Location of Purgatory
-St. Gregory the Great-
According to St. Thomas and other doctors, as we have previously seen,
Divine Justice, in particular cases, assigns a special place upon earth for
certain souls. This opinion we find confirmed by several facts, among which
we quote the two mentioned by St. Gregory the Great in his "Dialogues."
"Whilst I was young and still a layman, I heard told to the seniors, who
were well-informed men, how the Deacon Paschasius appeared to Germain,
Bishop of Capua. Paschasius, Deacon of the Apostolic See, whose books on the
Holy Ghost are still extant, was a man of eminent sanctity, devoted to works
of charity, zealous for the relief of the poor, and most forgetful of self.
A dispute having arisen concerning a pontifical election, Paschasius
separated himself from the Bishops, and joined the party disapproved of by
the Episcopacy. Soon after this he died, with a reputation for sanctity
which God confirmed by a miracle; an instantaneous cure was effected on the
day of the funeral by the simple touch of his dalmatic.
Long after this, Germain, Bishop of Capua, was sent by the physicians to
the baths of St. Angelo. What was his astonishment to find the same Deacon
Paschasius employed in the most menial offices at the baths! "I here
expiate," said the apparition, "the wrong I did by adhering to the wrong
party. I beseech of you, pray to the Lord for me: you will know that you
have been heard when you shall no longer see me in these places."
Germain began to pray for the deceased, and after a few days, returning
to the baths, sought in vain for Paschasius, who had disappeared. "He had
but to undergo a temporary punishment," says St. Gregory, "because he had
sinned through ignorance, and not through malice."
The same Pope speaks of a priest of Centumcellę, now Civita Vecchia, who
also went to the warm baths. A man presented himself to serve him in the
most menial offices, and for several days waited upon him with the most
extreme kindness, and even eagerness. The good priest, thinking that he
ought to reward so much attention, came the next day with two loaves of
blessed bread, and, after having received the usual assistance of his kind
servant, offered him the loaves.
The servant, with a sad countenance, replied, "Why, Father, do you offer
me this bread? I cannot eat it. I, whom you see, was formerly the master of
this place, and, after my death, I was sent back to the condition in which
you see me for the expiation of my faults. If you wish to do me good, ah!
offer up for me the Bread of the Eucharist."
At these words he suddenly disappeared, and he, whom the priest had
thought to be a man, showed by vanishing that he was a spirit.
For a while week the good priest devoted himself to works of penance, and
each day offered up the Sacred Host in favour of the departed one; then,
having returned to the same baths, he no longer found his faithful servant,
and concluded that he had been delivered.
Taken from: Purgatory Explained (pp 19-20)
Compiled by: Father F.X. Schouppe, S.J.
Imprimatur: Herbertus Card.Vaughan, Archiep. Westmonasterien
Published by: www.TanBooks.com
Copyright: Original October 11, 1893
--
Jesse Gomez Jr
In Beautiful Norway
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