The Raccolta (1857)/Original Dedication
THE ORIGINAL DEDICATION.
TO THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY,
THE CONTINUATOR OF THE "RACCOLTA."
Whilst I endeavour to satisfy the devotion of a large number of the faithful by a thirteenth Roman reprint of the Raccolta of Indulgenced Prayers, containing the additional grants of our present reigning Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX., I am persuaded that I cannot do better than adhere religiously to the pious practice of its compiler, who, out of his special devotion to you, my beloved souls, many times dedicated it to you. This he did, partly that he might in this way make a public attestation of his debt of gratitude to you, as he was wont to declare that he had received many graces and blessings from the Giver of all Good through your intercession, and partly because this work of his had a special reference to you, and in a manner belonged to you. True it is, that it is of great benefit to the living, since it teaches them that, in order to gain the Indulgences, they most approach the Sacraments with due dispositions, and so keep themselves in the grace of God. Its special benefit, however, belongs to you, since it is you who reap the fruit of the suffrage of so many Indulgences gained by the faithful and made applicable to you: here, then, is my special reason for dedicating the work to you.
Accept, then, beloved souls, this offering, slender though it be; have respect to the end I set before myself, and the loving heart with which I offer it you. Forget not, ye chosen ones of God, to manifest in my behalf your mighty aid, and obtain for me from God the remission of my guilt, and the gift of holy perseverance, that hereafter I may come with you to love and enjoy Him for all eternity: all this I trust in you to obtain for me; and in humbleness of heart I pray God that this work may ever produce in the faithful who are yet in the flesh the fruits of eternal life, and aid you to enter into that kingdom of glory whither your hearts are already gone before.
Note.
The compiler of the Raccolta was a Roman priest of the name of Telesphorus Galli, canon of the celebrated Basilica of St. Mary in Cosmedin, Consulter of the Holy Congregation of Indulgences and Holy Relics. Thus much we know of him from the decree of this said Holy Congregation, printed at the end of the Raccolta. He was a man of great piety, ardently devoted to the good of souls, not only in the exercise of his sacred ministry, but also in the promulgation of different pious exercises, which he used to spread by means of the press. He was open-handed to the poor, most devout to the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, which he used to visit every day wherever it was exposed for the Forty Hours. Nor was he less devoted to the holy souls in purgatory, by whose intercession he had often obtained great graces from God throughout the whole course of a life of seventy-seven years and twenty-nine days; for to them and in their behalf he had with heroical charity ceded and given over during his life all the suffrages which should be made for him after his death, which took place February 17, 1845. Moreover, in his last will he expressed a wish that a memorial should be engraved on his tombstone, how that it was his desire that the faithful on earth should continue in his place to offer up their suffrages for those holy souls. This epitaph may be read in the public cemetery of S. Spirito in Sassia, where his body lies according to his desire.