New Britain herald., 1917-11-01
NEW BRi1AN DAILY HERALD. THURSDAY NOVEMBER j. 1917

necessary sentences of Justice, when
all the time our divine Saviour is gen.
erous with His warnings and His help
that we may yet be spared them! A
perfect act of contrition, or confess
sion with an imperfect contrition, the
Christian acceptance OF. the laws of
labour and the tolls Of life, the fasts
and abstinences imposed upon us by
the Church. or voluntarily undertaken.
the duties of almsgiving. prayer, the
Holy Mass, and the Holy Communion
these are the means whereby we
may expiate our sins by our merits,
or merit by the expiation of our sins.
! Murmur no more against divine
Justice, beseech you. since you your
selves have provoked 1t, but strike
your breast and resolve to do pen
ance without delay. And, in view of
your death. which shall come upon
you in the hour when least you look
| Tor 1t. ask your relations and friends.
and the priest OF your parish to per-
FORM great act Of charity.
| Our divine Saviour, who conde-
scended to pity all our Weaknesses in
stituted sacrament with the object
or supporting our moral strength In
the last struggles of our life, and of
enacin1 even the last traces OF sin in
| tribunal of God.
Extreme Unction, or more exactly,
the Holy Unction Of the sick-Sacra
inftrmorum Unctio, as the Council of
Trent and the Roman Ritual express
| twill give you back health, If it be
healthful to you. and will, If you leave
| this world. cause you to escape from
! the penalties of purgatory. Is it not
| deplorable that foolish prejudices.
maintained. you may be sure, by the
perfdy Of Satan. have given credit to
the idea that this blessed sacrament
is the precursor OF death?
| 1t is given to the dying. but we are
afraid Of giving 1t to the sick!
You must then, while you are still
well enough, require OF your priest.
your doctor. and those near you, that
they should procure you the Holy
Unction Of the Sick, not when you are
irretrievably lost. but as soon as there
is q serious, probability that your life
Ia in danger. Thus, in all peace Of
mind and in clear consciousness. you
will receive what the Council of Trent
calls "the most powerful of all aids"
|-'flrmissimum praesidium"-for the
great crossing. and so you will respond
to the ardent longing Of the Heart OF
God, Who desires you to ascend
straight from the earth into His para
| disc.
Under it's first aspect, then, purga-
tory is the place of anguish, Of suffer-
| ing.
But, on the other hand. Father F'A-
| Der goes on, in the Interpretation or
| the consolatory revelations vouohsafed
| to st. Catherine Of Genoa. there is
nothing more beautiful. next to heav-
en-, nothing more peaceful, nothing
more closely submitted unto God than
the kingdom Of suffering souls. Dante.
the great Italian poet, whose philo-
| sophical and theological learning are
| as great as his genius as a writer.
| sees the souls of purgatory carried
across in little boat which hardly
skins the surface of the waters. An
angel, like a heavenly bird, beats the
! air with its wings, and the boat
| obeys. The souls all sing in chorus
| the psalm OF de1iverance: I'm exitu
| Israel de Aegypto." Their sole care
| is to become purer-"more beautiful"
| as the poet puts it--so as no longer to
| be unworthy to appear before the in
| finite holiness OF God.
In tho Canon Of the Mass the priest
has every day special prayer for the
sot1ls Of the departed. Remember
I0 1tAyS 10 OuI AOEUp IA0y uAN0
preceded US into eternity with the sign
Of faith, and they rest in the slumbe-
81 peace-in somno pacis."
They do not yet. enjoy eternal rest
in refreshment and light, but they are
none the less. safe In Christ, to Whom
they have the Joy Of belonging. The
Council, Of Trent speaks, of them as
dead In Christ'--defunctae in Chris
- oil IN oh
tered from sin, and even (thanks to
the special protection of Cody shell
tered from venia1 sin.
They no longer have the power Of
adding to the sum of their merit: but
they are none the less generous in
putting into practice both theological
and moral virtues, and also those gifts
Of the Holy Spirit with which they
were enriched at the moment of their
leaving the earth. And now their time
OF trial Is spent in acts OF hope, Of
courage. Of patience. charity and re-
ligious obedience to the most holy will
of God.
They suffer intensely; they will SUI
fer perhaps for years, even for CEN
turtles, but they love the Justice that
purifles them; they respect the inf1n-
lite purity that holds them at dist
ance, and there comes from purgatory
no blasphemy or murmur OF .impa-
tience. These noble and lovable souls
"slumber truly in peace and rest in
Christ" as they wait for their final
bliss ITO all souls that rest in
Christ" says the Liturgy of the Mass,
"mercifully grant, Lord, the refresh
ing place Of your Paradise full of light
and peace
20 Christ, our God. Thou art the
Resurrection and tho Life and the Re-
pose Of Thy servant N. in his Sleep"
says a touching prayer of the Greco
Slay liturgy for the dead: I'VE glorify |