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Saint Catherine De Ricci And The Poor Souls In Purgatory

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Published: 27Oct2011
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Saint Catherine de Ricci constantly prayed for the release of the Suffering Souls in Purgatory. She performed acts of charity; she offered up her Masses and Communions on their behalf. She was even willing to suffer in their place, and there are many accounts where the Lord allowed her to do so. The Poor Souls were allowed to enter the Kingdom before they had suffered for the period assigned them, as Catherine suffered unbelievable pain on their behalf.

One incident of Saint Catherine de Ricci's involvement with the Poor Souls in Purgatory, well known in the life of St. Catherine, concerned the Granduke Francesco de' Medici. As we mentioned before, Catherine was advisor and friend of the Medicis and other nobility; one could almost call her Saint of the Nobility. Francesco's wife, the Granduchess (also Princess of Austria) was the spiritual daughter of Catherine. She was holy and virtuous, whereas her husband was cruel and totally insensitive to his wife's suffering. He even had a mistress living in the same house with him and his wife! This hurt the Granduchess, terribly. His whole court knew! He didn't care. But although he wounded her deeply, the Granduchess never stopped praying for his soul. She asked Catherine to pray for his conversion, that he might not be condemned to Hell. She also asked her to plead with God that when her husband died, he not suffer horribly in Purgatory. The Granduchess died before her husband, and he married the mistress. Although Catherine did not approve of her behavior, she nevertheless paid the new Granduchess the respect due her new station in life.

Now as far as the Granduke was concerned, the Church, the Lord, his immortal soul were all things which were way back in the recesses of his heart and mind. Catherine prayed for his conversion for twenty years. She pleaded with him to convert. He paid no attention to her. The Granduke died. Because of all her prayers, on his death bed, he asked for a priest, confessed his sins and received absolution before he died. He was spared the fires and everlasting pains of Hell; but was sent to the pits of Purgatory to suffer the temporal punishment due him for his sins. There, he would undergo the cleansing of his soul to such a state, he would be acceptable to enter into the presence of God.

Saint Catherine de Ricci kept her promise to the Granduchess and pleaded with the Lord, to allow her to take over the temporal punishment, due the Granduke. The Lord accepted, and the Granduke was led through the gates of Heaven.

We have to believe that Saint Catherine de Ricci had a great love for the poor suffering souls in Purgatory, to be willing to take on the type of horrendous reparation due for their acts on earth. She was given to understand that she would have to bear forty days of unbearable, excruciating, virtually impossible to describe - pain. In exchange, the Granduke would enter Heaven without suffering the agony that had been prepared for him. She said Yes!

The following account comes from eyewitnesses who stayed with Saint Catherine de Ricci during those nightmarish forty days of anguish and torment. Her body was covered with blisters, on top of her skin. The heat which emanated from the fire inside her, made her so warm that her room was described as being hot as an oven. Those who tried to help her, who wanted to pray with her in her room, could only stay for short intervals, as the heat was so intense they could not breathe. There were times when the blistering stopped. Then, her skin took on the appearance of being roasted. When the fire inside her started to rage again, the blisters began to discharge such unbearable heat, her followers were forced to leave the room.

Bob and Penny Lord are renowned Catholic authors and television hosts on EWTN, Global Catholic television. They are prolific writers about the Catholic faith, especially the Saints for which they have been dubbed "experts on the Saints." For more information about this Saint go to Saint Catherine de Ricci

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