The book, The Month of the Holy Souls, presents daily considerations for the month of November in the form of meditations and practical examples. The example for today is as follows.

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EXAMPLE

One day, when St. Gertrude was in a rapture, she beheld the soul of a nun whose life had been passed in the exercise of the greatest virtues.  She appeared standing in the presence of God, clothed with the emblems of divine charity, but not daring to raise her eyes to the adorable face of the Savior. She stood like a criminal, her eyes cast down and showing by her bearing that she wished to retire and go far from her heavenly Master. St. Gertrude, astonished and wishing to know the reason of what appeared to her as so unaccountable, said: “God of all goodness, why do you not let this soul approach you?” At these words our Lord opened his arms as if wishing to draw the soul to Him, but instead of advancing it respectfully retired. The saint, still more surprised, asked the soul of the nun why she withdrew from the embraces of so loving a Spouse, and she replied: “Because I am not yet purified from the stains which my sins have left on me, and if God, even granted me, in the state in which I am, the power to enter heaven, I would not consent; for resplendent as I may appear to you I am not yet worthy to be the spouse of my Savior.”

Thus it is, that the holy souls suffer willingly and with perfect resignation.  They are so transformed in God that they would not, were it in their power, be released in the smallest degree from their torments; and they accept them with an ever-increasing joy, in proportion as they near the termination of their expiation. Oh! how worthy are they of our love, our sympathy, and our charity.

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This anecdote comes from Month of the Souls in Purgatory by Abbé Berlioux, originally published in English in the year 1886. This book contains meditations and an example story for each day of the month. In an effort to preserve short inspiring stories from our Catholic past, every day for the month of November you can find the example story for the day published on the website under people/stories.

The same author also published similar books for the months of March (St. Joseph), May (Our Lady), and June (Sacred Heart). We are planning to post the stories for these months in the future, as well as re-publish a collection of these four books as a set, so be sure to check back in a few months.