DEVOTION THE GREAT SALTERIO AND THE SEVEN GREGORIAN MASSES
THE EFFECT OF THE GREAT SALTERIO
While the Community recited the psalter, which is powerful aid to the purging souls, Geltrude who prayed fervently because she had to communicate; she asked the Savior why the psalter was so advantageous to the souls of purgatory and pleasing to God. It seemed to her that all those attached verses and prayers should generate boredom rather than devotion.
Jesus replied: «The ardent love I have for the salvation of souls causes me to give such prayer efficacy. I am like a king who keeps some of his friends closed in prison, to whom he would gladly give freedom, if justice permits; having in his heart such lofty lust, one understands how he would gladly accept the ransom offered to him by the last of his soldiers. So I am very pleased with what is offered to me for the liberation of souls that I have redeemed with my blood, to pay off their debts and lead them to the joys prepared for them from all eternity. Geltrude insisted: "Do you therefore appreciate the commitment that those who recite the psalter make? ». He replied, "Of course. Whenever a soul is freed from such prayer, merit is acquired as if they had freed Me from prison. In due course, I will reward my liberators, according to the abundance of my wealth. " The Saint asked again: «Would you like to tell me, dear Lord, how many souls do you agree with each person who recites the office? »And Jesus:« As many as their love deserves »Then he continued:« My infinite goodness leads me to free a great number of souls; for each verse of these psalms I will free three souls ». Then Geltrude who, because of her extreme weakness, had not been able to recite the psaltery, excited by the outpouring of divine goodness, felt obliged to recite it with the greatest fervor. When he had finished a verse, he asked the Lord how many souls his infinite mercy would free. He replied: "I am so subjugated by the prayers of a loving soul, that I am ready to free at every movement of his tongue, during the psalter, an endless multitude of souls".
Eternal praise be to you, sweet Jesus!
IT TELLS ABOUT A SOUL AID FOR THE PLAYING OF THE Psalter
Another time that Geltrude prayed for the dead, she saw the soul of a knight, who died about fourteen years earlier, in the form of a monstrous beast, from whose body stood up as many horns as the hair ordinarily animals have. That beast seemed suspended over the throat of hell, supported only on the left side by a piece of wood. Hell vomited them against whirlpools of smoke, that is, all sorts of sufferings and pains that caused her unspeakable torments; she received no relief from the suffrages of the Holy Church.
Geltrude, amazed at the strange shape of that beast, understood in the light of God, that, during his life, that man had shown himself to be ambitious and full of pride. Therefore his sins had produced such hard horns that prevented him from receiving any refreshment, as long as he remained under that beast's skin.
The peg that supported him, preventing him from falling into hell, designated some rare act of good will, which he had had during his life; it was the only thing that, with the help of divine mercy, had prevented him from falling into the infernal abyss.
Geltrude, by divine goodness, felt a great compassion for that soul, and offered the recitation of the Psalter to God in her suffrage. Immediately the beast skin disappeared and the soul appeared in the form of a child, but all covered in spots. Geltrude insisted on the plea, and that soul was transported to a house where many other souls were already reunited. There she showed so much joy as if, having escaped from the fire of hell, she had been admitted to heaven. Then she understood that the suffrages of S. Chiesa could benefit her, a privilege she had been deprived of from the moment of death until Geltrude had freed her from that beast's skin, leading her to that place.
The souls who were there received it with kindness and made room for them.
Geltrude, with a rush of the heart, asked Jesus to reward the amiability of those souls towards the unhappy knight. The Lord, moved, answered her and transferred them all to a place of refreshment and delights.
Geltrude asked the divine Bridegroom again: "What fruit, O beloved Jesus, will our monastery portray from the recitation of the Psalter? ». He replied: "The fruit of which Holy Scripture says:" Oratia tua in sinum tuum convertetur Your prayer will return to your bosom "(Ps. XXXIV, 13). Moreover, my divine tenderness, to reward the charity that prompts you to help my faithful to please me, will add this advantage: in all places of the world, where the Psalter will be recited from now on, each of you will receive many thank you, as if it were recited only for you ».
