Well it is coming round to that time of year when our thoughts turn to the Holy Souls once again and a very good thing too. We have not only an obligation in Charity but a real duty to help these poor suffering souls especially those who helped us out so much when they were alive, people like our Fathers, Mothers, sisters, brothers, teachers priests , nuns and so on. I was sitting in my Parish Church the other day after Mass. It is not my favourite Church on the entire planet as it looks and feels like a bowling alley, it is so modern. But after a while after everyone had left it get quiet and I am left alone to pray. But suddenly all at once these was a kind of a little uproar as though lots of people were beating on the windows with little twigs and branches ,especially from the large ceiling windows. I understood at once that it was that time of year again and it was lots of Holy Souls very anxious for prayer and I offered up my rosary and the sounds at once stopped. I love the little stories people post about things like this at this time of year: https://thepathlesstaken7.blogspot.com/2021/04/how-catherine-of-siena-saved-her-father.html HOW CATHERINE OF SIENA SAVED HER FATHER FROM THE FIRE OF GOD'S JUSTICE, AND WHY MARRIED PEOPLE SUFFER SO MUCH IN PURGATORY Some claim that St Catherine of Siena was the 25th child born to her parents. But actually Catherine was the 23rd of 25 children, born in 1347. Catherine had a twin sister who was the 24th and another child followed them. Catherine's parents were Lapa and Jacomo Benincasa. They were prosperous middle class folk, Jacomo made his living by dying wool; something that has often been described as a humble occupation with modest pay, but in fact he was an expert in the staining of all sorts of yarn and he prospered financially. They had enough money to send Catherine's twin sister to a wet nurse, while Catherine was nursed by her mother. The twin sister, however, died mysteriously as an infant and they always suspected that she had perished because she was sent out of the house everyday to be breastfed by a woman not her mother. That being said, the Black Plague was just about to rage in Siena at the time, and that may have been a factor in the little babe's sudden passing. Siena, the city of red brick houses, lost over 30 per cent of its population to the Black Plague. The 1340s was a time when the deadly pandemic spread faster than the people's understanding of how to curtail it. Catherine survived the plague and grew to be a very comely young woman with a heart-shaped face and gorgeous smile. Another death struck the family, her older sister died. This coincided with Jacomo's wish to marry Catherine off. At 16, he tried to make Catherine the wife of her late sister's husband. Catherine would have none of it, she had decided to stay single, stay celibate and live life as a Dominican, and follow a rule of life as laid down by St Dominic who fought off that lusty cult the Albigensians. Jacomo was upset by his daughter's refusal to wed the widower, and to punish her he fired their maid and forced Catherine to do all the household chores, even making her do the nastiest cleaning tasks, which in a time of no running water and no restrooms was loathsome. Catherine responded by embracing the domestic drudgery and by cutting her hair and making herself so boyish as to compromise her feminine prettiness. Finally, Jacomo relented when he saw that Catherine was determined to have Jesus as her Divine Spouse and to spurn the advances of the men of the 1350s who would only have been too happy to marry Catherine and enjoy her generous dowry. Jacomo's heart softened and he became convinced of his daughter's vocation. He even allowed for her to have her own room as a type of hermitage where she could be all alone, pray, meditate and enjoy the celestial visions given her by Our Lord. Father and daughter grew closer and closer as time went by. Catherine entertained no bitterness for her father's efforts to coerce her into conjugality. When Jacomo entered his last days, he fell so ill that he was bed-ridden. Catherine prayed for him to Our Lord Who told Catherine that Jacomo was on the precipice of death, and that there was not much use in Jacomo living longer. For his part, Jacomo was ready to go to God and had no attachments to the world. But Catherine was not satisfied - she prayed to God that Jacomo could go from his deathbed to Heaven without having to pass through the fires of Purgatory. Our Lord was not going to readily answer her request, "Thy father has lived well in the conjugal state...I am in particular pleased with his conduct towards thee, but