We can do nothing; you who live can do all.
"I must work the works of Him that sent me, whilst it is day: the night cometh when no man can work." - John 9:4
All merit and, of course, all satisfaction cease at death, because the soul has no longer liberty to choose between good and evil. This is the reason why the souls in Purgatory are powerless to help themselves, and to hasten their deliverance. They are prisoners for debt whose captivity only ceases at the time fixed by the judge, not being able by themselves to gain and liquidate the amount which is the cause of their seclusion. Our lot, as children of the Church Militant, is therefore preferable, not only in being able to merit for ourselves, but, besides, to supply for the dead and give part of our satisfactions to our brethren of the Church Suffering. So it is from us alone that they expect relief, help, and the termination of their sufferings. We are the only resouice of the dead; we alone are their deliverers; for we alone can suffer with merit and, consequently, expiate. Heaven consoles them, we relieve them; Heaven encourages them, we deliver them; the saints show them their fatherland, open their arms to receive them there, we introduce them into this celestial abode of repose and happiness. Such is our power, Christians! Now, this power, in presence of so much powerless suffering, creates for us a strict obligation of hastening to their relief. For, the poorer one is, the more are we bound to aid him. Who is poorer than he who has nothing, who owes much, and who has no means of working, earning, or asking, if, nevertheless, he must give satisfaction, even to the last farthing, in the midst of inexpressible torments? Saint Thomas teaches that prayers offered for the dead are more favorably received by God than those addressed to Him for the living.
Listen to these poor prisoners for debt, saying to you words analogous to those which a prisoner on earth addressed to a woman whose consideration was great, and whose hand was strong enough to break liis irons and give him liberty: "Madam, I shall have suffered one hundred thousand liours the 25th of this month, 1760, and there still remain for me two hundred thousand hours of suffering." Hear them add: "We can do nothing, nothing for our deliverance. To suffer, suffer on, and know that the suffering produces nothing; to shed tears of fire and feel thatjUnder the burning dew of these tears, nothing can spring up but suffering succeeding suffering, until the hour when Justice, after having counted the moments and weighed the sufferings, can say, 'It is sufficient! But oh! it is hard!' Mortals! help, help! extend your hand to the poor captive and deliver him."
Want of Suffrages
"I have learned from Sister Margaret Mary," says Mother Superior Greffier in her memoir, "that two religious for whom she prayed after their death were shown to lier in these prisons of divine Justice; but one suffered pains incomparably greater than those endured by the oilier. She complained much of herself, for, on account of her faults against charity and holy friendship which ought to reign in religious communities, she drew upon herself, amongst other punishments, no share in the suffrages offered to God for her by the community. The only relief she received was from the prayers of three or four members for whom she had had during life less affection and inclination. This suffering soul also accused herself of the too great readiness she had manifested in dispensing herself from the rule and the common exercises; finally, she bewailed the care she had taken while on earth to procure ease and accommodation for her body. At the same time, she made known to our dear Sister that, as a punishment for these three faults, she had suffered three furious assaults of the devil during her agony, and that, believing herself lost each time, she was on the point of falling into despair; but the Blessed Virgin, for whom she had a great devotion, drew her from the clutches of the enemy.
"The other religious, who suffered less, asked nothing; at which Sister Margaret being asLonislied, it was revealed to her that this soul was not allowed to ask of her, on account of having failed in corresponding to the call which God had given her of going to Him by pure suffering, and, contrary to His design, having anxiously sought relief."
Practice
Joyfully obey, as you would God, those whom He has given you for superiors.
Prayer
Great Saint Joseph, who loved Jesus so tenderly, and who felt so keenly the severity of His absence during the time you spent in Limbo, I earnestly recommend all the suffering souls in Purgatory to you. Be their consoler in this place of punishment and atonement; deign to obtain for them an application of the pious suffrages of the faithful, and in particular my own; make yourself their intercessor with Jesus and Mary, and obtain by your prayers that, delivered from the bonds which hold them captives, they may spring to the bosom of God, to be eternally replenished with the torrent of delights with which He inundates His elect. Amen.
With the intention of applying to them the indulgences of the following ejaculations we say:
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! I give you my heart and my soul.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! may I breathe out my soul in peace with you.
Saint Joseph, friend of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.
- text taken from Month of the Dead by Father Celestin Cloquet, translated by a Sister of Mercy, with the Imprimatur of Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan, Archdiocese of New York, 18 October 1886