I just bought a little book on Kindle to see me through the month of the dead. It is called: Purgatory: Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints (Illustrated) eBook: Fr Francois Xavier Schouppe: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store Actually I am just remembering I owned this book years ago and so have read it several times, always wth profit. I find books like this jog my memory to pray for the Holy Souls. Let me ask you when was the last time you heard a preist mention purgatory? I thiink one thing this book does is to stir up a Holy Fear of the place, which is no bad thing. A couple of weeks ago a gentleman near here hung himself. This was a real ardent Cahtolic. He had been very,very active in the Churh and obtained many conversions through Cursillio. By all reports he was a very holy and ardent Catholic and many, many people turned up for his funeral. When they found his body, hanging they found his rosary beads entwined around his fingers. But at the guys funeral the priest warned the congregation they had to pray for his soul very much because of his suicide. I was delighted to hear this. Priests don't generally make such comments anymore.
I have just deleted a long post about purgatory. It terrifies the hell out of me. Maybe that is what it is meant to do.
Blessed Sunday to you Padraig!! looks like a good read. I haven't read it. It's so sad to hear of this mans suicide. I don't understand how someone so involved like that can commit suicide. I can only say that they must have really suffered from clinical depression of sorts. Very sad. I will think of this tonight and pray for his soul. Here in my neck of the woods.....which is southern California......I am getting ready to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos.......DAY OF THE DEAD. It's a Mexican / Hispanic celebration where family visit the graves of their departed loved ones and decorate the graves with flowers etc and hold all night vigils praying for their souls, singing songs and eating outside under the stars. I'm not mexican but my husband is.....and I love my adopted Mexican culture. I don't partake in the cemetery festivities here in Cali, but for those that don't visit the cemitary for such festivities, often make nice altars at home. I will be doing this. I will place photos of our departed loved ones on the altar and decorate with flowers etc. I'm sure you know all this......but I know your all the way in Ireland......so forgive me for explaining ....".if you know already. LOL'! I'll see if I can take a picture of my altar for Dia De Los Muertos and post it here. I like the idea of getting a new book to keep me in tune with praying for the Poor Souls all through November. I'm going to try and do the Stations of the Cross too and give them my indulgences all through the. month.
I have heard of the Day of the Dead and seeen some pictures. A lovely idea. We have a thing in Ireland called , 'Cemetry Sunday', where we all go to the grave yard and pray for the dead and sprinkle holy water on the graves. So I suppose this is not too dissimliar.
I was remembering two old Hollywood films which remind me of Purgatory. The first was about a small American town were the dead stood in the cemetery awating the Last Judgement. For one day a year they were allowed to leave the graveyard and go to the town to see what their loved ones were getting up to. The second was far more interesting. It was about a cruise ship crossing a dark sea at night. What it in fact was a ship taking the dead across to the next life and during the crossing they entered into God's Judgement. I remember three judgements. One was of a gangster who was saved by his mothers prayers. The second was a rich ,very wealthy old socialite who was doomed to spend her Eternal Life alone in a rich castle because of her selfishness . The thrid, the ships steward was doomed to stay on the ship , serving others til lthe last day because he had committed suicide. I must see if I can find it.
I can think of three good ways to avoid purgatory. Praying for the dead. Having a Devotion of the Blessed Virgin. Having a Devotion to St Joseph. That is why Devotion to the Holy Souls is so important. We have good selfish reasons to pray for the dead. We help them; they help us.
I have always had some Holy Fear of Purgatory. This is not a bad thing I think. But St John writes; 1 John 4:18 Love Comes from God …17By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19We love, because He first loved us.… There was a Gospel at mass a while back and as I listened to it, it seemed to me that Jesus was giving us directions on how best to avoid Purgatory: The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant Matthew 18:21-35: Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 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. “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The sevant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” The prison , where we are to be tortured until we pay every cent of our debts, it sems to me is Purgatory. But notice the great get out of jail free card Jesus offers. That is to forgive everyone and hold no grudges. But it is clear from the Parable that when we enter purgatory we have moved from a Time of Mercy to a Time of Justice.
I keep writing long posts on this and deleting them. I'd better leave it alone. Purgatory has always been a stumbling block for me.
I think Purgatory will only ever be as hard as we choose to make it. There are seven levels each one nearer to heaven that the one before. Each of the lower levels closer to hell, till the last one is very similiar to hell. From what I have been shown to get to the bottom layer of Purgatory you have to have been some pretty bad dude. In fact to have well earned hell but avoided it by the skin of your teeth. The sufferings here are its true pretty atrocious. But I have to say well deserved. The souls from this place seem to be totally blackened by the intense fire in that region. The upper layer is more like an ante room or waiting area and the souls I have seem in this area seem to be permitted to do their time, so to speak in front of the Blesssed Sacrament. Their pain is the pain of intense longing . I can think of worse things than spending time in from of the Blessed Sacrament. Lots worse. Hell though is terrible. I have been shown this. It is certainly very,very much to be feared and avoided.
The Hoy Souls are a great devotion of mine. Inspired by the priest who has gone to his reward, who, after each confession, would ask for the penance to be offered for the souls in purgatory. A great priest. View attachment 3630
Chaplet for the Holy Souls. A great devotion to take up. The devotion of the Chaplet for the Holy Souls is prayed on the most popular 59 beads Marian Rosary which is one of the Catholic Church Sacramentals. Make the "Sign Of The Cross" on the Cross. Then say the I Believe In God.. On the 5 beads between the Cross and the medal, say, 1 Our Father... 3 Hail Mary... 1 Glory Be... For each decade, proceed as follows: On the large bead prior to 10 small beads, say: "O Holy Souls draw the fire of God's love into my soul, to reveal Jesus Crucified in me here on earth, rather than hereafter in Purgatory." On each of the small beads, say: "Crucified Lord Jesus, have mercy on the souls in Purgatory." When you have completed all 5 decades, say 3 times the Glory Be...
