See 0:46:
“While on earth one truly cannot picture or imagine what God really is, but we in purgatory know and understand him for what he is, for our souls are freed from all the ties that fettered them and prevented them from realizing the holiness and majesty of God and his great mercy. We are martyrs consumed as it were by love, an irresistible force draws us towards God who is our center, but at the same time another force thrusts us back to our place of expiation.”
https://youtu.be/kgUhOQx0yfs?si=SyzPx_GKyAxauA6F
—Uniquely Mary, “A Soul from Purgatory Gives Us a TINY glimpse of God,” YouTube video, 5:10 minutes, April 8, 2025
Our
existence in the next life is of a different order than that of the present
one. After we are separated from our body, we are entirely spiritual and
everything of this earth is denuded, stripped away from our souls. We can only
prepare according to the revelation we have received. The next world fully
exceeds our imagination of it.
Photo courtesy of Father James Bradley
ReplyDeletehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbradley/20888031236
Gonzalinho
EVIDENCE IN SCRIPTURE FOR PURGATORY
ReplyDeleteRevelation 21:9-11; 27
“‘Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal.
“…Nothing unclean will enter it, no one who does abominable things or tells lies. Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Commentary
Nothing unclean can enter heaven. Because most souls by far pass away in spiritual imperfection, they do not enter heaven directly.
Matthew 5:26
“Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
Commentary
Every last and smallest attachment to sin must be purified, and the entire punishment due to sin must be fully satisfied, for a soul to enter heaven.
“It [Purgatory] is a very harmless doctrine. They [Roman Catholics] are of the opinion that the generality of mankind are neither so obstinately wicked as to deserve everlasting punishment, nor so good as to merit being admitted into the society of blessed spirits; and therefore that God is graciously pleased to allow of a middle state, where they may be purified by certain degrees of suffering. You see…there is nothing unreasonable in this.—James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
1 Corinthians 3:11-15
No one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation…the work of each will come to light, for the Day [of Judgment] will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work.
If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage.
But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.
Commentary
Paraphrase—evil works will be burned up, although the soul itself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Gonzalinho
HOW DO YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN SOULS IN PURGATORY AND DEMONS?
ReplyDeleteWhen a person passes away, they are judged by God. On that basis, they enter one of three destinations.
- Hell, eternal separation from God
- Purgatory, a state of ongoing purification before entrance into heaven
- Heaven, eternal beatitude with God, the angels, and the saints
Because perfect purity of the soul is required to enter into heaven, direct entry by anyone at the point of death is extremely rare.
The vast majority of humanity, when they pass on to the next life, are in a state of imperfection—that is, spiritual imperfection—so that they undergo a necessary purification in order to attain the perfect justice that beatitude in heaven demands, assuming that they have not been damned, God forbid.
Reports of visitations by ghosts are ubiquitous in history, so that we are constrained to ask whether they are genuinely the spirits of those who have passed away.
Sightings of ghosts could be due to psychological causes. Assuming that they are not in any particular instance, we would be dealing with spirits, for which the various rules for the discernment of the spirits would apply.
“Ghosts” in most cases are evil spirits masquerading as souls of the deceased, because reports indicate that the apparitions as a rule cause fear, and fear of the sort that practically paralyzes the soul, arousing emotions ranging from serious disquiet to sheer terror.
Good spirits, in contrast, draw the soul towards God, according to a spirit of peace. Should the soul experience fear of any sort, it would at worst be questioning and uncertainty.
Whenever the good spirit acts, the soul is moved towards God in love and joins in prayer with the angels and saints.
No doubt visitations of the angels and saints rouse salutary interior movements of the soul. Is the effect the same for visitations of the souls in purgatory?
Souls in purgatory are good spirits—in fact, they are holier than souls of the living on earth in this important sense—the salvation of the souls in purgatory is guaranteed, absolutely. The same cannot be said of any souls still joined to their mortal bodies.
Effects of visitations of the souls in purgatory should therefore be consistent with those of the good spirit.
Theologians say that the souls in purgatory are allowed by God to manifest themselves to the living in order to ask for their prayers. Besides showing up as apparitions, they are allowed by God to call the attention of the living by moving objects around, making knocking sounds, and the like—notably, the events should not incite fear or any of the negative emotions caused by demons.
To be continued
Gonzalinho
HOW DO YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN SOULS IN PURGATORY AND DEMONS?
