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Month of the Holy Souls (Days 17-18)

November 17, 2023

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Day 17

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (8:14-23)

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
     but you received a spirit of adoption,
     through which we cry, Abba, "Father!"
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit
     that we are children of God,
     and if children, then heirs,
     heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
     if only we suffer with him
     so that we may also be glorified with him.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing
     compared with the glory to be revealed for us.
For creation awaits with eager expectation
     the revelation of the children of God;
     for creation was made subject to futility,
     not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it,
     in hope that creation itself
     would be set free from slavery to corruption
     and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;
     and not only that, but we ourselves,
     who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
     we also groan within ourselves
     as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

From her Treatise on Purgatory by St. Catherine of Genoa

How God and the soul reciprocally regard each other in purgatory.—The saint confesses that she has no words to express these things.

“All these things that I have said, in comparison with those which have been represented to my mind (as far as I have been able to comprehend them in this life), are of such magnitude that every idea, every word, every feeling, every imagination, all the justice and all the truth that can be said of them, seem false and worthless, and I remain confounded at the impossibility of finding words to describe them.

“I behold such a great conformity between God and the soul, that when he finds her pure as when his divine majesty first created her he gives her an attractive force of ardent love which would annihilate her if she were not immortal. He so transforms her into himself that, forgetting all, she no longer sees aught beside him; and he continues to draw her toward him, inflames her with love, and never leaves her until he has brought her to that state from whence she first came forth, that is, to the perfect purity in which she was created.

“When the soul beholds within herself the amorous flame by which she is drawn toward her sweet Master and her God, the burning heat of love overpowers her and she melts. Then, in that divine light she sees how God, by his great care and constant providence, never ceases to attract her to her last perfection, and that he does so through pure love alone. She sees, too, that she herself, clogged by sin, cannot follow that attraction toward God, that is, that reconciling glance which he casts upon her that he may draw her to himself. Moreover, a comprehension of that great misery, which it is to be hindered from gazing upon the light of God, is added to the instinctive desire of the soul to be wholly free to yield herself to that unifying flame. I repeat, it is the view of all these things which causes the pain of the suffering souls in purgatory, not that they esteem their pains as great (cruel thought they be), but they count as far worse that opposition which they find in themselves to the will of that God whom they behold burning for them with so ardent and so pure a love.

“This love, with its unifying regard, is ever drawing these souls, as if it had no other thing to do; and when the soul beholds this, if she could find a yet more painful purgatory in which she could be more quickly cleansed, she would plunge at once therein, impelled by the burning, mutual love between herself and God.

Musical Selection (Fernando Ortega)

I look for You in the middle of the night

Savior and guardian of my soul

From highest heaven You hear my call

And in my trouble You comfort and hold me

I long for You when I cannot hear Your voice

And my heart is dry as the dust

Oh Lord, be near me if I should fall

And show me how to believe and to trust You alone