Chapter XXII

Holy Mass is the Unfailing Succor of the Departed

It is quite impossible for us to imagine the cruel torments endured by the souls in purgatory. The fathers of the Church tell us that they are terrible in the extreme. St. Augustine says that the fire which purifies the elect is of the same nature as that which torments the damned. This fire is fiercer than any we have seen, or can conjecture, on earth. If we had no other testimony than this to the terrible character of the purgatorial fire, it would suffice to make us believe in its awful agony, and tremble at the thought of it. St. Augustine proceeds to describe it further: “Although this fire,” he says, “is not eternal, it is marvellously intense, and inflicts worse pain than any ever suffered in this world. No physical suffering can equal it, not even the fearful tortures the martyrs endured.” Now if, after hearing this, we read in the lives of the saints of the cruel tortures they underwent, we may form some faint conception of the awful nature of the pains of purgatory.

According to St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, it would be preferable to suffer all imaginable anguish to the end of time than to pass one day in purgatory. My God, how intolerable those pains must be if an unhappy soul suffers more in one day than a man could suffer from now until the day of judgment! St. Thomas of Aquin declares that a single spark from the flames of purgatory is worse than all the most dreadful tortures of this life. Terrible words, almost surpassing our powers of belief! Alas, what is to become of us, wretched sinners, if after our death we are plunged into those scorching flames? What intense suffering, my God, is in store for us then! And yet not the slightest doubt can be entertained that, unless we endure these torments, we cannot enter heaven; for we are not holy and perfect: far from it, we are full of evil desires, and are soiled with the stains of sin.

Many more passages from the fathers might be quoted concerning the pains of purgatory, but we will content ourselves with the words of St. Bernardine, who says: “There is as much difference between our material fire and the fire of purgatory as between a painted fire and a real fire.” St. Magdalen of Pazzi, who several times had a vision of purgatory, and even descried her own brother there, said that a large fire on earth appeared like pleasure-grounds in comparison to the fires of purgatory. This forcible comparison is enough to give us some idea of the agony suffered in purgatory, and to urge us to make atonement for our sins now, that we may not have to expiate them hereafter in the torturing flames. It ought also to awaken within us heartfelt compassion for the holy souls who at the present time are enduring the terrible torture of that fiery prison, and on that account deserve our deepest commiseration.

There are many different ways of helping the suffering souls and delivering them from purgatory; but none of these is so sure and so effectual as the holy sacrifice of the Mass. The Church, speaking by the Council of Trent, declares this to be the case: “This (Ecumenical Synod teaches that the souls detained in purgatory are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar.” (Sess. xxv.) This is laid down as an article of faith, which no man can gainsay. The same was asserted two centuries previously by the angelic doctor St. Thomas: “By no other oblation can the souls in purgatory be more speedily released than by the sacrifice of the Mass.”

The reason of it is this: In the Mass not only do the priest and the congregation pray fervently for the deliverance of the holy souls, but at the same time they offer to God the full amount of the debt yet owing to divine justice, and thus appease His just anger. Everybody will understand that if any one does not merely ask that a debtor may be released from prison, but also pays what he owes, the prisoner will at once be set free. The holy souls are in the grace of God; they have made their peace with Him in the Sacrament of Penance. They are still captives in that awful, fiery prison on account of the punishment due to their sins, and the stains which still cleave to them. If, moved by compassion, thou dost plead for them, and bestow on them the merit of thy prayers, thou wilt, it is true, discharge a part of their debt, but not sufficient to effect their release. The Judge Himself has passed on them this terrible sentence: “Amen, I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.” (Matthew 5:26) Learn from these words the pitiless severity of Our Lord, since He declares He will not forgive one miserable farthing to the debtor who owed Him a thousand talents, and who has paid off the whole amount with the exception of that one last farthing. But if thou hearest Mass for one poor soul, and offerest it to divine justice with that intention, rest assured that thou wilt pay at any rate a considerable portion of his debt.

From what amount of punishment the soul is freed by one Mass is uncertain, for God has not made it known, and opinions are divided about it. One thing, however, admits of no doubt, namely, that a Mass said or heard in one’s lifetime has much more satisfactory value than one said after death. According to St. Anselm, a single Mass in one’s lifetime is equivalent to many after one’s death. How are we to account for this?

