ST. CYRIL of Jerusalem: "Then" (in the Liturgy of the Church) "we pray for the holy Fathers and Bishops that are dead; and, in short, for all those who are departed this life in our communion; believing that the souls of those, for whom the prayers, are offered, receive very great relief while this holy and tremendous victim lies upon the altar." [1] [Footnote 1: Catech. Mystag., V. N., ix., x., p. 328.] ST. EPIPHANIUS writes: "There is nothing more opportune, nothing more to be admired, than the rite which directs the names of the dead to be mentioned. They are aided by the prayer that is offered for them, though it may not cancel all their faults. We mention both the just and sinners, in order that for the latter we may obtain mercy." [1] [Footnote 1: Haer. IV. Lib. LXXV., T. i., p. 911.] ST. AUGUSTINE speaks as follows: "The prayers of the Church, or of good persons, are heard in favor of those Christians who departed this life not so bad as to be deemed unworthy of mercy, nor so good as to be entitled to immediate happiness. So also, at the resurrection of the dead, there will some be found, to whom mercy will be imparted, having gone through these pains, to which the spirits of the dead are liable. Otherwise it would not have been said of some with truth, that their sin shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come (Matt. xii., 32) unless some sins were remitted in the next world." [1] [Footnote 1: De Civit. Dei., Lib. XX, c. xxiv., p. 492.] In another passage he comments on the words of St. Paul: "If they had built _gold_ and _silver_ and _precious stones,_ they would be secure from both fires; not only from that in which the wicked shall be punished for ever, but likewise from that fire which will purify those who shall be saved by fire. But because it is said _he shall be saved,_ that fire is thought lightly of; though the suffering will be more grievous than anything man can undergo in this life." Let us hear ST. JEROME: [1] "As we believe the torments of the devil, and of those wicked men who said in their hearts _there is no God,_ to be eternal, so, in regard to those sinners who have not denied their faith, and whose works will be proved and purged by fire, we conclude that the sentence of the Judge will be tempered by mercy." [Footnote 1: Comment. in c. xv., Isai., T. ii., p. 492.]