"I promised her this and she seemed more satisfied.
"'I know,' she said, 'that I shall have a long purgatory.' She shuddered as she spoke. 'And oh! I do hope the dear sisters will remember me in their prayers and communions.'
"'Dear Sister Madeline,' I said at last, 'purgatory is better than hell and our Blessed Lady will intercede for you.'
"'Yes, dear Sister Magdalene Adelaide,' she said, 'you are right; but oh!' she continued, 'I cannot help the shudder that passes through me as I think of the suffering I shall be in for years, especially after the mortifications I have practiced here, the discipline I have applied to myself, the days I have abstained from food, the prayers I have offered, the tears I have shed; and now, as death approaches, there is no other prospect before me than a long term of purgatorial punishment. Besides, the punishment will be all the greater since I have given away to an unnatural thought.'
"'And what, may I ask, do you call an unnatural thought?'
"'Sister Magdalene Adelaide, come close to me.'
"I rose from my chair and knelt down beside her.
"'Dear sister, I have endeavored to bear my cross,' she commenced, speaking with difficulty; 'But oh! sister, I dread the end; I have so much to expiate; and oh!' she continued, her voice now choked with sobs, 'if only I could have my mother near me; if only I could hear her voice once more; it is so long since I have seen her. I have asked for any letter that may have come, but they tell me none has arrived, and oh! I don't think mother has quite forgotten me.'
"I durst not trust myself to speak; my heart was too full. At last I said, 'Dear sister, do not grieve thus; our Blessed Lady will intercede for you. Remember, in coming here your purpose, even as mine, was to make reparation for sin. You and I have both suffered. Be brave now, dear, and now that the end is near do not take away from God's glory by fearing for the future.'
"'I know it is wrong to grieve so much, Sister Magdalene Adelaide, but oh, I am so weak! Will you read a meditation for me?'