From the Preface: he Treatise of St Catherine of Genoa on Purgatory has never, it seems been as yet rendered into English. The present translation, therefore, which is both faithful and excellent in language, will be most acceptable to those whom this wonderful book has hitherto been closed. Although our Lord, by His apostle, has forbidden to women the public ministry of teaching in His Church, He has nevertheless reserved for them a great and resplendent office in the edification of His mystical Body. The lights and inspirations bestowed upon them, according to the words of the prophet Joel, --"In the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophecy;...and upon My servants and upon my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit,"--are among the prerogatives bestowed upon the Church by the day of Pentecost. And their dignity is among the glories of the Mother of God, whose daughters and handmaids they are.