for the repose of the soul of John, Lord Stourton, her first husband. He promised to do so; and whilst at the altar, between the Consecration and the Memento for the dead, he paused for a long time as if absorbed in prayer. After Mass, in an exhortation which he addressed to those present, he told them of a vision which he had just had during the Holy Sacrifice. He had seen an immense forest stretched out before him, but entirely on fire, forming one vast cauldron. In the midst of it was the deceased nobleman, uttering lamentable cries, bewailing the guilty life he led in the world and at court. Having made a full confession of his faults, the unfortunate man ended with these words, which Holy Scripture places in the mouth of Job: Have pity on me! Have pity on me, at least you my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me. He then disappeared.
"Whilst relating this, F. Cornelius shed abundance of tears, and we all, members of the family, to the number of twenty-four persons, wept also. Suddenly, whilst the Father was still speaking, we perceived upon the wall against which the altar stood what seemed to be the reflection of burning coals."
Such is the recital of Dorothy, Lady Arundel, which may be read in the "History of England," by Daniel. [1]
St. Lidwina saw in Purgatory a soul that suffered also for mortal sins not sufficiently expiated on earth. The incident is thus related in the Life of the saint. A man who had been for a long time a slave of the demon of impurity, finally had the happiness of being converted. He confessed his sins with great contrition, but, prevented by death, he had not time to atone by just penance for his numerous sins. Lidwina, who knew him well, prayed much for him. Twelve years after his death she still continued to pray, when, in one of her ecstasies, being taken into Purgatory by her angel-guardian, she heard a mournful voice issuing from a deep pit. "It is the soul of that
- ↑ Bk. v.; cf. Rossign., Merv. t 715.
