Devotion to the dead, as we have seen, exists everywhere, is everywhere

dear to the hearts of the people, from those first early worshippers,

who, in the dawn of Christianity, in the dimness of the Catacombs

prayed for the souls of their brethren in Christ, begging that they

might "live in God," that God might refresh them, down through the ages

to our own day, increasing as it goes in fervor and intensity. We meet

with its records, written boldly, so to say, on the brow of nations, or

in out-of-the-way corners, down among the people, in the littleness and

obscurity of humble domestic annals. In the earliest liturgies, in the

most ancient sacramentaries, there is the prayer for "refreshment,

light, and peace," as it is now found in the missals used at the daily

sacrifice, on the lips of the priest, in the prayers of the humblest

and most unlettered petitioner. It is the "low murmur of the vale,"

changing, indeed, at times into the thunder on the mountain tops,

amazing the unbelieving world which stands aloof and stares, as in the

instances but lately quoted, or existing forgotten, and overlooked by

them, but no less deep and solemn. It is a _Requiem Æternam_

pervading all time, and ceasing only with time itself, when the

Eternity of rest for the Church Militant has begun.

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD IN THE ANGLO-SAXON CHURCH.

DR. LINGARD.

The Anglo-Saxons had inherited from their teachers the practice of

prayer for the dead--a practice common to every Christian Church which

dates its origin from any period before the Reformation. It was not

that they pretended to benefit by their prayers the blessed in heaven,

or the reprobate in hell; but they had never heard of the doctrine

which teaches that "every soul of man, passing out of the body, goeth

immediately to one or other of those places" (Book of Homilies. Hom.

VII. On Prayer). And therefore assuming that God will render to all

according to their works, they believed that the souls of men dying in

a state of less perfect virtue, though they might not be immediately

admitted to the supreme felicity of the saints, would not, at least, be

visited with the everlasting punishment of the wicked. [1] It was for

such as these that they prayed, that if they were in a state of

imperfect happiness, that happiness might be augmented; if in a state

of temporary punishment, the severity of that punishment might be

mitigated; and this they hoped to obtain from the mercy of God, in

consideration of their prayers, fasts, and alms, and especially of the

"oblation of the most Holy Victim in the Sacrifice of the Mass."

[Footnote 1: "Some souls proceed to rest after their departure; some go

to punishment for that which they have done, and are often released by

alms-deeds, but chiefly through the Mass, if it be offered for them;

others are condemned to hell with the devil." (Serm. ad. Pop. in Oct.

Pent.) "There be many places of punishment, in which souls suffer in

proportion to their guilt before the general judgment, so that some of

them are fully cleansed, and have nothing to suffer in that fire of the

last day." (Hom. apud. Whelock, p. 386.)]

This was a favorite form of devotion with our ancestors. It came to

them recommended by the practice of all antiquity; it was considered an

act of the purest charity on behalf of those who could no longer pray

for themselves; it enlisted in its favor the feelings of the survivor,

who was thus enabled to intercede with God for his nearest and dearest

friends, and it opened at the same time to the mourner a source of real

consolation in the hour of bereavement and distress. It is true,

indeed, that the petitioners knew not the state of the departed soul;

he might be incapable of receiving any benefit from their prayers, but

they reasoned, with St. Augustine, that, even so, the piety of their

intentions would prove acceptable to God. When Alcuin heard that

Edilthryde, a noble Saxon lady, lamented most bitterly the death of her

son, he wrote to her from his retreat at Tours, in the following

terms:--"Mourn not for him whom you cannot recall. If he be of God,

instead of grieving that you have lost him, rejoice that he is gone to

rest before you. Where there are two friends, I hold the death of the

first preferable to that of the second, because the first leaves behind

him one whose brotherly love will intercede for him daily, and whose

tears will wash away the frailties of his life in this world. Be

assured that your pious solicitude for the soul of your son will not be

thrown away. It will benefit both you and him--you, because you

exercise acts of hope and charity; him, because such acts will tend

either to mitigate his sufferings, or to add to his happiness."

[Footnote 1: Ep. Cli Tom. I, p. 212.]

But they did not only pray for others, they were careful to secure for

themselves, after their departure, the prayers of their friends. This

they frequently solicited as a favor or recompense, and for this they

entered into mutual compacts by which the survivor was bound to perform

certain works of piety or charity for the soul of the deceased. Thus

Beda begs of the monks of Lindisfarne that, at his death, they will

offer prayers and Masses for him as one of their own body; thus Alcuin

calls upon his former scholars at York to remember him in their prayers

when it shall please God to withdraw him from this world; and thus in

the multifarious correspondence of St. Boniface, the apostle of

Germany, and of Lullus, his successor in the See of Mentz, both of them

Anglo-Saxons, with their countrymen, prelates, abbots, thanes, and

princes, we meet with letters the only object of which is to renew

their previous engagements, and to transmit the names of their defunct

associates. It is "our earnest wish," say the King of Kent and the

Bishop of Rochester in their common letter to Lullus, "to recommend

ourselves and our dearest relatives to your piety, that by your prayers

we may be protected till we come to that life which knows no end. For

what have we to do on earth but faithfully to exercise charity towards

each other? Let us then agree, that when any among us enter the path

which leads to another life (may it be a life of happiness), the

survivors shall, by their alms and sacrifices, endeavor to assist him

in his journey. We have sent you the names of our deceased relations,

Irmige, Vorththry, and Dulicha, virgins dedicated to God, and beg that

you will remember them in your prayers and oblations. On a similar

occasion we will prove our gratitude by imitating your charity."

Such covenants were not confined to the clergy, or to persons in the

higher ranks of life. England, at this period, was covered with

"gilds," or associations of townsmen and neighbors, not directly for

religious purposes, but having a variety of secular objects in view,--

such as the promotion of trade and commerce, the preservation of

property and the prosecution of thieves, the legal defence of the

members against oppression, and the recovery of bots, or penalties, to

which they were entitled; but whatever might be their chief object, all

imposed one common obligation, that of accompanying the bodies of f the

deceased members to the grave, of paying the soul-shot for them at

their interment, and of distributing alms for the repose of their

souls. As a specimen of such engagements, I may here translate a

portion of the laws established in the gild at Abbotsbury. "If," says

the legislator, "any one belonging to this association chance to die,

each member shall pay one penny for the good of the soul, before the

body be laid in the grave. If he neglect, he shall be fined in a triple

sum. If any of us fall sick within sixty miles, we engage to find

fifteen men, who may bring him home; but if he die first, we will send

thirty to convey him to the place in which he desired to be buried. If

he die in the neighborhood, the steward shall inquire where he is to be

interred, and shall summon as many members as he can to assemble,

attend the corpse in an honorable manner, carry it to the minster, and

pray devoutly for the soul. Let us act in this manner, and we shall

truly perform the duty of our confraternity. This will be honorable to

us both before God and man. For we know not who among us may die first;

but we believe that, with the assistance of God, this agreement will

profit us all if it be rightly observed."

But the clerical and monastic bodies inhabiting the more celebrated

monasteries offered guildships of a superior description. Among them

the service for the dead was performed with greater solemnity; the

rules of the institute insured the faithful performance of the duty;

and additional value was ascribed to their prayers on account of the

sanctity of the place and the virtue of its inmates. Hence it became an

object with many to obtain admission among the brotherhood in quality

of honorary associates; an admission which gave them the right to the

same spiritual benefits after death to which the professed members were

entitled. Such associates were of two classes. To some the favor was

conceded on account of their reputation for piety or learning; to

others it was due on account of their benefactions. Instances of both

abound in the Anglo-Saxon records. Beda, though a monk at Jarrow,

procured his name to be entered for this purpose on the bead-roll of

the monks at Lindisfarne; and Alcuin, though a canon at Tours, in

France, had obtained a similar favor from the monks at Jarrow. It

belonged, of right, to the founders of churches, to those who had made

to them valuable benefactions, [1] or had rendered to them important

services, or had bequeathed to them a yearly rent charge [2] for that

purpose.

[Footnote 1: When Osulf, ealdorman, by the grace of God, gave the land

at Stanhamstede to Christ Church, he most humbly prayed that he and his

wife, Beornthrythe, might be admitted "into the fellowship of God's

servants there, and of their lords who had been, and of those who had

given lands to the Church."--Cod. Dipl. I. 292. The following is an

instance of a rent charge given by Ealburge and Eadwald to Christ

Church for themselves, and for Ealred and Ealwyne forty ambres of malt,

two hundred loaves, one wey, &c, &c.; "and I, Ealburge," she adds,

"command my son Ealwyne, in the name of God, and of all the saints,

that he perform this duty in his day, and then command his heirs to

perform it as long as Christendom shall endure."]

[Footnote 2: I Monast. Ang. i. 278. A similar regulation is found among

the laws of the gild in London. "And ye have ordained respecting every

man who has given his 'wed' in our gildships, if he should die, that

each gild brother shall give a 'genuine loaf' for his soul, and sing a

ditty, or get it sung, within thirty days."--Thorpe's Laws of London

Gilds.]

Of all these individuals an exact catalogue was kept; the days of their

decease [1] were carefully noted, and on their anniversaries a solemn

service of Masses and psalmody was yearly performed. [2] It may be

easily conceived that to men of timorous and penitent minds this custom

would afford much consolation. However great might be their

deficiencies, yet they hoped that their good works would survive them;

they had provided for the service of the Almighty a race of men, whose

virtues they might in one respect call their own, and who were bound,

by the strongest ties, to be their daily advocate at the throne of

divine mercy. [3] Such were the sentiments of Alwyn, the caldorman of

East Anglia, and one of the founders of Ramsey. Warned by frequent

infirmities of his approaching death, he repaired, attended by his sons

Edwin and Ethelward, to the abbey. The monks were speedily assembled.

"My beloved," said he, "you will soon lose your friend and protector.

My strength is gone: I am stolen from myself. But I am not afraid to

die. When life grows tedious death is welcome. To-day I shall confess

before you the many errors of my life. Think not that I wish to solicit

a prolongation of my existence. My request is that you protect my

departure by your prayers, and place your merits in the balance against

my defects. When my soul shall have quitted my body, honor your

father's corpse with a decent funeral, grant him a constant share in

your prayers, and recommend his memory to the charity and gratitude of

your successors." At the conclusion of his address the aged thane threw

himself on the pavement before the altar, and, with a voice interrupted

by frequent sighs, publicly confessed the sins of his past years, and

earnestly implored the mercies of his Redeemer.... He exhorted the

brethren to a punctual observance of their rule, and forbade his sons,

under their father's malediction, to molest them in possession of the

lands which he had bestowed on the abbey.... Within a few weeks he

died, his body was interred with proper solemnity in the Church; and

his memory was long cherished with gratitude by the monks of Ramsey.

[4]

[Footnote 1: According to Wanly there is in the Cotton Library (Dom. A.

7) of the reign of Athelstan, in which the names of the chief

benefactors of the Church of Lindisfarne are written in letters of gold

and silver, which catalogue was afterwards continued, but not in the

same manner (Wanly, 249). This is probably the same book which was

published in 1841 by the Surtees Society, under the name of _Liber

Vitæ Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis_. It contains the names of all the

benefactors of St. Cuthbert's Church from its foundation, and lay

constantly on the altar for upwards of six centuries.]

[Footnote 2: According to Wanly there is in the Cotton Library (Dom. A.

7) of the reign of Athelstan, in which the names of the chief

benefactors of the Church of Lindisfarne are written in letters of gold

and silver, which catalogue was afterwards continued, but not in the

same manner (Wanly, 249). This is probably the same book which was

published in 1841 by the Surtees Society, under the name of _Liber

Vitæ Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis_. It contains the names of all the

benefactors of St. Cuthbert's Church from its foundation, and lay

constantly on the altar for upwards of six centuries.]

[Footnote 3: Thus when Leofric established canons in the Church of

Exeter, he made them several valuable presents, on condition that, in

their prayers and Masses, they should always remember his soul, "that

it might be the more pleasing to God." Monas. Ang. tom i. p. 222.]

[Footnote 4: Hist. Rames, p. 427.]

There were three kinds of good works usually performed for the benefit

of the dead: One consisted in the distribution of charity. To the

money, which the deceased, if he were in opulent or in easy

circumstances, bequeathed for that purpose, an addition was often made

by the contributions of his relatives and friends. Large sums were

often distributed in this manner. King Alfred the Great says in his

will: "Let there be given for me, and for my father, and for the

friends that he prayed for, and that I pray for, two hundred pounds;

fifty among the Mass-priests throughout my kingdom; fifty among the

servants of God that are in need, fifty among lay paupers, and fifty to

the church in which my body shall rest." [1] Archbishop Wulfred in his

will, (an. 831) made provision for the permanent support and clothing

of twenty-seven paupers, out of the income from certain manors which,

at his own cost and labor, he had recovered for the Church of

Canterbury. Frequently the testator bequeathed a yearly dole of money

and provisions to the poor on the anniversary of his death. Thus the

clergy of Christ-church gave away one hundred and twenty suffles, or

cakes of fine flour, on the anniversaries of each of their lords, by

which word we are probably to understand archbishops; but Wulfred was

not content with his accustomed charity; he augmented it tenfold on his

own anniversary, having bequeathed a loaf, a certain quantity of

cheese, and a silver penny to be delivered to twelve hundred poor

persons on that day. Of such dole some vestiges still remain in certain

parts of the kingdom.

[Footnote 1: Cod Diplom (double S?) i. 115.]

Another species of charity, at the death of the upper ranks, was the

grant of freedom to a certain number of slaves, whose poverty, to

render the gift more valuable, was relieved with a handsome present. In

the Council of Calcuith, it was unanimously agreed that each prelate at

his death should bequeath the tenth part of his personal property to

the poor, and set at liberty all bondmen of English descent, whom the

Church had acquired during his administration; and that each bishop and

abbot who survived him, should manumit three of his slaves, and give

three shillings to each, for the benefit of the soul of the deceased

prelate.

The devotions in behalf of the dead consisted in the frequent

repetition of the Lord's Prayer, technically called a belt of

Paternosters, which was in use with private individuals, ignorant of

the Latin tongue; 2d, in the chanting of a certain number of psalms,

generally fifty, terminating with the collect for the dead, during

which collect all knelt down, and then repeated the anthem in Latin or

English: "According to Thy great mercy give rest to his soul, O Lord,

and of Thine infinite bounty grant to him eternal light in the company

of the saints;" [1] 3d, in the sacrifice of the Mass, which was offered

as soon as might be after death, again on the third day, and afterwards

as often as was required by the solicitude of the relatives or friends

of the deceased. No sooner had St. Wilfred expired than Talbert, to

whom he had intrusted the government of his monastery at Ripon, ordered

a Mass to be celebrated, and alms to be distributed daily for his soul.

