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
A man had three friends, and two of these he loved very particularly. One day he was accused of a great crime of which he was innocent, and turning to his friends he said: “Who will come with me to the court and give testimony to my innocence?”
The first made an excuse alleging that business prevented him; the second accompanied him to the entrance of the court, and turned back, fearing to face the Judge; the third, he on whose friendship the accused reckoned the least, accompanied him, spoke in his favor and testified to his innocence in so convincing a manner that the judge not only liberated him but granted him further privileges.
In this world a man has three friends, and when God, at the hour of death, summons him to judgment, money, his favorite friend, does not accompany him, but leaves him, being no longer of any use to him. His relatives and friends follow him to the grave, sprinkle holy water on his coffin, bid a last farewell, and return quietly to their homes. The third friend, the one he had probably thought the least about during life, are his good works. They, and they only, do not leave him—they accompany him before his Judge, they stand before him, speak in his favor, and obtain mercy and pardon for him: Opera illorum sequuntur illos.
Christian soul, when you make your will, leave something for good works, and you will then secure for yourself true friends who will close the gates of Purgatory and open for you those of Heaven. Hoc fac et vives!
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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.