The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-11-04
THE HOLY SOULS.

What memories it awakens; what
thoughts it suggests; what pray
ers it evokes How appealingly
falls the voice Of the Church s
liturgy upon the Catholic ear
when it pleads for. the future
saints who are now petitioners of
the divine bounty through the in
tercession of their brethren in
heaven and on earth! Dead, in
deed, must be the faith and cold
the charity which feels no re
sponsive thrill!
In all the range of Catholic
teaching, there is no more consol-
ing doctrine than that which as
sures us Of state Of purgation in
the life to come, wherein mercy's
mellow light dispels the gloom Of
a temporary separation from God
and relieves, with its hopeful ray.
the terrors of that purgatorial
prison-house. To this abode Of
suffering are consigned the souls
Of those who die in the grace Of
God without, however, having full
ly satisfied divine justice for the
temporal punishment due to their
sins. Here they dwell clone, not
forlorn,' until the last farthing
of their debt is paid, until the
purity and beauty of recovered in
nocence robe them in garments
bright for admission to the realms
Of bliss.
+ This belief in Purgatory has for
complement belief in the efficacy
of prayers and good works offered
up for the souls there detained.
The mercy Of God affords us an
opportunity to exercise our char
! ity in an effort to hasten the re-
lease Of those who suffer in that
dread prison-house.
They can do nothing to relieve
their distress; they suffer in pa
tience, but not in silence. The
vail Of their misery ever ascends
in piteous appeal for the suffrages
of those who are bound to them
by the ties Of brotherhood and the
bonds Of charity. And surely they
plead not in vain, for our Faith
teaches us that 'FIt is a holy and
wholesome thought to pray for the
dead that they may be loosed from
their sins.
Even if the teaching Of Revela-
ton were not so explicit on this
point, the dictates of right reason
and the promptings Of human ma
ture would be sufficient to enlist
our good offices in their behalf.
For who can gaze unmoved upon
the sombre pail which Grapes the
casket Of a loved one and honestly
confess himself disbeliever in a
life to come? Who can stand be.
side the sodded grave where a
friend lies buried and feel that
death has SO completely shattered
the ties of friendship that he can
no longer, even in spirit, commune
with the departed? Who can ban
Iish from his heart, even If he
would, the consolation which
springs from the thought that
| death is not the end of life but.
rather, life's true beginning? If
such there be, they are assuredly
to be pitied The voice of human
lily in every age and cline rises in
protest against them and in oppo-
sition to every effort made to rob
the world Of that truly spiritual
affection which has it's origin in
the tomb and which purified
from every sensual desire, returns
like a holy flame to illumine and
sanctify the heart Of the sur
vivor. -
! This true affection throbbing in
the breast makes remembrance of
| the dead a thrice sacred duty. It
prompts to deeds Of charity; it
pours itself forth in prayers which
i pierce the veil that screens from
earthly view the mysterious
depths Of Purgatory; it feeds the
lamp whose kindly beams cheer
the weary sojourn Of those who
I'm hope the lone night-watches
keep
i The influence Of religion puri-
i fies and elevates these manifesto
tons Of affection and enriches
4 them with supernatural efficacy.
The voice of the Church assures
us that the barrier which death
erects between the living and the
dead cannot weaken, much less
sever, the bond of union that ex-
listed between them here upon
4 earth cannot release those who