Across the Atlantic, in Canada and the United States, the late-nineteenth-century influx of Catholic immigrants from Europe and Ireland supported several periodicals devoted to purgatory. On the one hand, periodicals such as The Poor Soul’s Advocate incorporated the Faberian version of pur-gatory as an abstract place of loss. They also introduced a new concept of
purgatory as reflecting “Divine Providence,” which on the one hand appears to be abstract, but actually reveals God’s actions in the lives of individu-als and reinforces the interactions between the living and the dead, medi-ated by devotions and prayer. On the other hand, “The Consolations of Purgatory” and other pamphlets published narratives of purgatory that supported a version of purgatory as a concrete place. The evidence com-piled by Fr. Jouet was repeated in narrative form in the pages of these lat-ter periodicals and pamphlets. The editors of these magazines took care to insert the now-standard disclosure about private revelation that was a nod to Pope Urban VIII, and they also added the justification, elaborated in the thirteenth century by William of Auvergne, that God permits apparitions of souls from purgatory as warnings to the living. “God permits souls to come and excite our compassion, for their relief and to make us under-stand for ourselves the terrible rigors of His justice.”47 Or, stated another way, “Sometimes the souls of the departed are permitted by the wisdom of God to appear to men on earth.”48 This framing invoked tradition to confer legitimacy but to also provide the appearance of conformity to Church doctrine. However, predominantly, the warnings, manifested as appari-tions and visits of souls, continued the tradition of purgatory as corporeal punishment, and not the Faberian idea of purgatory as the abstract pain of loss. Elements of corporeal punishment are the focal point of many of the narratives and are accompanied by explanations that address the appar-ent matter/spirit dilemma that these apparitions pose. In all of the peri-odicals, when physical evidence of souls’ visits are presented, they are always presented as proof of the reality of the private revelations about purgatory.
The following narrative related in a pamphlet, “L’Echo du Purgatoire,”
published in Ontario, Canada, is typical:
The event occurred November 16, 1859 in Foligno near Assisi, Italy.
It is established as the undeniable truth. A sister Theresa was born in Bastia, Corsica, 1797, and entered in monastery in February 1826. She was a model of devotion. She died on November 1, 1859 of a sudden “apoplexy lightning.” Twelve days later, on November 16th, Sister Anna-Felicia rose and went to the locker room to enter, when she heard groans coming from inside the room. A little fright-ened, she hastened to open the door, but there was nobody. But new groans were heard, and despite her usual courage, she felt over-whelmed by fear. Jesus! Marie! She cried, what is that? Then she
heard a plaintive voice accompany this painful sigh: “Oh! my God, I suffer!” Stunned, Sister Anna immediately recognized the voice of the poor sister Theresa. Then all the room filled with thick smoke, and a shadow. Sister Theresa appeared, heading toward the door, slipping along the wall. Sister Theresa cried, “Here is a testimony to God!” Having said these words, she knocked on the door, and left there a handprint of her right hand burned into the wood, as if it had been burned by a hot iron, and then she disappeared. Sister Anna was half-dead with fright. She began to scream and call for help. Her companions ran to see what had happened, and the whole community came and were surprised by the smell of burning wood.