justice demands that his soul pass by the fire to purify it." Catherine couldn't bear the thought of her father in Purgatory - she had been given visions of the fire boxes there and so she beseeched Our Lord - "I entreat thy divine bounty not to permit his soul to leave his body before, by some means or other, it is perfectly purified and has no need of the fire of Purgatory." Our Lord condescended to answer this plea. There ensued a quandary; Jacomo was fading fast, but he could not leave his body 'til justice had been satisfied, and 'til the debts he had accrued through sin had been paid. Catherine put herself forth as the one who would suffer her father's Purgatory for him, and she proposed to Our Lord, "Let this justice be exercised towards me". Our Lord was happy to accept, "I exempt the soul of thy father from all expiatory pains, but during thy whole life thou shalt be victim of a pain that I will send thee." At the moment, Jacomo died, Catherine was struck in her side by a searing ache that was with her all her life. She did her father's Purgatory during her lifetime. She placed herself in her father's place, like her Savior had placed Himself in our place to suffer for our sin. It was pain that did not make her depressive, she was also given a certain joy and even at her father's funeral she was beaming with cheerfulness as she celebrated her father's place in Heaven. Jacomo had pleased the Lord during his marriage to Lapa. Yet when his daughter had been shown the appalling torments of Hell and Purgatory, she discovered why married people go to Purgatory and are assayed in agonizing flames, "I was shown in particular those who sin in the married state, by not observing the law it imposes, and by seeking in it nought but sensual pleasures". Catherine was perplexed because to use marriage merely as a means of gratifying the flesh was not the worst sin, but the souls who had done so were rudely chastised, and she asked why this was the case, "Because little attention is given to it, and consequently less contrition is excited for it, and it is more easily committed." This is certainly far truer today than it was in the 1300s - scant attention is given the sin of using marriage only as a way of gaining sexual pleasure - even among faithful Catholics. And the net result is that little contrition is offered for it. It bears asking as to whether the torments shown Catherine were really all that bad? Catherine said something chilling that inspires a sense of them, "Had poor mortals the faintest idea of them, they would suffer a thousand deaths rather than undergo the least of their torments." You may like to offer the prayer to the Holy Spirit written by St Catherine, and her beautiful prayer to the Trinity. I am writing this post in preparation for the anniversary of St Catherine's death, April 29th.
https://sremmanuel.org/newsletter/sr-emmanuels-report-october-2023/ A spirit of revelation. A French-speaking priest who was visiting Medjugorje told us about a surprising event that can help us to reflect on the holy mystery of the Mass and what happens there in the invisible, that we do not see. One day, he was celebrating Mass in his parish and started praying for the deceased according to the rite of the missal. Out of the blue, a man came and stood next to him in front of the altar. Our friend was very surprised, for this man was neither a priest, nor had he been invited to concelebrate. He was wearing street clothes, and at first the priest felt disturbed by this. What is this man doing here, he wondered? But he soon understood the purpose of this presence, for suddenly the man begged him aloud, “Pray for me!” Pray for me! Then he gave the priest his name and surname. I am XXX XXX (we will keep this anonymous!), he said. Then the priest immediately prayed for him aloud, mentioning his name and surname, just like when Mass is offered for a deceased person. Then the man disappeared the same way he had come. The priest understood that this person was a poor soul suffering in Purgatory. No one in the congregation saw him. Only the priest did. Then Mass ended very simply. But after Mass, a man rushed up to the priest and, in a state of deep emotion, asked him: “Do you know my son? You prayed for him! You named him in your prayer! He committed suicide!” On that day, seeing that his son had manifested himself, this long-suffering father received a great consolation!
I think at this time of year as the evenings darken and we watch the leaves fall from the trees we can certainly feel the Holy Souls drawing closer. I suspect heaven gives them license at this time of year to come up to Earth to seek help.
