Charity towards the Holy Souls recompensed
by Jesus Christ - St. Catherine of Sienna and Palmerine
God is more inclined to reward than to punish, and if
He inflict a chastisement upon those who forget the
souls so dear to His Heart, He shows Himself truly
grateful towards those who assist Him in the person of
His suffering spouses. In recompense He will one day
say to them, Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the
kingdom which is prepared for you. You have exercised
mercy towards your necessitous and suffering brethren ;
Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My
least brethren, you- did it to Me. 2 Very often in this life
Jesus rewards compassionate and charitable souls by the
bestowal of many favours. St. Catherine of Sienna by
her charity had converted a sinner named Palmerine,
who died and went to Purgatory. The saint gave herself
no rest until she had delivered this soul. In recompense,
our Lord permitted her to appear to the saint, or rather
our Saviour Himself showed her to His servant, as a
glorious conquest of her Charity. Blessed Raymond thus
gives the details : — In the middle of the fourteenth cen-
tury, when St. Catherine edified her native city by all
sorts of works of mercy, a woman named Palmerine,
after having been the object of her tenderest charity,
conceived a secret aversion towards her benefactors, which
even degenerated into implacable hatred. No longer able
to see or listen to the saint, the ungrateful Palmerine,
embittered against the servant of God, ceased not to
blacken her reputation by the most atrocious calumnies.
Catherine did all in her power to conciliate her, but in
vain. Then, seeing that her kindness, her humility, her
benefits served but to excite the fury of this unfortunate
woman, she earnestly implored God to vouchsafe Himself
to move her obdurate heart.
God heard her prayer by striking Palmerine with a
mortal malady; but this chastisement did not suffice to
make her enter into herself. In return for all the tender
care which the saint lavished upon her, the wretched woman
loaded her with insults and drove her from her presence.
Meanwhile, her end approached, and a priest was called to
administer the last Sacraments. The sick person was unfit
to receive them, on account of the hatred which she
nourished, and which she refused to give up. On hearing
this, and seeing that the unfortunate creature had already
one foot in Hell, Catherine shed a torrent of tears and was
inconsolable. For three days and three nights she ceased
not to supplicate God on her behalf, adding fasting to
prayer. "What! Lord," she said, ^will you allow this
soul to be lost on my account ? I conjure you, grant me
at any price her conversion and her salvation. Punish me
for her sin, of which I am the occasion : it is not her, but
me, the chastisement should strike. Lord, refuse me not
the grace which I ask of you ; I shall not leave you until
I shall have obtained it. In the name of your Goodness,
of your Mercy, I conjure you, most merciful Saviour, not to
permit the soul of my sister to leave her body until it has
been restored to your grace."
Her prayer, adds her biographer, was so powerful, that she
prevented the sick woman from dying. Her agony
lasted for three days and three nights, to the great asto-
nishment of her nurses. Catherine during this time con-
tinued to intercede, and ended by gaining the victory. God
could no longer resist, and worked a miracle of mercy. A
ray of heavenly light penetrated the heart of the dying
woman, showed her her fault, and nerved her to repent-
ance. The saint to whom God revealed this hastened to
her side. As soon as the sick person saw her, she gave her
every possible mark of friendship and respect, accused her-
self aloud of her fault, received with piety the last Sacra-
ments, and died in the grace of God.
Notwithstanding the sincerity of her conversion, it was
to be feared that a sinner who had barely escaped Hell
would have to undergo a severe Purgatory. The charitable
Catherine continued to do all in her power to hasten the
moment when Palmerine would be admitted to the glory
of Paradise.
So much Charity could not fail to meet its reward. " Our
Lord," writes Blessed Raymond, "showed to His spouse that
soul saved by her prayers. It was so brilliant, that she
told me she could find no words capable of expressing its
beauty. It was not yet admitted to the glory of the beatific
vision, but had that brightness which creation and the grace
of baptism imparts.
Our Lord said to her, * Behold, My
daughter ; this lost soul which you have found' And He
added, ' Does she not appear to you most beautiful and precious ? Who would not endure all sorts of suffering to save a creature so perfect and introduce it into eternal life ? If I, who am the Supreme Beauty, from whom all beauty emanates, have been so far captivated by the beauty of souls as to descend upon earth and shed My blood to redeem them ; with how much greater reason should you not labour one for another ; that such admirable creatures be not lost ? If I have showed you this soul, it was that you should be all the more zealous in all that concerns the salvation of souls."
Extract for Purgatory explained by the lives and legends of the Saints
By Fr. Schouppe, S.J.
