Friday, November 23, 2007

Daily Pilgrimage to Purgatory

Friday
Holy Souls in Purgatory, is there anything you regret when you think of your life on earth?
I deeply regret my neglect of acts of mortification. How easy they would have been on earth, but how difficult they are now in Purgatory. Here the smallest suffering is more poignant than the most cruel torments on earth. In the world it meant only patience and resignation in the hardships and adversities of my life; it meant only giving from my surplus to the poor, and devoting myself to works of mercy. Nothing could have been easier, and my Purgatory would have been shortened considerably.
If God would but grant me the grace to exchange the years during which I must still remain in this place of sorrow for as many years of life on earth! No commands would be too severe for me; no pains could frighten me; the most difficult works of penance would seem easy and give me comfort.
You who now suffer under the trials and hardships of life! You who now earn your daily bread by the sweat of your brow, rejoice! The smallest suffering endured in the spirit of atonement and offered to the Sacred Heart, will save you from a long and painful Purgatory.
from "Daily Pilgrimage to Purgatory"
published by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

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