless. do not diminish the VIC.
lencc of my sufferipgs but no pain could be
severe enough to induce me to deviate in the
least from the orderof things established by
GOD Nor would leave this prison till the
Lord hath accomplished his designs upon me
My peace consists in satisfying the justce OF
God, and could find no torment greater thar
in devating from his ordinance, perfectly
just and good does it seem to me.
see--I feel, as it were-all the things hav,
here related F; but find no words to express
my meaning suitably as to what have here
written. l have felt it's operation in my owl
soul, which has given me the necessary
knowledge for writing about it,
Ine prison IN wnlCu i seem 10 he ID the
world the chain that binds me therein is the
body. And the soul, illuminated by grace
recognizes the Importance of the obstacles
which hinder it from attaining its true end
This causes great grief to the soul on account
of its extreme sensibility. Nevertheless, il
receives, through the pure grace of God, {
certain impress of dignity, which not only as
Stimulates IL to God, but renders it in manner
one with him by participation of his good
ness. And, as it is impossible for God to suf
fer, so the soul which lives in union with hin
becomes impossible, and the more complet,
this union the moro it shares in the divine at
tributes
But the delay of this union causes an in
tolerable suffering in the soul And this suf
fering and this delay make it different frOu
what it WAS at it's creation. God, by his grace
makes known to it it's original condition
Without the power of retaining to it, and ye
feeling itself adapted to that condition, it re
mains in n state of suffering proportionate Il
its love for God. This love increases with thu
souls knowledge of God, and lite knowledg,
increases in the same ratio the soul is puri
fed from sin. Thus this delay becomes moro
and more intolerable because the soul, entire
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