The patron saint of the souls in purgatory (St. Nicholas of Tolentino) was visited by a friar suffering there

The patron saint of the souls in purgatory was visited by a friar suffering there

Leo XIII gave Nicholas of Torentino this patronage in 1884.

Larry Peterson

The Guruttis were poor farmers who lived in Sant’ Pontano, Macerata, Italy. Childless, they traveled to the shrine of St. Nicholas of Myra, the saint who inspired the modern-day Santa Claus. They prayed to St. Nicholas to asked God if He might bless them with a child who would grow up to serve God. Their prayers were answered, and sometime during the year 1245 they had a son. They named him Nicholas.

Even as a child, Nicholas displayed a pronounced spirituality. He imitated hermits and would hide in nearby caves to pray. As Nicholas grew, he realized God was, indeed, calling him to service. One day he was listening to an Augustinian priest who was preaching. Nicholas knew immediately that he wanted to join that order of priests. He became a monk at the age of 18.

While he was still studying for the priesthood, he would use any spare time he could find to give food to the poor. His superiors trusted him with feeding the poor, and he would go to the monastery gate and distribute food from the monastery’s provisions. He would give everything he could to the people waiting, and the procurator had to slow him down lest the friars had nothing to eat.

One day he was providing food to a very sick boy. He instinctively laid his hands on the boy’s head and said, “The good God will heal you.” The boy was instantly cured; naturally word of this spread quickly through the local area.

A few years later, after he was ordained a priest, another incident helped his fame to spread. An elderly woman who was blind was brought to him so he could pray over her. He said the same words he had said to the sick boy. The woman’s eyesight immediately was restored. News of this miracle was soon widespread, and people began coming from all over to ask him to pray for them and lay hands on them.

Nicholas gained notoriety as a preacher, confessor, and a healer. He settled in a monastery in Tolentino and would spend the rest of his life there. Here he was a pastor to the people and did all he could to help the poor. He prayed over countless people who asked him to do so. Many were cured of their illnesses. Through it all, Nicholas spent as much time as he could fasting and performing personal acts of penance. He was an inspiration to everyone. 

The story is told that one day, after spending a long time fasting, Nicholas became weak and could barely stand. He had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Augustine who told him to eat the bread marked with a cross and soaked in water. Nicholas did as he was told and immediately, his strength was restored. That is how the Augustinian practice of blessing and distributing St. Nicholas Bread began, a custom carried on to this very day.

A significant part of the story of Nicholas has to do with Purgatory. It seems that one night, while asleep, Nicholas heard the voice of a deceased friar he had known. The friar told Nicholas that he was in Purgatory and pleaded with him to offer the Holy Eucharist for him and the other souls that were there with him. He told Nicholas this would help get them released from there. 

Nicholas did as asked and prayed for the friar for seven days. After this, the friar returned to him and told him that a number of souls had been released and were now with God. Because of this Nicholas was proclaimed the patron of the souls in Purgatory by Pope Leo XIII in 1884. 

There is also much legend that surrounds What is certain is that Nicholas of Tolentino was a caring, kind priest who did all he could to help his neighbors, no matter who they were. St. Nicholas, including resurrecting children, saving people about to drown on a sinking ship, and even saving the burning palace of the Duke of Venice by tossing a piece of blessed bread into the flames. He is also said to have seen in a vision the transport of the Holy House of Loreto by angels. 

He died in Tolentino on September 10, 1305. He was canonized a saint by Pope Eugene IV, in 1446. He was the first Augustinian friar to be canonized after the creation and approval of the Order of St. Augustine in 1256.

St. Nicholas of Tolentino, please pray for us and all our Departed.

https://aleteia.org/2019/09/09/the-patron-saint-of-the-souls-in-purgatory-was-visited-by-a-friar-suffering-there/

Our Lady’s Power at the Time of Death

Our Lady’s Power at the Time of Death

In her City of God, Venerable Maria of Agreda, a XVII Century Conceptionist nun and mystic, to whom the Blessed Mother dictated her life, writes of a marvelous event in the early Christian Church.

After the first Pentecost, one of the five thousand first converts was a girl called Lillian. One day she fell gravely ill, and the devil, capitalizing on her bodily weakness, and the fact that she had given in to a few sins, took the form of a woman, and paid her sick-calls.

Little by little, by slandering the disciples of Jesus and the Christian community, the fiend introduced doubts in Lillian’s mind about her new-found Faith. At first the sick girl resisted, speaking of the peace and kindness of the beautiful lady who was Jesus’ Mother. But the devil assured Lillian that she was the worst of all. In the end, Lillian gave up her Faith.

One of the disciples of Jesus on visiting and finding Lillian’s attitude changed, tried to win the girl back to Christ, but to no avail. Deeply concerned, he informed the Apostle John.

St. John immediately visited the young woman and was able to see legions of devils surrounding her sick bed. Though the devils recoiled at his sight, so deceived was the girl, that he could not make a difference.

He then had recourse to the Blessed Mother, who, at the time was living in Jerusalem. On hearing of the case, Mary Most Holy implored her divine Son for the welfare and salvation of this young strayed lamb. She then made ready to visit the girl with St. John.

Just then, several angels appeared, and gallantly ushering Holy Mary onto a throne of clouds, carried her to Lillian’s side.

As soon as the great lady set foot on the threshold of the sufferer’s door, the demons infesting the room took chaotic flight, tripping over each other in their haste, and seeking refuge in the depths of Hell.

