A great devotion to the Sacred Passion of Christ is one of the surest methods of escaping the penalty due to our sins. He is always touched by any compassion shown Him in His sacred sufferings. He is said to have revealed to one of the Saints that He would remit the temporal punishment due after death to any one who for fifteen years should say every day seven Paters, seven Aves, and one Gloria in honor of His Sacred Passion. It seems very likely that such perseverance in honoring Him in what He suffered for us would exempt from Purgatory altogether. What do I do in this respect?

We may also hope to avoid Purgatory if we pray God to give us our Purgatory in this life. It requires some courage to do so, as, if God hears our prayer, we must expect to suffer greatly before we die, and perhaps to spend our lives in intense pain. How small will be the price paid in comparison with the advantage gained! All the sufferings of this life are small compared with the sufferings after death; and, moreover, here we can merit, we can go on increasing our eternal reward, but not in Purgatory.

Purity of intention in all our actions is another of the most efficacious means of attaining the same end. Any one who does all his actions purely for God's sake will have nothing for the searching fire to lay hold of. It is self that has to be burnt out of us; self-will, self-love, self-indulgence. He who is rid of these may hope to go straight to Heaven. Pray that by one or all of these means you may avoid separation from God after your death.