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See 5:45:
Usually…the Holy Soul in purgatory comes to us and asks us for some particular…amount of prayer…and when you read a lot of these different visions they are very limited in the information that they give to the visionary or the mystic or the person praying for them. They give small amounts of information, basically basics about who they are so that the person can kind of check, is this a real person and who is it and how much prayer they need, that’s it…usually they’re just giving us very limited information—three masses, help me, my name is this, and then they leave, that’s it, they’re not there to converse.
See 9:35:
These are some basic guidelines, but again no there are no absolute rules with these things, even the rules of discernment of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, we can make mistakes, and applying them we will make mistakes in the spiritual life. We have to be careful, do the best that we can, seek out good spiritual guidance if possible—that’s not always possible—and be open to what God wants to do. …We cannot walk in the spiritual world or become saints and have it be absolutely safe all the time. We need to let that go. We must discern intelligently with other people, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help the souls in purgatory if they choose to appear to you…do the best that you can and ask God to protect you as well as your guardian angel. Don’t be afraid, God will guide you, be open to these possibilities, it can transform your life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sYkdwyybX8
—Uniquely Mary, “Was She a Demon or a Soul in Purgatory?” YouTube video, 11:15 minutes, August 13, 2024
The souls of the damned are also allowed by God to visit the living, for the express purpose of warning them about the risk of eternal damnation.
Although the souls of the damned are also evil spirits because they are forever God’s enemies, they are not the same type of spirits as the demons, who are permitted by God to afflict the living continually. Demons haunt the living principally through temptation, but they also resort to extraordinary means, such as infestation, oppression, obsession, and possession.
Encounters of the living with the souls of the damned naturally result in fear, but because God permits the apparitions for the conversion of the living, its effects are salutary nonetheless.
Gonzalinho
Souls of the damned may represent an exception to the rules of discernment—the damned are evil spirits the fruits of whose apparitions and manifestations are good.
DeleteGonzalinho
RETURN OF THE DAMNED: TWO STORIES
Delete[The following account] was juridically proved in the process of canonization of St. Francis of Jerome, and under oath attested by a large number of eye-witnesses. In the year 1707, St. Francis of Jerome was preaching, as was his wont, in the neighborhood of the city of Naples. He was speaking of hell and the awful chastisements that await obstinate sinners. A brazen courtesan who lived there, troubled by a discourse which aroused her remorse, sought to hinder it by jests and shouts, accompanied by noisy instruments. As she was standing close to the window, the Saint cried out: “Beware, my daughter, of resisting grace; before eight days God will punish you.” The unhappy creature grew only more boisterous. Eight days elapsed, and the holy preacher happened to be again before the same house. This time she was silent, the windows were shut. The hearers, with dismay on their faces, told the Saint that Catherine—that was the name of the bad woman—had a few hours before died suddenly. “Died!” he repeated, “well, let her tell us now what she has gained by laughing at hell. Let us ask her.” He uttered these words in an inspired tone, and every one expected a miracle. Followed by an immense crowd, he went up to the death chamber, and there, after having prayed for an instant, he uncovers the face of the corpse, and says in a loud voice, “Catherine, tell us where art thou now.” At this summons, the dead woman lifts her head, while opening her wild eyes, her face borrows color, her features assume an expression of horrible despair, and in a mournful voice, she pronounces these words: “In hell; I am in hell.” And immediately, she falls back again into the condition of a corpse.
“I was present at that event,” says one of the witnesses who deposed before the Apostolic tribunal, “but I never could convey the impression it produced on me and the bystanders, nor that which I still feel every time I pass that house and look at that window. At the sight of that ill-fated abode, I still hear the pitiful cry resounding: “In hell; I am in hell.”
—Reverend F. X. Schouppe, S.J., Hell: The Dogma of Hell, Illustrated by Facts Taken from Profane and Sacred History (1883), Chapter 2
To be continued
Gonzalinho
RETURN OF THE DAMNED: TWO STORIES
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In 1604, in the city of Brussels, there occurred the celebrated apparition of a damned soul, attested by Blessed Richard of St. Ann, of the Order of St. Francis, who suffered martyrdom at Nagasaki, in Japan, on September 10, 1622. Blessed Richard related the fact to a theologian of the Spanish Inquisition, Father Alphonsus of Andrada, of the Company of Jesus; he, in turn, communicated it to Adrian Lyroeus, who has inserted it in his Trisagium Marianum, Book III. Saint Alphonsus Liguori, who cites the same fact in his Glories of Mary, has made Blessed Richard one of the two actors in this frightful drama; he (Bl. Richard) was only a witness, like many others who were living at Brussels, but the impression he experienced was so lively that it became the determining cause of his entrance into the Seraphic order.
