I think it might have been Pope Urban VIII who said it is better to have believed than not to have believed. I will try to find that.
Pope Urban VIII on Private Revelation His Holiness, Pope Urban VIII stated: "In cases which concern private revelations, it is better to believe than not to believe, for, if you believe, and it is proven true, you will be happy that you have believed, because our Holy Mother asked it. If you believe, and it should be proven false, you will receive all blessings as if it had been true, because you believed it to be true."(Pope Urban VIII, 1623-44)
Well I just wasted 15 minutes of my time reading through the story of someone who had a near death experience on Michael Brown's Spirit Daily website. I just wanted to post a warning about the article that it is full of new age terms and references. I wouldn't click on it. I wonder why Michael posts weird things like this.
One thing about Catholic Mystics and saints when they describe Purgatory they all agree (I mean the authentic ones) and it is clear that they are all describing the same place and the same things. It maybe that they often describe different levels of Purgatory but there is no doubt they are singing in the same choir. It reminds me of what Exorcists say from their confrontations with demons. They say it proves to them that the Catholic Faith is actually true. All of it. It is hard I think for a modern Catholic to get his or her head around the idea of Purgatory. It seems so terrible . But then again life itself can be so terrible. Consider for instance some poor person addicted to Fentanyl. What could be worse? I am reading a book on the life of Saint Carlo Acutis at the moment. As you may recall he died when he was just 15 of cancer. Anyway St Carlo had a great Devotion to the Holy Souls and this came about from his reading the writings of St Catherine of Genoa. I don't know if you have ever read the writings of Saint Catherine of purgatory but they are totally terrifying. But St Carlo appears to have read them regularly with no problem. It reminds me of the children of Fatima who were shown hell. But despite it all I find the Church's teachings on Purgatory a comfort. I love being able to help the Holy Souls. One day soon I will be hoping that they help me. https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/saints-experience-purgatory
I was reading an account of a lady a Doctor who had a near death experience which reminds me of Purgatory. She found herself as a baby again who was playing with the families pet cat. She pulled the poor cat's tail causing it to screech. She reviews this incident as the baby who did it and asked herself the question of why she did such a thing. She also experienced it as the poor old cat feeling it's pain. But she comments that she felt the cats pain ten times worse. She said this is in accord of Christ's saying that we will pay our debts owed ten times over from prison (Purgatory). Matthew 18:21-35 The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a] 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” The lady commented in the end that she had to forgive herself for what she did in order to be healed. It occurs to me reading this that God does not miss much, does He?
Suddenly right out of the blue I thought of a whole lot of people I used to know and work with many, many years ago as I went into Mass. Praying for their souls. God is very merciful , when they were alive I don't recall one of them ever even mentioning God once.
The month of November is over and we are on to a new season of Advent. But how did I do praying for the souls in purgatory in November? In truth I only managed to pray for them using Fr. Berlioux's prayers a total of 22 days. So I missed 8 days. And it is easy now to forget all about the souls in purgatory. But I have just finished praying a Chaplet of Divine Mercy for these souls. The Mercy of God is above all his works. But why my new found enthusiasm? Well, I liked this thread: https://motheofgod.com/threads/a-long-slow-journey.21367/ ... because we rely so much on the Mercy of God. But like Alvaro, I have always avoided reading that sermon of St. Leonard of Portmaurice - because I simply did not want to hear it. I was not able for it. I plucked up the courage to watch this video because I like Alvaro's channel. This fewness of those saved is a very fearful thought. Just today I was reading Sr. Lucy's third memoir where she describes the spirituality of St. Jacinta. I was struck by some of the things the little Saint used to exclaim. "Francisco! Francisco! Are you praying with me? We must pray very much, to save souls from hell! So many go there! So many!" "I am going to Heaven, but you are staying here. If Our Lady permits you, tell everybody what hell is like, so that they won't commit any more sins and not go to hell." At other times, after thinking for a while, she said: "So many people falling into hell! So many people in hell!" Jacinta, what are you thinking about? She frequently replied: "About the war which is coming, and all the people who are going to die and go to hell!" Perhaps such thoughts cause us a lot of fear and anxiety. Not for the scrupulous! But even Our Lady says in her Magnificat: "His Mercy is from age to age on those who fear Him." And that is I believe why the Divine Mercy devotion is so important. We are on a tightrope between God's Mercy and His Justice. But that is also why devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory is very important. Alvaro quotes St. Leonard who says that those who release even so much as a single soul from Purgatory can say, "Heaven is mine".
Reading the life of Padre Pio and his dealings with the Holy Souls in Purgatory has been an eye opener. He said that more Holy Souls visited him for prayers than living people. He talked about the people who made it to purgatory and it is astonishing the people who made it there whom you would never expect. This stories are a great sign of hope. https://catholicexchange.com/padre-pio-purgatory-plenary-indulgences-for-the-holy-souls/ Some friars who lived in San Giovanni Rotondo with Padre Pio once heard a mysterious sound coming from the friary. It sounded, one of the friars said, like “voices singing in beautiful harmony.” No one could find the source. Padre Pio was deep in prayer at the time, and someone approached him to ask if he knew where the singing was coming from. Roused as if from a deep sleep, he answered, “Why are you all so surprised? They are the voices of the angels, who are taking souls from purgatory into paradise.”
I found a series of talks on St Charbel re the suffering Souls. I especially recommend PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR SOULS IN PURGATORY- SAINT CHARBEL EXPLAINED THE PERFECT METHOD 24min Souls in Purgatory has been my lifelong dedication - how easy it is to free a soul with a Plenary Indulgence. The narratror's comment that if all Catholics dedicated themselves to this cause, we could empty Purgatory1 I do believe the narrator is overstepping possibilities when he recommends we gain multiple Plenary indulgences a day. Any Comments? PS Youtube clips are eventually removed so I now download & condense the TRANSCRIPT for my files.
https://ewtn.no/3-ways-to-gain-a-plenary-indulgence-in-your-daily-life/ You are correct, we can only gain one plenary indulgence a day, either for ourself or soul in purgatory.
