Lumen 2018

support this small Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, brought into being by God to assist the dead.” 145 The following event described by Fr. Wyszynski demonstrates how effective the help given to the souls suffering in Purgatory is. One saintly religious, incapacitated by a grave illness, felt that his death was approaching. Fully alert and aware, he made a confession before his Superior. When he finished his confession, he was given absolution. He was afraid of the punishments awaiting him in Pur- gatory, but he did not have time to repent for his sins. The confessor consoled him by saying that he would be repenting for his sins as long as the Mass for his soul lasted. Soon the religious died, and the Superior immediately stepped up to the altar to say Mass for the soul of his confrere. As soon as he finished the Mass and uttered the words: Et Verbum caro factum est , his deceased confrere appeared to him and cried out in a sad voice: “What cruel penance!” And he had to bear the pangs of Purgatory only for a short time. 146 The accepted pious practices associated with aiding the souls in Purgatory soon underwent some changes. After the Founder’s death, the recitation of the rosary was limited to one part, and, in- stead of the entire Office of the Dead, only one nocturne was recited. But other devotions were enlarged. The chapter which gathered in 1737 decided that a catafalque with a coffin be displayed and mourn- ing services, consisting of three nocturnes and a sung Holy Mass for the dead, be held in every monastery during the octave of All Souls’ Day, Sunday excepted. The chapter of 1750 approved the custom of ringing a large bell nine times after the evening meditation to en- courage the faithful to pray for the dead. 147 In his ordinance, issued in 1782, the Superior General Nowicki listed detailed regulations for the ceremonies of All Souls’ Day. He recommended that priests say Masses one after another on that day, so that the faithful might participate in several Masses. He ordered that the common folk be encouraged to receive the Sacrament of Penance and that everything be done to facilitate this. After the last S TANISLAUS P APCZYNSKI 288