Sister Anna-Felicia recounted her story and showed them the door and the terrible impression. They also acknowledged that the im-pression of the hand was small, and that Sister Therese had been remarkably small.49
The community then spent the night praying for Sister Therese. The pamphlet reports that news spread of the incident, and many others from the local communities came to pray for Sister Therese’s soul. The prayers, apparently, worked, for when Sister Anna went to her cell that night to sleep, she heard the voice of Sister Therese. Her voice now was cheerful, not frightening: “It is Friday, I go to glory! Be strong to carry the cross, be courageous in your suffering.” Then she added, “Adieu, Adieu, adieu! And she transfigured into a dazzling white cloud, flew to the sky and disap-peared.” After relating the story, the author of the pamphlet provides cor-roborating evidence that the hand burned into the door was also the hand of the deceased Sister Therese. “In the presence of a large number of wit-nesses, they opened the tomb of Sister Therese. The burned imprint on the door matched exactly the hand of the deceased. The handprint on the door, added the Bishop Segur, is kept in the convent. The Mother Abbess, a witness to the fact, showed me the imprint, knowing that I was confirm-ing these details, as reported by Bishop de Segur. I wrote to the bishop of Foligno, told him the stories were confirmed, and I sent him a facsimile of the imprint and the hand.” The author adds, “Therefore, Divine justice punishes the slightest faults.”50
Narratives of firsthand accounts of people who witnessed souls in purga-tory are generally interspersed with recommended devotions and prayers for the souls in purgatory, mimicking the fashion of other nineteenth-century periodicals that feature a miscellany of content. In narratives where
materiality is most invoked, for instance, where souls appear to be flesh-like and leave physical evidence of their visits, commentary on the nature of spirit and matter is interspersed with the story plot. In the tract The Consolations of Purgatory, a nun reports her experience of seeing a recently deceased colleague burning in fire and asking for prayers. “We read in the Life of the Venerable Mother Agnes of Jesus that while she was praying by the grave of one of her nuns, who had died a few days before, the deceased Sister suddenly appeared before her, clothed in her habit, and the rev-erend Mother felt as if her face were scorched by fire. The nun addressed her in tones of deep grief: ‘Oh, my Mother, if men only knew how intense are the pains of purgatory, they would be always on the watch to avoid them.’ ” The explanation of how the nun, who is assumed to be a spirit, could appear physical occupies more space in the narrative than the report of the appearance. It begins with the question of the location of purgatory,
“Although the soul after death is no longer united to the body, of which it is the substantial form and motive principle, St. Thomas and many others declare that there is a special place set apart for the punishment of the souls in purgatory, and that this place is not heaven, nor hell, but some intermediate place not far from hell.”51
The explanation focuses on the issue of spirit and matter and the nature of the pains: “The fire of purgatory is an intelligent fire. It affects the intelligence, the memory, the sensibility, the whole soul. All the facul-ties of the soul are invaded and penetrated by the avenging fire; for the fire of purgatory has this peculiarity: that it is not, like the material fire of the earth, a gift of the wisdom and goodness of God, but the instrument of His avenging justice, destined to correct and purify whatever in man has been soiled by sin. The souls in purgatory suffer in their thoughts painful and distressing visions and imaginations; in their memories, poignant remorse and regret for the past; in all their senses, different tortures, corre-sponding to the nature of the sins committed and the degree of culpability contracted in each sin.” For the author reporting this private revela tion, the materiality of purgatory is conveyed together with less concrete ele-ments like memory and thoughts. The explanation, which follows the narrative about a spirit who appears, incorporates abstract elements with references to locality and materiality and appears to combine the physi-cally punitive version of purgatory and the new, Faberian version. Finally, in contrast to the description provided, the author ends his discourse with a disclaimer: “The Church, as a learned theologian observes, has not de-fined anything to be believed as of faith in respect of the duration or nature
of the pains, or of the place of purgatory (F. Perrone, Tract. De Deo Creator e, p. iii., c. vi.).”52
In other periodicals, the principle of Divine Providence mediated be-tween a version of purgatory that focused on literal fire and punishment, and an abstract, Faberian version that focused on the less concrete punish-ment of loss. Divine Providence offered a way for individuals to witness the direct intervention of God in the world and events, without recourse to direct physical evidence like scorched shirts or bloodstained garments and doors. Divine Providence, as articulated by John Newman and William Faber, was the principle whereby God acted in particular situations, most often as a response to prayer and devotion. Although the events of Provi-dence were not obvious to individuals as they occur, upon reflection indi-viduals could determine the principle working in their lives.