With the air cleared, Holy Mary sat by the dying girl, and with gentle words sweetly brought her back into her Son’s fold. Lillian wept tears of repentance and asked for the last Sacraments, which St. John administered. Thus, with her Mother holding her hand, Lillian expired.

As if not enough, Our Lady, with her prayers, made up for the girl’s time in Purgatory, and summoning one of her angels, bid him deliver the purified soul to heaven.

So, when saying the Hail Mary, may we stress: “…pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

By A.F. Phillips

This grieving girl witnessed her father travel from purgatory to heaven

All because she had three Masses said for the repose of his soul.

Philip Kosloski

During the 17th century, a grieving young girl approached Benedictine Abbot Millán de Mirando at the monastery of Our Lady of Montserrat. She begged the abbot to say three Masses for her deceased father.

The young girl was totally convinced that these Masses would speed her father on his way to heaven, releasing him from the pains of purgatory. Moved by the girl’s child-like faith, the abbot said the first Mass the next day.

During the Mass the young girl was kneeling and as she looked up she saw her father near the altar where the priest was saying the Mass. She described her father as “kneeling, surrounded by frightening flames” and located at the bottom step of the altar. The priest was alerted to this miraculous phenomenon and he instructed the girl to place a piece of tissue where her father was kneeling. The tissue immediately started on fire for all to see, though the priest could not see the child’s father. This represented her father being purified by the flames of purgatory.

A second Mass was said for the repose of her father’s soul and again the little girl saw her father. This time he was up a step standing next to the deacon and was “dressed in a vibrantly colored suit.” At this stage her father was still in purgatory, but no longer touched by its flames.

At the third Mass she saw her father for the last time. During the Eucharistic celebration he was “dressed in a snow-white suit,” but then something extraordinary happened at the conclusion of Mass. The little girl exclaimed, “There is my father going away and rising into the sky!” She no longer had to worry about the soul of her father as she knew with confidence that he had reached the gates of heaven.

https://aleteia.org/2017/11/02/this-grieving-girl-witnessed-her-father-travel-from-purgatory-to-heaven/

An Exorcist Describes Death, Judgement, and Our Everlasting Life Fr. Gabriele Amorth

An Exorcist Describes Death, Judgement, and Our Everlasting Life

Fr. Gabriele Amorth

Heaven, the Kingdom of Love

I wish to include some basic notions of Christian eschatology, which, because of the Resurrection of Christ give a reason for great hope to everyone — in particular, to those who suffer from evil spells. Our life, our earthly pilgrimage, and our suffering are not the fruit of a blind randomness; rather, they are ordered for our greater good and definitive friendship with God.

Let us begin, then, precisely from paradise, the final goal and the reason for which we have been created. “Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they ‘see him as he is,’ face to face,” (CCC 1023).

Our Faith guarantees that in paradise we shall enjoy the vision of God; that is, we shall become participants in that same happiness that the divine Persons enjoy among themselves:

“The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ” (CCC, no. 1026).

A question arises spontaneously: What need did the Trinity have for creatures, for men and angels, when It was already perfect and absolutely sufficient in Itself? The Trinity did it solely out of love, gratuitous and unconditional love for us. The advantage is solely ours: love, joy, and happiness, for all, in paradise.

There are degrees of participation in the joy and love of God. This degree of rank is given according to the level of sanctity each person has reached during his lifetime: the joy of St. Francis of Assisi, for example, will be different from that of the good thief. There is a difference between men on earth, and there will be a difference in paradise.

It is similar to what happens with the stars in heaven: there are those that shine brighter and those that shine a little less. So also it will be with men in the glorious resurrection: all of us shall be resplendent, but each one with a different proportion. Each one will have that maximum of splendor and happiness that he is personally capable of, based on how he has lived his life. Some will have a greater capacity and others less, but without envy or jealousy toward each other.

Indeed, each one will know complete joy. A verse from Dante’s Divine Comedy comes to mind: “In his will is our peace.” In paradise there is no jealousy; each one is in the will of God, and in His will there is peace. Eternal peace is definitive, where each tear, each sorrow, and all envy will be wiped away.

The Souls in Purgatory

Purgatory is the place, or, better, the state to which come the souls that have need of a purification and therefore have not been immediately admitted to contemplate the face of God. This purification is necessary in order to arrive at sanctity, the condition that heaven requires. The Catechism speaks of the souls in purgatory: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (no. 1030).

This article is from a chapter in An Exorcist Explains the Demonic.

We can understand that there are gradations or diverse states in purgatory; each one accommodates the situation of the soul that arrives there. There are the lower strata, more terrible because they are closer to hell, and the more elevated that are less terrible because they are much closer to the happiness of paradise. The level of purification is linked to this state.

The souls in purgatory are in a state of great suffering. We know, in fact, that they can pray for us and that they can obtain many graces for us, but they can no longer merit anything for themselves. The time for meriting graces finishes with death.

Purged souls can, however, receive our help in order to abbreviate their period of purification. This occurs in a powerful way through our prayers, with the offering of our sufferings, paying attention at Mass, specifically at funerals or at Gregorian Masses, celebrated for thirty consecutive days.

This last practice was introduced by St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century, inspired by a vision he had of a confrere who died without confessing himself and, having gone to purgatory, appeared to him, asking him to celebrate some Masses in his favor. The pope celebrated them for thirty days. At that point, the deceased appeared to him again, happy for having been admitted to paradise. One must take care: this does not mean that it will always work this way: that would be a magical attitude, unacceptable and erroneous toward a sacrament. In fact, it is solely God who decides these matters when He wills it through His divine mercy.