On his anniversary the abbots of all the monasteries founded by Wilfred

were summoned to attend; they spent the preceding night in watching and

prayer, on the following morning a solemn Mass was performed, and then

the tenth part of the cattle belonging to the monastery was distributed

among the neighboring poor.

[Footnote 1: On the death of St. Guthlade, his sister Pega recommended

his soul to God, and sang psalms for that purpose during three days.]

In like manner we find the ealdorman Osulf, "for the redemption and

health of his own soul, and of his wife, Beornthrythe," giving certain

lands to the Church of Liming, in Kent, under the express condition

that "every twelve months afterwards, the day of their departure out of

this life should be kept with fasting and prayer to God, in psalmody

and the celebration of Masses."

It would appear that some doubt existed with respect to the exact

meaning of this condition; and a few years later the archbishop, to set

the question at rest, pronounced the following decree: "Wherefore I

order that the godly deeds following be performed for their souls at

the tide of their anniversary; that every Mass priest celebrate two

Masses for the soul of Osulf, and two for Beornthrythe's soul; that

every deacon read two passions (the narratives of our Lord's sufferings

in the gospels) for his soul, and two for hers; and each of God's

servants (the inferior members of the brotherhood) two fifties" (fifty

psalms) "for his soul, two for hers; that as you in the world are

blessed with worldly goods through them, so they may be blessed with

godly goods through you."

It should, however, be observed, that such devotions were not confined

to the anniversaries of the dead. In many, perhaps in all, of these

religious establishments, the whole community on certain days walked,

at the conclusion of the matin service, in procession to the cemetery,

and there chanted the dirge over the graves of their deceased brethren

and benefactors.

Respecting these practices some most extraordinary opinions have

occasionally been hazarded. We have been told that the custom of

praying for the dead was no part of the religious system originally

taught to the Anglo-Saxons, that it was not generally received for two

centuries after their conversion, and that it probably took its rise

"from a mistaken charity, continuing to do for the departed what it was

only lawful to do for the living." To this supposition it may be

sufficient to reply, that it is supported by no reference to ancient

authority, but contradicted in every page of Anglo-Saxon history.

Others have admitted the universal prevalence of the practice, but have

discovered that it originated in the interested views of the clergy,

who employed it as a constant source of emolument, and laughed among

themselves at the easy faith of their disciples. But this opinion is

subject to equal difficulties with the former. It rests on no ancient

testimony: it is refuted by the conduct of the ancient clergy. No

instance is to be found of any one of these conspirators as they are

represented, who in an unguarded moment, or of any false brother who,

in the peevishness of discontent, revealed the secret to the ears of

their dupes. On the contrary, we see them in their private

correspondence holding to each other the same language which they held

to their disciples; requesting from each other those prayers which we

are told that they mutually despised, and making pecuniary sacrifices

during life to purchase what, if their accusers be correct, they deemed

an illusory assistence after death.

A SINGULAR FRENCH CUSTOM.

Vernon is perhaps the only town in France wherein the ancient custom of

which we are about to speak still exists. When a death occurs, an

individual, robed in a mortuary tunic, adorned with cross-bones and

tear-drops, goes through the streets with a small bell in either hand,

the sound of which is sharp and penetrating; at every place where the

streets cross each other, he rings his bells three times, crying out in

a doleful voice: "Such-a-one, belonging to the Confraternity of St.

Roch, or the Confraternity of St. Sebastian, &c., &c., is recommended

to your prayers. He is dead. The funeral will take place at such-an-

hour." Then he rings again three times. The first Sunday of each month

arrives. Then, at the dawn of day the same individual goes again

through the town, ringing continuously, knocking thrice at the door of

each member of the confraternity, and stopping at the corners of the

streets, he sings: "Good people," or "good souls, who sleep, awake!

awake! pray for the dead! &c."--_Voix de la Verité_, July 22,

1846.

DEVOTION TO THE HOLY SOULS AMONGST THE EARLY ENGLISH.

ANNA T. SADLIER.

An English writer, the gifted author of the Knights of St. John, makes

the following assertion as regards the people of her own nationality:

"Our Catholic ancestors," she says, "are said to have been

distinguished above all other nations for their devotion towards the

dead; and it harmonizes with one feature in our national character,

namely, that gravity and attraction to things of solemn and pathetic

interest which, uncontrolled by the influence of faith, degenerates

even into melancholy." In view of this assertion, it will be

interesting to spend a few moments in gathering up the links of this

most ancient and most touching devotion, amongst a people who have

collectively, as it were, fallen away from grace. It is therefore our

purpose to look backwards into that solemn and beautiful past of which

heretical England can boast, and behold her, as Carlyle beheld her in

his "Past and Present," offering to the world the sublime spectacle of

a people devout and faithful, undisturbed by doubt, tranquilized by the

harmonious influence of religion, and unharassed by the spirit of so

called philosophic inquiry, which, misdirected, is the true bane of

English society at the present day.

This retrospection, as we shall have occasion later on to recur to the

subject of devotion to the dead in England, must necessarily be both

brief and cursory. But even the merest outlines are of interest, for

they prove that prayer for the departed was no less the favorite

devotion of the learned than of the simple, and that it had its home in

those ancient seats of learning, Oxford and Cambridge and their

dependencies, from the very hour of their foundation. Of the Founder of

Oxford, it is said, that prayer for the dead was one of his devotions

of predilection. It is not necessary here for us to follow him, the

great and good William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, and

subsequently Lord Chancellor of England, in the gradual unfoldings of

that project of founding a University, so dear to him from almost the

moment of his elevation to the episcopate. Suffice that in the March of

1379, he laid the corner-stone of "St. Marie's College of Winchester,

Oxenford." It is with his great charity towards the Holy Souls that we

are at present concerned, and of this we have ample proof in the

testimonies of his biographers. Here is one of them, in the paragraph

which follows:

"There was another devotion which was most dearly cherished by Wykeham,

and which is an equal indication of the singular _spirituality_ of

his mind,--we mean, that for the suffering souls in Purgatory. It may

be safely affirmed, that this devotion, so unselfish and unearthly in

its tendencies, carrying us beyond the grave, and making us familiar

with the secrets of the unseen world, could never find a place in the

heart of one who was engrossed by secular cares, or the love of money.

Its existence in any marked and special degree argues in the soul of

its possessor a profound sense of sin, a deep compassion for the

sufferings of others, and a habit of dwelling on the thoughts of death,

judgment, and eternity. Moreover, it is utterly opposed to anything of

that mercenary or commercial spirit which exists among men of the

world, who like to see some large practical result even in matters of

devotion. We pray, and are sensible of no return; we spend our money in

a Requiem Mass, and there is nothing but trust in God's word, and God's

fidelity, to assure us that the money is not thrown away. Every _De

Profundis_ that we say is as much an act of faith as it is an act of

charity; and it has its reward. We do not speak merely of the benefit

reaped by the souls of the faithful departed; but who can measure the

effect of this devotion on a man's own soul, bringing him (as it does)

into communion with the world of spirits, and realizing to him the

worth of Christian suffering, and the awful purity of God?"...

Wykeham's heart was full of compassion for suffering, and the dead

shared his charity with the living. Never did he offer the Holy

Sacrifice for the departed without abundant tears. His reverence for

the Holy Mysteries, and the singular devotion with which he celebrated,

are often referred to by those who have written his life; one of whom,

after speaking of his various charities, thus continues: "Not only did

he, as we have said, offer his goods, but also his very self, as a

lively sacrifice to God, and hence, in the solemn celebration of Mass,

and chiefly at that part where there is made a special memorial of the

living and the dead, he was wont to shed many tears out of the humility

of his heart, reputing himself unworthy, as he was wont to express it

in speaking to his secretary, to perform such an office, or to handle

the most sublime mysteries of the Church."

From the same biographer we add to the foregoing a further testimony as

to what a hold this devotion of predilection had taken upon the soul of

the Founder of Oxford:

"Among his charities we accordingly find a great many which were solely

directed to the relief of the suffering souls. Wykeham's benevolence

had in it one admirable feature: it was not left to be carried out

after his death by his executors, but all his great acts of munificence

were performed in his own lifetime. One of his first cares, after his

accession to the See of Winchester, was to found a chantry in the

Priory of Southwyke, near Wykeham, for the repose of the souls of his

father and mother and sister, who were buried within the priory church;

and in all his after foundations provisions were made for the continual

remembrance of the dead; and (ever grateful to his early friends) King

Edward III., the Black Prince, and King Richard II. were all commended

to the charity of those who, as they prayed for Wykeham, were charged

at the same time to pray for the souls of his benefactors."

In Winchester we read, also, of the College of the Holy Trinity,

endowed as a "carnarie," or charnel-house, of the city. The chief

duties of the priests belonging to the chantry attached thereto were to

bury the dead, and keep up perpetual Masses for the souls of the

departed.

Those Colleges of Winchester, with their simple beauty and grandeur of

design, with their conventional rule of life, the singing of Matins,

and the daily chanting of the divine office by chaplains and fellows,

offer to us a very fair picture, indeed. But we observe that in the

Masses sung with "note and chant," there is one specially mentioned for

the souls of the founder's parents, and of all the faithful departed; a

second for the souls of King Edward III., Queen Philippa, the Black

Prince, Richard II., Queen Anne, and certain benefactors.

On the 24th of July, 1403, the saintly Wykeham made his will. He

directed that his body should be laid in a chantry which he had himself

founded, and at the altar of which he was wont to offer up the Holy

Sacrifice. He desired that on the day of his burial, "to every poor

person coming to Winchester, and asking alms, for the love of God, and

for the health of his soul, there should be given fourpence." Alms were

likewise to be distributed in every place through which his body was to

pass, and large provision was made for Masses and prayers for the

repose of his soul. He had, besides, made an agreement with the monks

of St. Swithin's, by which they were to offer three Masses daily for

his parents and benefactors in the chantry chapel; the first of these

was a Mass of Our Lady, to be said very early. The boys attached to the

College were, moreover, to sing every night in perpetuity, either the

_Salve Regina_ or _Ave Regina_, with a _De Profundis_ for his soul's

repose. So, as the hour of his death drew near, he who had concerned

himself through life with the souls of the departed, essayed to make

provision for his own. Since that hour when he proceeded to the high

altar of Winchester Cathedral, escorted by the Lord Prior of Winchester

and the Abbot Hyde, to celebrate his first Pontifical Mass, the same

constant memory of the dead had been with him, as when kneeling he

prayed aloud for the soul of his predecessor,

William de Edyndon, and bade the choir chant the _De Profundis_,

while he himself recited the _Fidelium omnium conditor_.

But leaving Oxford and its pious founder, we turn our gaze upon that

ancient foundation of Eton, which was to serve as a preparatory school

for the new establishment of King's College of Cambridge, which Henry

had in contemplation. Henry, in his famous Eton charter, makes mention

of his desire that this college shall be, as it were, a memorial of

him, and be composed of clerks, "who," he says, "shall pray for our

welfare whilst we live, and for our soul when we shall have departed

this life." The Pope, Eugenius IV., afterwards granted a plenary

indulgence to all who should visit the College Chapel of Our Lady of

Eton, after Confession and Communion. Henry having visited the

Colleges of Winchester, first met there with William Wayneflete, with

whom he was to be united in so warm and beautiful a friendship. The

"Master of Winton," as Wayneflete then was, is described as "simple,

devout, and full of learning." But a short time after he was removed

to Eton, and presently raised to the Provostship. Among many beautiful

and pious customs, the memory of the dead was carefully preserved

among the Eton scholars, and their verses on All Souls' Day were on

the blessedness of those who die in the Lord. But Wayneflete is, of

course, chiefly identified with Magdalen College, Oxford, said to be

"the finest collegiate building in England," and of which he was the

founder. It was, in truth, his dream, and one which he was destined

to see realized. Here is neither the place nor time to dwell upon its

beauties. The first stone was laid by the venerable Tybarte, its first

president. He was buried in the middle of the inner chapel, and upon a

cope, preserved among the ancient church vestments, is one upon which

is worked the inscription, "_Orate pro anima Magistri Tybarte_." [1]

[Footnote 1: Pray for the soul of Master Tybarte.]

Among the rules and regulations of this new foundation was one which

obliged the president, fellows, and scholars to recite, while dressing,

certain prayers in honor of the Blessed Trinity, and a suffrage for the

founder. Daily prayers were offered up for the repose of the souls of

the founder's father and mother, "those of benefactors of the college,

and for all the souls of the faithful departed." These suffrages were

to be made by every one, at whatever hour of the day was most

convenient.

There were many foundations of Masses attached to this College of

Magdalen. Of these daily Masses, offered at the six altars of the

chapel, the early "Morrow Mass" was always said in the Arundel Chapel,

for the soul of Lord Arundel, the chief benefactor of the institute.

Another Mass was to be said every day for "souls of good memory,"

including, besides the two kings, Henry III. and Edward III., his dear

and never forgotten friends, Henry VI., Lord Cromwell, and Sir John

Fastolfe, as well as King Edward IV. Other Masses and prayers were said

for other intentions. The founder was to be especially remembered every

quarter. Every day, after High Mass, one of the demys was to say aloud

in the chapel, "_Anima fundatoris nostri Willielmi, et animae omnium

fidelium defunctorum, per miscricordiam Dei in pace requiescat._"

[1] The same prayer was to be repeated in the hall after dinner and

supper.

[Footnote 1: "May the soul of our founder, William, and the souls of

all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace."]

But the life of the Founder of Magdalen, the great Bishop, was drawing

to a close. We shall see by his will how firm his faith in that most

Catholic of all doctrines--Purgatory. After various bequests, he left a

certain portion of his property for Masses and alms-deeds for his own

soul and the souls of his parents and friends. On the day of his

burial, and on the thirtieth day from the time of his decease, and on

other appointed days, his executors are charged to have 5,000 Masses

said in honor of the Five Wounds of Christ, and the Five Joys of Mary--

his favorite devotions--for the same intention. His remains were buried

at Winchester, in a tomb which he had prepared as a place of burial

during his lifetime. His was, indeed, the third chantry chapel in

Winchester, the others being those of his predecessor. This custom was

common to all the great prelates of the time. They prepared a place of

sepulture during their life, and there where they officiated at all

solemn offices, and so frequently celebrated requiems for the departed,

they knew that their remains were one day to be laid, and prayers and

the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to be offered for themselves. It was

thus a constant reminder of death.

