The happiness of Purgatory is a happiness of
prospect, not of actual enjoyment. It is in spe and not in re; hoped for, not already possessed. But
the hope is something more than hope, it is a certain expectation which the Holy Souls know
cannot be disappointed. This is their support and strength, their joy and consolation, amid their
unspeakable anguish. They can look forward to the long years of eternal bliss when they will repose
in the bosom of God. O happy prospect, to us always uncertain, so certain to those Holy Souls!
Happiness consists in union with God. If the
soul is united to God by supernatural charity, beneath every kind of sorrow and misery there is an
underlying joy. Now the Holy Souls are perfect in their charity. They have made an act of fervent
charity at their judgment, and the habit of charity is in them as strong as ever. Hence, in spite of
all their sufferings they are intensely happy, and cry out, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."
Happiness is not incompatible with intense
suffering. A man may be lighthearted while he is shrieking with physical pain; he may be lighthearted
even when separated from one whom he loves better than all else in the world. He is happy
by reason of his internal dispositions, and in spite of the bitterness of the separation or the fierceness
of the physical pain. So it is with most Holy Souls. Their dispositions are perfect, there will is
God's. They are full of hope and love, how then can they fail to be happy? Pray for an unceasing
union with God by charity.