man," said the angel, "for whom you have prayed with so much fervour and constancy." She was astonished to find him so deep in Purgatory twelve years after his death. The angel, seeing her so greatly affected, asked if she was willing to suffer something for his deliverance. "With all my heart," replied the charitable maiden. From that moment she suffered new pains and frightful torments, which appeared to surpass the strength of human endurance. Nevertheless, she bore them with courage, sustained by a charity stronger than death, until it pleased God to send her relief. She then breathed as one restored to a new life, and, at the same time, she saw that soul for which she had suffered so much come forth from the abyss as white as snow and take its flight to Heaven.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Matter of Expiation — Worldliness — St. Bridget — The Young Person— The Soldier — Blessed Mary Villani and the Worldly Lady.
Souls that allow themselves to be dazzled by the vanities of the world, even if they have the good fortune to escape damnation, will have to undergo terrible punishment. Let us open the "Revelations of St. Bridget,"[1] which are held in such esteem by the Church. We read there in Book vi. that the saint saw herself transported in spirit into Purgatory, and that, among others, she saw there a young lady of high birth who had formerly abandoned herself to the luxury and vanities of the world. This unfortunate soul related to her the history of her life, and the sad state in which she then was. " Happily,"
- ↑ Oct. 8.