A ceremony connected with Magdalen Tower seems likewise to have had its

origin in this pious custom of remembrance of the dead. "On the 1st of

May," says Anthony Wood, "the choral ministers of this house do,

according to ancient custom, salute Flora from the top of the tower, at

four in the morning, with vocal music of several parts." Of course, as

a chronicler remarks, it was not to salute Flora that any Catholic

choristers thus made vocal the sweet air of May. "The sweet music of

Magdalen Tower," remarks the author of the Knights of St. John, "had a

directly religious origin. On the 1st of May the society was wont

annually to celebrate the obit or Requiem Mass of King Henry VII., who

proved a generous benefactor to the College, and who is still

commemorated as such upon that day. The requiem was not, indeed,

celebrated _on the top of the tower_, as Mr. Chalmers, in his

history of the university, affirms, in total ignorance that a

_requiem_ is a Mass, and that a Mass must be said upon an altar;

but it is probable that the choral service chanted on the 1st of May

consisted originally of the _De Profundis_, or some other psalm,

for the repose of Henry's soul, and as a special mark of gratitude."

Some semblance of the old custom is still kept up, as ten pounds is

still annually paid by the rectory of Slimbridge, in Gloucestershire,

for the purpose of keeping up this ceremony.

Such are a few brief glimpses of this belief in Purgatory, which was so

dear to the hearts of Englishmen, in those centuries before the blight

of heresy had fallen upon the Island of the Saints. These hints upon

the subject are given very much at random, and will simply serve to

show how prayer for the dead was a part of all Christian lives in those

ages of faith. It was incorporated in the rules of every collegiate

institute, and more especially those two most notable ones of Oxford

and Cambridge. It entered into every man's calculations, and was

provided for in every Will and Testament. Had it been in our power to

go backwards, into a still more remote antiquity, it would have been

our pleasant task to find this belief in suffrage for the dead taking

so vigorous root in every heart. Do we not find the Venerable Bede,

"the Father of English Learning," who was born in 673 and died in 734,

asking that his name may be enrolled amongst the monks of the monastery

founded by St. Aidan, in order that his soul after death might have a

share in the Masses and prayers of that numerous community, as he tells

us himself in his Preface to the Life of St. Cuthbert. "This pious

anxiety," says Montalembert, "to assure himself of the help of prayer

for his soul after death is apparent at every step in his letters. It

imprints the last seal of humble and true Christianity on the character

of the great philosopher, whose life was so full of interest, and whose

last days have been revealed to us in minute detail by an eye-witness."

[1]

[Footnote 1: "Monks of the West," Vol v, p 89.]

The passionate entreaties of Anselm, another of the shining lights of

early Anglo-Saxon days, that the soul of his young disciple Osbern be

remembered in prayers and Masses, proves what value he attached to

suffrages for the departed:

"I beg of you," he writes to his friend Gondulph, "of you and of all my

friends, to pray for Osbern. His soul is my soul. All that you do for

him during my life, I shall accept as if you had done it for me after

my death. ... I conjure you for the third time, remember me, and forget

not the soul of my well-beloved Osbern. And if I ask too much of you,

then forget me and remember him.... The soul of my Osbern, ah! I

beseech thee, give it no other place than in my bosom."

And do we not read of those "prayers for souls," incessant and

obligatory, which were identified with all the monastic habits--thanks

to that devotion for the dead which received in a monastery its final

and perpetual sanction. "They were not content," says Montalembert,

"even with common and permanent prayer for the dead of each isolated

monastery. By degrees, vast spiritual associations were formed among

communities of the same order and the same country, with the aim of

relieving by their reciprocal prayers the defunct members of each

house. Rolls of parchment, transmitted by special messengers from

cloister to cloister, received the names of those who had 'emigrated,'

according to the consecrated expression, 'from this terrestrial light

to Christ,' and served the purpose of a check and register to prevent

defalcation in that voluntary impost of prayer which our fervent

cenobites solicited in advance for themselves or for their friends."

And, of course, this was many years, even centuries, before the Feast

of All Souls was instituted by the Abbot Odilo and the monks of Cluny

in 998. English history, like every other history, furnishes us,

indeed, with innumerable traits of this pious devotion to the Holy

Souls. Obviously, our space must prevent us from entering more deeply

into the subject. May the few scattered hints we have been enabled to

throw out be of interest and profit to our readers!

DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY IN THE EARLY IRISH CHURCH.

WALSH. [1]

[Footnote 1: "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland." Rev J. Walsh.]

Coerced by the unvarying as well as unequivocal testimony of our

writers, our liturgies, our canons, Usher was obliged to admit that the

ancient Irish had been in the constant practice of offering up the

eucharistic sacrifice, and that Masses, termed _Requiem Masses_,

used to be celebrated daily. So interwoven is the doctrine of the

eucharistic sacrifice with the records of the nation, that the

antiquarian himself should reject the antiquities of Ireland if he had

ventured on the denial of this practice .... Admitting the practice of

the ancient Irish Church, Usher strives to escape from the difficulty,

as well as attempts to deceive his readers, by pretending that it had

been only a sacrifice of thanksgiving, offered as such for those souls

who were in possession of eternal happiness, and that it had not been

believed or practiced in the ancient Irish Church as a propitiatory

sacrifice. .... The ancient canons of the Irish Church as clearly point

out as the firmament demonstrates the glory of God, the doctrine of our

Church regarding the eucharistic sacrifice, as one of thanksgiving, and

also one of propitiation. In an ancient canon contained in D'Achery's

collection (lib. 2, cap. 20), the synod says: "The Church offers for

the souls of the deceased in four ways--for the very good, the

oblations are simply thanksgiving; for the very bad, they become

consolations to the living; for such as were not very good, the

oblations are made in order to obtain full remission; and for those who

were not very bad, that their punishment may be rendered more

tolerable." Here, then, is enunciated in plain terms, the doctrine of

the eucharistic oblation being a propitiatory sacrifice. When offered

for the first class of happy souls, it is an offering of thanksgiving.

When offered for those whose lives were bad in the sight of Heaven, its

oblation is a comfort to the faithful. When offered for those who were

not very good or very bad, the object of its oblation was to render

their state more tolerable, and that full pardon would be at length

accorded. The framers of this canon give us also the doctrine of a

middle state, as a tenet also believed by the Church of Ireland.

Another canon, still more ancient, and which is reckoned among those of

St. Patrick, is entitled "Of the Oblation for the Dead." This canon is

couched in the following words: "There is a sin unto death, I do not

say that for it any do pray." This sin is final impenitence.

The ancient Irish Missal, "the _Cursus Scotorum"_ contains an

oration for the dead: "Grant, O Lord, to him, Thy servant, deceased,

the pardon of all his sins, in that secret abode where there is no

longer room for penance. Do Thou, O Christ, receive the soul of Thy

servant, which Thou hast given, and forgive him his trespasses more

abundantly than he has forgiven those who have trespassed against him."

An oration is also given for the living and the dead: "Propitiously

grant that this sacred oblation may be profitable to the dead in

obtaining pardon, and to the living, in obtaining salvation; grant to

them (living and dead) the full remission of all their sins, and that

indulgence they have always deserved."

The liturgy usually called _"Cursus Scotorum"_ was that which had

been first brought to Ireland by St,. Patrick, and was the only one

that had been used, until about the close of the sixth century. About

this period the Gallican liturgy, _"Cursus Gallorum"_ was, it is

probable, introduced into Ireland. The _"Cursus Scotorum"_ is

supposed to have been the liturgy originally drawn up and used by St.

Mark the evangelist; it was afterwards followed by St. Gregory

Nazianzen, St. Basil, and other Greek Fathers; then by Cassian,

Honoratus, St. Cassarius of Aries, St. Lupus of Troyes, and St.

Germaine of Auxerre, from whom St. Patrick received it, when setting

out on his mission to Ireland. A copy of the "_Cursus Scotorum_"

was found by Mabillon, in the ancient monastery of Bobbio, of which St.

Columbanus was founder, and which missal that learned writer believes

to have been written at least one thousand years before his time. ...

It contains two Masses for the dead; one a general Mass, and the other

"_Missa Sacerdotis defuncti_" (Mass for a deceased priest).

PRINCE NAPOLEON'S PRAYER.

This prayer, in the handwriting of the Prince Imperial, was found among

the papers in his desk at Camden Palace. In publishing it the Morning

Post adds: "The elucidation of his character alone justifies the

publication of such a sacred document, which will prove to the world

how intimately he was penetrated with all the feelings which most

become a Christian, and which give higher hopes than are afforded by

the pains and merits of this transitory life." The following is a

translation: "O God, I give to Thee my heart, but give me faith.

Without faith there is no strong prayer, and to pray is a longing of my

soul. I pray, not that Thou shouldst take away the obstacles on my

path, but that Thou mayst permit me to overcome them. I pray, not that

Thou shouldst disarm my enemies, but that Thou shouldst aid me to

conquer myself. Hear, O God, my prayer. Preserve to my affection those

who are dear to me. Grant them happy days. If Thou only givest on this

earth a certain sum of joy, take, O God, my share, and bestow it on the

most worthy, and, may the most worthy be my friends. If thou seekest

vengeance on man, strike me. Misfortune is converted into happiness by

the sweet thought that those whom we love are happy. Happiness is

poisoned by the bitter thought: while I rejoice, those whom I love a

thousand times better than myself are suffering. For me, O God, no more

happiness. Take it from my path. I can only find joy in forgetting the

past. _If I forget those who are no more, I shall be forgotten in my

turn_, and how sad the thought that makes me say, 'Time effaces

all.' The only satisfaction I seek is that which lasts forever, that

which is given by a tranquil conscience. O, my God! show me where my

duty lies, and give me strength to accomplish it always. Arrived at the

term of my life, I shall turn my looks fearlessly to the past. Remember

it will not be for me a long remorse. I shall be happy. Grant, O God,

that my heart may be penetrated with the conviction that those whom I

love and who are dead shall see all my actions. My life shall be worthy

of this witness, and my innermost thoughts shall never make them

blush."

That single line, "If I forget those who are no more, I shall be

forgotten in my turn," is an epitome of what is taught us, and what our

own hearts feel in relation to the dead. May the noble young heart that

poured forth this beautiful prayer be remembered by Christian charity

now that he is amongst the departed!

THE HELPERS OF THE HOLY SOULS. BY LADY GEORGIANA ILLERTON.

It has always seemed to me a particularly interesting subject of

thought to trace as far back as possible the origin of great and good

works,--to ascertain what were the tendencies or the circumstances

which concurred in awakening the first ideas, or giving the first

impulses, which have eventually led to results the magnitude of which

was little foreseen by those destined to bring them about; how much of

natural character, and what peculiar gifts, united with God's grace in

the formation of some of those grand developments of religion which

have been the joy and the glory of the Church.

What would we not give to know, for instance, at what page, at what

sentence, of the volume of the "Lives of the Saints" which St. Ignatius

was reading on his sick couch at the Castle of Loyola, the thought came

into his mind the ultimate development of which was the foundation of

the Society of Jesus? or when the blessed Father Clavers' soul was for

the first time moved by a casual mention, perhaps, of the sufferings of

the negro race? or the particular disappointment at some Parisian lady

going out of town in the midst of her works of charity, or at another

being detained at home by the sickness of some relative, which

suggested to St. Vincent de Paul the first idea of gathering together a

few servant girls from the country, to do with greater regularity, if

not more zeal, the visiting amongst the poor which the ladies had

undertaken, and thus founding the Order of the Sisters of Charity? I

suppose that every one who has done anything worth doing in the course

of their lives could call to mind the moment when a book, a sermon, a

conversation, a casual word, perhaps,--or, if they have been so

favored, a direct inspiration from God in the hour of prayer,--has

given the impulse--set fire, as it were, to the train lying ready in

their hearts. But long before this decisive time has come, indications

have existed, thoughts have arisen, feelings have been awakened, which,

like the cloud big as a man's hand, have foreshadowed the deluge of

graces and mercies about to inundate their souls.

As an instance of these indications of a particular bias, I was struck

with the mention of a childish fancy in the early years of the

foundress of the Order of Helpers of the Souls in Purgatory,--a new

community, which has sprung up during the last ten years, and has a

history well worth relating. To many this fresh manifestation of the

spirit of the Church on earth, and of its close affinity with the

suffering Church in Purgatory, has come as a wonderful blessing and

consolation, and inspired them with a grateful regard for these new

oblates and victims of charity to the dead.

About thirty years ago a little girl in the town of N--, in France, had

been much struck with the mention of Purgatory. It made a very great

impression upon her. She used to picture it to herself as a dark

closet, in which a little friend of hers who had lately died was

perhaps shut up, whilst she herself was playing in the garden and

running after butterflies; and she kept longing to open the door and

let her out. This little girl was subsequently educated in one of the

Convents of the Sacred Heart, and learnt in that school lessons of

self-devotion and ardent zeal for souls which were hereafter to bear

fruit. She has retained to this day an enthusiastic affection for the

religious teachers of her childhood; and devotion to the Sacred Heart

of Jesus is one of the principal devotions of the order she has

founded.

The thought which had occurred to her almost in infancy continued to

haunt her in another form as she grew older. She kept asking herself,"

How could I help God? He is our helper: how can we help Him? He gives

me everything: how could I give Him everything?" And the answer which

grace put into her heart to these oft-repeated questions was always, "By

paying the debts of the souls in Purgatory."