On the subject of Masses, it is necessary to say that they can be applied to a particular deceased, but, at the last moment, it is God who destines them to those who have a real need. For example, I often celebrate Masses for my parents, whom I believe in my conscience are already in paradise. Only God in His mercy will destine the benefits of my Masses to those who have more need, each one according to the criteria of justice and goodness reached during his life.

Regarding all that I have said, I wish warmly to advise that it is better to expiate suffering in this life and become a saint than, in a minimalist way, to aspire to purgatory, where the pains are long-lasting and heavy.

The Pains of Hell

The book of Revelation says that “the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world — he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Rev. 12:9).

Why were they hurled down to the earth? Because the punishment they were given is that of persecuting men, trying to lead them to eternal hell, rendering them their unfortunate companions for an eternity of suffering and torment.

How can this drama, which involves everyone, enter into the plans of God? As we have said, the next reason is the liberty granted by God to His creatures. Certainly we know that the mission of Satan and his acolytes is to ruin man, to seduce him, to lead him toward sin, and to distance him from the full participation in divine life, to which we have all been called, which is paradise.

Then there is hell, the state in which the demons and the condemned are distanced from the Creator, the angels, and the saints in a permanent and eternal condition of damnation. Hell, after all, is self-exclusion from communion with God. As the Catechism states: “We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves” (no. 1033). The one who dies in mortal sin without repenting goes to hell; in an impenitent way, he has not loved. It is not God who predestines a soul to hell; the soul chooses it with the way [the person] has lived his life.

We have some stories about hell that, because they are taken from private revelations or experiences, do not bind the faithful, but, nevertheless, have a notable value. I have spoken on more occasions in my books and in my interviews of the experience of St. Faustina Kowalska, who in her diary writes of her spiritual journey to hell.

It is shocking.

Stories and visions like these have to make us reflect. For this reason Our Lady of Fatima said to the seers: “Pray and offer sacrifices; too many souls go to hell because there is no one to pray and offer sacrifices for them.”

Being in the kingdom of hate, damned souls are subjected to the torment of the demons and to the sufferings they reciprocally inflict on one another. In the course of my exorcisms I have understood that there is a hierarchy of demons, just as there is with angels. More than once I have found myself involved with demons who were possessing a person and who demonstrated a terror toward their leaders.

One day, after having done many exorcisms on a poor woman, I asked the minor demon who was possessing her: “Why don’t you go away?” And he replied: “Because if I go away from here, my leader, Satan, will punish me.” There exists in hell a subjugation dictated by terror and hatred. This is the abysmal contrast with paradise, the place where everyone loves one another and where, if a soul sees someone holier, that soul is immensely happy because of the benefit it receives from the happiness of another.

Some say that hell is empty. The response to this affirmation is found in chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel, where it speaks of the Last Judgment: the upright will go to eternal life and the others, the cursed, will go to the eternal fire. We can certainly hope that hell is empty, because God does not wish the death of a sinner but that he convert and live (see Ezek. 33:11). For this He offers His mercy and saving grace to each one. In the Gospel of John Jesus says: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:23); thus He insists on our continuous conversion supported by the grace of the sacraments, in particular the sacrament of Penance.

Returning to the question of hell, whether it is empty or not: unfortunately, I fear that many souls go there, all those who per­severe in their choice of distancing themselves from God to the end. Let us meditate often on this. Pascal said it well: “Meditation on hell has filled paradise with saints.”

The Judgment on Life

The Catechism speaks of the particular judgment: “The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith” (no. 1021).

And further on it adds: “Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven — through a purification or immediately — or immediate and everlasting damnation” (no. 1022). Then it adds the criterion with which this judgment will occur, taken from the writings of St. John of the Cross: “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.”

The first thing that I would emphasize is precisely this last: the final criterion of our judgment will be the love that we have had toward God and toward our brothers and sisters. How, then, will this particular judgment occur?

At times, I run into persons who are convinced that immediately after death they will meet Jesus in person and that He will give them a piece of His mind for some of their dolorous affairs. Frankly, I do not think that it will happen like this. Rather, I believe that, immediately after death, each of us will appear before Jesus, but it will not be the Lord who will review our lives and examine the good and the bad each of us has done. We ourselves shall do it, in truth and honesty.

Each one will have before himself the complete vision of his life, and he will immediately see the real spiritual state of his soul and will go where his situation will bring him. It will be a solemn moment of self-truth, a tremendous and definitive moment, as definitive as the place where we shall be sent. Let us consider the case of the person who goes to purgatory.

It will involve the sorrow of not immediately going to paradise that will make him understand that his purification on earth was not complete, and he will feel the immediate need of purifying himself. His desire of acceding to the vision of God will be strong, and the desire for liberation from the weight of the pains accumulated during his earthly life will be compelling.

The Last Judgment: It Will Be Love That Will Judge Us

Let us end with the universal judgment:

The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he de­termines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. (CCC, no. 1040)

This is one of the most difficult realities to understand. The Last Judgment coincides with the return of Christ; however we do not know the precise time it will occur. We know that it will be preceded immediately by the resurrection of the dead. In that precise moment, the history of the world will definitively and globally end. The Catechism again specifies: “In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare [cf. John 12:49]” (no. 1039).

