1. I do not believe that any contentment can be found to compare with that of a soul in Purgatory, except that of the saints in Paradise. And this contentment grows every day, through the inflowing of God into those souls, which goes on increasing as the impediment to that inflowing is consumed away.
2. The rust of sin is the impediment, and the fire goes on consuming the rust; and so the soul is laid ever more open to the divine inflowing. Just as a covered object cannot respond to the radiance of the sun — not through any defect of the sun, which shines continually, but through the opposition of the covering — so, if the covering is consumed away, the object is laid open to the sun; and the more the covering is consumed, the more it will respond to the sun's radiance.
3. Thus the rust (that is, sin) is the covering of the souls, and in Purgatory it is consumed away by the fire; and the more it is consumed, the more the soul responds to the true sun, God. Therefore the contentment grows as the rust diminishes and the soul is laid open to the divine ray. And so the one increases and the other diminishes, until the time is finished.
4. Yet it is not the pain that lessens, but only the time of abiding in that pain. And as for the will, they can never say that these pains are pains, so greatly do they content themselves with the ordinance of God, to which their will is united in pure charity.
About this translation
This English translation from the Italian was drafted with AI assistance using SWE-2 Max and prepared as a reading edition for this library. Review has included source provenance, section structure, and selected source comparisons and corrections. It has not included a complete independent, sentence-by-sentence translation audit.
Catherine’s teaching was transmitted by her disciples and first printed in 1551. This translation follows the supplied Italian transcription; the introductory note is editorial.
This is a reading copy, not a critical edition. No professional translation certification or ecclesiastical approval is claimed for this modern edition.
No general reuse licence is specified for this modern translation or its source transcription. The age of the original work does not by itself establish their reuse terms.
Remember Eternity · remembereternity.org. AI-assisted English translation drafted with SWE-2 Max from the Italian; selected source comparisons and corrections only. No complete independent translation audit or ecclesiastical approval is claimed. Catherine’s teaching was transmitted by her disciples and first printed in 1551. This translation follows the supplied Italian transcription; the introductory note is editorial. No general reuse licence is specified for this modern translation or its source transcription.