The inevitable result of this thought was the desire to have wherewith

to pay these debts. For this object the necessity of a perfect life, of

a daily sanctification, of an ever-increasing store of merits and

satisfactions, was obvious. Hence naturally arose the idea of the

community-life, of the practice of the evangelical counsels, and of a

meritorious, arduous, self-sacrificing charity towards the poor, in

order worthily to pray, to act, and to suffer for the souls in

Purgatory--to become, as it were, a co-operator with our Lord, by

aiding His designs of mercy towards them, whilst satisfying His justice

by voluntary expiation. This lady was not led by one of those startling

bereavements which close a person's prospects of earthly happiness, and

leave them no object to live for but the hope of winning mercy at God's

hands for some dear departed one; or by the terrible anxiety about the

state of some beloved soul which forces on the survivor the practice of

a continual appeal to His compassionate goodness. Her zeal for the

souls in Purgatory was perfectly free from any earthly attachment; it

was as disinterested as possible, and sprung up in her heart before she

had known what it is to lose a friend or a relative, before she had

experienced the keen anguish of bereavement. She was a happy, contented

girl, living in a cheerful and comfortable home, beloved by her family,

enjoying all innocent pleasures, going occasionally into society, and

amusing herself like other young people; devoted, indeed, to good

works, and taking the lead in the numerous charities existing in her

native town. But this was not to be her eventual mode of life. It was

good as far as it went; but she had been chosen for the accomplishment

of a special work, and grace was continually urging her to its

fulfilment.

On the 1st of November, 1853, Mdlle. ---- was hearing vespers with her

father and her mother in a church dedicated to Our Lady. Whilst the

Blessed Sacrament was being exposed on the altar, she felt a strong

internal inspiration prompting her to form an association of prayers

and offerings for the dead; but, afraid of being misled by her

imagination, she prayed earnestly that God would give her a sign that

this was indeed His will. As she was coming out of the church, a friend

of hers stopped her in the porch, and of her own accord proposed that

they should offer up jointly, during the month set apart for special

devotion to the souls in Purgatory, all their prayers and works for

their relief. This seemed to her a token that her inspiration had been

a true one, and that very evening an association was begun which by

this time numbers not less than fifteen thousand members. On the

following day, the 2d of November, during her thanksgiving after

Communion, Mdlle. ---- was strongly impressed with the thought that there

existed orders intended to supply every need in the Church militant,

but none exclusively devoted to the relief of the suffering portion of

the Church, and it appeared to her that she was called upon to fill up

this void. This idea seemed at the outset too bold a one. She felt

startled, almost alarmed, at its magnitude, and earnestly entreated our

Lord to make known to her if such was indeed to be her mission. She

begged of Him, by His Five Sacred Wounds, to give her five indications

of His will in this respect. Her prayers were heard, and during the

course of the years 1854 and 1855 these tokens were successively

vouchsafed to her. What she had asked for was, 1st, that the Holy

Father should approve of in writing, and give his blessing to, the

association of prayers set on foot on All Saints' Day (on the 7th of

July, 1854, Pius IX. wrote, with his own hand, at the bottom of the

petition presented to him, "_Benedicat vos Deus benedictione

perpetua_"--may God bless you with an everlasting blessing); 2d,

that a great number of Bishops should approve of this association; 3d,

that it should extend rapidly; 4th, that a few pious persons should co-

operate in the scheme, and devote themselves to works of charity in

behalf of the souls in Purgatory; 5th, that a priest might be met with

who had previously formed a similar project.

In the month of July, 1855, Mdlle. ---- thought of consulting the Curé

d'Ars, whom she had for the first time heard of a little while before.

The sanctity of this extraordinary man was beginning to be much spoken

of, not only in France, but all over Europe. Pilgrims flocked to the

insignificant little town of Ars, seeking the advice and help of the

poor _curé_--whose ascetic mode of life, spiritual discernment,

heroic virtues, and even miraculous gifts, were gradually becoming

known, in spite of the desperate efforts he made to conceal them. We

can hardly imagine, when reading his Life, that in the neighboring

country of France, and in our own day, a man was actually living that

we might have seen and spoken and gone to confession to, the details of

whose supernatural existence are like the marvels that we read of in

the "Lives of the Saints." Mdlle. ---- felt persuaded that this holy

priest was the instrument appointed by God to make her acquainted with

His will, and earnestly longed in some way or other to communicate with

him. She did not think of obtaining leave from her parents to go to

Ars. It seemed to her that his answer to her question, after he had

considered the subject before God in prayer, would be more unbiassed,

and carry greater weight with it, than if she had spoken of it to him

herself. She did not wish to be influenced by any human considerations,

or to be tempted to say more than, "Such is my thought and desire; does

it come from God?" With this view she began a novena, and on the day it

ended one of her friends called to tell her she was going to Ars, and

to inquire if she could do anything for her. On the 5th of August this

friend sent her M. Vianney's answer: "Tell her that she can establish,

as soon as she likes, an order for the souls in Purgatory."

The future foundress never had any personal communication with the Curé

d'Ars, and yet he always used to say, "I know her." On the 30th of

October Mdlle. ---- entreated him to pray on All Souls' Day for her

intention, and on the 11th of November the Abbé T--, his assistant in

his extensive correspondence, wrote to her as follows:

"Your edifying letter reached me at Pont d'Ain, where our worthy

Bishop, Monseigneur Chalandon, was preaching a retreat. This seemed

expressly arranged by Providence, in order that I should speak to him

of you and your pious projects. On my return to Ars, on All Souls' Day,

I mentioned your wishes to my holy _curé_, begging him to meditate

on the subject in prayer before he gave me an answer. Three or four

times since I have put to him the same question, and always received

the same answer. 'He thinks that it is God who has inspired you with

the thought of a heroic self-devotion, and that you will do well to

found an order in behalf of the souls in Purgatory.' Whether the good

_curé_ speaks in consequence of a divine enlightenment, or whether

he only expresses his own opinion and his own wishes, which his tender

devotion to the souls in Purgatory would naturally incline in favor of

your design, neither I nor any of those most intimately acquainted with

him can presume to say. But you can remain certain of two things,--that

he quite approves of your vocation to the religious life, and of the

foundation of this new order, which he thinks will increase rapidly.

This is surely enough to confirm you in your intention, which you will

carry into effect whenever and wherever it will please God to open a

way to it, and you will then be the faithful instrument of His Divine

Providence."

On the 25th of the same month M. Vianney sent a message to Mdlle. ---- in

answer to a letter in which she had spoken of the obstacles which she

foresaw on the part of her family. The Abbé T---- writes:

"If I have not written to you before, it is because you particularly

wished to have an answer _after special prayer_. And now here is

this much-wished-for answer. The good _curé_ has expressed himself

as explicitly as possible. I told him that you were troubled at the

thought of a separation from your family more on their account than

your own, and also at relinquishing the many charitable works which you

carry on in your parish. To my great surprise, he who generally very

strongly recommends young people not to act against their parents'

wishes, but patiently to await their consent, did not hesitate in

advising you to proceed. He says that the tears your parents are now

shedding will soon be dried up. Do not, then, be afraid to let your

heart burn with the love of Jesus. He will find a way of removing all

the obstacles in your path, and of making you an angel of consolation

to His holy spouses, the souls in Purgatory. The moon has no light in

herself, and only reflects that of the sun. This is truly my case with

regard to our saintly priest. I will constantly remind him to pray for

you, and will unite my unworthy prayers to his, that, in the terrible

struggle in your heart between nature and grace, grace may remain

victorious."

When this letter reached Mdlle. ----, the principal difficulty she

foresaw was already removed. On the 21st of November, the Feast of the

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, her mother, seeing that her heart

was ready to break with the wish and the fear of broaching the subject

so painfully interesting to them both, had the pious courage to speak

first, and to give her full consent to her child's vocation.

Both mother and daughter were struck some time afterwards at finding in

a little prayer-book they had not seen before, called "The Month of

November Consecrated to the Souls in Purgatory," the following prayer,

appointed to be said on the 21st of November, the very day on which

they had made their sacrifice, and uttered for the first time the

bitter word _separation_.

"O Holy Spirit! who at divers times has raised up religious orders for

the needs of the Church Militant; O Father of Light! full of compassion

and zeal for the dead; we implore Thee to raise up also in behalf of

the suffering Church a new order, the object of which will be to work

day and night for the relief and the deliverance of the souls in

Purgatory; whose intentions, invariably dedicated to the dead, will

apply to them the merits of all their prayers, fastings, vigils, and

good works. Thou alone, Creating Spirit, canst achieve a work which

will procure so much glory to God, and for which we shall never cease

to sigh and pray."

Other difficulties failed not to arise. Some persons were of opinion

that Mdlle. ---- ought to remain in the world for the very sake of the

objects she had in view, whereas her whole heart and soul were bent on

consecrating herself without any reserve to our Lord. She was warned

that her parents, who had never been separated from their children,

would suffer terribly if she left them; and finally, her own health

began to fail. But whilst the world and the devil were multiplying the

obstacles in her way, the venerable Curé d'Ars spared neither advice

nor encouragement to support her in her arduous struggle. On the 23d of

December his coadjutor writes:

"Divine Providence always acts with sweetness and with power. The

consent of your good mother is an important step gained. The good

_curé_ advises you not to go to Paris until you have some means

wherewith to begin your work. You will do well to avail yourself of the

interest you possess in your diocese to obtain some aid towards it. The

_curé_ entirely approves of your becoming a religious. It is quite

possible that God may restore your health; and he advises you to make a

novena to St. Philomena.

"The very day I received your letter, Monseigneur Chalandon, our worthy

Bishop, came to Ars, to call on my holy _curé_. I mentioned you

to him. He told me he had written to you. He also says that you must

not begin without some means and better health. Pray very hard that God

may give you both. I think the souls in Purgatory ought to take this

opportunity to prove that they have influence with God. Their interests

are at stake in the removal of these obstacles." Mdlle. ---- had asked to

make this novena conjointly with M. Vianney; and she soon received the

following letter:

"It is to-day, the 9th of January, that our much-wished-for novena is

to begin. The souls in Purgatory are interested in the re-establishment

of your health. I am, you know, but the echo of our good and holy

_curé_. Your director gives you excellent advice. You might,

indeed, as soon as you have means enough of support for one year, go to

Paris for a while, and come back again to forward the work in the same

way you are doing now. You say, 'St. Vincent de Paul used to begin his

works with nothing.' So he did. But then, as my good _curé_

observes, 'St. Vincent de Paul was a great saint!'"

According to M. Vianney's advice, on the 19th of January, 1856, the

foundress went to Paris, where she met some persons who had, like her,

resolved to devote themselves to the service of the souls in Purgatory;

but who were quite at a loss how to proceed, and had no means of

support. All sorts of crosses awaited this little band of Helpers of

the Holy Souls, for such was the name they had taken. Not only were

funds wanting for their establishment, but they did not know where to

apply for work, and sufferings of every kind assailed them. Mdlle. ----

experienced what always happens to generous souls at the outset of

their enterprises, when they have unreservedly devoted themselves to

the service of God, and are being tried like gold in the furnace. Blame

and neglect became her portion. Nobody thought it worth their while to

assist a little band of women, whose heroic project had seemed

admirable, indeed, in theory, but was now declared to be impracticable.

They were considered as mere enthusiasts; and, indeed, as was said by

M. Desgenettes, the venerable Curé of Notre Dame des Victoires, they

were truly possessed with the holy folly of the Cross.

Meantime they had to work for their bread, and did work with all their

might. But it was not always that work could be obtained; and trials

without end beset the infant community, lodged in an attic in the Rue

St. Martin. Every day, as they asked their Heavenly Father for their

daily bread, they prepared themselves to receive with it their habitual

portion of sufferings and privations--a fit noviceship for souls

undertaking a work of heroic expiation. Mdlle. ----, who, for the first

time in her life quitted a home where she had known all the comforts of

affluence, had to undergo numberless privations. Illness combined with

poverty to heighten their trials. Their Divine Master made them

experience the kind of suffering which it was hereafter to be their

special vocation to relieve. The Curé d'Ars fully understood the nature

of that training, and never offered them any help but that of his

advice and prayers. "He does not give you anything," says a letter

written on the 16th of March, "but _he_ will ask St. Philomena,

his heavenly treasurer, to put it into the hearts of those who could

assist you to do so." And, indeed, help used to come whenever the

distress of the holy society became too urgent. One day the foundress

had not a single penny left, and was, to use a common expression, at

her wits' end. But, thank God, there is something better than human

wits or human ingenuity in such extremities; and that is prayer. The

Sister who acted as housekeeper placed her bills before the

Superioress, and asked for money to buy food for the day. Mdlle. ----

told her to wait a little, and went out, not knowing very well what to

do next. She entered a church, threw herself on her knees before the

Blessed Sacrament, and prayed long and fervently. As she was coming

away she stopped before an image of our Holy Mother, and clasping her

hands, exclaimed: "My Blessed Mother, you _must_ get me 100 francs

to-day. I will take no refusal. You _cannot_, you never do forsake

your children." She went straight home, and up the dingy stairs into

the little room inhabited by the infant community. The instant she

opened the door her eyes fell on a letter lying on the table. She

opened it with a beating heart, and found in it a note of 100 francs.

There was no name; not a word written on the cover. The postman had

just left it, and to this day the donor of this sum, or the place it

came from, has not been discovered. Another time eight sous was all

that remained in the purse of the associates. They agreed to lay out

this money to advantage, and accordingly employed it in purchasing a

little statue of St. Joseph, whom they instituted their treasurer. The

Saint has fulfilled ever since the trust reposed in him; but he often

waits till the very last moment to supply the necessities of his

clients. I have seen this little image in their convents. It is, of

course, very dear to them.

One day, when no needle-work was to be had, and distress was

threatening them, a little girl came to their room, and asked if they

had finished the bracelets she had been told to call for. Finding she

had mistaken the direction, the child said: "You could have some of

that work to do if you liked."

Upon inquiry they found that the employment consisted in threading rows

of pearls for foreign exportation; that it was less fatiguing and

better paid than needle-work, and proved for some months a valuable

resource. On another occasion the sum of 500 francs was required for

some pressing necessity. This time the foundress had recourse to our

Lady of Victories. Having placed the matter in her hands, she went to

call on a person whom she thought might lend her this money, but met

with a decided negative. She did not know any one else in Paris to whom

she could apply; but on leaving the house she met a gentleman, with

whom she had no previous acquaintance, who came up to her and said: "I

think you are Mdlle. ----, and that you have a special devotion for the

souls in Purgatory. Will you allow me to place this 500 francs at your

disposal, and to recommend my intentions to your prayers?" Meanwhile

illnesses and trials continued to affect the little community. The Abbé

T---- writes from Ars: "Do not ask for miraculous cures. _M. le

Curé_ complains that St. Philomena sends us too many people." The

next letter is full of kind encouragement: "_M. le Curé_ only

smiles when I tell him all you have to go through, and he bids me

repeat the same thing to you, which he desired me to write to a good

Sister, devoted to all sorts of good works and suffering cruel

persecution. 'Tell her that these crosses are flowers which will soon

bear fruit.' You have thought, prayed, taken advice, and thoroughly

weighed the sacrifices you will have to make, and you have every reason

to believe that in doing this work you are doing God's will. The energy

which He alone can give will enable you to accomplish what you have

begun."..."_M. le Curé_ has said to me several times, in a tone

of the strongest conviction, 'Their enterprise cannot fail to succeed;

but the foundress will have to experience what anxiety and what labor,

what efforts and what sufferings, have to be endured ere such a work

can be consolidated; but,' he adds, 'if God is with them, who shall be

against them?'"