The essential question is: What is the concrete rapport that each man has with God? As I have mentioned, the solemn response is found in the Gospel of Mathew. The saved and the damned will be chosen on the basis of their recognition or rejection of Christ in the infirm, in the hungry, and in the poor (Matt. 25:31–46). Two essential elements emerge from this. The first is a division, a schism, between those going to paradise and those going to hell, between the saved and the condemned. The second regards the manner in which this judgment will be accomplished — with love. God’s Commandments and every other precept are summarized solely in one commandment: “[L]ove one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

We can easily understand that this command is addressed to each human conscience in every age, including those who lived before Christ and those, who today, as in centuries past, never heard anyone speak of the Son of Man. Therefore, the finale of this stupendous passage is the beautiful passage from Mathew: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:40).

If each man — apart from his religion, his culture, his epoch, and any other circumstance — has loved his neighbor, he has also loved the Lord Jesus in person. Any rapport with our brothers and sisters in any locality, any age, or any situation is, all in all, a rapport with Jesus Christ in person. Each human creature who achieves fulfillment in his human relationships is, at the same time, relating to God. For this reason, the love of neighbor is the fundamental precept of life. John the Evangelist helps us to understand that we cannot say that we love God, whom we cannot see, if we do not love our brother, whom we can see (cf. 1 John 4:20).

The love that will judge us will be the same love that we have (or have not) practiced toward others, the same love that Jesus lived in His earthly experience and taught us in the Gospels, the same love to which we are entitled through the sacraments, through prayer, and through a life of faith. The ability to love comes from grace, and it is much reduced in those who do not know Christ; and even more so in those who know Him but do not follow Him, a choice that assumes a serious sin. Indeed, Jesus said: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).

On the other hand, in announcing the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis reminds us that the other fundamental aspect of the question is that the love with which we shall be judged will be the Love of mercy. “Mercy is the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us.” This mercy, he says, “is the bridge that connects God and man and opens our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.”

God’s compassionate glance and His desire to live in total communion with us opens our hearts to the hope that each sin and each failure inflicted on man by his great enemy, Satan, will be looked upon with the eyes of a loving and accepting Father. Therefore, let us live full of hope, because we know that, even in the difficulties of our life’s journey, God will wipe away all the tears from our eyes. On that day “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a chapter in Fr. Amorth’s An Exorcist Explains the Demonic: The Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen Angels, which is available from Sophia Institute Press.

Find more of Fr. Amorth’s work on Catholic Exchange by clicking here.

https://catholicexchange.com/exorcist-describes-death-judgement-everlasting-life

Purgatory and the Communion of Saints

Brian Kranick

“No man is an island,” so Pope Benedict XVI reminds us in his encyclical letter Spe Salvi (“Saved in Hope”).  We are each bound to one another “through innumerable interactions” so that: “No one lives alone.  No one sins alone.  No one is saved alone.”  Pope Benedict exhorts us to ask, “what can I do in order that others may be saved? . . . Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well.”  Salvation is a social reality.  The letter to the Hebrews speaks of the community of believers coming together in a city. Heaven, as a city full of people, is a place of communal salvation. Sin, on the other hand, introduced the “destruction of the unity of the human race.” While man’s original unity was torn apart by sin, the work of redemption aims to heal that disintegration, as Benedict discerns, “redemption appears as the reestablishment of unity.”

Each believer is an interconnected cell in the Mystical Body of Christ.  We are a band of brothers and sisters, bound together in hope and love, in a confraternal exchange of supernatural charity.  Even now, the saints of Church Militant on earth, are surrounded by “so great a cloud of witnesses” – Church Penitent (or Church Suffering) in purgatory and Church Triumphant in heaven.  The Communion of Saints live in a symbiotic relationship: the saints in heaven and purgatory interceding for those on the earth, while the believers on the earth ask for their heavenly intercession.  And, in this month of November, dedicated to the souls in purgatory, we recall our special role in this symbiotic relationship while still alive: to pray, sacrifice and intercede for the dearly departed souls in purgatory.

Those in purgatory have died in God’s grace and friendship and are “assured of their eternal salvation,” however, they are “still imperfectly purified” and must necessarily “undergo purification” to enter into heaven (CCC 1030), for nothing unclean enters into it. (Rev. 21:27)  Jesus spoke of purgatory, alluding to it as a “prison,” in which we pay for our sins down to “the very last penny”:

“Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.” (Lk. 12:58-59)

St. Paul similarly tells the Corinthians that we all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and are subject to a “purifying fire;” they “will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Cor. 3:15)  The encounter with Christ is one of grace and judgment.  Benedict describes this eloquently:

“Grace does not cancel out justice.  It does not make wrong into right.  It is not a sponge which wipes everything away, so that whatever someone has done on earth ends up being of equal value. . . . Evildoers, in the end, do not sit at table at the eternal banquet beside their victims without distinction, as though nothing had happened.” (Spe Salvi, 44)  Even after Confession, we must still make penance.

The departed faithful souls in purgatory do have to make recompense for their sins to satisfy the perfect justice of God.  We can, however, assist them in that.  The Catechism (CCC 1032) quotes an example from Scripture saying, “Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” (2 Macc. 12:45)  And so, how do we as Christians make atonement for the dead?  The Catechism clarifies this:

“From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.  The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.”

We are called to be intercessors, for both the living and the dead.  We can offer up our prayers, sacrifices and sufferings on behalf of the poor souls in purgatory, for they can no longer merit for themselves.  But, God has deigned through the Communion of the Saints that we can make up for others what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.  For, we are “God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor. 3:9), contributing to the salvation of souls.  We can do this through our prayers, such as praying the rosary for those in purgatory.  We can offer penances, and sacrifices.  We can give alms, and do acts of charity on behalf of the deceased person.

