“All infidels and heretics are surely on the way to being lost. What an obligation we owe God for causing us to be born not only after the coming of Jesus Christ, but also in countries where the true faith reigns! I thank Thee, O Lord, for this. Woe to me if, after so many transgressions, it had been my fate to live in the midst of infidels or heretics!”

“In the Great Deluge in the days of Noah, nearly all mankind perished, eight persons alone being saved in the Ark. In our days a deluge, not of water but of sins, continually inundates the earth, and out of this deluge very few escape. Scarcely anyone is saved.”

“Saint Teresa, as the Roman Rota attests, never fell into any mortal sin; but still Our Lord showed her the place prepared for her in Hell; not because she deserved Hell, but because, had she not risen from the state of lukewarmness in which she lived, she would in the end have lost the grace of God and been damned.”

“The saints are few, but we must live with the few if we would be saved with the few. O God, too few indeed they are; yet among those few I wish to be!”

“All persons desire to be saved, but the greater part, because they will not adopt the means of being saved, fall into sin and are lost. […] In fact, the Elect are much fewer than the damned, for the reprobate are much more numerous than the Elect.” -


Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori, Doctor of the Church

 


We shall be raised therefore, all with our bodies eternal, but not all with bodies alike: for if a man is righteous, he will receive a heavenly body, that he may be able worthily to hold converse with angels; but if a man is a sinner, he shall receive an eternal body, fitted to endure the penalties of sins, that he may burn eternally in fire, nor ever be consumed. And righteously will God assign this portion to either company; for we do nothing without the body. We blaspheme with the mouth, and with the mouth we pray. With the body we commit fornication, and with the body we keep chastity. With the hand we rob, and by the hand we bestow alms; and the rest in like manner. Since then the body has been our minister in all things, it shall also share with us in the future the fruits of the past” 

 -Cyril of Jerusalem, Father and Doctor of the Church, (Catechetical Lectures 18:19 [A.D. 350]).

From the book "Purgatory Explained"

Part II, Chapter III

Consolation of the Souls -- St. Stanislaus of Cracow and the Resuscitated

Peter Miles

This contentment in the midst of the most intense suffering cannot be

explained otherwise than by the Divine consolations which the Holy Ghost

infuses into the souls in Purgatory. This Divine Spirit, by means of faith,

hope, and charity, puts them in the disposition of a sick person who has to

submit to very painful treatment, but the effect of which is to restore him

to perfect health. This sick person suffers, but he loves his salutary

suffering. The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, gives a similar contentment to

the holy souls. Of this we have a striking example in Peter Miles raised

from the dead by St. Stanislaus of Cracow, who preferred to return to

Purgatory rather than to live again upon earth.

The celebrated miracle of this resurrection happened in 1070. It is thus

related in the Acta Sanctorum on May 7. St. Stanislaus was Bishop of Cracow

when the Duke Boleslas II governed Poland. He did not neglect to remind

this prince of his duties, who scandalously violated them before all his

people.

Boleslas was irritated by the holy liberty of the Prelate, and to revenge

himself he excited against him the heirs of a certain Peter Miles, who had

died three years previously after having sold a piece of ground to the

church of Cracow. The heirs accused the saint of having usurped the ground,

without having paid the owner. Stanislaus declared that he had paid for the

land, but as the witnesses who should have defended him had been either

bribed or intimidated, he was denounced as a usurper of the property of

another, and condemned to make restitution. Then, seeing that he had

nothing to expect from human justice, he raised his heart to God, and

received a sudden inspiration. He asked for a delay of three days,

promising to make Peter Miles appear in person, that he might testify to

the legal purchase and payment of the lot.

They were granted to him in scorn. The saint fasted, watched, and prayed

God to take up the defense of his cause. The third day, after having

celebrated Holy Mass, he went out accompanied by his clergy and many of the

faithful, to the place where Peter had been interred. By his orders the

grave was opened; it contained nothing but bones. He touched them with his

crosier, and in the name of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life, he

commanded the dead man to arise.

Suddenly the bones became reunited, were covered with flesh, and, in the

sight of the stupefied people, the dead man was seen to take the Bishop by

the hand and walk towards the tribunal. Boleslas, with his court and an

immense crowd of people, were awaiting the result with the most lively

expectation. "Behold Peter," said the saint to Boleslas; "he comes, prince,

to give testimony before you. Interrogate him; he will answer you."

It is impossible to depict the stupefaction of the Duke, of his councilors,

and of the whole concourse of people. Peter affirmed that he had been paid

for the ground; then turning towards his heirs, he reproached them for

having accused the pious prelate against all rights of justice; then he

exhorted them to do penance for so grievous a sin.