On the 20th of June the Superioress received another letter from the

same good priest:

"I feel deeply affected," he writes, "at the thought of the many and

severe trials which beset you. Tell your friend that the holy

_curé_ bids her not to look back, but obey with courage the sacred

call she has received. The souls in Purgatory must be enabled to say of

you, 'We have advocates on earth who can feel for us, because they know

themselves what it is to suffer.' And mind you go on praying to St.

Philomena, and begging of her to obtain for you the means necessary for

the accomplishment of your holy projects."

The associates continued to pray, to work, and to suffer with patience

and cheerfulness. They received at last some unexpected assistance. New

members proposed to join them; but it became then absolutely necessary

to hire a house. The Superioress searched in every direction for a

suitable one, but without success. It seems as if the words, "there was

no room for them," were destined to prove applicable to all religious

foundations during their periods of probationary trial. After having

exerted herself, and employed others in vain for a long time, the

Superioress received a message from a holy man whose prayers she had

asked, desiring her to go to a particular part of the town, and to

await there some providential indication as to the abode she was

seeking. For several hours she paced up and down the streets of that

part of Paris, praying interiorly, but totally at a loss where to

apply. At last she accidentally turned into the Rue de la Barouillière,

and saw a house and garden with a bill upon it indicating that it was

to be let or sold. She immediately asked to go over it. All sorts of

difficulties, apparently insurmountable ones, stood in the way of the

purchase. They were overcome in a strangely unaccountable manner, and

the money which had to be paid in advance was actually forthcoming on

the appointed day, to the astonishment of all concerned. The history of

this negotiation, and the wonderful answers to prayer vouchsafed in the

course of it, are very striking; only the more we study the

manifestations of God's Providence with regard to works carried on in

faith and simple reliance on His assistance, the more _accustomed_

we get to these miracles of mercy. The Helpers of the Souls in

Purgatory took possession of their new home on the 1st of July, 1856,

and not long after began their labors amongst the poor. An act of

kindness solicited at their hands towards a sick and destitute neighbor

soon after their arrival, was the primary cause of their choosing as

their particular line of charity attendance on the sick poor in their

own destitute homes by day and by night also. This, together with their

prayers, their fasts, and their watches, is the continual sacrifice

they offer up for the souls in Purgatory.

* * * * *

Before I go on with the history of the Helpers of the Holy Souls in

Purgatory, I must describe to you their house,--No. 16 Rue de la

Barouillière,--a very small and inconvenient one at the time of their

installation, but which has since been re-modelled according to the

wants of the increasing community, and an adjoining one added to it. I

have often visited this convent, which soon becomes dear to those who

would fain help the many beloved ones removed from their sight, but

feel the impotency of their own efforts, their want of holiness, of

courage, and of perseverance in this blessed work. The sight of this

religious house is very touching; the inscriptions on the walls, which

are taken from the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Saints, all

bear reference to the state of departed souls, and our duty towards

them; the quiet chapel where the Office for the Dead is daily said, and

a number of Masses offered up. The memorials of the saintly Curé d'Ars,

whose spirit seems to hover over the place, gives a peculiar character

to its aspect. The nuns do not wear the religious dress, but are simply

dressed in black, like persons in mourning.

* * * * *

On the 18th of August, 1856, Monseigneur Sibour, the Archbishop of

Paris, came to visit and bless the new community. "It is a grain of

mustard-seed," he said, "which will become a great tree, and spread its

branches far and wide." He approved of all that had been done since the

house had been opened, and allowed Mass to be said every day in the

chapel as soon as it could be properly fitted up, which was the case on

the ensuing 5th of November. On the 8th of the same month the house was

solemnly consecrated to the Blessed Virgin; the keys were laid at the

feet of her image, and she was entreated to become herself the

Superioress of the congregation.

It was on the 27th of December, the feast of the disciple whom Jesus

loved, the great apostle of charity, that the foundress and five other

Sisters made their first vows. A few days afterwards, Monseigneur

Sibour was about to sign a grant of indulgences for the work of the

religious; someone standing beside him said, "Monseigneur, the souls in

Purgatory are guiding your pen." He smiled, and made haste to write his

name. He little thought how soon he would be himself numbered with the

dead. It was on the 3d of January, 1857, that his tragical death took

place.

* * * * *

On the 4th of August, 1859, the holy Curé of Ars died; but he lives in

the hearts and in the memories of the community which owes so much to

his prayers and his advice. His name is frequently on their lips; often

has his intercession obtained for them miraculous cures. Every memorial

of him is carefully preserved and venerated.

* * * * *

In the course of the year 1859, on the Feast of St. Benedict, Cardinal

Morlot sanctioned the institution of a third order of Helpers of the

Souls in Purgatory, and the affiliation to it of honorary members. The

ladies of the third order engage to lead a practically Christian life

in the world, to perform exactly all their religious duties, and those

of their state of life. They promise, in their measure, to suffer, act,

and pray for the dead, and offer up their good works, the sacrifices

they may be inspired to make, and the devotions prescribed by a simple

and easy rule adapted to their condition, for this object.... On the

day of the institution of the third order, twenty-eight ladies joined

it, received the cross, and made their act of consecration in presence

of the Archbishop. The honorary members have been continually and

rapidly increasing in number.

* * * * *

The new order has a special devotion to St. Joseph, the great minister

of God's mercy to all religious, the particular protector of the souls

in Purgatory, the foster-father of Christ's poor, and the helper of the

dying. He was himself once in limbo, and knows what it is to wait. It

is scarcely necessary to speak of their devotion to the Blessed Virgin,

whom they have crowned as the Queen of Purgatory, and invoke under the

title of Our Lady of Providence. They specially keep the Feast of the

Sacred Heart, those of St. Ignatius and St. Gertrude; but All Souls is

of course the day of their most particular devotion. The Holy Sacrament

is exposed during the whole time of the Octave.

* * * * *

And now, to use words of Père Blot, of the Society of Jesus: "How

consoling a thought it is that as the Holy Souls in Purgatory, in all

probability, and according to the opinion of the greatest theologians,

know what we do for them, and pray for us, they see these acts of

charity; they see these devoted women making themselves the slaves of

the poor, and sowing in tears, that they themselves may reap in joy. We

cannot also but believe that the prayers of the Holy Souls, and perhaps

their influence, contribute to the success of the mission carried on

for their sakes and in their name amidst the poor and suffering.

Several times when they have been invoked by the community, wonderful

cures have been vouchsafed and favors obtained. Instances of this kind

have excited the astonishment of physicians, and confirmed a pious

belief in the efficacy of those prayers. St. Catherine, of Bologna,

used to say, 'When I wish to obtain some favor from the Eternal Father,

I invoke the souls in the place of expiation, and charge them with the

petition I have to make to Him, and I feel I am heard through their

means.' Let us, then, if we feel inspired to do so, ask the prayers of

the souls in Purgatory; but, above all things, let us pray for them,

and, like these religious, join to our prayers acts of self-denying

charity towards the poor. Let us always remember, that to the Eternal

Lord of all things everything is present--the future as well as the

past. We call Him the King of Ages, because the order of events depends

wholly on His will, and nothing in their course or succession can alter

or change the effects of that will. He looks upon what is to come as if

it were present or already past. In consideration of the prayers, the

suffrages, and the good works of the Church, which He foresees, He

grants proportionate graces, even as if those prayers and good works

had been already offered up.... Amongst the Helpers of the Holy Souls

several have made great sacrifices to God in order to obtain mercy for

souls long ago called away from this world. We can all imitate their

example. 'Oh! if it was not too late!' is the cry of many a heart

tortured by anxiety for the fate of some loved one who has died

apparently out of the Church, or not in a state of grace. We answer,

'It is never too late. Pray; act; suffer. The Lord foresaw your

efforts. The Lord knew what was to come, and may have given to that

soul at its last hour some extraordinary graces, which snatched it from

destruction, and placed it in safety where your love may still reach

it, your prayers relieve, your sacrifices avail.'"

I could not resist closing this letter with these sentences, which have

raised the hopes and stimulated the courage of many mourners. I only

wish this imperfect sketch of the Order of Helpers of the Holy Souls,

and of the nature of their work, might prove a first though feeble step

towards the introduction amongst us at some future day of a Sisterhood

which, in the words used on his death-bed by Father Faber, the great

advocate amongst us of devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory,

"procures such immense glory to God."

THE MASS IN RELATION TO THE DEAD.

O'BRIEN [1]

[Footnote 1: Rev. John O'Brien, A.M., Prof. of Sacred Liturgy at Mt.

St. Mary's, Emmittsburg. "History of the Mass and its Ceremonies in the

Eastern and Western Churches."]

The Mass of Requiem is one celebrated in behalf of the dead.... If the

body of the deceased be present during its celebration, it enjoys

privileges that it otherwise would not, for it cannot be celebrated

unless within certain restrictions. Masses of this kind are accustomed

to be said in memory of the departed faithful, _first_, when the

person dies--or, as the Latin phrase has it, _dies obitus seu

deposifionis_, which means any day that intervenes from the day of

one's demise to his burial; _secondly_, on the third day after

death, in memory of Our Divine Lord's resurrection after three days'

interval; _thirdly_, on the seventh day, in memory of the mourning

of the Israelites seven days for Joseph (Gen. i. 10); _fourthly_,

on the thirtieth day, in memory of Moses and Aaron, whom the Israelites

lamented this length of time (Numb. xx.; Deut. xxxiv.); and, finally,

at the end of the year, or on the anniversary day itself (Gavant.,

Thesaur. Rit. 62). This custom also prevails with the Orientals.

During the early days it was entirely at the discretion of every priest

whether he said daily a plurality of Masses or not (Gavant., Thesaur.

Rit. p. 19). It was quite usual to say two Masses, one of the occurring

feast, the other for the benefit of the faithful departed. This

practice, however, kept gradually falling into desuetude until the time

of Pope Alexander II. (A. D. 1061-1073), when that pontiff decreed that

no priest should say more than one Mass on the same day.

* * * * *

Throughout the kingdom of Aragon, in Spain (including Aragon, Valentia,

and Catalonia), also in the kingdom of Majorca (a dependency of

Aragon), it is allowed each secular priest to say two Masses on the 2d

of November, the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed, and each

regular priest three Masses. This privilege is also enjoyed by the

Dominicans of the Monastery of St. James at Pampeluna (Benedict XIV.,

_De Sacrif. Missal Romae, ex. Congr. de Prof. Fide_, an. 1859

editio, p. 139). This grant, it is said, was first made either by Pope

Julius or Pope Paul III., and though often asked for afterwards by

persons of note, was never granted to any other country, or to any

place in Spain except those mentioned. For want of any very recent

information upon the subject, I am unable to say how far the privilege

extends at the present day. A movement is on foot, however, to petition

the Holy See for an extension of this privilege to the Universal

Church, in order that as much aid as possible may be given to the

suffering souls in Purgatory.

* * * * *

In case of a death occurring (amongst the Armenians) Mass is never

omitted. The Armenians say one on the day of burial and one on the

seventh, fifteenth, and fortieth after death; also one on the

anniversary day. This holy practice of praying for the dead and saying

Mass in their behalf is very common throughout the entire East, with

schismatics as well as Catholics.

* * * * *

As late as the sixteenth century, a very singular custom prevailed in

England--viz.: that of presenting at the altar during a Mass of Requiem

all the armor and military equipments of deceased knights and noblemen,

as well as their chargers. Dr. Kock (Church of our Fathers, II. 507),

tells us that as many as eight horses, fully caparisoned, used to be

brought into the church for this purpose at the burial of some of the

higher nobility. At the funeral of Henry VII., in Westminster Abbey,

after the royal arms had first been presented at the foot of the altar,

we are told that Sir Edward Howard rode into Church upon "a goodlie

courser," with the arms of England embroidered upon his trappings, and

delivered him to the abbots of the monastery (_ibid_). Something

similar happened at the Mass of Requiem for the repose of the soul of

Lord Bray in A. D. 1557, and at that celebrated for Prince Arthur, son

of Henry VII. (_ibid_).

* * * * *

As the priest begins to recite the memento for the dead, he moves his

hands slowly before his face, so as to have them united at the words

"_in somno pacis_." This gentle motion of the hands is aptly

suggestive here of the slow, lingering motion of a soul preparing to

leave the body, and the final union of the hands forcibly recalls to

mind the laying down of the body in its quiet slumber in the earth. As

this prayer is very beautiful, we transcribe it in full. It is thus

worded: "Remember, also, O Lord! Thy servants, male and female, who

have gone before us with the sign of faith and sleep in the sleep of

peace, N. N.; to them, O Lord! and to all who rest in Christ, we

beseech Thee to grant a place of refreshment, light, and peace; through

the same Christ our Lord. Amen." At the letters N. N. the names of the

particular persons to be prayed for among the departed were read out

from the diptychs in ancient times. When the priest comes to them now

he does not stop, but pauses awhile at "_in, somno pacis_" to make

his private memento of those whom he wishes to pray for in particular,

in which he is to be guided by the same rules that directed him in

making his memento for the living, only that here he cannot pray for

the conversion of any one, as he could there, for this solely relates

to the dead who are detained in Purgatory. Should the Holy Sacrifice be

offered for any soul among the departed which could not be benefited by

it, either because of the loss of its eternal salvation or its

attainment of the everlasting joys of heaven, theologians commonly

teach that in that case the fruit of the Mass would enter the treasury

of the Church, and be applied afterwards in such indulgences and the

like as Almighty God might suggest to the dispensers of his gift

(Suarez, _Disp._, xxxviii, sec. 8). We beg to direct particular

attention here to the expression "sleep of peace." That harsh word

_death_, which we now use, was seldom or never heard among the

early Christians when talking of their departed brethren. Death to them

was nothing else but a sleep until the great day of resurrection, when

all would rise up again at the sound of the angel's trumpet; and this

bright idea animated their minds and enlivened all their hopes when

conversing with their absent friends in prayer. So, too, with the place

of interment; it was not called by that hard name that distinguishes it

too often now, viz., the _grave-yard_, but was called by the

milder term of _cemetery,_ which, from its Greek derivation, means

a dormitory, or sleeping-place. Nor was the word _bury_ employed

to signify the consigning the body to the earth. No, this sounded too

profane in the ears of the primitive Christians; they rather chose the

word _depose_, as suggestive of the treasure that was put away

until it pleased God to turn it to better use on the final reckoning

day. The old Teutonic expression for cemetery was, to say the least of

it, very beautiful. The blessed place was called in this tongue

_gottes-acker_--that is, God's field--for the reason that the dead

were, so to speak, the seed sown in the ground from which would spring

the harvest reaped on the day of general resurrection in the shape of

glorified bodies. According to this beautiful notion, the stone which

told who the departed person was that lay at rest beneath, was likened

to the label that was hung upon a post by the farmer or gardener to

tell the passer-by the name of the flower that was deposited beneath.

