Vigils Reading – Office for the Dead

A CONTEST OF LOVE

From the writing of Servant of God Dolindo Ruotolo4 ◊◊◊

According to the revelation of Saints and we might even say according to logic, Purgatory is divided into different areas, depending on the degree of purification that the soul has to endure in proportion to the sin committed…

Saint Francesca Romana saw Purgatory divided into three distinct parts: in the upper region are the souls who suffer only the pain of loss, that is the lack of the vision of God or some small pain… which prepares them for the vision and enjoyment of God. In the middle region, …suffer the souls who committed venial sins or those… who must atone for the punishment due to mortal sin already forgiven. At the bottom of the abyss, close to Hell, the Saint saw the third region, which she calls the “lower Purgatory”, filled with a clear and penetrating fire, different from that of Hell, where <it> is dark and gloomy.

This third region she saw divided <into> three further areas where the pain increases according to the responsibility of the soul and the degree of glory and happiness they are destined to reach. The first is for the laity; the second for the non-ordained Clergy; the third for the Priests and Bishops. It should be understood that this third area has an even lower level reserved for members of Religious Orders: men and women, who had higher means of sanctification and light from God and now have to bear greater responsibility for their faults and, therefore, a greater need of expiation.

Both Priests and Religious, called to the greatest sanctity, are called to a very high state of glory… In consequence, their pains are likewise stronger and lengthier… The intensity of the pain is in exact proportion to the sins committed and… is intensely dominated by the pain of loss, which is the sense of abandonment by God and the desire to possess Him, because of the intensity of love that the souls feel for Him and the even more intense love that God has for the souls.

That is why we call Purgatory “a contest of love”. The Lord is not very severe with souls. Instead, He is very loving and He purifies them since He wants perfect happiness for them. The soul realizes this love of God and, even more, it soars toward Him: it yearns and groans for His love; it is aware of the dark fog that envelops it, knowing that it is loved and the soul loves in return. It begs for help to come out of this state, that it may be shortened. Yet <the soul> cannot shorten the time with its own merits, being unable to acquire merits. All this anxiety it has is love.

The groaning of love the soul has for God and the attraction to the Divine Love, feeling that God wants its happiness, is the pain of loss and the contest of love… It seems like a paradox but… the contest of love itself makes the soul look at each purifying pain as a step that brings it closer to the Supreme Good and to its eternal happiness