Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 7:47am

Saint of the Day Quote: Saint Wolfgang

 

 

According to legend Saint Wolfgang tricked the Devil into helping him build the first church on lake Albersee in Austria.  The Saint promised the Devil the soul of the first pilgrim to cross the threshold of the Church.  The Devil took that first pilgrim down to Hell and then was astonished that Bishop Wolfgang had tricked him by disguising a wolf in the garb of a pilgrim.  Wolfs howl at night they say for that poor wolf taken  to Hell.  Saint Wolfgang is occasionally included in the lists of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

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Mary De Voe
Wednesday, October 31, AD 2018 5:31am

except that St. Wolfgang did not own the soul of the first pilgrim to offer to the devil. So, the great liar was swindled. A promise to a scoundrel is useless.
Some thoughts on hell:
Purgatory versus hell. It is too easy to think of purgatory as a lesser hell. The souls in hell have freely willed to go to hell. The souls in hell have freely surrendered their souls to Satan.
The souls in purgatory, on the other hand, do not want to be in hell, nor do they want to be in purgatory. The souls in purgatory have willed to be in heaven with The Supreme Sovereign Being. The souls in purgatory have missed their mark. The souls in purgatory have failed to petition for the grace to accomplish themselves and their destiny and are therefore in purgatory to purify their intention to attain heaven.
The difference is obvious. The souls in hell have chosen to be in hell and want to be in hell, while the souls in purgatory have chosen to be in heaven and want to be in heaven.
Souls are happy to go to purgatory instead of to hell.
Maybe the soul of the wolf is only in purgatory. The wolf having no rational soul does not realize the difference. I’ll bet if the wolf made claim to God on these grounds he would be pardoned and released.

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