This happy application of the word _sleep_ to death runs also

through Holy Scripture, where we frequently find such expressions as

"He slept with his fathers," "I have slept and I am refreshed," applied

from the third Psalm to our Divine Lord's time in the sepulchre; the

"sleep of peace," "he was gathered to his fathers," etc.

The prayers of the Orientals for the faithful departed are singularly

touching. In the Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil the memento is worded

thus: "In like manner, O Lord! remember also all those who have already

fallen asleep in the priesthood and amidst the laity; vouchsafe to give

rest to their souls in the bosoms of our holy fathers, Abraham, Isaac,

and Jacob; bring them into a place of greenness by the waters of

comfort, in the paradise of pleasure where grief and misery and sighing

are banished, in the brightness of the saints." The Orientals are very

much attached to ancient phraseology, and hence their frequent

application of "the bosom of Abraham" to that middle state of

purification in the next life which we universally designate by the

name of Purgatory. In the Syro-Jacobite Liturgy of John Bar Maadan,

part of the memento is thus worded: "Reckon them among the number of

Thine elect; cover them with the bright cloud of Thy saints; set them

with the lambs on Thy right hand, and bring them into Thy habitation."

The following extract is taken from the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom,

which, as we have said already, all the Catholic and schismatic Greeks

of the East follow: "Remember all those that are departed in the hope

of the resurrection to eternal life, and give them rest where the light

of Thy countenance shines upon them." But of all the Orientals, the

place of honor in this respect must be yielded to the Nestorians; for,

heretics as they are, too much praise cannot be given them for the

singular reverence they show towards their departed brethren. From a

work of theirs called the "Sinhados," which Badger quotes in his

"Nestorians and their Rituals," we take the following extract: "The

service of third day of the dead is kept up, because Christ rose on the

third day. On the ninth day, also, there should be a commemoration, and

again on the thirtieth day, after the example of the Old Testament,

since the people mourned for Moses that length of time. A year after,

also, there should be a particular commemoration of the dead, and some

of the property of the deceased should be given to the poor in

remembrance of him. We say this of believers; for, as to unbelievers,

should all the wealth of the world be given to the poor in their

behalf, it would profit them nothing." The Armenians call Purgatory by

the name _Goyan_--that is, a mansion. The Chaldeans style it

_Matthar_, the exact equivalent of our term. By some of the other

Oriental Churches it is called _Kavaran_, or place of penance; and

_Makraran_, a place of purification (Smith and Dwight, I. p. 169).

We could multiply examples at pleasure to prove that there is no church

in the East to which the name of Christian can be given that does not

look upon praying for the faithful departed, and offering the Holy Mass

for the repose of their souls, as a sacred and solemn obligation.

Protestants who would fain believe otherwise, and who not unfrequently

record differently in their writings about the Oriental Christians, can

verify our statements by referring to any Eastern Liturgy and examining

for themselves. We conclude our remarks on this head by a strong

argument in point from a very unbiased Anglican minister--the Rev. Dr.

John Mason Neale. Speaking of prayers for the dead in his work entitled

"A History of the Holy Eastern Church," general introduction, Vol. I.

p. 509, this candid-speaking man uses the following language: "I am not

now going to prove, what nothing but the blindest prejudice can deny,

that the Church, east, west, and south, has, with one consentient and

universal voice, even from Apostolic times, prayed in the Holy

Eucharist for the departed faithful."

FUNERAL ORATION ON DANIEL O'CONNELL.

REV. THOMAS BURKE, O. P.

["Wisdom conducted the just man through the right ways, and showed him

the kingdom of God, made him honorable in his labors, and accomplished

his works. She kept him safe from his enemies, and gave him a strong

conflict that he might overcome; and in bondage she left him not till

she brought him the sceptre of the kingdom, and power against those

that oppressed him, and gave him everlasting glory."--Wisdom x. [1] ]

[Footnote 1: From the funeral oration preached at Glassaevin Cemetery,

in May, 1869, on the occasion of the removal of the remains of the

Liberator to their final resting place.]

Nor was Ireland forgotten in the designs of God. Centuries of patient

endurance brought at length the dawn of a better day. God's hour came,

and it brought with it Ireland's greatest son, Daniel O'Connell. We

surround his grave to-day to pay him a last tribute of love, to speak

words of praise, of suffrage, and prayer. For two and twenty years has

he silently slept in the midst of us. His generation is passing away,

and the light of history already dawns upon his grave, and she speaks

his name with cold, unimpassioned voice. In this age of ours a few

years are as a century of times gone by. Great changes and startling

events follow each other in such quick succession that the greatest

names are forgotten almost as soon as those who bore them disappear,

and the world itself is surprised to find how short-lived is the fame

which promised to be immortal. The Church alone is the true shrine of

immortality--the temple of fame which perisheth not; and that man only

whose name and memory is preserved in her sanctuaries receives on this

earth a reflection of that glory which is eternal in heaven. But before

the Church will crown any one of her children, she carefully examines

his claims to the immortality of her gratitude and praise. She asks,

"What has he done for God and for man?" This great question am I come

here to answer to-day for him whose tongue, once so eloquent, is now

stilled in the silence of the grave, and over whose tomb a grateful

country has raised a monument of its ancient faith and a record of its

past glories; and I claim for him the need of our gratitude and love,

in that he was a man of faith, whom wisdom guided in "the right ways,"

who loved and sought "the kingdom of God," who was "most honorable in

his labors," and who accomplished his "great works;" the liberator of

his race, the father of his people, the conqueror in "the undented

conflict" of principle, truth and justice....

....Before him stretched, full and broad, the two ways of life, and he

must choose between them: the way which led to all that the world

prized--wealth, power, distinction, title, glory, and fame; the way of

genius, the noble rivalry of intellect, the association with all that

was most refined and refining--the way which led up to the council

chambers of the nation, to all places of jurisdiction and of honor, to

the temples wherein were enshrined historic names and glorious

memories, to a share in all blessings of privilege and freedom....

Before him opened another way. No gleam of sunshine illumined this way;

it was wet with tears--it was overshadowed by misfortune--_it was

pointed out to the young traveller of life by the sign of the

cross_, and he who entered it was bidden to leave all hope behind

him, for it led through the valley of humiliation, into the heart of a

fallen race, and an enslaved and afflicted people. I claim for

O'Connell the glory of having chosen this latter path, and this claim

no man can gainsay, for it is the argument of the Apostle in favor of

the great lawgiver of old--"By faith Moses" denied himself to be the

son of Pharoah's daughter.

....Into this way was he led by his love for his religion and his

country. He firmly believed in that religion in which He was born. He

had that faith which is common to all Catholics, and which is not

merely a strong opinion nor even a conviction, but an absolute and most

certain knowledge that the Catholic Church is the one and the only true

messenger and witness of God upon earth; and that to belong to her

communion and to possess her faith is the first and greatest of all

endowments and privileges, before which everything else sinks into

absolute nothing ... He was Irish of the Irish and Catholic of the

Catholic. His love for religion and country was as the breath of his

nostrils, the blood of his veins, and when he brought to the service of

both the strength of his faith and the power of his genius, with the

instinct of a true Irishman, his first thought was to lift up the

nation by striking the chains off the National Church. And here again,

two ways opened before him. One was a way of danger and of blood, and

the history of his country told him that it ever ended in defeat and in

great evil.... He saw that the effort to walk in it had swept away the

last vestige of Ireland's national legislature and independence. But

another path was still open to him, and wisdom pointed it out as "the

right way." Another battle-field lay before him on which he could

"fight the good fight" and vindicate all the rights of his religion and

of his country. The armory was furnished by the inspired Apostle when

he said: ... "Having your loins girt about with truth, and having on

the breast-plate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of

the Gospel of Peace, in all things taking the shield of faith.... And

take unto you the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word." O'Connell

knew well that such weapons in such a hand as his were irresistible--

that girt around with the truth and justice of his cause, he was clad

in the armor of the Eternal God, that with words of peace and order on

his lips, with the strong shield of faith before him and the sword of

eloquent speech in his hand, with the war-cry of obedience, principle,

and law, no power on earth could resist him, for it is the battle of

God, and nothing can resist the Most High.

* * * * *

... He who was the Church's liberator and most true son, was also the

first of Ireland's statesmen and patriots. Our people remember well, as

their future historian will faithfully record, the many trials borne

for them, the many victories gained in their cause, the great life

devoted to them by O'Connell. Lying, however, at the foot of the altar,

as he is to-day, whilst the Church hallows his grave with prayer and

sacrifice, it is more especially as the Catholic Emancipator of his

people that we place a garland on his tomb. It is as the child of the

Church that we honor him, and recall with tears of sorrow our

recollections of the aged man, revered, beloved, whom all the glory of

the world's admiration and the nation's love had never lifted up in

soul out of the holy atmosphere of Christian humility and simplicity.

Obedience to the Church's laws, quick zeal for her honor and the

dignity of her worship, a spirit of penance refining whilst it

expiated, chastening while it ennobled all that was natural in the man;

constant and frequent use of the Church's holy sacraments which shed

the halo of grace around his venerated head,--these were the last grand

lessons which he left to his people, and thus did the sun of his life

set in the glory of Christian holiness.

.... In the triumph of Catholic Emancipation, he pointed out to the

Irish people the true secret of their strength, the true way of

progress, and the sure road to victory.... Time, which buries in utter

oblivion so many names and so many memories, will exalt him in his

work. The day has already dawned and is ripening into its perfect noon,

when Irishmen of every creed will remember O'Connell, and celebrate him

as the common friend, and the greatest benefactor of their country.

What man is there, even of those whom our age has called great, whose

name, so many years after his death, could summon so many loving hearts

around his tomb? We, to-day, are the representatives not only of a

nation but of a race.... Where is the land that has not seen the face

of our people and heard their voice? And wherever, even to the ends of

the earth, an Irishman is found to-day, his spirit and his sympathy are

here. The millions of America are with us--the Irish Catholic soldier

on India's plains is present amongst us by the magic of love--the Irish

sailor standing by the wheel this moment in far-off silent seas, where

it is night, and the Southern stars are shining, joins his prayer with

ours, and recalls the glorious image and the venerated name of

O'Connell. ... He is gone, but his fame shall live forever on the

earth, as a lover of God and of His people. Adversities, political and

religious, he had many, and like a

"Tower of strength

Which stood full square to all the winds that blew,"

the Hercules of justice and of liberty stood up against them. Time,

which touches all things with mellowing hand, has softened the

recollections of past contests, and they who once looked upon him as a

foe, now only remember the glory of the fight, and the mighty genius of

him who stood forth the representative man of his race, and the

champion of his people. They acknowledge his greatness, and they join

hands with us to weave the garland of his fame.

But far other, higher and holier are the feelings of Irish Catholics

all the world over to-day. They recognize in the dust which we are

assembled to honor, the powerful arm which promoted them, the eloquent

tongue which proclaimed their rights and asserted their freedom, the

strong hand which, like that of the Maccabees of old, first struck off

their chains and then built up their holy altars. They, mingling the

supplication of prayer and the gratitude of suffrage with their tears,

recall--oh! with how much love--the memory of him who was a Joseph to

Israel--their tower of strength, their buckler, and their shield--who

shed around their homes, their altars, and their graves the sacred

light of religious liberty, and the glory of unfettered worship. "His

praise is in the Church," and this is the pledge of the immortality of

his glory. "A people's voice" may be "the proof and echo of all Human

fame," but the voice of the undying Church, is the echo of "everlasting

glory," and, when those who surround his grave to-day shall have passed

away, all future generations of Irishmen to the end of time will be

reminded of his name and glory.

THE INDULGENCE OF PORTIUNCULA.

Towards the middle of the fourth century, four pilgrims from Palestine

came to settle in the neighborhood of Assisi, and built a chapel there.

Nearly two centuries after, this little chapel passed into the hands of

the monks of St. Benedict, who owned some lots, or _portions_ of

land, in the vicinity, whence came the name of _Portiuncula_,

given first to those little plots of ground, and afterwards to the

chapel itself. St. Bonaventure says that, later still, it was called

"Our Lady of Angels," because the heavenly spirits frequently appeared

there.

St. Francis, at the outset of his penitential life, going one day

through the fields about Assisi, heard a voice which said to him: "Go,

repair my house!" He thought the Lord demanded of him to repair the

sanctuaries in which He was worshipped, and, amongst others, the Church

of St. Damian, a little way from Assisi, which was falling to decay.

He went to work, therefore, begging in the streets of Assisi, and

crying out: "He who giveth me a stone shall have one blessing--he who

giveth me two, shall have two."

Meanwhile, Francis often bent his steps towards the little chapel of

the Portiuncula, built about half a league from Assisi, in a fertile

valley, in the midst of a profound solitude. The place had great charms

for him, and he resolved to take up his abode there, but as the little

chapel was urgently in need of repair, he undertook to do it,

following, as he thought, the orders he had received from Heaven. He

made himself a cell in the hollow of a neighboring rock, and there

spent several years in great austerities. Some disciples, having joined

him, inhabited caverns which they found in the rocks around, and some

built themselves cells. This was the origin of the Order of St.

