in their sorrow, and the following morning went to the Prior, relating to him the vision he had had, and the request made by Pellegrino concerning the Mass for that day. The Father Prior, sharing his emotion, dispensed him for that day, and for the rest of the week, from saying the conventual Mass, that he might offer the Holy Sacrifice for the departed, and devote himself entirely to the relief of the suffering souls. Delighted with this permission, Nicholas went to the church and celebrated Holy Mass with extraordinary fervour. During the entire week he continued to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice for the same intention, besides offering day and night prayers, disciplines, and all sorts of good works.
At the end of the week Pellegrino again appeared, but no longer in a state of suffering; he was clad in a white garment and surrounded with a celestial light, in which he pointed out a large number of happy souls. They all thanked him, calling him their liberator; then rising towards heaven, they chanted these words of the Psalmist, Salvasti nos de affligentibus nos, et odientes nos confudisti — " Thou hast saved us from them that afflict us, and thou hast put them to shame that hate us " (Ps. xliii.). The enemies here spoken of are sins, and the demons who are their instigators.
CHAPTER XIV.
Relief of the Holy Souls — Holy Mass — Father Gerard — The Thirty Masses of St. Gregory.
Let us now consider the supernatural effects of a different kind, but which prove no less clearly the efficacy of the
