They tell a wonderful story of Saint Padraig, patron Saint of Ireland. One night he was in the Ard Ri (High Kings} palace on the Royal Hill of Tara, attending , as an honoured guest of the High King. When the pagan priests, the Druids saw how richly the High King complained bitterly about about it and demanded that Saint Padraig be put to death at once. The High King went quiet,as though searching for an answer. At that moment an owl flew out of the darkness of the night and swooped around the high thatched torch lit roof. After doing a couple circles of the ceiling it flew out again through an opening at the other side of the ceiling under the startled gaze of the assembled nobility. The King pointed to where the owl had flown. 'The bird,' he said, 'Is like our lives. Before Padraig came we only knew that we came from unknown darkness and return to unknown darkness. Now that he has come we know that we come and go not from darknes to darkness , but from the light of God and too the light of God. 'He shall not die, he shall live'. It is thanks to the teachings of the Church that we have great light in the darkness of life after death. One of these great lights is cast from the Church's teaching on Purgatory, which we can hear expounded here: But we not only get light shed in the darkness shed from doctrine , we get a lot of light from Catholic saints and mystics many of whom claim to have seen Purgatory and some of whom even claim to have visited there!! So detailed and so supportive of ech other that it seems almost possible to take a virtual tour of the place!! One of the writers on the subject was the prominent 19th century English convert and great theologian Venerable Cardinal John Henry Newman. who may be beatified as early as next year by the Pope. Newman wrote a great poem, 'The Dream of Gerontius'. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. It was also set to music as an oratorio by the English composer Elgar. One at least of the pieces in the oratorio will be familiar to many Catholics as a hymn , 'Praise to the Holiest in the heights', which is sung by the angels in heaven to God. Praise to the Holiest in the height, and in the depth be praise; in all his words most wonderful, most sure in all his ways! O loving wisdom of our God! When all was sin and shame, a second Adam to the fight and to the rescue came. O wisest love! that flesh and blood, which did in Adam fail, should strive afresh against the foe, should strive, and should prevail; and that the highest gift of grace should flesh and blood refine: God's presence and his very self, and essence all-divine. O generous love! that he who smote in man for ma the foe, the double agony in Man for man should undergo. And in the garden secretly, and on the cross on high, should teach his brethren, and inspire to suffer and to die. Praise to the Holiest in the height, and in the depth be praise; in all his words most wonderful, most sure in all his ways! Newman was not (at least he is not remembered for being} a visionary mystic but for being a great theologian. So we know when we read his works we are reading stuff very firmly based on the Teachings of the Church. [to be contd.......]
Two other writers Great saints and Doctors of the Church Saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross have a lot to contribute on the subject of Purgatory by means of what they say on prayer and I shall refer to them a lot. How is prayer related to purgatory? Well in prayer we talk of, 'The Dark Night of the Soul' This is a prayer stage which Mystical Theologians point out as purgatory on Earth. The soul through going through this darkness is thus pruifieid whilst still on Earth and is thus able to avoid purgatory in the life to come. I will be referring to Saint Theres , 'Interior Mansions' and Saint John of the Cross's , 'Dark Night of the Soul'. The saints , of course talk very widely of Purgatory. Padre Pio for instance , in the following three stories: One evening Padre Pio was in a room, on the ground floor of the convent, turned guesthouse. He was alone and had just laid down on the cot when, suddenly, a man appeared to him wound in a black mantle. Padre Pio was amazed and arose to ask the man who he was and what he wanted. The stranger answered that he was a soul in Purgatory. “I am Pietro Di Mauro” he said “I died in a fire, on September 18, 1908, in this convent. In fact this convent, after the expropriation of the ecclesiastical goods, had been turned into a hospice for elderly. I died in the flames, while I was sleeping on my straw mattress, right in this room. I have come from Purgatory: God has granted me to come here and ask you to say Mass for me tomorrow morning. Thanks to one Mass I will be able to enter into Paradise”. Father Pio told the man that he would say Mass for him..., “but…“padre Pio said: “I, wanted to accompany him to the door of the convent. I surely realised I had talked to a dead person, in fact when we went out in the church square, the man that was at my side, suddenly disappeared”. I have to admit that I re-entered in the convent rather frightened. Padre Paolino of Casacalenda, Superior of the convent, noticed my nervousness, after explaining to him what happened, I asked “permission to celebrate Holy Mass for the deceased soul,” A few days later, Father Paolino, wanting to verify the information, went to the office of the registry of the commune of St. Giovanni Rotondo. He required and got the permission to consult the register of the deceased in the year 1908. The story of Father Pio Father was true. In the register of deaths of the month of September, Father Paolino found the name, last name and cause of death: “On September 18, 1908 in the fire of the hospice, Pietro Di Mauro died.” Mrs Cleonice Morcaldi of St. Giovanni Rotondo was one of the Padre Pio’s spiritual daughters. Her mother had died. One month after the death of her mother, Father Pio told Mrs Cleonice at the end of the confession: “This morning your mother has gone to Heaven, I have seen her while I was celebrating Holy Mass.” Padre Pio told this story to padre Anastasio. “One evening, while I was alone in choir to pray, I heard the rustle of a