Chapter XXI ~ Diversity of the Pains — Blasio Raised from the Dead by St. Bernardine — Venerable Prances of Pampeluna and the Pen of Pire — St. Corpreus and King Malachy.
The celebrated Blasio Massei, who was raised from the dead by St. Bernardine of Sienna, saw that there was great diversity in the pains of Purgatory. The account of this miracle is given at length in the Acta Sanctorum (Appendix, May 20).
A short time after the canonisation of St. Bernardine of Sienna, there died at Cascia, in the kingdom of Naples, a child aged eleven years, named Blasio Massei. His parents had inspired him with the same devotion which they them- selves had towards this new saint, and the latter was not slow to recompense it. The day after his death, when the body was being carried to the grave, Blasio awoke as from a profound slumber, and said that St. Bemardine had restored him to life, in order to relate the wonders which the saint had shown him in the other world.
We can easily understand the curiosity which this event produced. For a whole month young Blasio did nothing but talk of what he had seen, and answer the questions put to him by visitors. He spoke with the simplicity of a child, but at the same time with an accuracy of expression and a knowledge of the things of the other life far above his years.
At the moment of his death, he said, St. Bernardine appeared to him, and taking him by the hand, said, " Be not afraid, but pay great attention to what I am going to show you, so that you may remember, and afterwards be able to relate it."
Now the saint conducted his young protege' successively into the regions of Hell, Purgatory, Limbo, and finally allowed him to see Heaven.
In Hell, Blasio saw indescribable horrors, and the divers tortures by which the proud, the avaricious, the impure, and other sinners are tormented. Amongst them he recognised several whom he had seen during life, and he even witnessed the arrival of two who had just died, Buccerelli and Frascha. The latter was damned for having kept ill-gotten goods in his possession. The son of Frascha, struck by this revelation as by a thunderbolt, and knowing well the truth of the statement, hastened to make complete restitution ; and not content with this act of justice, that he might not expose himself to share one day the sad lot of his father, he distributed the rest of his fortune to the poor and embraced the monastic life.
From thence conducted into Purgatory, Blasio there saw the most dreadful torments, varied according to the sins of which they were the punishment. He recognised a great number of souls, and several begged him to acquaint their parents and relatives with their suffering condition ; they even indicated the suffrages and good works of which they stood in need. When interrogated as to the state of a departed soul, he answered without hesitation, and gave the most precise details, " Your father," said he to one of his visitors, "has been in Purgatory since such a day; he charged you to pay such a sum in alms, and you have neglected to do so." "Your brother," he said to another, "asked you to have so many Masses celebrated ; you agreed to do so, and you have not fulfilled your engagement ; so many Masses remain to be said."
Blasio also spoke of Heaven, the last place into which he had been taken ; but he spoke almost like St. Paul, who, having been ravished to the third Heaven, whether with his body or without his body he knew not, there heard mysterious words which no mortal tongue could repeat. What most attracted the attention of the child was the immense multitude of angels that surrounded the throne of God, and the incomparable beauty of the blessed Virgin Mary, elevated above all the choirs of angels.
Image: Gabriele Dell'Otto - Dante's Divine Comedy
