Some dioceses kept it a holiday of precept till noon;
only those of Vienne and Tours, and the order of Cluni, the whole day:
in most places it is only a day of devotion. The Greeks have long kept
on Saturday sevennight before Lent, and on Saturday before Whitsunday,
the solemn commemoration of all the faithful departed; but offer up
Mass every Saturday for them.... The dignity of these souls most
strongly recommends them to our compassion, and at the same time to our
veneration. Though they lie at present at a distance from God, buried
in frightful dungeons under waves of fire, they belong to the happy
number of the elect. They are united to God by His grace; they love Him
above all things, and amidst their torments never cease to bless and
praise Him, adoring the severity of His justice with perfect
resignation and love.... They are illustrious conquerors of the devil,
the world and hell; holy spirits loaded with merits and graces, and
bearing the precious badge of their dignity and honor by the nuptial
robe of the Lamb with which by an indefeasible right they are clothed.
Yet they are now in a state of suffering, and endure greater torments
than it is possible for any one to suffer, or for our imagination to
represent to itself in this mortal life.
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