CHAPTER XIX.
Pains of Purgatory — St. Magdalene de Pazzi and Sister Benedicta — St. Gertrude — Blessed Margaret Mary and Mother de Montoux.
We read in the Life of St. Magdalene de Pazzi that one of her sisters, named Maria-Benedicta, a Religious of eminent virtue, died in her arms. During her agony she saw a multitude of angels, which surrounded her with a joyful air, waiting until she should breathe forth her soul, that they might bear it to the Heavenly Jerusalem; and at the moment she expired, the saint saw them receive the soul under the form of a dove, the head of which was of a golden hue, and disappear with her. Three hours later, watching and praying near the remains, Magdalene knew that the soul of the deceased was neither in Paradise nor Purgatory, but in a particular place where, without suffering any sensible pain, she was deprived of the sight of God.
The following day, whilst Mass was being celebrated for the soul of Maria-Benedicta, at the Sanctus Magdalene was again rapt in ecstasy, and God showed her that blessed soul in the glory to which she had been just admitted. Magdalene ventured to ask our Saviour why He had not allowed this dear soul to enter sooner into His holy presence. She received for answer that in her last sickness Sister Benedicta had shown herself too sensitive to the cares bestowed upon her, which interrupted her habitual union with God and her perfect conformity to His Divine Will.
Let us return to the Revelations of St. Gertrude, to which we have just alluded. There we shall find another instance which shows how, for certain souls at least, the sun of glory is preceded by a dawn which breaks by degrees. A Religious died in the flower of her age in the embrace of the
