The same St. Bridget, during another ecstasy, beheld the judgment of a soldier who had just died. He had lived in the vices too common in his profession, and would have been condemned to Hell had not the Blessed Virgin, whom he had always honoured, preserved him from that misfortune by obtaining for him the grace of a sincere repentance. The saint saw him appear before the judgment-seat of God and condemned to a long Purgatory for the sins of all kinds which he had committed. "The punishment of the eyes," said the Judge, "shall be to contemplate the most frightful objects; that of the tongue, to be pierced with pointed needles and tormented with thirst; that of the touch, to be plunged in an ocean of fire." Then the Holy Virgin interceded, and obtained some mitigation of the rigour of the sentence.
Let us relate still another example of the chastisements reserved for worldlings in Purgatory, when they have not, like the rich glutton of the Gospel, been buried in Hell.
Blessed Mary Villani, a Dominican Religious, [1] had a lively devotion to the holy souls, and it often happened that they appeared to her, either to thank her or to beg the assistance of her prayers and good works. One day, whilst praying for them with great fervour, she was transported in spirit to their prison of expiation. Among the souls that suffered there she saw one more cruelly tormented than the others, in the midst of flames which entirely enveloped her. Touched with compassion, the servant of God interrogated the soul. " I have been here," she replied, " for a very long time, punished for my vanity and my scandalous extravagance. Thus far I have not received the least alleviation. Whilst I was upon earth, being wholly occupied with my toilet, my pleasures, and worldly amusements, I thought very little of my duties as a Christian, and fulfilled them only with great reluctance, and in a slothful manner. My only serious thought was to further the
- ↑ Sa Vie, par Marchi, i. ii. c. 5; Merv., 41.