Another time she said to the Lord: "O Father of mercies, if anyone, moved by your love, wanted to glorify you, reciting the Psalter in suffrage of the dead, but, then he could not obtain the desired number of alms and Masses, what could it offer to please you? ». Jesus replied: «To make up for the number of Masses he will have to receive the Sacrament of my Body as many times, and instead of every alms say a Pater with the Collect:« Deus, cui proprium est etc., for the conversion of sinners, adding every turn an act of charity ». Geltrude added again, in complete confidence: "I would like to know, my sweet Lord, if you will grant relief and liberation to the purging souls even when instead of the Psalter, a few short prayers are said." He replied, "I will like these prayers as the Psalter, but with certain conditions. To each verse of the Psalter say this prayer: "I greet you, Jesus Christ, splendor of the Father"; asking first for forgiveness of sins with prayer "In union with that supreme praise etc. ». Then in union with the love that for the salvation of the world made me take human flesh, the words of the aforementioned prayer will be said, which speaks of my mortal life. Then we must kneel, joining the love that led me to let myself be judged and sentenced to death, I, who am the Creator of the universe, for the salvation of all, and the part that concerns my Passion will be played; Standing will say the words that greet my Resurrection and Ascension, praising me in union with the confidence that made me overcome death, rise again to rise to heaven, to place human nature at the right hand of the Father. Then, still begging for forgiveness, the antiphon Salvator mundi will be recited, in union with the gratitude of the Saints who confess that my Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection are the causes of their bliss. As I told you, it will be necessary to communicate as many times as the Masses that the Psalter requires. To make up for alms, a Pater will be said with the prayer Deus cui proprium est, adding a work of charity. I repeat to you that such prayers are worth, in my eyes the whole Psalter ».
EXPLANATION OF THE GREAT SALTERIO AND THE SEVEN GREGORIAN MASSES
The reader, hearing the Psalter named, might ask what it is and how to recite it. Here is the way to recite it according to the directions of S. Geltrude.
Starting, after having asked for forgiveness of sins, say: "In union with that supreme praise with which the most glorious Trinity praises itself, praise which then flows over your blessed Humanity, sweetest Savior, and from there to your most glorious Mother, on the Angels, on the Saints, to then return to the ocean of your Divinity, I offer you this Psalter for your honor and glory. I adore you, I salute you, I thank you in the name of the whole universe for the love with which you have deigned to become a man, to be born and suffer for us for thirty-three years, suffering from hunger, thirst, hardships, heartbreaks, outrages and then finally remain, forever, in the SS. Sacrament. I implore you to join the merits of your most holy life with the recitation of this office which I offer you for ... (to name the living or dead people for whom we intend to pray). I ask you to make up with your divine treasures for what they have neglected in the praise, thanksgiving and love that are due to you, as well as in prayer and in the practice of charity, or of other virtues, finally to the imperfections and omissions of their works. "
Secondly after having renewed the contrition of sins, one must kneel down and say: «I adore you, I salute you, I bless you, I thank you, sweet Jesus, for that love with which you have deigned to be taken, bound, dragged , trampled, struck, sputtered, scourged, crowned with thorns, immolated with the most atrocious torture and pierced by a spear. In union with this love I offer you my unworthy prayers, asking you, for the merits of your holy Passion and death, to completely erase the faults committed in thoughts, words and actions by the souls for whom I pray. I also ask you to offer to God the Father all the pains and sorrows of your broken Body, and of your soul watered with bitterness, all the merits that you have acquired both for one and the other, and to present everything to the highest God for the remission of the punishment that your justice must make those souls suffer ».
Third, by standing you will say directly: «I adore you, I salute you, I bless you, I thank you, sweet Lord Jesus Christ, for the love and confidence with which, having overcome death, you glorified your Body with the Resurrection, placing him at the right hand of the Father. I implore you to make the souls for whom I pray share in your victory and your glory. "
Fourth, implore forgiveness by saying: «Savior of the world, save us all, Holy Mother of God, Mary always Virgin, pray for us. We beg you that the prayers of the holy Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors and the Holy Virgin will free us from evil, and grant us to taste all the goods, now and forever. I adore you, I salute you, I bless you, I thank you, sweet Jesus, for all the benefits you have granted to your glorious Mother and to all the elect, in union with that gratitude with which the Saints rejoice in having reached eternal bliss for through your Incarnation, Passion, Redemption. I urge you to make up for what is missing from these souls with the merits of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints ».