Benedict also recommends a particular devotion for everyday life, that is, “offering up” all the minor daily hardships of the day.  We can “insert these little annoyances into Christ’s great ‘com-passion’ so that they somehow became part of the treasury of compassion so greatly needed by the human race.”  We can offer up those petty annoyances throughout the day whatever they might be, slow traffic, the heat, the pestering co-worker, etc.  “In this way, even the small inconveniences of daily life could acquire meaning.” (Spe Salvi, 40)  We can be assured that our efforts, prayers and sacrifices are efficacious and capable of mitigating the suffering of those in purgatory. (CCC 958)

Most importantly, we can offer the sacrifice of the Mass, and indulgences granted by the Church, for souls in purgatory.  You can contact your Church and have a mass offered for your beloved deceased.  Another beautiful gift is the tradition going back to Pope Gregory the Great of offering “Gregorian Masses” for deceased persons on thirty consecutive days.  These are generally not done now in parishes, but in monasteries, seminaries, and other religious institutions.

The efficaciousness of intercession for those in purgatory has received mystical confirmation too.  One such mystic was St. Faustina.  She wrote in her Divine Mercy diary about a soul, a recently deceased nun, who visited her from purgatory requesting her prayers.  Upon first visiting her, the sister was in “terrible condition,” but after some undisclosed amount of time of praying for her, the nun eventually returned and “her face was radiant, her eyes beaming with joy.”  She would soon be released from purgatory and conveyed to her that many souls had “profited from my prayers.”  Similarly, in the Divine Mercy Novena, dictated to St. Faustina by Jesus, He asks us to offer the eighth day for the souls in purgatory.  He told St. Faustina, “It is in your power to bring them relief.  Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf.  Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice.” (Diary, 1226)  Memorializing a person is nice, but prayer for the deceased may be what they truly need.

Thus, it is within our power as members of the Communion of Saints to assist the poor souls in purgatory in the process of their purification and sanctification.  Our prayers and sacrifices can help pay off their debts.  In turn, in gratefulness for the merit we win for them, they will surely pray and intercede for us, until, at last, in heaven we will meet all those who we have helped, undoubtedly to our surprise.  Also, lest we put our earthly time limits upon God, we should remember to pray even for those who have died long ago.  God, who exists outside of time in eternity, receives all of our prayers and sacrifices in the eternal present, and can merit a soul whether long since dead or in purgatory.  So, out of love for our family and friends, let us do our part in supernatural charity for the souls in purgatory, who may be most in need of our help.

http://catholicexchange.com/purgatory-communion-saints

image: By Lorenzo di Niccolò Italian, Florentine, documented 1393-1412 – Artist (Italian, Florentine)Details of artist on Google Art Project [Public domain], 

BACK FROM THE DEAD, DR. SEAN THOMAS GEORGE

BACK FROM THE DEAD
‘Back from the Dead’
A doctor brings an amazing report during Brisbane medical conference and has now launched two new websites

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- A Christian group of doctors and medical professionals listened in shocked amazement earlier this year as one of their own told the incredible story of how he came back from the dead.

Dr. Sean Thomas George

He was Dr. Sean Thomas George, an Indian born doctor who is now a consultant physician in a West Australian hospital and he told his extraordinary story before more than 220 Christian medics on the first day of the 8th Annual International Christian Medical Conference called “Spirituality and Medicine” that was held June 11-12, 2011 in Brisbane, Australia and organized by the World Christian Doctors Network.

“I was dead for 1 hour and 25 minutes, but came back to life after my wife prayed a simple prayer,” said Dr. George, who provided all kinds of medical data that put on a large screen for the other doctors to check out.

He said that it on October 24, 2008, he returned from the dead to amaze colleagues who had battled for almost 55 minutes to revive his lifeless heart.

Dr. George said that the story began when, five days after running a medical clinic in Vanuatu, Dr. George was returning from a clinic session on the south coast of Australia with his intern when he felt minor chest pains and was “unusually hot.”

Dr. George speaking at the conference

He went on, “I decided to stop the car and, as I got out and still feeling the discomfort, I called my wife, also a doctor, to let her know what was happening. She suggested that I drove straight home to Kalgoorlie.”

Dr. George said that as he did, he felt “divinely directed” to enter a clinic in Kambalda, 50 kilometers (31.6 miles) short of Kalgoorlie, where he used an electro-cardiogram (ECG) to diagnose a heart attack and receive the few drugs they had there.

“The pain,” he said, “was getting worse and 11 minutes after the ECG my heart completely stopped beating. Not only did I have a heart attack but I went into cardiac arrest.”

For the next 60 minutes, a team of doctors and nurses used over 4,000 chest compressions and gave him 13 electrical shocks but neither his heart nor lungs responded. After one hour and 10 minutes, the doctor was pronounced dead.

Ten minutes later, his wife arrived from Kalgoorlie and was told she go in and say goodbye.

Dr. George continued by saying, “Being a doctor herself, Sherry knew that medical science had proved that if the blood supply to the brain was cut off for over three minutes the brain would begin to die, and in 20 minutes the brain would be completely dead. But as she and I had trusted Jesus Christ as Almighty God and Savior, she decided to humbly ask Him to intervene.

“Holding my hand, she prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, he is only 39, I am only 38 and we have a ten year boy. I need a miracle.’

“As soon as she said this it was as though someone had breathed life into me again and my heartbeat came back.”

Part of the medical audience listening to his presentation

Four hours later, Dr. George was flown to Royal Perth Hospital where doctors carried out an emergency procedure to clear a severely blocked artery on the right side of heart.

“The doctor thought I would not survive, and even if I did, I would be completely brain dead on a ventilator. In Perth ICU, I had kidney and liver failure and was still in a deep coma.”