This is how the occurrence is related, after authentic documents in the Annals of Franciscan Missions, for the years 1866-67.
It was not without a terrible, though merciful interposition of God’s justice, that Blessed Richard was brought to demand the habit of St. Francis. It was in 1604. There were at Brussels, where Richard was at that time, two young students who, instead of applying themselves to study, thought only of how to live in pleasure and dissipation. One night, among others, when they had gone to indulge in sin in a house of ill-fame, one of the two left the place after some time, leaving his miserable companion behind him.
Having reached home, he was about to lie down in bed, when he remembered that he had not recited that day the few Hail Marys which he had the habit of saying every day in honor of the Holy Virgin. As he was overpowered by sleep, it was troublesome for him; however, he made an effort and said them, although without devotion; then he went to bed. In his first sleep he heard all of a sudden, a rude knocking at the door; and immediately afterward he saw before him his companion, disfigured and hideous. “Who are you?” he said to him. “What? Don’t you know me?” replied the unhappy youth. “But how are you so changed? You look like a devil?” “Ah, pity me; I am damned!” “How is that?” “Well, know that upon leaving that accursed house a devil sprang upon me and strangled me. My body has remained in the middle of the street, and my soul is in Hell. Know, moreover, that the same chastisement awaited you, but the Virgin preserved you from it, thanks to your practice of reciting every day a few Hail Marys in her honor. Happy are you if you know how to profit by this information, which the Mother of God gives you through me.”
While finishing these words, the damned soul partly opened his garment, allowed the flames and serpents that were tormenting him to be seen, and vanished. Then the young man, melting into tears, threw himself on his face on the floor to thank the Holy Virgin Mary, his deliverer. Now, while he was praying in this manner and reflecting upon what he ought to do to change his life, he heard the Matins bell ring at the Franciscan Monastery.
To be continued 2
Gonzalinho
RETURN OF THE DAMNED: TWO STORIES
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That very moment he cried out, “There it is that God calls me to do penance.” The next day indeed, at a very early hour, he went to the monastery and begged the Father Guardian to receive him. The Father, who was aware of his bad life, having presented difficulties at first, the young student, shedding a torrent of tears, related to him all that had taken place. And really, two religious, having repaired to the street indicated, found the corpse of the wretched youth, black as a coal. Then the postulant was admitted among the Brothers, whom he edified by a life altogether devoted to penance.
—Reverend F. X. Schouppe, S.J., Hell: The Dogma of Hell, Illustrated by Facts Taken from Profane and Sacred History (1883), Chapter 7
Blessed Richard of Saint Anne, an Observant Franciscan, who was martyred on September 10, 1622, is counted among the 205 martyrs of Japan.
Based on the foregoing stories, it appears that when the visitation of the damned is allowed by God, their purpose is the conversion of the living.
Gonzalinho
A SOUL IN PURGATORY IS A GOOD SPIRIT
ReplyDeleteSee 0:51:
We will speak about the manifestation of a soul in purgatory which happened in the town of Montefalco in the diocese of Spoleto, Italy from September 2nd 1918 to November 9th 1919. The following manifestations with the evidence of witnesses highly respected for their faith had the confirmation of an ecclesial trial requested by Monsignor Peter Pacifici, bishop of Spoleto Italy. Below is a description of what happened.
All the extraordinary manifestations altogether happened in the Monastery of Saint Leonardo in Montefalco where there lived a large community of Poor Clares.
On September 2nd the doorbell rang in the sacristy and Sister Marie Therese of Jesus, Abbess of the Monastery went to answer. A voice told her, I must leave here these alms. The sister turned the rotating table and found 10 liras on it. The Abbess asked a reason for the money—if it were for celebrating a special Mass for someone or for a Triduum or other prayers. The voice said, No reason. The Abbess asked, Excuse me but may I ask who you are. The voice said, It is not important to know. The voice sounded kind but sorrowful, distant and in a hurry, like someone in hiding.
This happened also on October 5th 1918 and on October 31st, November 29th, and [on] December 9th it started again, in the New Year on January 1st, and [on] January 29th 1919, always in the same way—on the rotating table were left 10 liras, and to the questions of the Abbess a voice would answer, Prayer is always good.
