the same moment when prayers and Holy Communion were being offered for the faithful departed, shows plainly the excellence of this devotion and how pleasing it must be in the sight of God.
Let us therefore conclude in the words of St. Bernard, "May charity lead you to communicate, for there is nothing more efficacious for the eternal repose of the dead."
CHAPTER XXV.
Relief of the Holy Souls — The Stations of the Cross — Venerable Mary d'Antigna.
After Holy Communion we shall speak of the Stations of the Cross. This holy exercise may be considered in itself, and in the indulgences with which it is enriched. In itself, it is a solemn and very excellent manner of meditating on the Passion of our Saviour, and consequently the most salutary exercise of our holy religion.
In its literal sense, the Way of the Cross is the distance traversed by the Man-God whilst carrying the weight of His cross from the palace of Pilate, where He was condemned to death, to the summit of Calvary, where He was crucified. After the death of her Divine Son, the Blessed Virgin, either alone or in company with the holy women, frequently visited that dolorous path. After her example, the faithful of Palestine, and in the course of ages numerous pilgrims from the most distant countries, went to visit those holy places, bedewed with the sweat and blood of Jesus Christ; and the Church, to encourage their piety, opened to them her treasures of spiritual blessings. But as every one cannot go to the Holy Land, the Holy See
