The most Abandoned
"She was alone in the field; she cried, and there was no man to help her." - Deuteronomy 22:27
Happy the dead who have on earth a father or mother, son or daughter, brother or sister, friend or acquaint- ance, who prays every day for them. But alas! how many have left after them no one interested in their fate!
If God would permit souls to return again amidst the tumult of this world, and revisit the places where they had been so beloved and wliere was centred all their happiness, what would they hear? Yes, says Father Felix, if they came, invisible witnesses, to lend ear to the discourses which are held at your winter amusements, tell me, how many times during those long entertainments would they hear their name recalled by those whom they once deemed as friends? Alas! more frequently, after having listened to conversations in which nothing is said of them when living, they would return in sorrow to that abyss, and cry in a disconsolate way: "Ah! it is over, over forever! We are all forgotten, and behold! not even a thouglit connects us with earth. Everywhere it is forgetfulness - forgetfulness of my life, of wliich no more mention is made; forgetfulness of my name, which already is no longer pronounced; forgetfulness of my tomb, which is visited no more; forgetfulness of my death, over which friends no longer weep; forgetfulness even at home, where nobody remembers me; forgetfulness in the hearts of my friends, of whom not one will again weep for me." Let us add: forgetfulness on the part of parents, neither of whom seems to remember that the same blood courses through our veins; forgetfulness even by those who are now enjoying our possessions, the fruits of so much labor, without thinking of employing even the hundredth part in relieving those who bequeathed it to them. Forgetfulness, abandonment everywhere!
God's Preference for and Compensation to the Abandoned
One New Year's Day, Venerable Margaret Mary prayed earnestly for three persons- lately deceased, of whom two were religious and the third secular. Our Lord showed all three to her, saying, "Which one dost thou wish me to give thee?" The servant of God, profoundly humbling herself, entreated our Lord to make the choice Himself, according to His greater glory and good pleasure. Then He delivered the soul of the secular, saying that He had less compassion for religious, because they had, in fidelity to the practice of their rule, moi-e means of meriting and expiating their daily faults during life.
On another occasion, while praying for a person of great renown in the world, the object of her prayers was shown to her as condemned for many years to the sufferings of Purgatory, notwithstanding the solemn services and the great number of Masses that liad been offered for her; all these prayers and suffrages being applied by divine Justice to the souls of some families of her subjects who had been ruined by her want of cliarity and justice in their regard; and, as no one was left to intercede for them after death, God supplied for this in the manner we have just mentioned.
Practice
Perform some act of humility to-day, or devote a few minutes to reading about this excellent virtue.
Prayer
O Jesus, abandoned by all, even Thy apostles, in the garden of Gethsemani, deign to cast Thine eyes of mercy on all the souls in Purgatory, especially on those who receive neither prayers nor consolations; who are forgotten, and whose anniversaries are not celebrated; give them a share in the prayers, Masses, and good works, the merit of which is not applied to those for whom they are offered. Amen.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary! that never was it known that any one that fled to thy protection, implored thy help, and sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother! To thee I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word incarnate! despise not my petitions, but, in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.
- 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