Fifth, he recites the hundred and fifty psalm devoutly and in order, adding after each verse of the psalter this prayer: «I greet you, Jesus Christ, splendor of the Father, prince of peace, door of heaven; living bread, son of the Virgin, tabernacle of the Divinity ». At the end of each psalm say kneeling Requiem aeternam etc. Then you will listen piously or have one hundred and fifty, or fifty, or at least thirty Holy Masses celebrated. If you cannot make them celebrate you will communicate the same number of times. Then you will give one hundred and fifty alms or you will make up for it with the same number of Pater followed by the prayer: «Deus cui proprium est etc. God of which it is proper etc. (prayer following the Litanies of the Saints), for the conversion of sinners, and you will perform one hundred and fifty acts of charity. By acts of charity is meant the good done to neighbor by love of God: alms, good advice, delicate services, fervent prayers. This is the great Psalter whose effectiveness was set out above (chapters XVIII and XIX).
It seems to us that it is not purposely to speak here of the seven Masses which, according to an ancient tradition, were revealed to Pope St. Gregory. They are very effective in freeing purging souls, because they rely on the merits of Jesus Christ, who pay off their debts.
In every Holy Mass it is necessary to light, if possible, seven candles in honor of the Passion and, during seven days, to recite fifteen Pater or Ave Maria, to give seven alms and to recite a Nocturne of the Office of the dead.
The first Mass is: Domine, ne longe, with the recitation of the Passion, as on Palm Sunday. We must pray to the Lord to deign, He who voluntarily abandoned himself in the hands of sinners, to free the soul from the captivity that she undergoes for her sins,
The Second Mass is: Nos autem gloriaci with the recitation of the Passion, as in the third feria after the Palms. We pray to Jesus that, for the unjust death sentence, he will free the soul from the just sentence deserved for his sins.
The third Mass: In nomine Domini, with the singing of the Passion, as in the fourth feria after the Palms. For his Crucifixion and painful suspension of the instrument of his torture, one must ask the Lord to free the soul from the pains to which she herself has been condemned.
The fourth Mass is: Non autem gloriaci, with the Passion Egressus Jesus, as on Good Friday. We ask the Lord, for his very bitter death and for the piercing of his side, to heal the soul from the wounds of sin, and the penalties that are the consequence.
The fifth Mass is: Requiem aeternam. The Lord is asked that, for the burial he wanted to undergo, He, the Creator of heaven and earth, withdraws the soul from the abyss where his sins have made it fall.
The sixth Mass is: Resurrexi, so that the Lord for the glory of his joyful resurrection, worthy to purify the soul of every stain of sin and make it partaker of its glory.
Finally, the seventh Mass is: Gaudeamos, as on the day of the Assumption. We pray to the Lord and ask the Mother of mercies, for her merits and prayers, in the name of the joys she received on the day of her triumph, that the soul, free from all ties, fly to the heavenly Bridegroom. If you do these works for other people on the occasion of their death, your prayer will be given back to you with double merit. And if you practice it for yourself, while you are alive, it will be much better than waiting for it from others after death. The Lord, who is faithful and seeks the opportunity to do us good, will keep those prayers himself and will return them to you in due time "for the bowels of the mercy of our God, with whom this sun came to visit us from above Levante "(Luc. I, 78).
HOW THE MERIT OFFERED INCREASES
Geltrude one day offered to God, for the soul of a deceased, all the good that the goodness of the Lord had done in her and for her. He saw then this good presented before the throne of the divine Majesty, in the form of a magnificent gift that seemed to rejoice God and his Saints.
The Lord gladly received that gift and seemed happy to distribute it to those who were in need, and who deserved nothing from themselves. Geltrude then saw that the Lord added, in his infinite liberality, something to his good works, akin to giving them back then increased, for the decoration of his eternal reward. He understood then that, far from losing something, man earns a lot in helping others, with a sense of generous charity.