suit and I saw a young monk that stirred next to the High altar. It seemed that the young monk was dusting the candelabra and straightening the flower vases. I thought he was Padre Leone rearranging the altar, and, since it was supper time, I went to him and I told him: “Padre Leone, go to dine, this is not the time to dust and to straighten the altar”. But a voice, that was not Father Leone’s answered me”: “I am not Padre Leone”, “and who are you? “, I asked him. “I am a brother of yours that made the noviciate here. I was ordered to clean the altar during the year of the noviciate. Unfortunately many times I didn’t reverence Jesus while passing in front of the altar, thus causing the Holy Sacrament that was preserved in the tabernacle to be disrespected. For this serious carelessness, I am still in Purgatory. Now, God, with his endless goodness, sent me here so that you may quicken the time I will enjoy Paradise. Take care of me.” I believed to be generous to that suffering soul, so I exclaimed: “you will be in Paradise tomorrow morning, when I will celebrate Holy Mass”. That soul cried: “Cruel!” Then he wept and disappeared. That complaint produced in me a wound to the heart that I have felt and I will feel my whole life. In fact I would have been able to immediately send that soul to Heaven but I condemned him to remain another night in the flames of Purgatory.” You can read more of Padre Pio's stories on purgatory here: http://www.padrepio.catholicwebservices ... SH/App.htm But so many saints and mystics talked of purgatory that it is difficult to know where to start, but mostly I will draw from another two who seem to have been as famliar with purgatory as we would be with out local supermarket. Firstly Saint Catherine of Genoa who wrote a marvellous treatise on Purgatory and which you can read read here, though I warn you it is not a barrel of laughs: http://www.cfpeople.org/Apologetics/page51a013.html Lastly I will be drawing on a mystic a lady who only died lately called Maria Simma and who seemed to spend much more time talking to the Holy Souls than the folks in her little Austrian village. But she makes some fascinating reading. A Sister called Sister Emmanuelle who is based in Medugorje visited her before she died and asked her a series of questions which were later put into book form: Maria Simma answered Sister Emmanuel’s questions. She sees Purgatory in different ways: “there is a huge multitude of souls – it’s a continuous movement. Every soul is purified according to the nature of his sins and the degree of his attachment to the type of son committed. Heathens suffer a lighter but longer punishment in Purgatory while Catholic souls suffer more since more is expected of those who receive more. However, they receive more intermissions and this accelerates their liberation. Every soul has a nostalgic longing for God and this is the most excruciating of the pains. Not a single soul would like to return to the earth to live as it did before in the darkness of this world, because now it knows things about which we have not the faintest idea. The souls in Purgatory suffer with admirable patience and praise Divine Mercy, thanks to which they have escaped hell. Sister Emmanuel asked, “Maria, what are the sins that most frequently send souls to Purgatory?” “They are sins against charity, sins against love for one’s neighbor, hardness of heart, hostility, calumny. I know that false witness and calumny are among the most serious of sins and require a long period of purification.” Sister Emmanuel: “Well then, who are those that have the best change of going straight to Heaven?” “Those who have a good heart for everyone. Charity covers for a multitude of sins. St. Paul says so.” Sister Emmanuel: “Maria, could you say whether it is God who sends a souls to Purgatory or is it the souls itself that decides to got there?” “It is the souls itself that wants to got to Purgatory to purify itself before going to Heaven. We must do a great deal for the souls in Purgatory for they help us in their turn. Great humility is required: it is the greatest weapon against the Evil One. Humility eliminates evil.” Sister Emmanuel: “Are there any differences of degree in Purgatory?” “Oh yes, a great difference in the degree of moral suffering. Every soul has its own special suffering to bear. The suffering in Purgatory is worse than any suffering on earth, but in a symbolic way. It causes most pain to the soul.” HOW CAN WE HELP THE SOULS IN PURGATORY? “What are the most efficacious means to free the souls from Purgatory?” “Mass is the best means. Because during Mass, Christ offers Himself out of love for us. It is an offering of Christ Himself unto God, the most beautiful of all offerings. The efficacy of the Mass for the dead is so much greater and varies according to the esteem the dead themselves had for the Mass when they were alive. If they prayed with all their hearts during Mass and they also attended during the week, according to the time available to them, they will obtain great profit from the Masses said for them.” http://www.fortzion.com/purgatory/maria ... gatory.htm
Very sobering! Padraig, The story of Padre Pio and the novice illustrates the danger of my inattentiveness in Christ's presence. I should not be incredulous at the seriuosness of the novice's punishment, but rather rejoice at the enormity of the gift which is our Eucharistic Lord. It is good to be reminded of such things. Thanks! May charity rule in my soul! In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
I think , Terry the novices fate can be understood under the words of Christ; Luke 12:48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. The novice was a Franciscan religious I suppose by being so he had been given a very, very great deal. We as Catholics have been given a whole lot too, the Eucharist and Sacraments for instance. A sobering thought. I was talking to a young priest one time who was loosing his faith. One of the things I warned him about was that if he walked away from the faith he would be judged as a priest not as a layman and his place in hell could be very,very terrible. Not very cheerful but it helped to do the trick.
