Fiery love

"All who die in God's grace and friendship,
but still imperfectly purified,
are indeed assured of their eternal salvation;
but after death they undergo purification,
so as to achieve the holiness
necessary to enter the joy of heaven."

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1030

All Souls' Day
Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

NOTE: An excerpt from this morning's commentary read at Vigils in the Saint Meinrad Archabbey Church.

X

There is no joy save that in paradise to be compared with the joy of the souls in purgatory. As the rust of sin is consumed, the soul is more and more open to God's love. Just as a covered object left out in the sun cannot be penetrated by the sun's rays, in the same way, once the covering of the soul is removed, the soul opens itself fully to the rays of the sun. Having become one with God's will, these souls, to the extent that he grants it to them, see into God.

When God sees the soul pure as it was in its origins, he tugs at it with a glance, draws it and binds it to himself with a fiery love. God so transforms the soul in himself that it knows nothing other than God. He will not cease until he has brought the soul to its perfection. The soul becomes like gold that becomes purer as it is fired, all dross being cast out.

-- St. Catherine of Genoa,

Purgation and Purgatory

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.