Francis. The _Portiuncula_, or Our Lady of Angels, afterwards

given to the holy penitent by the Benedictine Abbot of Monte Soubasio,

thus became the cradle of the three orders founded by the Seraphic

Patriarch, and is unspeakably dear to every child of St. Francis. [1]

[Footnote 1: The little chapel of the Portiuncula is now inclosed

beneath the dome of the great basilica of Our Lady of Angels, built to

preserve it from the injuries of the weather. It stands there still

with its rough, antique walls, in all the prestige of its marvellous

past. "I know not what perfume of holy poverty," says a pious author,

"exhales from that venerable chapel. The pavement within is literally

worn by the knees of the pious faithful, and their repeated and burning

kisses have left their imprint on its walls."]

Francis, in the midst of his prodigious austerities, living always in

the greatest privation, united, nevertheless, the most tender

compassion for men and a marvellous love for poverty. He prayed above

all, and with tears and groans, for the conversion of sinners. But one

night--it was in October, 1221--Francis being inspired with a greater

love and a deeper pity for men who were offending their God and

Saviour, shedding torrents of tears, macerating his body, already

attenuated by excessive mortifications, hears, all at once, the voice

of an Angel commanding him to repair to the chapel of the Portiuncula.

Ravished with joy, he rises immediately, and entering with profound

respect into the chapel, he falls prostrate on the ground, to adore the

majesty of God. He then sees Our Lord Jesus Christ, who appears to him,

accompanied by His Holy Mother and a great multitude of Angels, and

says to him: "Francis, thou and thy brethren have a great zeal for the

salvation of souls; indeed, you have been placed as a torch in the

world and as the support of the Church. Ask, then, whatsoever thou wilt

for the welfare and consolation of nations, and for My glory."

In the midst of the wonders which ravished him, Francis made this

prayer: "Our most holy Father, I beseech Thee, although I am but a

miserable sinner, to have the goodness to grant to men, that all those

who shall visit this Church may receive a plenary indulgence of all

their sins, after having confessed to a priest; and I beseech the

Blessed Virgin, Thy Mother, the advocate of mankind, to intercede, that

I may obtain this favor."

The merciful Virgin interceded, and Our Lord said to Francis: "What

thou dost ask is great, nevertheless thou shalt receive still greater

favors. I grant it to thee, but I will that it be ratified on earth by

him to whom I have given the power of binding and loosening."

The companions of the Saint overheard this colloquy between Our Lord

and St. Francis; they beheld numerous troops of Angels, and a great

light that filled the Church, but a respectful fear prevented them from

approaching.

Next day Francis set out, accompanied by one of his brethren, and

repaired to Perugia, where Pope Honorius III. then was. The Saint,

introduced to the Pontiff, repeated the order he had received from Our

Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and conjured him not to refuse what the Son

of God had been pleased to grant him.

"But," said the Sovereign Pontiff, "thou askest of me something very

great, and the Roman Court is not wont to grant such an indulgence."

"Most Holy Father," replied Francis, "I ask it not of myself; it is

Jesus Christ who sendeth me. I come on His behalf." Wherefore the Pope

said publicly three times: _"I will that thou have it."_

The Cardinals made several objections; but Honorius, at length

convinced of the will of God, granted most liberally, most

gratuitously, and in perpetuity, this indulgence solicited so

earnestly, yet with so much humility, _but only during one natural

day, from evening till evening, including the night, till sunset on the

following day._

At these words, Francis humbly bowed his head. As he was going away,

the Pope demanded of him: "Whither goest thou, simple man? What

assurance hast thou of that which thou hast obtained?" "Holy Father,"

he replied, "thy word is sufficient for me; if this Indulgence be the

work of God, He Himself will make it manifest. Let Jesus Christ, His

holy Mother and the Angels be in that regard, notary, paper and

witness; I ask no other authentic act." Such was the effect of the

great confidence he felt in the truth of the apparition.

The Indulgence of the Portiuncula had been two years granted, and still

the day when the faithful might gain it was not fixed. Francis waited

till Jesus Christ, the first Author of a grace so precious, should

determine it.

Meanwhile, one night, when Francis was at prayer in his cell, the

tempter suggested to him to diminish his penances: feeling the malice

of the demon, he goes into the woods, and rolls himself amongst briers

and thorns until he is covered with blood. A great light shines around

him, he sees a quantity of white and red roses all about, although it

is the month of January, in a very severe winter. God had changed the

thorny shrubs into magnificent rose-bushes, which have ever since

remained green and without thorns, and covered with red and white

roses. [1] Angels, who appeared then in great numbers, said to him:

"Francis, hasten to the church; Jesus is there with His holy Mother."

At the same moment, he was clothed in a spotless white habit, and

having reached the church, after a profound obeisance, he made this

prayer: "Our Father, Most Holy Lord of heaven and earth, Saviour of

mankind, vouchsafe, through Thy great mercy, to fix the day for the

Indulgence Thou hast had the goodness to grant." Our Lord replied that

He would have it to be from the evening of the day on which the Apostle

St. Peter was bound with chains till the following day. He then ordered

Francis to present himself to his vicar, and give him some white and

red roses in proof of the truth of the fact, and to bring some of his

companions who might bear testimony of what they had heard.

[Footnote 1: "We have received from Rome," says the editor of the

"Almanac of the Souls in Purgatory," "some leaves from these miraculous

rose-bushes. We will willingly give some to the devout clients of St.

Francis."]

The Pope, convinced by proofs so incontestable, confirmed the

Indulgence with all its privileges.

The Indulgence of the Portiuncula, was soon known throughout the whole

world; and the prodigies which were seen wrought every year at St. Mary

of Angels, excited the devotion of the faithful to gain it. Many times

there were seen there fifty thousand, and even a hundred thousand

persons assembled together from all parts.

Meanwhile, in order to facilitate the means of gaining an Indulgence so

admirable, the Sovereign Pontiffs extended it to all the churches of

the three Orders of St. Francis, and it may be gained by all the

faithful indiscriminately. "Of all Indulgences," said Bourdaloue, "that

of the Portiuncula is one of the surest and most authentic that there

is in the Church, since it is an Indulgence granted immediately by

Jesus Christ, a privilege peculiar to itself, and this Indulgence has

spread amongst all Christian people with a marvellous progress of

souls, and a sensible increase of piety."

The Indulgence of the Great Pardon has another very special privilege;

it is, that it may be gained _totus quotus_--that is to say, as

often as one visits a church to which it is attached, and prays for the

Sovereign Pontiff; and this privilege may be enjoyed from the 1st of

August about two o'clock in the afternoon, till sunset on the following

day.

Pope Boniface VIII. said that it is "most pious to gain that Indulgence

several times for oneself; for, although by the first gaining of a

plenary Indulgence, the penalty be remitted, by seeking to gain it

again, one receives an augmentation of grace and of glory that crowns

all their good works." Besides, this Indulgence can be applied to the

Souls in Purgatory, as it can be also gained for the living by way of

satisfaction, provided they be in the state of grace.

It was one day revealed to St. Margaret of Cortona that the Souls in

Purgatory eagerly look forward every year to the Feast of Our Lady of

Angels, because it is a day of deliverance for a great number of them.

While speaking of the Indulgence of the Portiuncula, we are naturally

disposed to say a few words in regard to the grievous outrage recently

committed on that place, venerated for more than six hundred years by

all Christian nations, and manifestly chosen as the object of divine

predilection by all the prodigies there wrought.

The Italian government had unlawfully, and in a sacrilegious manner,

possessed itself of the Convent of the Portiuncula; and notwithstanding

the protest of all the members of the Order of St. Francis, and the

indignation excited by so arbitrary an act in every Catholic heart,

those iniquitous men put it up for sale, and actually sold it by public

auction. The Minister General of the Franciscan Order, unwilling that

this brightest gem of the Franciscan crown should fall into impious

hands, resolved to have it purchased for him by a lay person. But how

was this to be done, when he had no revenue, often not means enough for

necessary expenses? a grave question, truly, for the children of St.

Francis, who might have seen themselves bereft of the cradle of their

Order, were it not that, at the critical moment, a man of a truly

Christian heart came forward and advanced the thirty-four thousand

francs, the price to which their precious relic had been raised. Thus,

God would not permit that so many memories connected with His servant

Francis should be effaced from the earth, although they would still

have lived in the hearts of his children, and the Friars Minors are

still the owners and possessors of that venerable sanctuary. [1]--

_Almanac of the Souls in Purgatory_, 1881.

[Footnote 1: Nevertheless, means must be taken to pay back this sum so

seasonably advanced. Hence it is, that at the request of the Minister

General of the Franciscans, Father Marie, of Brest, has made a touching

appeal to all friends of the Order and of justice, and has opened

subscription lists wherever there are children of St. Francis, and

there are children of St. Francis all over the world. These lists, with

the names of the pious donors, shall be sent to Assisium, to be

preserved there in the very sanctuary of the Portiuncula.--ED. AL.]

CATHERINE OF CARDONA.

Catherine of Cardona was born in the very highest rank. She was but

eight years old when she lost her father, Raymond of Cardona, who was

descended from the kings of Aragon. Catherine had already made herself

remarkable by her love of prayer, solitude, and mortification, and by

her admirable fidelity to grace she had drawn down upon herself, at an

age still so tender, the signal favor of Heaven.

One day, whilst absorbed in prayer in her little oratory, her father

appeared to her enveloped in the flames of Purgatory, and, conjuring

her to deliver him, he said to her: "Daughter, I shall remain in this

fire until thou hast done penance for me." With a heart full of

compassion, Catherine promised her father to satisfy the divine justice

for him, and the vision disappeared.

From that moment Catherine, rising above the weakness of her age and

sex, applied herself to those amazing austerities which have made her a

prodigy of penance. To open Heaven to her father, she freely sheds, in

bloody scourgings, the first fruits of that virginal blood which is to

flow for half a century in innumerable torments. Magnanimous child, she

is already the martyr of filial piety, but her tears, her

mortifications, her prayers have disarmed the divine justice and

discharged the paternal debt. Raymond, resplendent with the glory of

the blessed, appears again to his daughter, and addresses her in these

words: "God has accepted thy penance, my daughter, and I go to enjoy

His glory. By that penance, thou hast become so pleasing to Jesus

Christ that He has chosen thee for His spouse. Continue all thy life to

immolate thyself as a victim for the salvation of souls; such is His

divine will."

With these words, which filled the heart of Catherine with joy

unspeakable, he goes to Heaven to sing the mercies of his God, and to

intercede with Him, in his turn, for the beloved daughter who was his

liberator.

Oh! happy, thrice happy Catherine! Whilst accomplishing an act of

filial piety, she gained the title of Spouse of Christ, and secured for

herself a powerful intercessor in heaven.--_Almanac of the Souls in

Purgatory, 1881._

The life of the little Catherine was so admirable that we cannot resist

the desire of giving some extracts from it here. It will be so much the

more appropriate that her whole life was consecrated to the relief of

the souls in Purgatory and the salvation of men.

Overwhelmed with the happiness of seeing herself chosen for the spouse

of the God of Virgins, Catherine consecrates herself entirely to Him,

and promises inviolable fidelity to Him. Rejoiced to belong to the same

Spouse as the Agathas and Agnesses, she makes a vow of perpetual

virginity, and exclaims in the fullness of her bliss: "Thou alone, mine

Adorable Beloved, Thou alone shalt reign over my heart, Thou alone

shalt have dominion over it for all eternity!" Then Jesus invisibly

places on her finger the marriage ring, and endows with strength her

who aspires only to die with Him on the cross.

Catherine, who, after the death of her father, was placed under the

care of the Princess of Salerno, a near relative of her mother, leads

in the palace of the princess a life no less rigorous than that of the

penitents of the desert; but she will have no other witness of it than

He by whom she alone desires to be loved. Condemned by her rank to wear

rich clothing, she values only the glorious vesture of the soul, which

is grace. The hair-cloth that macerates her flesh is her chosen

garment. At that age, when people allow themselves to be dazzled by the

world, Catherine of Cardona has trampled it beneath her feet, and later

on, becoming entirely free from the slavery of the world, she retires

to the Capuchin Convent at Naples, and there prepares, by a seclusion

of twenty-five years, to give to the great ones of the earth an example

of the most sublime virtues. Called by the Princess of Salerno to share

her disfavor with the king, she hesitates not to quit her dear

solitude, and repairs to Spain, in 1557. Her presence at Valladolid was

an eloquent sermon, and produced the happiest fruits in souls. The

Princess died at the end of two years; and Philip II., knowing the

wisdom of Catherine, kept her at the Court, appointing her as governess

to Don Carlos, his son, and the young Don Juan of Austria, afterwards

the hero of Lepanto.

In 1562, Our Lord, in a vision, says to Catherine: "Depart from this

palace; retire to a solitary cave, where thou mayest more freely apply

thyself to prayer and penance." At these words, the soul of Catherine

is inundated with joy, and she feels that no worldly obstacle could

restrain her. She would fain set out forthwith, but her spiritual

guides opposed her doing so. Finally, after many trials, whilst she was

in prayer, before the dawn, the crucifix she wore hanging from her

neck, suddenly rose into the air, and said: "Follow me!" She followed

it to a window on the ground-floor; and although it was fastened with

great iron bars, Catherine, without knowing how, found herself in the

street. Transported with joy at this new miracle, she flew to the place

where the Hermit of Alcada and another priest were waiting to conduct

her to the desert. Seeing the heroic virgin, they blessed Him who had

thus broken her chains. In order that she might not be recognized they

cut off her hair, gave her a hermit's robe, and set out without delay.

Arriving at a small hill about four leagues from Roda, Catherine said

to her guides: "Here it is that God will have me take up my abode; let

us go no farther." After a careful search they discovered amongst

thorny hedges difficult to get through, a species of grotto

sufficiently deep; but the entrance thereto was so narrow, and the roof

so low, that Catherine, who was of medium height and rather full

figure, could hardly stand upright in it. The two guides of the holy

recluse, taking leave of her, left her some instruments of penance, and

three loaves, for all provision. There it was that the daughter of the

Duke of Cardona commenced, in 1562, that admirable life which has been

the wonder of all succeeding ages.

Teresa, the seraphic Teresa, who lived at that time not far from

Catherine's solitude, cried out in a transport of admiration: "Oh! how

great must be the love that transported her, since she thought neither

of food, nor danger, nor the disgrace her flight might bring upon her;

what must be the intoxication of that holy soul, flying thus to the

desert, solely engrossed by the desire of enjoying there without

obstacle the presence of her Spouse! And how firm must be her

resolution to break with the world, since she thus fled from all its

pleasures!"