If anyone is interested, you can read , 'The Dream of Gerontius', here: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/newman/geronti ... ntius.html The dream starts with the poor Catholic, Gerontius on his deathbed: GERONTIUS: JESU, MARIA - I am near to death, And Thou art calling me; I know it now. Not by the token of this faltering breath, This chill at heart,, this dampness on my brow,— (Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for me!) 'tis this new feeling, never felt before, (Be with me, Lord, in my extremity!) That I am going, that I am no more. ‘Tis this strange innermost abandonment, (Lover of souls! great God! I look to Thee,) This emptying out of each constituent And natural force, by which I come to be. Pray for me, 0 my friends; a visitant Is knocking his dire summons at my door, The like of whom, to scare me and to daunt, Has never, never come to me before; ‘us death,—O loving friends, your prayers!— ‘tis he! As though my very being had given way, As though I was no more a substance now, And could fall back on nought to be my stay, (Help, loving Lord! Thou my sole Refuge, Thou,) And turn no whither, but must needs decay And drop from out the universal frame Into that shapeless, scopeless, blank abyss, That utter nothingness, of which I came: This is it that has come to pass in me; O horror! this it is, my dearest, this; So pray for me, my friends, who have not strength to pray. I don't know if any of you have read the sayings of the Fathers of the Desert or not. After the great persecution these saintly men and women went to the desert to seek God. A kind of alternative martyrdom. These were the first monks...the word monk meaning 'alone' . Anyway many of the stories centre on the death of the faithful, the saints. It is seen as a real struggle between good and evil .We don't really talk about death now as part of our spirituality, you usually only hear much talk about it in Churches at funerals. But really through most of the Churches history death was really at the very centre of spirituality.. Up untuil recently there was much talk of the the four last things, which are: Death Judgment Heaven Hell At the moment of death, we instantly stand before Jesus for judgment, and then go immediately to heaven, purgatory, or hell. Purgatory is not among the last things because it is not permanent. When our purgation is complete we will be carried to heaven. So you often get pictures of the saints and others with grizzly looking skulls and often religious and even lay folks kept skulls in their bedrooms to keep them minded of death. Its important to recall that up untl fairly recently people died very young indeed, additionally there were constant plagues, wars and illnesses to remind people constantly of death, even to get past infancy was a real blessing. We've lost all that of course and we live in a generation that likes to believe we'll live forever and the young and healthy are our Kings and Queens. But when we say the 'Hail Mary' we say 'Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death', not by accident I believe but because the moment of our death is really important in that we must make our final decision for Christ. Also the pain and suffering surrounding our death can considerably reduce or even take awy altogether the time we spend in Purgatory. .