Divine Providence, in the Catholic tradition, was articulated by Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica as a refutation of the belief that it was through chance that the universe and the things in it emerged, a position held by Greek philosophers Democritus and Epicurius. Instead, Aquinas maintained that God governed the universe and created things for a pur-pose. Through observation of human events and the natural world one can surmise a divine plan, or Providence. In the nineteenth century, Protestant and Catholic theologians revisited debates regarding Providence versus random chance, as empiricism and the theory of natural selection seemed to indicate that chance played a significant role in the creation of the nat-ural world.53
The theology of the eighteenth-century French priest Louis de Montfort (1673–1716) was very influential for nineteenth-century Catholic theolo-gians who wrote about Divine Providence. Montfort’s works and life were very popular, and Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1888. His books were translated and read widely throughout Europe and North America, and William Faber published a popular translation of his book A Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Between 1839 and 1887 there were published no less than four biographies about Montfort, most of which focused on the work of Providence in his life.54 During his life, he wrote more than one hundred hymns and Providence figured promi-nently in many of them.55 His definition of Providence reflected Aquinas’s in that he believed that events reflected a divine order and arrangement.
At the First Vatican Council (1869–1870), Divine Providence was promoted to counter a Deistic interpretation of God who rules the world and then retreats. Instead, “all that God has created, he watches over and governs by
his Providence.” For Catholics, Providence was a principle that addressed God’s actions and interventions in the world, and the person’s unique, in-dividual place within this plan.
The Poor Souls Advocate was a monthly periodical published by Fr. Francis B. Luebbermann and “an association of priests” between 1888 and 1907. Francis Luebbermann was ordained in 1880. He became a par-ish priest in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and continued there as priest for the rest of his life. He devoted himself to several publications. Along with The Poor Soul’s Advocate, Luebbermann also published the German equivalent,
“Der Armen Seelen Freund” (The Poor Soul’s Friend) between 1888 and 1893.56 The focus of these journals adhered mostly to a Faberian view of purgatory and a new materiality focused on Divine Providence as a mani-festation of the reality of purgatory, rather than the manimani-festations of souls engulfed in flames. For the most part, The Poor Souls Advocate portrayed a version of purgatory where souls and the living mediated their relation-ship through church-sanctioned devotions, and, as a result, the living were able to witness the reality of purgatory and their relationship to the dead through acts of Providence. Additionally, the periodical referenced confra-ternities and other religious organizations in Canada and Europe devoted to the holy souls in purgatory. In this way, it presented itself as a cosmo-politan forum for American Catholics that bound them in a web of con-nection to the global Church Militant and the Church Suffering.
In line with establishing itself as a publication in conformity with official Church doctrine, Luebbermann references the church officials who have granted their approbation to the periodical. “ ‘The Poor Soul’s Advocate’ has the approbation of the Rt. Rev. F.S. Chatard, D.D., Bishop of Vincennes, and of the Rt. Rev. M. Marty, D.D., Bishop I.P.I. and Vicar Apostolic of Dakota; and no doubt will received the warm approbation of all Archbishops and Bishops of the country.”57 He also, however, offers a warning about devotions to the souls in purgatory: “All devotions must be based on the firm ground of Catholic teaching. Otherwise, they will soon develop into vague and dreamy sentimentalism and finally into fanaticism and supersti-tion.” Luebbermann invokes post-Enlightenment terminology, as did John England in the Catholic Miscellany, to frame the periodical, “Thus only will our devotion be rational, enlightened and pleasing to God.” With reference to the legends and narratives about the intervention of souls from purgatory, of which England never wrote but which fills the pages of Luebbermann’s periodical, he writes, “The most approved legends will be culled from authentic sources for the interest and edification of the readers.”58
In the first issue of the periodical Luebbermann explains that the prin-ciple of Divine Providence was at work in the establishment of the maga-zine. Invoking the global Catholic experience of the closing Sunday of the Jubilee year of Pope Pius XIII, Luebbermann notes that all priests around the world were enjoined to offer the Mass of the Requiem for the Souls Departed. “This grand and unique occurrence in the history of the holy church is the proximate occasion of publishing this periodical.” After estab-lishing this connection, he continues with an explanation of how an asso-ciation of priests came together in an unlikely way to found the magazine.