Reprinted by Tan Books 1986 pgs 343-346
Originally published 1893 by Burns and Oates Ltd.
by Jesus Christ - St. Catherine of Sienna and Palmerine
God is more inclined to reward than to punish, and if
He inflict a chastisement upon those who forget the
souls so dear to His Heart, He shows Himself truly
grateful towards those who assist Him in the person of
His suffering spouses. In recompense He will one day
say to them, Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the
kingdom which is prepared for you. You have exercised
mercy towards your necessitous and suffering brethren ;
Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My
least brethren, you- did it to Me. 2 Very often in this life
Jesus rewards compassionate and charitable souls by the
bestowal of many favours. St. Catherine of Sienna by
her charity had converted a sinner named Palmerine,
who died and went to Purgatory. The saint gave herself
no rest until she had delivered this soul. In recompense,
our Lord permitted her to appear to the saint, or rather
our Saviour Himself showed her to His servant, as a
glorious conquest of her Charity. Blessed Raymond thus
gives the details : — In the middle of the fourteenth cen-
tury, when St. Catherine edified her native city by all
sorts of works of mercy, a woman named Palmerine,
after having been the object of her tenderest charity,
conceived a secret aversion towards her benefactors, which
even degenerated into implacable hatred. No longer able
to see or listen to the saint, the ungrateful Palmerine,
embittered against the servant of God, ceased not to
blacken her reputation by the most atrocious calumnies.
Catherine did all in her power to conciliate her, but in
vain. Then, seeing that her kindness, her humility, her
benefits served but to excite the fury of this unfortunate
woman, she earnestly implored God to vouchsafe Himself
to move her obdurate heart.
God heard her prayer by striking Palmerine with a
mortal malady; but this chastisement did not suffice to
make her enter into herself. In return for all the tender
care which the saint lavished upon her, the wretched woman
loaded her with insults and drove her from her presence.
Meanwhile, her end approached, and a priest was called to
administer the last Sacraments. The sick person was unfit
to receive them, on account of the hatred which she
nourished, and which she refused to give up. On hearing
this, and seeing that the unfortunate creature had already
one foot in Hell, Catherine shed a torrent of tears and was
inconsolable. For three days and three nights she ceased
not to supplicate God on her behalf, adding fasting to
prayer. "What! Lord," she said, ^will you allow this
soul to be lost on my account ? I conjure you, grant me
at any price her conversion and her salvation. Punish me
for her sin, of which I am the occasion : it is not her, but
me, the chastisement should strike. Lord, refuse me not
the grace which I ask of you ; I shall not leave you until
I shall have obtained it. In the name of your Goodness,
of your Mercy, I conjure you, most merciful Saviour, not to
permit the soul of my sister to leave her body until it has
been restored to your grace."
Her prayer, adds her biographer, was so powerful, that she
prevented the sick woman from dying. Her agony
lasted for three days and three nights, to the great asto-
nishment of her nurses. Catherine during this time con-
tinued to intercede, and ended by gaining the victory. God
could no longer resist, and worked a miracle of mercy. A
ray of heavenly light penetrated the heart of the dying
woman, showed her her fault, and nerved her to repent-
ance. The saint to whom God revealed this hastened to
her side. As soon as the sick person saw her, she gave her
every possible mark of friendship and respect, accused her-
self aloud of her fault, received with piety the last Sacra-
ments, and died in the grace of God.
Notwithstanding the sincerity of her conversion, it was
to be feared that a sinner who had barely escaped Hell
would have to undergo a severe Purgatory. The charitable
Catherine continued to do all in her power to hasten the
moment when Palmerine would be admitted to the glory
of Paradise.
So much Charity could not fail to meet its reward. " Our
Lord," writes Blessed Raymond, "showed to His spouse that
soul saved by her prayers. It was so brilliant, that she
told me she could find no words capable of expressing its
beauty. It was not yet admitted to the glory of the beatific
vision, but had that brightness which creation and the grace
of baptism imparts.
Our Lord said to her, * Behold, My
daughter ; this lost soul which you have found' And He
added, ' Does she not appear to you most beautiful and precious ? Who would not endure all sorts of suffering to save a creature so perfect and introduce it into eternal life ? If I, who am the Supreme Beauty, from whom all beauty emanates, have been so far captivated by the beauty of souls as to descend upon earth and shed My blood to redeem them ; with how much greater reason should you not labour one for another ; that such admirable creatures be not lost ? If I have showed you this soul, it was that you should be all the more zealous in all that concerns the salvation of souls."
Extract for Purgatory explained by the lives and legends of the Saints
By Fr. Schouppe, S.J.
Reprinted by Tan Books 1986 pgs 343-346
Originally published 1893 by Burns and Oates Ltd.
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