(1) Every Mass which a man says or hears obtains for him an increase of glory in heaven; this is not the case when Mass, or even hundreds of Masses, are offered for him after his death.

(2) If thou hearest Mass, or hast Mass said for thee, when in a state of wrath, God will perchance for the sake of that Mass bring thee to a knowledge of sin, and grant thee the grace of contrition, and thus thou mayst return to a state of grace; this would be impossible after death. For if, neglecting Mass, thou wert to die in mortal sin, no number of Masses offered for thee could procure thy return to a state of grace.

(3) All the Masses which thou hearest, or which are said for thee, will await thee at thy death: they will go with thee to the judgment-seat, they will plead for mercy for thee, and if they do not preserve thee altogether from the cleansing flames they will at any rate shorten the time of thy detention. But if the Masses are not to be said until after thy death, thou wilt have to await in anguish the alleviation they will bring.

(4) If in thy lifetime thou dost give an alms to have Mass said for thee, the money comes out of thy own^ pocket, and involves some sacrifice on thy part, freely made to thy God. But the dead do not spend their own money: it belongs to them no longer, but to their heirs. Wherefore it is to be feared that the Masses for which money is bequeathed are but of little value tc him for whom they are said.

(5) Finally, one Mass said in thy lifetime will do more to free the soul from the punishment of sin than many Masses after death. For our sojourn in this world is a time of grace, afterwards comes the time of just retribution; now it will be far easier for us to make our peace with our Judge than it will be hereafter. A slight penance voluntarily performed in this world has more value in the sight of God than compulsory penance of much greater severity in the world to come; just as we value a small piece of gold more than a large lump of lead.

The following examples testify to the immense efficacy of holy Mass in mitigating or remitting altogether the pains of purgatory.

Breidenbach speaks of a certain citizen who shortly after his death appeared to one of his servants, wrapped in flames, and, telling her that he was suffering unutterable torments, begged her to bid his son have some Masses said for him. The son had three Masses said directly, and the servant, who assisted at them, beheld the spirit of her deceased master present on his knees. At the conclusion of the three Masses he appeared to her again, and desired her to thank his son in his name and inform him that he had been sentenced to five years in purgatory. In consequence, however, of the three Masses and the suffrages of the faithful which were offered for him four years and four days of punishment had been remitted to him.

In the annals of the Cistercian Order it is recorded that in the time of St. Bernard of Clairvaux a lay brother who had died appeared to one of the fathers in the night after his demise, saying: “Come with me and see the dreadful torments which by divine justice I am condemned to suffer.” He then led him to the edge of a deep, fiery abyss, and told him that he was constantly thrown into that abyss by the devils, who treated him with such barbarity that he would rather be ill-treated a hundred times over by men than once by the devils. The next morning the pious father who had witnessed this related it to St. Bernard. He immediately called all the monks together, depicted to them the unhappy condition of their deceased brother, and bade them do their utmost by their prayers and Masses to appease the anger of God, and rescue the soul of their brother from the power of the demons. The monks did so, and a few days later the soul of the departed brother appeared again to the same father, this time with a joyous countenance. On being asked how it now was with him, he replied: “Thanks be to God, I am now free from pain,” The father inquired by what means he had been delivered: “Come and see,” his visitant answered. Then conducting him into the monastery chapel, where several priests were offering the holy sacrifice with great devotion, he uttered these remarkable words: “Behold the weapons of God’s grace, whereby my deliverance was effected. This is the citadel of divine mercy, the power of which cannot be overcome. Behold the wondrous victim, Who takes away the sins of the world. I tell you of a truth nothing can resist the weapons of divine grace, the omnipotence of divine mercy, the efficacy of the salutary victim, but the hardened heart of the unrepentant sinner.” Thereupon the apparition vanished. The good father told the rest of the community about the release of their suffering brother and the great potency of the holy sacrifice, inspiring them all with more fervent appreciation and love of holy Mass.

