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Friday

Holy Souls in Purgatory, is there anything you
regret when you think of your life on earth?

I deeply regret my neglect of acts of mortification. How easy they would have been on earth, but
how difficult they are now in Purgatory. Here the smallest suffering is more poignant than the
most cruel torments on earth. In the world it meant only patience and resignation in the hard-
ships and adversities of my life; it meant only giving from my surplus to the poor, and devoting
myself to works of atonement; it meant only performing works of mercy. Nothing could have been
easier, and my Purgatory would have been shortened considerably.

If God would but grant me the grace to exchange the years during which I must still remain in
this place of sorrow for as many years of life on earth! No commands would be too severe for me; no
pains could frighten me; the most difficult works of penance would seem easy and give me comfort.

You who now suffer under the trials and hardships of this life! You who now earn your daily bread
by the sweat of your brow, rejoice! The smallest suffering endured in the spirit of atonement
and offered to the Sacred Heart, will save you from a long and painful Purgatory.