From the life of St. Magdalen de Pazzi (1566-1607), a Carmelite nun and a mystic, it is related that one evening she and several other nuns were together in the garden of the convent. While there, the Saint was suddenly drawn into an ecstasy, and saw Purgatory open before her. At that moment, a voice beckoned her to visit all the prisons of Divine Justice, and to see how much compassion we should have for the souls detained there.

The other nuns did not see her vision. They did not hear the voice which called her; but they could see her as she responded: "Yes, I will go." She was willing to embark on this painful journey.

Meanwhile, the other nuns could only watch her as she walked for two hours around the garden, which was very large. She paused from time to time, focusing intently on the sufferings which were shown to her. She was then seen to wring her hands in compassion for the poor souls. The vivid sight of their condition was enough to make her face become pale, and her body bend down under the weight of grief.

The exhausted Saint could not restrain her cries, "Mercy, my God, mercy! Descend, O Precious Blood, and deliver these souls from their prison. Poor souls! You suffer so cruelly, and yet you are content and cheerful. The dungeons of the martyrs were gardens of delight in comparison with these prisons. Nevertheless, there are others deeper than this. How happy I should be if I did not have to go down into them."

But she was made to continue her way and descend into the lower regions of Purgatory.

She had only taken a few steps, when she stopped terror-stricken. Sighing deeply, the poor nun cried, "What! There are also religious souls in this dismal place! How they are tormented! Ah, Lord!" The horror she experienced from seeing their sufferings caused her to sigh with each step that she took.

At last, she left those frightful dungeons, and went to less gloomy places. These were the prisons of simple souls and of children whose ignorance and immaturity brought about many faults. Their torments seemed much more endurable than those of the others. Nothing but ice and fire were there, as well as some dreadful and ugly demons. She also noticed that these souls enjoyed the company of their guardian angels. The presence of these blessed spirits greatly strengthened the suffering prisoners.

The Saint walked on a few paces, and saw terribly agonized souls. She was then heard to cry out, "Oh! How horrible is this place; it is full of hideous demons and incredible torments! O my God, who are the victims of these cruel tortures? Alas! They are being pierced with sharp swords. They are being cut into pieces." She was answered that they were the souls whose actions in life were those of hypocrisy.

Going a little farther, she saw a great multitude of souls who were bruised and crushed under a press. They were those souls who had been impatient and disobedient during life. It was a vivid, heartrending spectacle.

The Saint’s fellow nuns were affected deeply just by watching her reactions to the visions she saw. Her looks, her sighs, her whole attitude clearly showed the compassion and terror of her soul.

A moment later, her agony increased and she uttered a dreadful cry. For she was witnessing the punishments for those who lied. Carefully taking in what she saw, the Saint cried aloud, "Liars are confined in a place in the vicinity of hell, and their sufferings are extremely great. Molten lead is poured into their mouths; I see them burn, and at the same time tremble from the cold."

Then she went to the prison of those souls who had sinned through weakness. She was heard to exclaim, "Alas! I had thought to find you among those who have sinned through ignorance. But I am mistaken; you burn with an intenser fire."

Further on, she perceived souls who had been too much attached to the goods of this world, and had sinned by greed. At this sight, the saint exclaimed. "What blindness to eagerly seek a fortune which does not last! Those who could not be satisfied with former riches are here gorged with torments. They are like metal in the furnace."

From there, she went to the place which held those souls, formerly stained with impurity. They were in a dungeon that was so filthy and pestilent that the sight made her nauseous. She quickly turned away from that disgusting spectacle.

She now saw the ambitious and the proud. She spoke sadly: "Behold those who wished to shine before men. Now they are condemned to live in this frightful obscurity."

Then she was shown those souls guilty of ingratitude towards God. They were prey to unspeakable torments. And they were drowned in a lake of molten lead, because by their ingratitude, they had dried up the source of piety.

Finally, in a last dungeon, she was shown souls that had not been given to any particular vice. But because they were not diligent enough over themselves, they had committed all kinds of trivial faults. She remarked that these souls had a share in the punishment of all vices, but to a moderate degree. Those faults were committed only from time to time. This made them less guilty than those committed through habit.

After this last sight, St. Magdalen de Pazzi left the garden, begging God to never again make her witness so heartrending a spectacle. She felt that she did not have strength to endure it. She begged Jesus for the grace to understand why she had just visited so painful a place.

"Tell me, Lord, what was Your purpose in revealing to me those terrible prisons, of which I knew so little, and comprehended even less? Ah! I now see. You wished to give me the knowledge of Your infinite sanctity, and to make me detest more and more the least stain of sin, which is so abominable in Your Eyes."