“For a long time several priests in southern Indiana had contemplated a publication in the interests and for the benefit of the suffering souls in Purgatory. At a meeting, seemingly very accidental, they gladly surprised one another with the expression of this idea, and at once banded together to put it into execution.”59 The legends that were offered to edify readers revealed that individuals were in direct communication with the souls in purgatory, and by paying attention to events one would detect the workings of Divine Providence.
Despite Fr. Luebbermann’s earlier statement that he would provide
“approved legends from the most authentic sources” of the tradition, many new and contemporary anecdotes about the holy souls in purgatory filled the pages of The Advocate. Additionally, whereas other periodicals devoted to purgatory featured the stories of nuns, The Advocate printed stories about priests who interacted with souls in purgatory, though certainly visions of nuns were included. By focusing on anecdotes from priests, The Advocate differed from what had become normative within pamphlets, periodicals, and devotional manuals focusing on purgatory. “A Wreck on the Banks of the Delaware” is a typical legend. Instead of focusing on a saint from tradition, the tale is told by an American priest, who recorded his experience expressly for The Advocate. The tale reveals how Divine Providence is used as an interpretive framework for understanding the relationship between the living and the souls in purgatory. Through prayer to the holy souls, a priest comes to understand that he was placed in a situ-ation purposely to help others, and thus is shown how the invisible machi-nations of Divine Providence are made visible in retrospect.
Despite being a contemporary tale from real life, the priest’s story is dramatic and chilling. “B.” describes how, one Sunday evening, as he was riding in a sleeping coach on a train, he became suddenly aware of
“a strange and unaccountable feeling of uneasiness.” He felt, in fact, “that on this trip I was going to meet my death. I had said the Itinerarium (clergyman’s
prayer for a journey) with more than usual attention.” Feeling worse, he
“drew forth my Rosary and as I resolved years ago always to recite it for the Souls Departed, I now commended them to God and myself in turn to them.” Unfortunately, his premonition proved correct. During the night, after a series of violent jolts, he and several passengers stepped outside of their coach rooms to witness a horrifying sight—most of the other train cars in the Delaware River. “Down a deep terrible embankment in the shallow water of the river we beheld our own engine and six cars upturned, splintered and already enveloped in flames. Trainmen and passengers im-mediately devoted their whole self to the work of rescue.” One trainman, who was unfortunately wedged into a corner of the wrecked engine, was, horribly, “abandoned to his dreadful fate,” even though “a hundred hands were ready to do anything for his rescue.” The priest at once helped the injured, and in some cases provided the Sacrament of Absolution from sin, where there was no hope left. “One wealthy young man, a Catholic from New York, attributed the wonderful preservation of so many passen-gers to the presence of a priest among them. I myself thanked the poor souls in Purgatory for my narrowest of all escapes, and, then and there, resolved to make a public acknowledgement of thanks at the first opportu-nity, and ever to invoke their protection on any future journey.”60
Another anecdote about a monk of the Society of Jesus reveals the inti-mate connection between the living and the dead, mediated through the Mass. While working as a porter in the Novitiate of St. Andrew in Rome, the monk “C.” used his position to ask rich and influential persons for money to conduct Masses for the holy souls. He kept a garden of great beauty near the house and promised, in exchange for a gift for the holy souls, that he would create a flower garden or beautiful hedge named for the benefactors. He was able to acquire enough money to have Masses done continuously. “When the hour of his own death came, souls that he had helped stood visibly near him, and remained with him to the end to
Another anecdote about a monk of the Society of Jesus reveals the inti-mate connection between the living and the dead, mediated through the Mass. While working as a porter in the Novitiate of St. Andrew in Rome, the monk “C.” used his position to ask rich and influential persons for money to conduct Masses for the holy souls. He kept a garden of great beauty near the house and promised, in exchange for a gift for the holy souls, that he would create a flower garden or beautiful hedge named for the benefactors. He was able to acquire enough money to have Masses done continuously. “When the hour of his own death came, souls that he had helped stood visibly near him, and remained with him to the end to