Chapter 6: Of the ngony and death of M. B., and of her blessed soul — How salutary it is to assist the souls in Purgatory

When M. B., of happy memory, was in her agony, Ger trude prayed for her most earnestly, and obtained a knowledge of what was passing around her in this last combat. For a whole hour she beheld nothing but the trouble which the soul endured for having sometimes taken undue pleasure in exterior things ; such as, for having had a coverlet of coloured cloth on her bed, embroidered with gold. On the day of her decease, when Mass was celebrated, Gertrude offered the Host for her ; although she did not see her, she knew that she was present, and addressed our Lord thus, as if seeking her, saying : " O Lord, where is she ? " He replied : " She will come to Me pure and white." From this she understood that the prayers which were offered in charity had obtained great grace for her in her last moments ; and that some persons, moved by holy zeal, had offered their good works for her, and charged themselves with the penalties due to her.

As Gertrude prayed for her again at the Mass which preceded her interment, she beheld her seated at a festal table beside our Lord, where the prayers which had been offered were given to her under the form of different kinds of food. At the Elevation, as the Saint offered the

" Quod lectus ipsius fuit depositus de picto panno," &o. This, doubtless, was before the religious had entered the monastery, as the rule of poverty of every religious house would forbid such extrava gance. The richly embroidered quilt was a very pitch of luxurious refinement in that age, and hence indicated a habit of self-indulgence or luxurious tastes, which probably caused the soul's suffering for an act which was only its climax.

chalice for her, our Lord appeared to present it to her Himself. When she had tasted it, she immediately be came penetrated with Divine sweetness, and rose up to pray for all who had ever injured her, either by thought, word, or act, rejoicing for the merit which they had obtained for her thereby. Then Gertrude inquired why she did not pray for her friends also ; but she replied : " I pray for them more efficaciously by speaking heart to heart to my Beloved."

On another occasion, as she remarked that she had offered all her merits for the deceased, she said to our Lord : * " I hope, 0 Lord, that Thou will frequently cast the eyes of Thy mercy on my indigence." He replied : " What can I do more for one who has thus deprived her self of all things through charity, than to cover her imme diately with charity ? " She answered : " Whatever Thou mayest do, I shall always appear before Thee destitute of all merit, for I have renounced all I have gained or may gain." He replied : " Do you not know that a mother would allow a child who was well clothed to sit at her feet, but she would take one who was barely clad into her arms, and cover her with her own garment?" He added : " And now, what advantage have you, who are seated on the shore of an ocean, over those who sit by a little rivulet V That is to say, those who keep their good works for them selves have the rivulet ; but those who renounce them in love and humility, possess God, who is an inexhaustible ocean of beatitude.