A sister of the community, named Sister Seraphique, died; she had not paid sufficient attention to the salutary advice of her Superior, and was condemned to a severe Purgatory. Mother Agnes knew this by revelation. In an ecstasy she was taken in spirit into the place of expiation, and saw many souls in the midst of flames. Among them she recognised Sister Seraphique, who, in piteous accents, entreated her assistance. Touched with the most lively compassion, the charitable Superior did all in her power for the space of eight days; she fasted, communicated, and assisted at Holy Mass for the dear departed sister. Whilst in prayer, with many tears and sighs, imploring the Divine Mercy through the precious Blood of Jesus, that He would be pleased to deliver her dear daughter from those dreadful flames, and admit her to the enjoyment of His presence, she heard a voice which said to her, " Continue to pray; the hour of her deliverance has not yet come:' Mother Agnes persevered in prayer, and two days later, whilst assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, at the moment of the elevation, she saw the soul of Sister Seraphique ascend to Heaven in a transport of joy. This consoling sight was the reward of her charity, and inflamed anew the ardour of her devotion towards the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Christian families, which possess a spirit of lively faith, make it their duty, according to their rank and means, to have a large number of Masses celebrated for the dead. In their holy liberality, they exhaust their resources in order to multiply the suffrages of the Church, and thus give relief to the holy souls. It is related in the Life of Queen Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III., that in one single day, which was that of her obsequies, there was celebrated in the city of Madrid nearly eleven hundred Masses for the repose of her soul. This princess had asked for one thousand Masses in her last will; the King caused twenty thousand to be added to it. When the Archduke Albert died at Brussels, the pious Isabella, his widow, had