Thanks for the book recommendation Padraig. I've downloaded it too just now, and will begin reading during the week.
To lessen purgatory one needs to love God with all your heart, mind and soul and tell Him often that you love Him. Ask Him to purify you this side of eternity. Better now than then. One of the purifications I received on this side, (although thoroughly deserved) was so intensely painful that I could not even begin to describe it with words. I thought it was the end. But it was only the beginning. And I am grateful because it was a grace and the beginning of my real conversion. But I would never want to experience it again. Terrifying, absolutely terrifying. The spiritual realm is absolutely real, absolutely. We are body and soul and the body/spirit/soul are so inter-connected that one influences the other. The soul must dominate (through prayer, fasting, conversion) over the flesh/body. The soul is of the higher order (spiritual) and the flesh of the lower order. For those who allow the flesh to dominate they are in serious spiritual danger - because if the flesh dominates this plunges the spirit or soul into a great darkness. For those who are given over to the forces of luciferian darkness it has the same consequences - although masquerading as light this is a false glitter & light because it leads to deep spiritual darkness of death of the soul and of the senses. The darkness is impenetrable,it is a prison of claustrophobic darkness where one is utterly, utterly alone in the darkness of your own senses completely abandoned and alone, a terrifying aloneness that is all bitter and gall. I write this only as a warning based on an experience that God allowed me to have not to inculcate fear but to tell you that the spiritual is real. It is so easy to be misled by today's false teachings that everyone is going to be saved. They are not - for those who are enslaved by the passions of the flesh are already slaves of sin and this leads only to spiritual darkness and spiritual death where there is no light only the gnashing of teeth in spiritual agony. Heaven, purgatory and hell are existential realities we already live in this life. Souls are either in the light of God through sanctifying grace or they are in mortal sin and darkness. There is no in between and these realities are in our lives now - we are either alive in God or in darkness to God's presence. Many souls are in mortal danger because the 'wages of sin' is death, spiritual death. 1987 "Children, darkness reigns over the whole world. People are attracted by many things and they forget about the more important. "Light won’t reign in the world until people accept Jesus, until they live His words, which is the Word of the Gospel. 1996 Do not let satan attract you through material things but, little children, decide for God who is freedom and love. Choose life and not death of the soul, little children, and in this time when you meditate upon the suffering and death of Jesus, I invite you to decide for life which blossomed through the Resurrection, and that your life may be renewed today through conversion that shall lead you to eternal life. Thank you for having responded to my call." Our Lady of all grace, intercede for us all.
One thing I have noticed is that with prayer there is always deep peace and joy, no matter the suffering physical or mental or spiritual. Always this great, great joy and peace. I would assume that the Holy Souls , no matter what their torments would experience this joy and peace in even greater measure, no matter how deeply in Purgatory they are. Also they have the assurance of eventually reaching heaven' an assurance most of the rest of us just do not have. So its swings and roundabouts. I think the sufferings people often endure in this life are pretty terrible too. I am just watching a series on the American Civil War and viewed the dead and injured at the Battle of Antietam. War is just an awaful , bloody monstosity. St Paul says that all the sufferings of this present life are not worth comparing to the Glory to come. St Teresa of Avila says that from heaven this life will look just like a night spent in a bad hotel. I assume this could be said of Purgatory as well.
I struggle to find that Peace & Joy in my life. I know it's there and I know one day I will find it even if it's on my "last day" ... so I press on one day at a time ...... I think The Lord and more than a few Saints said that's The Way. My Irish Great Grand Dad, Daniel Patrick Shea, was severely wounded on that terrible day at Sharpsburg/Antietam. One of A.P. Hill's boys put a bullet in his hip. The Silver Lining was his wound left him with a bad limp and got him a Government job in DC after he recovered. There he met a Maryland gal named Mary Flynn and the rest is history Fr Groschel (EWTN) used to talk about being on the clean-up crew in Purgatory ... I know he's not there but I probably will be ... I hope!! Speaking of Hope! The Divine Mercy Message is where I find great Hope for my salvation. I know that Jesus will reach out to me on my Last Day ... and you too ... practice reaching back .. starting today!! OK!! GOD SAVE ALL HERE!! PS: We have many over zealous types here ... that's not necessarily bad ... often a good .... but, I think, if you are not of a over zealous nature, don't be discouraged by your lack of interest in unending Novenas or Devotions or seemingly not being as "Holy" as that other Guy/Gal. God knows you and knows that you are seeking Him ... in your own way ... just as He planned! Oh!! Yes it is important to be aware of all those Temptations of the Flesh .. Ah!! ... but ... Remember!! God made us Human, and sexual .. and prone to fatigue, anger, sickness, and.... So ... I think we spend far too much time asking God to forgive us for being the Humans He made!
I have always wondered about the little girl mentioned by Our Lady to the children of Fatima. She was a friend of theirs who had died and they asked if she was in heaven. Our Lady replied that she would be in purgatory until the end of time, or similar words. When I first read about her I went to confession for the first time in a very long time. I wondered what she must have done, or not done. Or maybe she had no one to pray for her?