It was thus that iniquity, which believed itself already sure of success,

was confounded. Now comes the circumstance which concerns our subject, and

to which we wished to refer. Wishing to complete this great miracle for the

glory of God, Stanislaus proposed to the deceased that, if he desired to

live a few years longer, he would obtain for him this favor from God. Peter

replied that he had no such desire. He was in Purgatory, but he would

rather return thither immediately and endure its pains, than expose himself

to damnation in this terrestrial life. He then entreated the saint only to

beg of God to shorten the time of his sufferings, that he might the sooner

enter the abode of the blessed. After that, accompanied by the Bishop and a

vast multitude, Peter returned to his grave, laid himself down, his body

fell to pieces, and his bones resumed the same state in which they had

first been found. We have reason to believe that the saint soon obtained

the deliverance of his soul.

That which is the most remarkable in his example, and which should most

attract out attention, is that a soul from Purgatory, after having

experienced the most excruciating torments, prefers that state of suffering

to the life of this world; and the reason which he gives for this

preference is, that in this mortal life we are exposed to the danger of

being lost and incurring eternal damnation.

----------------------------------------------------

If, on a rare occasion, it is necessary to speak with some severity in order to make a grievous crime felt, we should always, at the conclusion of the rebuke, add some kind words. We must heal wounds, as the Samaritan did, with wine and oil. But as oil floats above all other liquors, so meekness should predominate in all our actions.

Above all things we should be meek toward our enemies. We must overcome hatred by love, and persecution by meekness. It was thus the Saints acted, and in this manner they conciliated the regard of their bitterest enemies.

-Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church

“What do you think? How many of the inhabitants of this city may perhaps be saved? What I am about to tell you is very terrible, yet I will not conceal it from you. Out of this thickly populated city with its thousands of inhabitants not one hundred people will be saved. I even doubt whether there will be as many as that!”

 -Saint John Chrysostom, Father and Doctor of the Church

Letter of Saint Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria
To His Flock
The Catholic Church Ravaged in the Fourth Century   "May God console you! ... What saddens you ... is the fact that others have occupied the churches by violence, while during this time you are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises -- but you have the Apostolic Faith. They can occupy our churches, but they are outside the true Faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the Faith dwells within you. Let us consider: what is more important, the place or the Faith? The true Faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in the struggle -- the one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the Faith? True, the premises are good when the Apostolic Faith is preached there; they are holy if everything takes place there in a holy way ... "You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your Faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to you from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. No one, ever, will prevail against your Faith, beloved Brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day. "Thus, the more violently they try to occupy the places of worship, the more they separate themselves from the Church. They claim that they represent the Church; but in reality, they are the ones who are expelling themselves from it and going astray. Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ."
- (Coll. Selecta SS.Eccl.Patrum, Caillau and Guillou Vol. 32, pp. 411-412)

Out of one hundred thousand sinners who continue in sin until death, scarcely one will be saved.

Many begin well, but there are few who persevere.

So that you will better appreciate the meaning of Our Lord’s words, and perceive more clearly how few the Elect are, note that Christ did not say that those who walked in the path to Heaven are few in number, but that there were few who found that narrow way. It is as though the Saviour intended to say: The path leading to Heaven is so narrow and so rough, so overgrown, so dark and difficult to discern, that there are many who never find it their whole life long. And those who do find it are constantly exposed to the danger of deviating from it, of mistaking their way, and unwittingly wandering away from it, because it is so irregular and overgrown.

-Saint Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church

 
 Mary with Child and John the Baptist (first half of 16th century), Bernard van Orley


The morning light shines before the sun, so does meekness precede humility. Meekness is that unalterable condition of the soul in which it remains always the same in praise as in blame, without confusion, without disturbance, and without vexation.

Meekness aids obedience, and is a quality of the Angels. A meek soul is enlightened by the spirit of discernment, and is the seat of simplicity. The simple soul is far removed from all vain, curious, and perverse thoughts; it goes directly and sincerely to God, as a scholar to his master.

-Saint John Climacus

 
 The Vale of Rest (1858-1859), John Everett Millais


The Highest Pleasures
The highest, the best, the most permanent pleasures are those which are not sought, but which come from the faithful fulfillment of life’s duties and obligations.
Indeed, eager search after pleasure in any direction is always fruitless, because it implies a condition of mind to which enduring happiness is a stranger.
Selfishness and enjoyment may dwell together for a brief season, but the latter will soon wither away under the absorbing influence of the former.

Don’t Go To Heaven Alone
 
Don’t go to heaven alone! Take somebody with you. Mothers, take your children with you. Pray as long as you have breath in your body – never despair and never give up the hope that your loved ones, no matter how far their footsteps have wandered, will one day stand with you before the Great White Throne.

 
 All Souls Day (1888), Jakub Schikaneder

Let Us Go About Doing Good
If we are educated, let us, in the Master’s name, instruct the ignorant; if we possess wealth, let us use it as God intended; if we have health, let us cheer some drooping soul.
If we enjoy any singular opportunities, consider them prayerfully, and in so doing we shall find that the moments that really shine out in our lives are those in which we have buried self and gone out into this busy and sinful world, and have endeavored, by prayer and effort to do the will of Him, whose one great mission was to go about doing good.
Fr. Lasance