Every thing done to help any of the Holy Souls brings some sort of relief to the soul for whom it is offered. But the amount of relief we do not know; it depends on the will of God, and the merits of the individual. A Mass offered for one person may deliver him altogether; for another it may have the effect merely of a drop of water to cool his tongue in the burning flames, or of a breath of cool air amid the furnace of fire. On our life now will depend our speedy relief and deliverance from Purgatory, still more than on the prayers offered for us then.

The potency of the prayers and Masses offered for us, will depend, in a great measure upon what we do now to please God. If we help others now, we shall then have many to help us. A rich man who has been stingy during life, but leaves a large sum of money for Masses to be said for him, will indeed derive some benefit from them, but it may be that God will bestow the great proportion of the satisfaction on some poor man who has been generous and charitable to others during life. The rich man may wait for long years, and the poor man, who had no money to leave, may be delivered at once. Learn then to be generous now.

The satisfactory value of every Mass, though it is in itself infinite, is not infinite as applied to the individual. It is limited by the will of God and the dispositions of man. God looks upon the merits of His Son, and accepts them for that soul in proportion to its conformity to the likeness of Christ before its death. We must seek to be humble and meek of heart as Christ was, if His merits are to avail us then. Pray for more grace and love, now.