These examples should teach us to be diligent in prayer for our departed friends; for it is not as easy for them to gain an entrance into heaven as we imagine. If we cannot have Mass said for them, we may at any rate hear Mass as often as possible for them, and ask others to do the same in their behalf. A good man once told a poor widow who complained to him that she was unable through poverty to have Mass said for her deceased husband: “Go to church and hear several Masses, and offer them to God for your husband; very probably this may do more to help him than if a Mass was said for the repose of his soul.” This is good advice to give to the poor who cannot afford to have Mass said. For although it is undeniably more to have Mass said than merely to hear it, yet each time we hear Mass for some suffering soul its pains are mitigated, and it is sprinkled with the blood of Christ in virtue of the oblation offered to God.

Of this we have a type given us in the Old Testament, inasmuch as God says: “I have given you the blood, that you may make atonement with it upon the altar for your souls, and the blood may be for an expiation of the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11) St. Thomas, commenting on this passage, says: “In these words it is foretold that the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ is of avail for the souls in purgatory.” For if under the Jewish law the blood of the holocaust was for the cleansing of the soul, how much more will the precious blood of Christ, offered upon our altars, purify our souls, and the suffering souls besides, from every stain, and deliver the captives from their fiery prison.

At the time when this precious blood was shed upon the cross all the souls detained in purgatory were set free, according to the words of the prophet Zacharias, which he addresses to the Saviour: “Thou also by the blood of Thy testament hast sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water.” (Zacharias 9:11) In this passage the prophet declares that the general redemption of the souls in limbo was to be ascribed to the blood of Christ shed for them. In what terms shall we speak of the power of holy Mass, wherein the blood of the new and eternal testament, the same precious blood, is continually shed for {he remission of sins? Who can doubt that it is all-prevailing to refresh, to cleanse, to release the holy souls? Never was a cooling draught so grateful to the parched lips of the fever patient as the precious blood of Christ is to the souls in purgatory, when shed for them and mystically sprinkled upon them in holy Mass, in its power to cool, refresh, cleanse, and ransom them.

An incident from the life of Blessed Henry Suso of the Order of St Dominic may aptly be introduced here. It is related of him that when making his studies at Cologne he entered into an agreement with a priest of his Order that whichever should outlive the other should say a certain number of Masses for the repose of his friend’s soul. After his studies were ended Father Suso remained at Cologne, while his friend was sent into Swabia, where a few years later he died. On the news of his death reaching Father Suso he remembered his promise, but was unable immediately to fulfil it However, he prayed very earnestly for his friend, fasted, and took the discipline in his behalf. Before many days had passed the deceased appeared to him in great affliction and said: “False friend that thou art, why hast thou not accomplished the promise thou madest tome?” Blessed Suso, startled and alarmed, replied: “Do not be angry with me, O my friend; I have really been prevented from saying the Masses as yet, but I have offered many prayers; I have fasted and chastised my body for thee.” The apparition answered: “Thy prayers are not powerful enough to deliver me out of the torments I endure. The blood of Jesus Christ, consecrated and offered up in holy Mass, alone avails to set me free. If thou hadst said the promised Masses, by this time I should be released from my prison; it is entirely thy fault that I am still a prey to the devouring flames.” This and yet more in the same strain did the unhappy soul say to Father Suso; then he left him, overwhelmed with grief and sorrow. As soon as he had recovered himself a little he hastened to his superior, narrated to him what had occurred, and begged permission to set aside the Masses prescribed for him to say in order that he might fulfil his promise to his friend. When this had been done, the soul appeared to him once more and intimated to him that he was then at rest and would pray for him in heaven.

This story teaches us the immense power of Christ’s blood, consecrated in the Mass, and the welcome relief it affords to the holy souls when it is offered up for them. St. Gregory says authoritatively: “When the holy sacrifice is offered and special intercession made by the priest for the souls of the departed, they are released from their pains.”

The suffering souls also experience a great alleviation when the graves are incensed and sprinkled with holy water. The holy water does indeed only materially moisten the earth, but in its beneficent virtue it refreshes the souls in purgatory, just as the waters of Baptism falling on the head of the infant have power to cleanse his soul. Wherefore see that thou frequently sprinkle the last resting-place of thy friends with holy water, for thereby thou wilt allay the heat of the flames that torture them.

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