On March 14th 1919 when the sisters were making their examination of conscience at about 8:00 pm, the bell rang twice. The Abbess went again to the door, and in turning the table she found again 10 liras. However, nobody responded to her questions. Surprised, the Abbess called a servant girl to go around to the external part of their church that was closed at the hour of the day to see if there [was] anyone outside. No one was there, and neither was anyone in the church. From then on the sisters began to suspect that whoever was giving the alms was not an earthly person.
On April 11th again as before the 10 liras were found on the turning table. This time, however, the voice answered to the Abbess and asked for prayers for the deceased.
On May 2nd the tenth manifestation occurred a little before the time of silence about 9:30 pm. The doorbell rang again. This time the Abbess went with three other sisters, Sister Mary Francis, Sister Amante, and Sister Angelica. They found on the turning table 20 liras—two paper notes of 10 liras each laid down in the shape of a cross. Again, nobody was in sight and nobody was in the church.
On May 25th, June 4th, and June, 21st, 10 liras were again found on the turning table each time, but nobody answered or was in sight.
To be continued
Gonzalinho
A SOUL IN PURGATORY IS A GOOD SPIRIT
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On July 7th about 2 pm the doorbell rang. The Abbess thought that there were children in the church, and because the nuns were making their retreat, she chose not to answer. She closed her eyes to rest a little, but a voice outside the room said the doorbell rang in the sacristy. She then went to the sacristy, and she heard the usual voice, which said, I leave here 10 liras for the prayers. In the name of God who are you, asked the Abbess. The voice said, It is not allowed, and no more words were heard. The Abbess later asked the other sisters if any one of them had called her from the outside, and nobody had called her.
On July 18th after the evening silence, about 9:30 pm, the Abbess went to close the door of the oven left open, and the doorbell rang. She went to the sacristy and saying the greeting, Praise be Jesus and Mary, she heard the voice answer, Amen, and then added, I leave here the alms for the usual prayers. The Abbess gathering her courage asked, In the name of God and the Holy Trinity who are you? The same voice answered, It is not allowed and nothing else. Once again nobody was around and the closed church was empty.
On July 27th the Abbess found on the turning table another 10 liras, but she did not know who had put the alms there.
On August 12th about 8:00 pm again the doorbell rang and again the 10 liras were found on the turning table. This time the Abbess had gone to the door with two other nuns, Sister Mary, Sister Chiara…again there was nobody in sight.
On August 19th about 6:30 pm the doorbell rang again. The Abbess said the greeting, Praise be Jesus and Mary. The voice answered, Amen, and immediately added, I leave these alms for the prayers. The Abbess answered, We shall say the prayers, but keep your money and give it to someone who needs it more. The voice in a sorrowful tone said, Oh no, please take it, it is an act of mercy. The Abbess asked, Is it allowed to know who you are? The voice answered, It is always me. And nothing else was heard. The 10 liras were left.
The same thing happened on August 28th and September 4th. The Abbess never received an answer.
On September 16th at about 9:15 pm she was locked in the dormitory when she heard the doorbell ringing. She went to the doorbell together with another nun and they found 10 liras on the turning table. The Abbess decided not to take the money and was about to leave when she heard a voice saying, Take it—it is to satisfy the divine justice. The Abbess said, Repeat the short prayer, Blessed be the holy and most pure Immaculate Conception of the most holy Virgin Mary. The short prayer was faithfully repeated.
On September 21st 10 liras were found on the turning table, but nobody was in sight.
To be continued 2
Gonzalinho
A SOUL IN PURGATORY IS A GOOD SPIRIT
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On October 3rd about 9:00 pm past the time of silence the Abbess was looking out of her window in her room when she heard the doorbell. When the usual conversation took place, the Abbess refused to take the money, saying that her confessor was not pleased because he thought that it was a diabolical manifestation. The answer came, I am a soul in purgatory—40 years I have been in purgatory because I squandered goods of the Church.
On October 6th the Holy Mass was celebrated as a suffrage for this soul. Shortly afterward the doorbell rang and to the Abbess who went to the door the voice said, Thank you very much, I leave here these alms. The Abbess wanted to talk further but she received no more answer…the sacristy was closed but on the turning table were left 10 liras.
The same thing happened on October 10th. When the Abbess asked more questions about its identity, the usual voice said, The judgment of God is right and just.
But how is it possible—I had several Masses said for you, only one is enough to free a soul, and yet you are still in purgatory?
The voice answered, I received only a small part of it. It did not answer any other questions. Also, this time 20 liras were left.
