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

The Redeemer, passing through Judea, saw one day a paralytic man seated mournfully beside the pool of Siloam. At certain times, ‘‘an angel of the Lord descended into the pond and the water was moved, and he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole” (John, 5:4). The paralytic man spoken of in the Gospel had waited many years without being able to reach the water first, and the Savior, moved with compassion, drew near and asked why he did not descend with the others into the pond. ‘‘Lord,” replied he, ‘‘my limbs are paralyzed and I have no man to put me into the water. My much wished-for cure does not depend on myself, for I am paralyzed. I need a friend to assist me who will extend to me a helping hand.” Poor paralyzed man, how greatly were you to be pitied!

Such, also, is the fate of the holy souls in Purgatory; they are powerless to move, incapable of helping themselves, incapable of casting themselves into the saving bath of the precious blood of Jesus, which has redeemed the world. Like the paralytic man in the Gospel, they wait for a friend to help them.  Christian soul, be you that charitable friend. Oh, yes, be the delivering angel of the poor paralytics of Purgatory!

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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.