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

St. Catharine of Cortona, born of a noble family, was, when quite a child, distinguished for her fervent and angelic piety. Her father, who died before she had attained the age of eight years, appeared to her one day surrounded by the flames of Purgatory. “My daughter,” said he, “I shall be detained in these flames until you shall have done penance for me.” Catharine’s heart was filled with compassion, and from that day she determined, young as she was, to undertake the wonderful austerities which made her so conspicuous for the extraordinary penances which she performed. Her tears, her prayers, and the mortifications she practiced soon paid the debt her father owed to Divine Justice, and, resplendent with heavenly light he again appeared to her and spoke to her in these words: “God has accepted your suffrages and the satisfactory works you have offered, O my daughter; and I am now going to enjoy eternal glory. Continue during your whole life to immolate yourself as a victim for the salvation of the suffering souls.  Such is the will of God.” The heroic virgin was faithful to her sublime mission, and all her life she prayed for and practiced untold austerities for the relief of the souls of the dead. When her pious companions tried to persuade her to lessen in some degree her penances, she answered them in these remarkable words, which reveal her life’s secret: “When one has seen, as I have seen, What Purgatory and hell are, one cannot do too much to deliver souls from the one, and preserve them from the other. I cannot then spare myself, as I offered myself as a sacrifice for them.”

And we also, we have a duty and a mission to fulfill, which is to help the souls redeemed by Jesus Christ. Oh let us never be unmindful of it.

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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.