Chapter 16: Of the effect of the Great Psalter— Of the zeal of Christ for the salvation of souls— And how willing He is to hear the prayers of those who love Him

As the community recited the Great Psalter * for the souls of the faithful departed, which is believed to be of great efficacy for them, St. Gertrude prepared herself for Holy Communion, and prayed for these souls with great fervour. She then inquired of our Lord why this Psalter was so ac ceptable to Him, and why it obtained such great relief foi the souls, since the immense number of Psalms which were recited, and the long prayers after each, caused more weariness than devotion. The Lord replied : " The desire which I have for the deliverance of the souls makes it acceptable to Me ; even as a prince who had been obliged to imprison one of his nobles to whom he was much at tached, and was compelled by his justice to refuse him pardon, would most thankfully avail himself of the inter cessions and satisfactions of others to release his friend. Thus do I act towards those whom I have redeemed by My Death and precious Blood, rejoicing in the opportunity of releasing them from their pains, and bring them to eternal joys."

" But," continued the Saint, "is the labour of those who recite this Psalter acceptable to Thee ? " He replied : " My love renders it most agreeable to Me ; and if a soul is released thereby, I accept it as if I had been Myself de livered from captivity, and I will assuredly reward it at a titling time, according to the abundance of My mercy." Then she inquired : " How many souls are released by these prayers ?" He answered: "The number is propor tioned to the zeal and fervour of those who pray for them." He added : " My love urges Me to release a great number of souls for the prayers of each religious ; and at each verse of the Psalm I release many."

As the devotion of the Saint was marvellously excited by this revelation, she immediately commenced the recital of the Psalter, though in a state of extreme weakness. When she had repeated one verse, she asked our Lord how many souls He had released ; and He replied : "I am so touched by the fervour of your love, that I have re leased a soul for each movement of your tongue." For which may sweet Jesus be praised and blessed for endlesa ages 1

532 THE EEVELATION8 OF ST. GERTRUDE.