Purgatory Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints

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Part One - Purgatory, The Mystery of God's Justice

Chapter 41. Matter of Expiation - Abuse of Grace - Saint Magdalen de Pazzi and the Dead Religious - Blessed Margaret Mary and
the Three Sou is in Purgatory

There is another disorder in the soul which God punishes severely in Purgatory, to wit, the abuse of grace. By this is understood the neglect to correspond to the aids which God gives us, and to the invitations which He presses upon us to the practice of virtue for the sanctification of our souls. This grace which He offers us is a precious gift, which we may not throw away; it is the seed of salvation and of merit, which it is not permitted to leave unproductive. Now, this fault is committed when we do not respond with generosity to the Divine invitation. I receive from God the means of giving alms; an interior voice invites me to do so. I close my heart, or I give with a miserly hand; this is an abuse of grace. I can hear Mass, assist at the sermon, frequent the Sacraments; an interior voice urges me to go, but I will not give myself the trouble. This, again, is an abuse of grace.

A young Religious must be obedient, humble, mortified, devoted to her duties; God requires this, and gives her the grace in virtue of her vocation. She does not apply herself thereto; she does not labor to overcome herself, in order to cooperate with the assistance which God gives her; this is an abuse of grace.

Now this sin, as we have said, is severely punished in Purgatory. Saint Magdalen de Pazzi tells us that one of her sisters in religion had much to suffer after death for not having on three occasions corresponded to grace, it happened that on a certain feast day she felt inclined to do some little work; it was only some simple piece of embroidery, but it was not at all necessary, and could be conveniently postponed to some other time. The inspiration of grace told her to abstain from it.