Then will Jesus turn to the elect and say: Come, blessed children of my Father; come, receive the kingdom which is prepared for you; come, no more to bear the cross with me, but with me to wear the crown. Come and be heirs of my kingdom, companions of my glory; come to praise my mercy through all eternity; come from exile to your home, come from misery to joy, come from weeping to rejoicing, come from suffering to eternal rest! “ Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you.” O my Jesus! I also hope to be among these blessed ones. I love thee above all things. O give me thy blessing now ! And do thou, my mother Mary, bless me also.
MEDITATION FOR FRIDAY.
On Hell.
I. Contemplate for a moment that frightful prison of Hell, filled with fire, where the damned suffer eternally. Into this fire they are, so to speak, plunged and buried. Under them a sea of fire, over them a sea of fire, around on all sides fire — fire in the eyes, fire in the mouth, fire penetrating everywhere. There each and every sense has a torment of its own. The eyes are tormented by darkness and smoke, and, at the same time, by the sight of the devils and the rest of the damned. Day and night the ears hear nothing else but howling, and weeping, and cursing. The sense of smell is sickened by the insupportable stench of so many putrid and infected bodies. The taste is tormented by a burning thirst and a cruel hunger, while never can be had a drop of water or the least refreshment. And thus these miserable captives, suffering every want, devoured by fire, tormented by every pain, weep, groan, howl, and