I am only writing this for a little while as a friend is calling, so if I end abruptly you will know what has happened. Back to the dream of Gerontius: The soul has died and is greeted by his guardian angel; ANGEL: My work is done, My task is o’er, And so I come, Taking it home, For the crown is won, Alleluia, For evermore. My Father gave In charge to me This child of earth E’en from its birth, To serve and save, Alleluia, And saved is he. This child of clay To me was given, To rear and train By sorrow and pain In the narrow way, Alleluia, From earth to heaven. SOUL: IT is a member of that family Of wondrous beings, who, ere the worlds were made, Millions of ages back, have stood around The throne of God:—he never has known sin; But through those cycles all but infinite, Has had a strong and pure celestial life, And bore to gaze on th’ unveiled face of God And drank from the eternal Fount of truth, And served Him with a keen ecstatic love, Hark! he begins again. The soul has entered a different reality, it no longer feels pain and seeing things with new eyes. Not long after the child saint Dominic Savio died he appeared to his father. His dad, not unnaturally asked Dominic what heaven was like??/ Dominic simply replied that it was impossible to explain , that no one in this world could possibly understand. 1 Corinthians 2:9 But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him. So in a sense poor Cardinal Newman and anyone else who attempts to describe these things is beaten before they start. But still we may , I think gain a certain sense of things, for God have prefigured these things in Scripture and the visions of the saints for a reason and so the door may at least be a little ajar!! Saint Paul goes on to tell us that we are: Hebrews 12:1 '.....we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.' One thing I noticed up in the Hospice when I worked there was how commonly the dying meet their dead relatives on the point of death, or even in some cases days before hand. One nursing sister told me this is so common that the nurses do not even comment upon it. However I suspect from what I have read and logic that different folks may meet different things. For instance a soul that is going to hell, is very unlikely to meet relatives with a big hug and a smile on their faces. It seems much more likely he will will be met by a delegation of bad angels in bad form. But lets not get into that. Certainly the Desert Fathers appeared to think that the devil takes a special interest in the dying as its his last chance to score a touch down. One particular description tells of the soul rising to heaven Through a black cloud of demons angry the soul has escaped them. Scary stuff. So , but here Cardinal Newman postulates the souls angel guardian as turning up. Another visionary I read also says that the close connection between ourselves and our Guardian Angel will continue right into heaven. This seems very reasonable to suppose we shall be connected through all eternity. It might also suggest that different souls might have differing types or even numbers of angels around them Saint Francis of Asissi might for instance have had a seraph since his own place may be so high in heaven, his angel must surely be a heavy hitter too.
Padraig thanks for that. I lost my brother Padraig two years ago and I always wondered where he was in the afterlife. He died tragically in his 38th year. Maria Simma has just given me peace of mind. That alone to me is worth everything. Thanks Again Siobhan
Pare Pio used to say that at the point of death God gives us a chance to see him as He really is and that at that point, free of Illusion we get to make the final choice , either for Him or against Him . I have always thought that to be true,from my own experience Siobhain. There is a nice story about Voltaire the great French atheist philosopher, that on the point of death he was approached by a priest and asked to renounce Satan as part of the last Rites. 'Father ', he said , 'now is not the time for me to be making new enemies!!' :lol: :lol: {I always have the sneaky feeling that the devil won't let people with a good sense of humour into heaven, he has no sense of humour or wit himself. As Saint Teresa said, 'God save me from sad faced saints.' One thing I have often noticed about alcoholics is what a good sense of humour and usually what very nice people they are. I would have no problem at all in discovering in heaven alchoholics who are great saints. Some burdens in life...well they just appear to be insurmountable...but the old saying is true, 'God loves a trier.' The good Lord alone knows there are areas in my life which I have struggled with all my life and I'm still as bad as ever. But as the song goes, I, 'Dust myself down, pick myself up and start all over again!' I find myself more and more as time goes on marked by failure after failure throwing myself on the mercy of God, so that were I am weak He will grow strong. ...and even crying out in confidence with Saint Paul that I will rejoice in my iniquities knowing that Christ has to pour Himself in to fill the holes my weaknesses leave behind. For the holes God fills will be stronger and more beautiful than anything I could ever make. 'You must not be discouraged or let yourself become dejected if your actions have not succeeded as perfectly as you intended. What do you expect? We are made of clay and not every soil yields the fruits expected by the one who tills it. But let us always humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are nothing if we lack the Divine assistance.' Padre Pio
When I first came into the church and realized that most of my family members did not hold the same belief, nor were they going to in the near future ,I came to that same conclusion, that we have, in our last breath, one more chance to accept his love for ever. Course prayers never hurt!
I think none of us end up going to either heaven of hell alone, we wind up either dragging down or raiding others around us down or up. This is particularly true of Mother and Father and grandparents, the young souls in their charge being so hugely influenced by their forebears. I think all souls who pray in any way are granted a spiritual fatherhood or motherhood and are mystically linked with souls all through the world and even through time itself. Not only this but we are linked to certain angels, such as our angel guardians and saints. This is one of the reasons the Church insists we give our children Catholic names. I have noticed sometimes on meeting a person for the first time my heart leaps in silent recognition, a bit like the story of Saint Elizabeth at the Visitation when Saint John the Baptist lealt in her womb. This recognition comes from the inner knowledge of a common destiny, that we will be close in heaven. Husbands and wives, for instance are often like this, usually so. Also I notice in Church every day how very, very close I become to those around me, again I think this may point to an eternal destiny..as of course our own membership and fellow ship in this forum...there are No accidents with God.