You are very welcome. I love this time of year. Thanks be to God most priests do still preach about the Holy Souls, especially at this time of year. https://catholicexchange.com/the-sanctity-of-a-cemetery-remembering-souls-who-need-prayers/ A Plenary Indulgence in November Now that autumn is here, I am looking forward to an extra gift that the Church, in Her wisdom, gives us each year. From November 1-8, the faithful can gain a plenary indulgence for the souls in purgatory by visiting a cemetery and praying there for the dead. In order to obtain the indulgence, a Catholic in the state of grace must have the intention to obtain it and fulfill the following conditions: (a) visit a cemetery and pray there for the dead, even if only mentally; (b) make a sacramental confession (within about 20 days before or after); (c) receive Holy Communion; (d) recite at least one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the Holy Father; and (e) be free from attachment to all sin, including venial. The indulgence becomes partial if the conditions are partially fulfilled. A note about the last condition: Sometimes people wonder whether it is possible for them to be completely detached from venial sin. I believe the answer to this is found in Mark 10, when Jesus tells his disciples how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God, and they wonder who then can be saved. “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God,” Jesus tells them. “All things are possible for God.” Even if it would be impossible for us to be completely detached from sin, it is not impossible for God. So let us ask Him for the grace to achieve it. My dear friend Suzie suggests adding this little prayer to the other prayers for the indulgence: “Dear Holy Spirit, if I am not detached from all sin, please make me detached now, so that I may gain this plenary indulgence that my Mother, the Church, offers to me, Her child.” As Matthew 7 reminds us, “Ask, and it will be given you;” for our Father in heaven gives “good things to those who ask him.” If we ask for the grace to be detached from all sin in order to obtain this indulgence as an act of charity for the souls in purgatory, I believe He will grant it. He longs for these souls to be with him in heaven, and by His grace we can help them get there. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
I confess that I had doubts about the authenticity of this vision about Mussolini because the official version of his death is that he was murdered together with his Italian lover Clara Petacci; in other words, he would have died as an adulterer with no regrets. Unless he regretted it minutes before he died or the official version of his death is false,
I knew about the indulgence but never heard this prayer before! I love it! I think I will try to say it always before I pray (except for the part of gaining the indulgence) every time I pray. Surely our prayers will be even more “worthy” if we are in the state of detachment from venial sin? Thanks for posting it!
The French Mystic Pere Lamy had a vision of Our Lady at the French village of Grey. There was a procession of the dead led by our Blessed mother from the village. The Father thought at first it must be a mistake. For those from the dead he had thought must be damned were saved and were even at the head of the procession, those whom he thought were the most Holy were not present and thus must be damned. No one in the procession was in the place he might have placed them. Man judges by surface appearances, but the Just and Merciful God by men's hearts.
It is a wonderful prayer, but slightly scary. For God to cut the ropes that bind us would be wonderful but very painful.
You should read more about her, she visited people in Communist prisons in Eastern Europe and Russia by bi location including Cardinal Midzenty. She brought altar vessels, bread and wine so they could say Mass.
To listen to the Holy Souls is a bit like listening to the birds singing. we must take the time and have a quiet place to do so. They are always calling, but so few listen and respond. Faith dies on Earth.
Yes, but in Mussolini's case, he would have died in the mortal sin of adultery, which, if not erased by a confession or sincere contrition (moments before death), causes the eternal damnation of the soul.
Luan only God knows what transpired in those last minutes of life. Thats why we can never assume someone is damned.
I hope with all my heart that he was saved. Studying my own family tree, I see that some of my ancestors were very bad people. I even had a great-great-grandfather who died of poisoning in the penitentiary where he was imprisoned for murder. Sometimes I wonder if he regretted it in his final moments of agony.
Padre Pio was approached by parents whose children had committed suicide and he said to them that at the last minute people get to see God and correspond before they make the final choice. I would have no difficulty whatsoever in thinking that Adolph Hitler, Joe Stalin of whosoever might be in heaven. God is full of surprises. I might be a little surprised however if I got into heaven.
I would say don't be too hard on other people, Communists, Athiests, Jews, Buddhists, whatever. Who knows? Better to be very,very,very hard on yourself.