St. Teresa adds that Catherine spent more than eight years in this

desert cave, that after having exhausted the small provision of three

loaves left her by the hermit who had served her as a guide, she had

lived solely on roots and wild herbs, but that, after several years,

she met with a shepherd, who thenceforward faithfully supplied her with

bread, of which she, nevertheless, ate but once in three days. The

discipline which she took with a large chain lasted often for an hour

and a half, and sometimes two hours. Her hair-cloth was so rough that a

woman, returning from a pilgrimage, having asked hospitality of her,

told me (it is still St. Teresa who speaks), that feigning sleep, she

saw the holy recluse take off her hair-cloth and wipe it clean, for it

was full of blood. The warfare she had to sustain against the demons

made her suffer still more than her austerities; she told our sisters

that they appeared to her, now in the form of great dogs who sprang on

her shoulders, and now in that of snakes; but do as they might, they

could not make her afraid.

She heard Mass in a convent of the Sisters of Mercy, a quarter of a

league distant; sometimes she made the journey on her knees. She wore a

tunic of coarse serge, and over that a robe of drugget so fashioned

that she was taken for a man.

Nevertheless, the fame of her sanctity soon spread everywhere, and the

people conceived so great a veneration for her that they flocked from

every side, so that, on certain days, the surrounding country was

covered with vehicles full of people going to see her.

"About this time," says St. Teresa, "she was seized with a great desire

to found near her cave a monastery of religious, but being undecided in

her choice of the order, she postponed for a time the execution of her

design. One day while at prayer before a crucifix which she always

carried about her, Our Lord showed her a white mantle, and gave her to

understand that she was to found a monastery of barefooted Carmelites.

She knew not till then that such an order existed, as she had never

heard it mentioned; indeed, we had then but two monasteries of reformed

Carmelites, that of Moncera and that of Pastrana. Catherine was

speedily informed of the existence of this last. As Pastrana belonged

to the Princess of Eboli, her former friend, she set out for that town

with the firm resolution of doing what Our Lord had enjoined her to do.

It was at Pastrana, in the church of our religious, that the Blessed

Catherine took the habit of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, having no

intention, notwithstanding that act, to embrace the religious life. Our

Lord conducted her by another way, and she never felt any attraction

towards that state. What kept her away from it was the fear of being

obliged through obedience to moderate her austerities and quit her

solitude."

As she had worn man's apparel ever since she had been in the desert,

she would not now change it. So, in laying aside her hermit's robe, and

assuming that of Carmel, she took a habit like that of the barefooted

Carmelite monks, and wore it till her last breath. In this Catherine

was led by a very special way.

Catherine had been preceded at Pastrana by the account of the wonders

which had marked the eight years she had spent in her cave; she was

thus greeted as a saint as soon as she appeared; no one was surprised

to see her in her Carmelite habit, a cowl on her head, a white mantle

on her shoulders, a robe of coarse drugget, and a leathern girdle. God

permitted the appearance of Catherine at the court of Philip II. as a

virgin with the heart of a man, victorious over all the weakness, of

her sex, and rivalling in her austerities the most famous penitents of

the desert. At the Escurial, she observed the same abstinence as in her

hermitage; there, as in her cave, she took but one hour's sleep, and

gave to prayer the rest of the time at her disposal.

From the Escurial, Catherine returned to Madrid. From the carriage in

which she rode, she gave her blessing to the multitudes who crowded the

road as she passed. ... The Nuncio, having sent for her, reproached her

for wearing the apparel of a man, and for taking it upon her to give

her blessing, like a bishop. The humble virgin heard all prostrate on

the ground. When the Nuncio had finished speaking, she arose and

justified herself with that holy simplicity peculiar to herself. The

legate of the Holy See, perceiving then that God was leading the

Blessed Catherine by an extraordinary way, left her at liberty to wear

that costume, blessed her, and recommended himself to her prayers.

In Madrid Catherine again met Don Juan of Austria, who had been

appointed Generalissimo of the Christian fleet directed against the

Turks. He gave her the name of mother, and regarded her as a Saint.

After having given some wise counsel to the young prince, she predicted

to him that he should obtain a victory over the enemies of the

Christian name. It was a happy day in the life of Don Juan on which he

heard these prophetic words. Kneeling on the ground, with clasped hands

and tearful eyes, the future liberator of Christendom asked Catherine's

blessing, and arose with a heart strengthened by an invincible hope.

The Carmelites of Toledo, amongst whom she spent some time, endeavoring

to persuade her to diminish her austerities a little, she replied in

these memorable words, which reveal to us the secret of her life: "When

one has seen, as I have, what Purgatory and Hell are, one cannot do too

much to draw souls from one, and preserve them from the other; I may

not spare myself, since I have offered myself in sacrifice for them."

On the 7th October, 1571, Catherine was warned by a light from above

that the great combat against the Turks was to take place that day. She

macerated herself with fearful rigor, and offered herself as a victim

to the anger of God, justly indignant at the sins of His people. She

addressed to the Saviour of men the most tender supplications, when,

all at once, seized with a holy transport, she uttered in a distinct

voice these words, which were heard by several persons of the Court: "O

Lord, the hour is come, help Thy Church; give the victory to the

Catholic chiefs; have pity on so many kingdoms which are Thine own,

preserve them from ruin! The wind is against us: my God, if Thou order

it not to change, we perish!"

Some time after, she cried out in a still stronger voice: "Blessed be

Thou, O Lord, Thou hast changed the wind at the needful moment; finish

what Thou hast begun!" After these words she prayed in silence for a

long space of time. Then, starting up joyfully, she offered to God the

most lively thanksgivings for the victory He had just granted to His

Church.

Soon, in fact, the news of the victory of Lepanto confirmed the

miraculous vision of Catherine. Don Juan wrote immediately to the

venerable Catherine of Cardona, thanking her for her prayers, and sent

her, as a memento, some spoils taken from the enemy.

Catherine having received, at the Court and elsewhere, sufficient means

to found her monastery, regained her solitude in the month of March,

1572. She lived there five years longer. It has been considered as a

supernatural thing that mortifications so extraordinary as hers had not

ended her life sooner. She died on the 11th of May, 1577.

"One day," says St. Teresa, "after having received communion in the

church of this monastery (that which Catherine had founded), I entered

into a profound recollection, which was soon followed by an ecstasy.

Whilst I was thus ravished out of myself, that holy woman appeared to

my intellectual vision, resplendent with light like a glorified body,

and surrounded by angels. She said to me: 'Weary not of founding

monasteries, but rather pursue that work with ardor.' I understood,

albeit that she did not say so, that she was assisting me with God.

This apparition left me exceedingly comforted, and inflamed with the

desire of working for Our Lord's glory. Hence, I hope from His divine

goodness and the powerful prayers of that Saint, that I may be able to

do something for His service."

THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS PRAYING FOR HIS MOTHER.

Heretics or Schismatics care very little about contradicting

themselves. It is of the nature of the iniquity of lying. The _Anti

de la Religion_, of March 1, 1851, judiciously observes:

"It is well known that the Russian Church pretends not to admit the

doctrine of Purgatory, which one of its principal prelates set down as

'_a crude modern invention._' Nevertheless, the manifesto recently

published by the Emperor Nicholas, on the death of his mother, the

Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Duchess of Nassau, concludes with these words:

'We are convinced that all our faithful subjects will unite their

prayers with ours, _for the repose of the soul_ of the deceased.'

How are we to reconcile this request for prayers with the denial of

Purgatory, coming as it does from the mouth of the supreme pontiff of

the Church of Russia?"--"_Christian Anecdotes._"

FUNERAL ORATION ON PIUS VI.

REV. ARTHUR O'LEARY, O S F.

Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. My days are like a shadow;

that declineth, and I am withered like grass; but thou, O Lord, shall,

endure forever.--Ps. cii., verses 10, 11, 12.

Yes! O my God! You lift up and you cast down; you humble and you exalt

the sons of men. You cut off the breath of princes, and are terrible to

the kings of the earth. It is then we know your power, when, by the

stroke of death, we feel what we are, that our life is but as a shadow

that declineth, a vapor dispersed by the beams of the rising sun, or as

the grass which loses at noon the verdure it had acquired from the

morning dew. It is a truth of which we, are made sensible upon this

mournful occasion, and in this sacred temple, where the trophies of

death are displayed, and its image reflected on every side. The

mournful accents of the solemn dirge, the sable drapery that lines

these walls, the vestments of the ministers of the sacred altar, this

artificial darkness which is a figure of the darkness of the grave;--

the tapers that blaze around the sanctuary to put us in mind that when

our mortal life is extinct, there is an immortal life beyond the grave,

in a kingdom of light and bliss reserved for those who walk on earth by

the light of the gospel;--that tomb, in which the tiara and the

sceptre, the Pontifical dignity, and the power of the temporal prince,

are covered over with a funeral shroud,--every object that strikes the

eye, and every sound that vibrates on the ear, is an awful memento

which reminds us of our approaching dissolution, points out the vanity

and nothingness of all earthly grandeur, and convinces, us that in

holiness of life, which unites us to God and secures an immortal crown

in the enjoyment of the sovereign good, consists the greatness as well

as the happiness of man. An awful truth exemplified in many great

characters, hurled from the summit of power and grandeur into an abyss

of woe, whose unshaken virtue supported them under the severest trials,

and whose greatness of soul shone conspicuous in their fall as well as

in their elevation. A truth particularly exemplified in His Holiness

Pope Pius VI., whose obsequies we are assembled to solemnize on this

day--Pius VI. great in prosperity; Pius VI. great in adversity.

When his life is written by an impartial hand, when his contemporaries

are dead, when history lays open the hidden and mysterious springs of

the events connected with his reign, and posterity erects a tribunal,

at which it is to judge, without dread of giving offence, then his

virtues and wisdom will appear in their true light, as the symmetry and

proportion of those beautiful statues, which are placed in the

porticoes or entrance of temples and public edifices, are better

discovered, and seen to a greater advantage at a certain distance.

* * * * *

Though His life was spotless, yet as the judgments of God are

unsearchable, as there is such a quantity of dross mixed with our

purest gold, such chaff with our purest grain, our purest virtues

tarnished with so many imperfections, that on appearing in the presence

of God, into whose Kingdom the slightest stain is not admitted, who can

say, "My soul is pure; I have nothing to answer for?" as in our belief,

divine justice may inflict temporary as well as eternal punishments

beyond the grave, according to the quality of unexpiated offences, let

us perform the sacred rites of our holy religion for the repose of his

soul. [1]

[Footnote 1: These extracts are taken from the funeral oration on Pius

VI, delivered at St. Patrick's Chapel, Soho, in presence of Monsignore

Erskine, Papal Auditor, on the 10th Nov., 1799.]

FROM THE FUNERAL ORATION ON THE REV. ARTHUR. O'LEARY, O.S.F.

REV. MORGAN D'ARCY.

My brethren, as it is God alone, that searcher of hearts, who can truly

appreciate the merits of His elect, as it belongs only to the Holy

Catholic Church, "_that pillar and ground of truth_," to canonize

them, as we know that nothing impure can enter into heaven, and that

Moses himself, that great legislator, and peculiar favorite of heaven,

was not entirely spotless in the discharge of his ministry, nor exempt

from temporal punishment at his death, let us no longer interrupt the

awful mysteries and impressive ceremonies of religion, but, uniting,

and, as it were, embodying our prayers and fervent supplications, let

us offer a holy violence to heaven; while we mingle our tears with the

precious blood of the spotless Victim offered in sacrifice on our

hallowed altar, let us implore the Father of Mercies, through the

merits and passion of His adorable Son, our merciful Redeemer, to

purify this His minister, and admit him to a participation of the

never-ending joys of the heavenly Jerusalem. May he rest in peace.

_Amen_.

DE MORTUIS. OUR DECEASED PRELATES.

[From a Sermon delivered by Most Rev. ARCHBISHOP CORRIGAN, of NEW YORK,

at the THIRD PLENARY COUNCIL of BALTIMORE.]

Remember your prelates who have spoken the Word of God to you. Heb. c.

xiii. v. 2.

Of the forty-six Fathers who sat in the Second Plenary Council, only

sixteen still survive. More than this. During the few years that have

since elapsed not only have thirty bishops and archbishops gone to the

house of their eternity, but in several instances, their successors,

too, have passed away, so that the Solemn Requiem offered this morning

for the prelates who have died since the last Council is chanted for

forty-two consecrated rulers. For these, "as it is a good and wholesome

thought to pray for the dead," we send up our sighs and our prayers in

the spirit of fraternal charity, and as a tribute of love and gratitude

to our Fathers in the faith who had the burden of the day and the heat,

and who now rest from their labors. "Blessed are the dead who die in

the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit,... for their works

follow them."

In the commemorative services and solemn supplications offered in this

cathedral, the first place, dear brethren, is deservedly due to your

own lamented archbishops.... Besides these, memory turns, with fond

regret, to a long list of Right Reverend Prelates, who were all present

at the late Plenary Council, and who have since, one by one, passed

away.... As we repeat each well-known name, hosts of pleasant memories

come crowding on the mind just as by-gone scenes are awakened to new

life by some sweet strain of once familiar music. Venerable forms loom

up again before us with the paternal kindness, the distinguished

presence, the winning ways we knew so well of old; and while the vision

lasts we seem to hear a still small voice saying: "To-day for me, to-

morrow for thee," or the echo of the words spoken by the wise woman of

Thecua to the king on his throne: "We all die, and fall down into the

earth, like waters that return no more."

"Star differeth from star in glory." The bishops, whose virtues we

commemorate, differed in gifts of mind, in habits of thought, in

nationality, in early training, in personal experience, in almost

everything else but their common faith. This golden bond united them to

each other and to us. There was still another point of resemblance and

another link that bound them all together--the participation in the

divine work of the Good Shepherd which was laid upon them all....

PART IV.

THOUGHTS OF VARIOUS AUTHORS ON PURGATORY.

The fuel justice layeth on,

And mercy blows the coals,

The metal in this furnace wrought

Is men's defiled souls.--SOUTHWELL.

THOUGHTS OF VARIOUS AUTHORS ON PURGATORY.

PURGATORY.

CARDINAL NEWMAN.