In 1821, a homeless and unemployed servant girl was to be found wandering about the streets of Paris. She was headed for and entered a Roman Catholic Church. Each month this young woman had the habit of having the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass said for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. However, she had a recently suffered an illness that cost her her job and had used up all of her savings. Despite the bleakness of the future, she used the last franc she owned to help relieve the sufferings of others, and had a Mass offered for the Poor Souls. The girl left the church penniless.
She hadn't walked very far, when a young man approached her. He told her of a job opening and gave her all the necessary information. She promptly followed his instructions and soon came upon the house the stranger had described.
The woman of the house was startled when she arrived and applied for the available job. The cause of the woman's shock was that she had not yet told a single soul that she needed someone in that position.
"Who told you this?" she insisted. The girl had no idea. Then, looking around, the pious maiden noticed a painting of a young man, which hung upon the wall. "Him," she cried, pointing to the picture, " That's the man who told me."
The woman was even more astonished than before. "Then you will not be my servant," she told the devout young woman, "You shall be my daughter. This is my son that you saw," she said, gesturing to the painting, "And he probably owes to you his deliverance from Purgatory."