Three days later, on Sunday, after all the odds, the doctor opened his eyes. The next day, he was moving his hands and legs.

On Wednesday, he was fully conscious and off the ventilator, and his memory and brain were fully functional. Then two weeks later, he was discharged and returned to full-time work after three months of steady recovery.”

As he reflected on these miraculous events, Dr. George says that he believes God wanted to teach him some important truths.

“It has proved to me that Jesus really is Creator God and Sustainer of life and that He hears and responds to the humble prayers of His servants,” he said. “I now also understand that eternity is only a breath away.

“The experience has definitely grown my relationship with God. I am now more conscious that are only that we are pilgrims on this earth, and that this life is only for a short time. So we need to focus on what lies ahead in eternity.”

Reviewing the facts of his case, both as a professional doctor and a personal survivor, Dr. George says that he is convinced that only God could have brought him back to complete health.

“I don’t think there are any documented cases of patients who were clinically dead for so long, have come back to life with their memory perfectly intact and neurologically no deficits at all,” he said. “This is something that only God can do, because medically it is impossible.”

But the doctors all believe that God is still in the miracle business. That's why they were gathering in Brisbane and will next year, be doing so in Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr George has now released his own websites -- www.seangeorge.com.au -- or --www.seangeorge.com -- in which he showcases all the medical evidence and details of his testimony and miraculous resurrection from the dead. The website also gives details of his mission work in the pacific nation of Vanuatu. Dr. George has composed his own Christian songs and published an album, “As An Incense,” which is also available for free download on his website. You can see video testimonies from medical experts who have participated in the resuscitation efforts and much more. The website is a great resource for both the church and for non-Christians to see a tangible miracle in our modern world. It's Dr George's desire that this website be used to share the truth of the power of God in a contemporary way, with all the evidences.

Purgatory: Supernatural & Paranormal Visits - Real "Ghost" Stories for A...

BOOK...HUNGRY SOULS by - Gerard J.M. Van Den Aardweg
page 130
The father returned the following evening. "If I shall have to remain in purgatory three months more it will seem an eternity," he said. "At first I was sentenced to purgatory for many years; and I owe it to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin that my time was reduced to a few months." Sister Seraphine told her community that her father was allowed to ask for her help "in reward for his good works. Moreover he was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in whose honor he received the sacraments on all her feasts. He was also very charitable; he spared no trouble to assist the unfortunate. He even begged from door to door to assist in establishing a home for the Little Sisters of the Poor."

Another incident one evening corroborates that the concrete imprints of hands or fingers, or other miraculous traces of the kind exhibited in the Museo del Purgatorio, (The Museum of Purgatory in Rome, Italy) are not autonomous actions on the part of poor souls, but willed by God, and therefore deserve being pondered over seriously and respectfully.

Sister Mary Seraphine offered her father her hand and a copy of the Imitatio Christi and asked him to leave the imprint of his hand on her own hand or on the book, because she was haunted by the doubt that these apparitions might be delusions. "No," was the reaction, "I will not do it. The pain you feel is according to the will of God, and your uncertainty is to hasten my deliverance." Later, he nevertheless touched her twice, first on her right shoulder and the next time above her heart, causing intense pain. Strange to say, though no indication appeared on her habit, her skin on both places had a black spot, as she modestly informed her confessor.

By command of her confessor, on October 30, Sister Seraphine asked her father what prayers would be most helpful to be said on All Souls' Day. Instead of answering this question, he complained, "Alas, the world does not believe that the fire of purgatory is similar to that of hell. If a person could but once visit purgatory, he would nevermore commit the least sin, so rigorously are the souls punished." Another time she asked him if he had been released from the cistern, as she had not seen him in it the last three days. "Oh, no, see the proof!" And she saw the cistern, smoke and flames coming from it.

The apparitions received additional objective confirmation when Sister Seraphine's father also appeared to another sister, who was greatly troubled because her own father had died without the Sacraments, after he had neglected his religious duties for a long time. He said to her, "Your father is saved, but he is sentenced to suffer in purgatory for twenty years. For your consolation, however, I am permitted to inform you that your sister N. was released from the flames a short time ago, and is now in heaven." The girl referred to had died 16 years before, when she was only eight years old; and yet she had to suffer so long in Purgatory.

Sister Seraphine also questioned her father about other souls. For example, she asked him one day about the situation of a sister to whom she had been greatly attached. "She is in heaven already for some time," he replied. He was, however, not permitted to say if any sisters of her community were at present in Purgatory. "Do the souls in purgatory know who prays for them, and are they permitted to pray for the faithful on earth?" He answered in the affirmative. He then disclosed that on leaving this world he had seen the infinite majesty of God, the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ, and the Blessed Virgin Mary and that this vision had left in him a continually increasing and most ardent yearning to see them again. He also told her that St. Joseph was present at his judgment, that he had since repeatedly visited purgatory in company of the Blessed Virgin to console him, and that he often saw his guardian angel, who came to comfort him.

On November 23, she saw her father as usual; but this time he seemed closer to her, and her suffering was thereby greatly increased. She felt as if she were all on fire. He informed her that if the community persevered in prayer as hitherto, he would be released during the Christmas holidays; also, he was aware of the most secret sufferings offered for the poor souls and immediately felt their beneficial effect. Directed by her confessor, she asked her father whether it was true that the torments in Purgatory surpassed in their intensity the sufferings of the martyrs. "It is but too true," was the reply. And on whether the members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel who wore the scapular are released from purgatory on the first Saturday after their death, he said, "Yes, if they have faithfully fulfilled all the conditions."He also revealed that some souls are made to stay in Purgatory until the end of the world: "the ones most tormented and the most forsaken."

