Page:Purgatory00scho.djvu/162

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"These souls," says again the same saint, "are intimately united to the will of God, and so completely transformed into it, that they are always satisfied with its holy ordinances. The souls in Purgatory have no choice of their own; they can no longer will anything than what God wills. They receive with perfect submission all that God gives them; and neither pleasure, nor contentment, nor pain can ever again make them think of themselves."

St. Magdalen de Pazzi, after the death of one of her brothers, having gone to the choir to offer prayers for him, saw his soul a prey to intense suffering. Touched with compassion, she melted into tears, and cried out in a piteous voice, " Brother, miserable and blessed at the same time! O soul afflicted and yet contented! these pains are intolerable, and yet they are endured. Why are they not understood by those here below, who have not the courage to carry their cross? Whilst you were in this world, my dear brother, you would not listen to my advice, and now you desire ardently that I should hear you. O God, equally just and merciful, comfort this brother, who has served you from his infancy. Have regard to your clemency, I beseech you, and make use of your great mercy in his behalf. O God most just, if he has not always been attentive to please you, at least he has not despised those who made profession of serving you with fidelity."

The day on which she had that wonderful ecstasy, during which she visited the different prisons of Purgatory, seeing again the soul of her brother, she said to him, " Poor soul, how you suffer! and nevertheless you rejoice. You burn and you are satisfied, because you know well that these sufferings must lead you to a great and unspeakable felicity. How happy shall I be, should I never have to endure greater suffering! Remain here, my dear brother, and complete your purification in peace."