Flower of Devotion

Once, when St. Bridget had a vision of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, an angel said to her:
“This furnace means hell, which is so hot inside that if the world with all that is in it were to burn, the fire that arises from it would not even resemble the great fever in that furnace. In this furnace there are various voices, all of which speak against God, and begin and end their cries with the words, “Woe!” Souls present themselves as persons whose limbs are terribly torn apart and never at peace. Know, too, that the fire that has appeared to you in the furnace burns in eternal darkness, but the souls burning in it do not suffer the same suffering. The darkness that appears around the furnace is called the abyss, and comes from the darkness in the furnace; Both, however, are one place and one hell. Everyone who comes here will never again dwell with God.
Above this darkness is the greatest torment of purgatory that souls can endure. On the other side of this place, however, there is another space, where the sufferings are smaller, consisting only in the lack of strength for masculinity, beauty, and other similar deficiencies. It is as if a man were sick, and when his sufferings and sickness had ceased, he had no strength until he slowly gained it again. The third place is at the top, and there is no other suffering than the desire to be united with God. To give you an example, let me give you an example: it is as if the ore were mixed and lit in the hottest fire, and cleaned for so long that the ore would be completely consumed by fire, and all that was left was pure gold. The stronger and harder the gold, the greater would be the need for fire to ignite the gold and become flowing as water. Then the master transfers the gold to another place, where it takes its best shape, so that it may be looked upon with pleasure and taken in the hand; Then he puts it in the third place, where he keeps it until it is returned to its owner.
The same thing happens to the souls in purgatory. In the first place, above the darkness, is the greatest torment of purgatory; here the souls are touched by Satans; It’s hot and cold here; Here is the darkness and confusion that comes from the torment of hell. Here some souls suffer less, others more, according to how they have made atonement for their sins while still living on earth in the flesh.
Then he transfers the master, that is, the justice of God, the gold, i.e., the souls, to the second place, where there are no punishments of others, only lack of strength. Here they remained until they were relieved, either by their special friends or by the continual good works of holy Church. For the more help a soul receives from its friends, the sooner it recovers and leaves the place.
Then the soul is taken to the third place, where there is no other suffering than the desire to receive God’s presence and to see His Face.
Know also that many in the world die so justly and innocently that they immediately get into the sight of God without repentance. And some have made satisfaction for their sins by good works, so that their souls do not suffer any torment. But there are comparatively few who do not come to the place where there is a desire to be united with God. Therefore all the souls residing in these three places share in the prayers of the holy Church and in the good works which the faithful living on earth perform; withIn particular, they make use of those good deeds which they themselves have done during their life in the world, and which after their death are performed by their friends for their intentions.
Know also that as sins are diverse, so are sufferings. And as a hungry man rejoices in the food he takes, thirsty for drink, sad for joy, naked for clothing, sick when he is put to bed, so these souls rejoice and share in the good which the people of the world do for them.
Then the angel added, “
Blessed be he who helps souls in the world by prayer, good works, and the work of his body.” For the justice of God cannot lie, which says that souls after death are more quickly set free, either by the punishment of purgatory or by the good works of their friends on earth.
Then she heard various feasts, voices crying out from purgatory:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, righteous Judge, send Your love to those who have power in the world in a spiritual sense, and then we shall have more part than now in their reading, in their singing, and in their sacrifice!”
Above the space from which these voices came, a building appeared, from which voices could be heard, crying: “May God reward those who help us for our mistakes!” Other voices pleaded: “O Lord God, grant out of Thy incomprehensible power a reward to every one of those in the world who, by their good works, bring us into the light of Thy Divinity and into the beholding of Thy Face!”