have pity on me, at least you my friends. [1] 2nd, In what necessities do they find themselves? Alas! their necessities being very great, the souls who thus suffer have a right to our assistance proportionate to their utter helplessness to do anything for themselves. 3rd, What good do we procure for the souls? The greatest good, since we put them in possession of eternal beatitude.
"To assist the souls in Purgatory," says St. Francis de Sales, "is to perform the most excellent of the works of Mercy, or rather it is to practise in a most sublime manner all the works of Mercy together: it is to visit the sick; it is to give drink to those who thirst for the vision of God; it is to feed the hungry, to ransom prisoners, to clothe the naked, to procure for poor exiles the hospitality of the Heavenly Jerusalem; it is to comfort the afflicted, to instruct the ignorant — in fine, to practise all works of Mercy in one." This doctrine agrees very well with that of St. Thomas, who says in his Summa, " Suffrages for the dead are more agreeable to God than suffrages for the living; because the former stand in more urgent need thereof, not being able to assist themselves, as are the living." [2]
Our Lord regards every work of Mercy exercised towards our neighbour as done to Himself, "It is to Me" says He, "that you have done it" — Mihifecistis. This is most especially true of Mercy practised towards the poor souls. It was revealed to St. Bridget that he who delivers a soul from Purgatory has the same merit as if he delivered Jesus Christ Himself from captivity.