On November 30, he told his daughter, "It seems an eternity to me since I arrived in purgatory. At present my greatest torment is the intense longing to behold God and to enjoy His possession. I feel continually elevated towards Him and am at the same time repulsed and cast into the abyss. Sometimes I am on the edge of the cistern, seemingly about to be released from it, when I immediately feel the divine justice detaining me because I have not sufficiently atoned."

She implored her father again, as she had done repeatedly before, to obtain for her the grace of perseverance amid so many interior and exterior sufferings. "I have already prayed for you," he said, "and I shall continue to pray for you, my dear daughter. But you will have to suffer still more before I am released."

On December 3, she saw him again. Still sorrowful, he nevertheless appeared greatly relieved. He described to her the intense love of God that he felt and the increasing desire to behold Him. Some time before she had asked him to repeat some of the acts of love that the souls in Purgatory made. He had not complied with her request then, but now he said, "I continually make these three acts of love: O my God, grant me the love with which the Seraphim are inflamed!

0 my God, grant me still more: grant me the love which inflames the
Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary! O my God, why can
1 not love Thee as Thou lovest Thyself?"

It is clear that this soul was already to a high extent "inflamed" with the love of God, for how else can he find these passionate words of love? He—and the souls in most other apparitions—focuses on their grievous sufferings (among other things) because they come to ask for help; but we can imagine that souls who are so full of love and are ever coming nearer to their Beloved, their definitive, most perfect bliss, must somehow also experience the type of profound joys emphasized by Catherine of Genoa and Francis de Sales.

Next, the man assured his daughter that he implored also for her the love of the Seraphim, adding, "Dear daughter, I am permitted to inform you that, though you are very weak, still you will have to suffer great pain between now and Christmas, on which day I shall be released." She replied, "And then, dear father, what then? Shall I regain my strength, so as to be able to serve God according to our holy rule?"
"That is a mystery not revealed by God," was his response.

From that day until the evening of December 12, the apparitions ceased. Then, and the following evenings, he appeared again, brighter every time. But again, there was a pause from December 14 to 25. Meanwhile, Sister Seraphine suffered so severely that she could hardly visit the chapel. On Christmas night, she succeeded in attending the Midnight Mass, which grace she attributed to the intercession of her father, from whom she expected to receive the announcement of his deliverance. And so it happened. Between the first and the second elevation of the Sacred Host, he appeared to her in supernatural splendor: "My punishment is ended. I come to thank you and your community for all the prayers said for me. From now on I shall pray for you all."

 Upon her return to her room, he appeared to her again for the last time to convince her of his release and to thank her again. She implored him to obtain sufficient strength and health to observe the rule. "I will ask for you perfect resignation to the will of God," he told her, "and the grace of entering heaven without having to suffer purgatory." At this last apparition, he was so resplendent that her eyes could scarcely bear the dazzling light. Her joy and happiness were now supreme. She felt an ineffable peace of soul, and she was glad to have the assurance that she had not been the victim of an illusion.

Having thus caught a glimpse of God's glory, her own craving for God was aroused, similar to the yearning of some people with near-death experiences, however more intense and more similar to the interior Purgatory experienced and analyzed by St. Catherine of Genoa, for thereafter, Sister Seraphine was affected by an illness little known to our age: homesickness for Heaven. Her father's yearning desire for the possession of God seemed to have been bequeathed to her. She was somehow consumed; after six months of suffering, borne with a martyr's fortitude, she died at the age of 28. It was Friday, June 23, the octave of the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Source of all mercies the Church and the living faithful can bestow on the mercy-hungry souls of Purgatory.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gerard J.M. van den Aardweg, Ph.D., is a Dutch psychotherapist in private practice. In addition to his work in parapsychology— writing and speaking about near-death experiences and paranor¬mal events such as those detailed in Hungry Souls—Dr. van den Aardweg has written extensively on pro-life and pro-family sub¬jects. His previous books include Education for Life, The Saint of the Ordinary (about the life of Josemaria Escriva) and On the Origins and Treatment of Homosexuality. Dr. van den Aardweg lives in the Netherlands with his wife, with whom he has seven children and seventeen grandchildren. 

AUGUST 1, The Sunday Homily - by Fr. James Farfaglia

 STEPPING STONES TOWARD ETERNITY --

The summer following the tragic events of September 11, I took the time to visit New York City and “ground-zero” during my home visit to Binghamton, NY. My visit to Manhattan gave me the opportunity to reconnect with a high-school friend whom I had not seen since 1979. He worked in an office building located three blocks from “ground-zero”. We met at his apartment on the north side of Manhattan. The 45-minute subway ride took us to the spot where the World Trade Center once proudly stood. Although my friend was one of the many who could walk away from lower Manhattan through the billowing cloud of smoke and dust, he graciously allowed me to visit something that I had to see. I needed to stand on hallowed ground and pray for the dead.
As we got off of the subway and walked towards “ground-zero”, I quickly began to perceive the horrific suffering of the innocent and the heroic. Hundreds of people lined up along the fences to look, to pray, to remember and to cry.
As I gazed upon the craters where the towers once rested, the infamous iron cross, the American flag proudly flying in the gentle breeze and the countless memorials erected along the surrounding sidewalks, I reflected upon the fundamental questions of human existence. Who am I? What is the purpose of life? What happens when this life comes to an end?

