We read, how once a sick person who was very impatient in his
sufferings, exclaimed; "O God, take me from this world!" Thereupon the
Angel Guardian appeared to him, and told him to remember that, by
patiently bearing his afflictions upon his sick-bed, he could satisfy
for his sins, and shorten his Purgatory. But the sick man replied that
he chose rather to satisfy for his sins in Purgatory. The poor sufferer
died; and behold, his Guardian Angel appeared to him again, and asked
him if he did not repent of the choice he had made of satisfying for
his sins in Purgatory, by tortures, rather than upon earth by
afflictions. Thereupon the poor soul asked the angel: "How many years
am I now here in these terrible flames?" The Angel replied: "How many
years? Thy body upon earth is not yet buried; nay, it is not yet cold
and still thou believest already thou art here for many years!" Oh, how
that soul lamented upon hearing this. Great indeed was its grief for
not having chosen patiently to undergo upon earth the sufferings of
sickness, and thereby shorten its Purgatory.
* * * * *
Upon earth, persons who anxiously seek another abode or another state
of life, often know not whether, perhaps, they may not fall into a more
wretched condition.
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