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. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, animated by feelings of great charity and affection, attended the deathbed of a Sister of her Order, who during life had been greatly esteemed by the community. The Religious hastened not only to recite the Divine Office for her, but they also offered all the indulgences they were able to gain in the course of the day.

The corpse of the deceased Sister was still exposed in the Church, and St. Mary Magdalen, who was at the grate praying for the repose of her soul, kept looking at it with affection, when, suddenly, the soul of the departed, surrounded with dazzling light seemed to issue from the inanimate remains, and rising up, ascended to heaven to receive the crown of immortality.

At the same time our Lord appeared to the saint, and told her that the reason this soul had been so speedily delivered from Purgatory was through the efficacy of the indulgences which had been offered for her. Ever after this event, so great was the devotion of the Religious of the monastery to indulgences that they were most particular never to omit the gaining of all those in their power.

Let us imitate their example and never let an opportunity pass of gaining indulgences for the poor souls in Purgatory, especially those of the Stations of the Cross. By practicing this devotion the same indulgences can be gained as are granted to those who visit the sacred places of Jerusalem.

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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.