In light of these questions, is the salvation of your soul worth more than the home that you live in, the school that your children attend, the size of your portfolio or the car that you drive?
Let us recall words from this Sunday’s Old Testament reading: “Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1: 2).

The World Trade Center, symbol of economic power and prosperity, was snuffed out in a short span of time. All of the fallen faced their creator without their home, their education, their investments or their car.

For the fallen, this life had ended and eternity began. But for the millions that remain, it seems that for the majority, life goes on unchanged by the apocalyptic events of September 11. The fundamental questions are never asked and no desire for transcendence occurs.

Atheism causes disbelief in God. Nevertheless, the atheist is usually passionate about an ideological cause. Secularism is different. It suffocates the soul and kills it. The secularist is only interested in the here and now. The desire for eternal life is converted into passion for money, sports, entertainment, pleasure, and fame.

As we read this Sunday’s second reading from Saint Paul, we are reminded how to find meaning in life, establish a hierarchy of values and place priorities in the things of eternity. “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3: 1-3).

As I contemplated the large empty craters that once gave support to the Twin Towers, I recalled the familiar words of Ash Wednesday. “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return”. These words tie in perfectly to the words that we pray in this weekend’s responsorial psalm: “You turn man back to dust, saying, ‘Return, O children of men’. For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night” (Psalm 90: 3-5).

As a Catholic priest I have often seen death close at hand. For almost twenty years, I have prayed at the side of little babies, children, teen-agers, adults in their prime, and adults in the twilight of their lives as they died. Death comes at any age.

No matter how many advances science may bring to our contemporary world, no one will ever be able to keep people from dying. Dying is a part of life. It is part of our earthly existence.

When we were little children we learned the simple, yet profound truth from our catechism lessons about our existence. Why did God make me? God made me to know him, to love him, to serve him in this world and to be happy with him in everlasting life. Here lies the plain truth about our life on earth. We will not be here forever.

Life is like a bus ride. We move forward with our bags packed, hoping that when the bus stops and the door opens, we will be at the right location. We must remember the fundamental truth of Revelation: eternity consists of three states: heaven, purgatory and hell. To deny the existence of purgatory and hell is to deny Christianity. To tell people that everyone is going to heaven is to deprive them of the truth. It is a lie to tell people that everyone is saved. Moreover, when people accept this lie, the very lie may even endanger their eternal salvation because they will no longer be using the necessary means of salvation in order to gain eternal life.

“Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator” (Colossians 3: 5-10).

One day each of us will stand before God for judgment. We will stand before God without a lawyer, without family and friends to support us. We will stand alone before Almighty God. Each day could be our last day on earth. We should each ask ourselves today, if I were to die today, how would God judge me? Is there any particular sin, attachment, or attitude that might be an obstacle to my eternal salvation? Rather than becoming sad when we consider our own death, the reality of leaving this life and facing God for judgment should lead us to continual conversion.

Let us remember the words from this Sunday’s gospel passage: "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions” (Luke 12: 15).

A very dear friend of mine has spent most of his adult life in the lay apostolic work of the Catholic Church. Now, as he has entered his mature years and enjoys the fruits of his many labors, he sets his eyes on eternity.

In order to help him prepare for eternity, a number of years ago, he commissioned a friend to make him a simple coffin made of pine. The coffin sits in his basement, waiting for the day when his mortal remains will rest. To some, this idea may seem strange, even morbid. However, a visible reminder of death is an excellent aid to meditate on the reality of death and prepare for eternal life. Our reflection on death must fill us with hope in the reward of eternal life, however, our thoughts should also remind us that we need to be well prepared and ready for that mysterious day when the Lord call us to himself.

This Sunday’s liturgy is not inviting us to live unconcerned for the things of this world. We cannot live reckless lives, waiting for pennies to fall from heaven. Christian stewardship means that we take our time, talent and financial resources, and do all that we can to make this world a better place for everyone. There is nothing wrong about enjoying God’s creation. Christians need to dress properly, enjoy their homes and properly enjoy all that God provides us. However, we are called to live detached from the things of this earth and remember that creatures are only stepping stones on our journey towards eternity.

One man who has correctly understood Christian stewardship is Tom Monaghan. Tom Monaghan’s early childhood was a true test of endurance. His father died on Christmas Eve when he was only four years old. Tom’s mother could not support his brother Jim and himself on her salary of only $27.50 a week so she decided to put the two brothers into a foster home.

After many years of hard work, in 1960, Tom and his brother Jim borrowed $900 to buy a pizzeria named Dominick’s in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Tom’s success certainly did not happen overnight. In his first 13 years in the business, he worked 100 hour work weeks, seven days a week. He only had one vacation, and that was for six days when he got married to his wife Margie.

By the late 1970’s, Domino’s was up to over 200 locations. The 1980’s proved to have phenomenal growth. In 1985, sales topped $1 billion and just three years later, sales hit over $2 billion. The number one pizza delivery company in the world closed out the decade with over 5,000 locations.

Tom Monaghan hit the headlines in December 1998 when he sold his company, the international pizza giant Domino's, and raised over a billion dollars from the sale. His motivation: to give his money away to Catholic and pro-life charities. "I feel it's God's money and I want to use it for the highest possible purpose - to help as many people as possible get to heaven."

Aside from founding Legatus, a Catholic association of businessmen, Monaghan is best known for his founding and developing Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida.

You can help Father James and his apostolic work by making a donation to Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The audio podcast of this Sunday homily will be posted some time Sunday afternoon.
http://donotbediscouraged.blogspot.com/2010/07/sunday-homily-stepping-stones-toward.html