On October 20th at 8:45 pm the time of the silence had just begun. The Abbess with Sister Mary and Sister Clare was going upstairs when the doorbell rang. She found the usual 10 liras but no one answered. She did not take the alms and instead left to go close the door of the dormitory, but the doorbell rang again and she went again to the door, and to her greeting, Praise be Jesus and Mary…the voice said, Amen. Then almost inaudibly it said, Please take these alms, it is an act of mercy. After the Abbess had taken them, the voice said, Thank you.
On October 30th at 2:45 pm the Abbess heard a voice from the next room saying the doorbell rang. She went to open the grill of the door and to her usual greeting the voice answered, Amen, I leave here the alms.
The Abbess without letting it finish the words immediately said, I’m sorry but by the order of my confessor I cannot take your alms. In the name of God and by the order of [my] confessor, tell me who you are—are you a priest? The voice answered, Yes.
To be continued 3
Gonzalinho
A SOUL IN PURGATORY IS A GOOD SPIRIT
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Did the goods that you squandered belong to this monastery? No, but I have the permission to bring the money here, was the answer.
The Abbess said, From where did you take this money? The soul said, The judgment of God is right and just.
The Abbess said, I do not believe that you are a soul. I believe you are someone
who is making a poor joke. The soul said, Do you want a sign? No, the Abbess answered, because I am afraid. I will go and call another sister. I’ll be right back. The soul said, I cannot wait. I do not have permission.
Most likely this soul was not permitted to give a sign in the presence of others because of the fear and commotion that would have followed.
The Abbess took the 10 liras, and the soul said, Now I enter the prayer.
Up to that day the soul had put on the turning table 300 liras in total. When the soul thanked the Abbess for taking the money, she replied Will you pray for me, for our community and our confessor? The soul answered, Benedictus qui ----- the blessing of God who…it spoke softly going away till it could no longer be heard. However, it did not seem to be as much in a hurry this time as on other occasions, and it sounded less hollow. While at other times it had seemed to come from outside, now it seemed that it was speaking into her right ear and when it departed it was heard through her left ear.
On November 9th the last of the manifestations occurred at about 4:15 pm. The Abbess heard the doorbell of the sacristy from the dormitory. At her greeting, Praise be Jesus and Mary, the usual voice answered, Be they praised forever. I thank you and all your community because now I am free from all my suffering.
The Abbess replied, Thank also the priests who said many Masses for you won’t you?...the voice said, I thank you all.
The Abbess remarked, I would like to go to purgatory where you were for in this way I would be more sure. The soul answered, Do the will of the Almighty.
The Abbess continued, Will you pray for me and for the community, for my parents if they are in purgatory, for the confessor, Father Luigi, and for the pope, for the bishops and for Cardinal Ascalesi? The soul said yes.
The Abbess, Bless me and the people I named. The soul, Benedictio Domino super vos, the blessing of God be on you all.
To be continued 4
Gonzalinho
A SOUL IN PURGATORY IS A GOOD SPIRIT
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The morning before this last manifestation, Father Luigi had celebrated a Holy Mass at the privileged altar...in the church of the Jesuits, the church of Jesus in Rome.
At the beginning of the manifestations [the] voice of the deceased priest had been sad. As time went by it became more and more cheerful, and the last time it sounded very happy. The sound of the doorbell was initially sad and feeble. It seemed now to bring a feeling of peace and cheerfulness into the hearts of those who heard it. After the first manifestations, all the nuns were praying for the deceased as soon as they heard him.
With the 300 liras that the soul brought, 38 masses were celebrated for him.
This account is authentic, written by the Poor Clare sisters of the Monastery of Monastery of Saint Leonardo in Montefalco, Italy. It was reported immediately to the Archbishop of Spoleto, to His Eminence Cardinal Pompili, Vicar of the Holy Father in Rome, to His Eminence Cardinal Ascalesi in Naples, Italy, and to many other persons.
https://youtu.be/-rAIVASxdiY?si=i5JFlrssETdNksLN
—Uniquely Mary, “Quite Possibly the Most Profound Purgatory Story I’ve Ever Heard,” YouTube video, 13:58 minutes, June 17, 2025
The excerpt is from Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo, The Afterlife: Purgatory and Heaven Explained (2022).
What is notable for me in this account is the timidity and tranquility of the spirit. It is not agitating, threatening, frightening, or upsetting. Its attributes are consistent with those of the good spirit.
Gonzalinho