Page:Purgatory00scho.djvu/279

 love of yourself. Generosity towards the departed is always repaid; it finds its recompense in ail kinds of graces, the source of which is the gratitude of the holy souls and that of our Lord, who considers as done to Himself all that we do for the suffering souls.

St. Bridget declares in her Revelations, and her testimony is quoted by Benedict XIII., that she heard a voice from the depths of the Purgatorial flames pronouncing these words: "May those be blessed, may those be rewarded, who relieve us in these pains! " And on another occasion: "O Lord God, show Thy Almighty power in recompensing a hundred-fold those who assist us by their suffrages, and make the rays of the divine light to shine upon us." In another vision the saint heard the voice of an angel saying: " Blessed be upon earth those who, by their prayers and good works, come to the assistance of the poor suffering souls! "

Blessed Peter Lefevre, of the Company of Jesus, so well known for his devotion towards the holy angels, had also a special devotion towards the souls in Purgatory. " Those souls," he said, " have bowels of Charity, which are ever open to those who still walk amidst the dangers of this life; they are filled with gratitude towards those who assist them. They can pray for us, and offer up their torments to God in our behalf. It is a most excellent practice to invoke the souls in Purgatory, that we may obtain from God, through their intercession, a true knowledge of our sins and a perfect contrition for them, fervour in the exercise of good works, care to produce worthy fruits of penance, and in general, all virtues, the absence of which has been the cause of their terrible chastisement.