The Holy Souls at Christmas

There is a really wonderful account of a priest in Alaska meeting the Holy Souls at Christmas , which I print in full below:


http://www.spiritdaily.com/Christmas.htm

+J.M.J.+

"Strange Things Happen on the Night of Christmas"
Monsignor Charles M. Mangan

Father Segundo Llorente (1906-1989) was a Spanish Jesuit priest who was assigned to the missions in Alaska. For forty years he labored strenuously to bring the Holy Gospel to the natives of that place.

Father Llorente wrote a reflection entitled "Strange Things Happen on the Night of Christmas," that discussed the importance of revering the Most Holy Eucharist. This insightful piece, which was published in the February 1998 newsletter of the Catholic Society of Evangelists, is relevant for our Third Christian Millennium.

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A priest told me what happened to him once in his first parish. After the Midnight Mass on Christmas Day he personally locked the church. With the keys in his pocket he went to his room and had a good sleep. At 7:30 in the morning he got up and went back to the church intending to have one hour of prayer all to himself. He opened the side door leading to the sacristy, turned on a light, and then turned on the lights for the church. As he opened the sacristy door and walked into the church, he literally froze. Strange people clad in the poorest of clothes occupied most of the pews and all were in total silence. No one so much as wiggled and nobody cared to look at him. A small group was standing by the Nativity Scene contemplating the manger in total silence.

The priest recovered quickly and in a loud voice asked them how they got in. Nobody answered. He walked closer to them and asked again. "Who let you in?" A woman answered totally unconcerned: "Strange things happen on the night of Christmas." And back to total silence The priest went to check the main door and found it locked just as he had left it. He was now determined to get the facts and turned his face to the pews; but they were empty. The people had vanished.

He kept this puzzle to himself for some time. Unable to hold it in any longer, he told me just what I have told you. Could I help with any plausible explanation? Let me hurry to say that the priest in question is a model of sanity and is as well educated academically as most of the priests I know, if not better.

My explanation was and still is as follows. Those were dead people who were doing their purgatory, or part of it, in the church. It is safe to assume that we atone for our sins where we committed them. Those people were immersed in total silence. Why? Consider the irreverence committed before the Blessed Sacrament; how many people act out in church: chatting, giggling, and looking around. After Mass some people gather in small groups around the pews and turn the church into a market place with no regard for Christ's Real Presence in the tabernacle. Why did they vanish? The did not vanish. They simply became invisible; but they remained tied to their pews unable to utter one single word to atone for their disrespectful chatter while living.

The Blessed Sacrament is no laughing matter. There is a price tag to all we do or say. In the end it is God Who gets the last laugh--so to speak. Those people had to give the Blessed Sacrament the adoration and respect that Christ deserves. For how long? Only God can answer that. Why did the priest see them? So he could pray for them and for all other Poor Souls detained in other churches. Why other priests do not see these people? Well, perhaps they already know in theory that souls can be detained in churches as well as anywhere else, so they do not need a miracle.

Why were they clad in such poor clothes? To atone for their vanity while living. People often use clothes not so much to cover their nakedness but as a status symbol to impress others. But God is not impressed by, say, mink coats. Also people walk into church with hardly any clothes. In the summer months it is not unusual for people--mostly women--to go to receive Holy Communion in the most indecent clothing. The pastor may or may not put up with it; but God will have His day in court about this. Rags could be an appropriate punishment for these excesses.

Although the Church does not command that we need to believe the account as related by Father Llorente, it is, nonetheless, a salutary reminder of the reverence to be paid the Most Holy Eucharist.

We realize that we can never adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament as we ought. But we must try! He deserves our humble efforts and will reward us for our attempts.

O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!"

 

The author of letter (bless him/her) put in a few thoughts about what was going on. I will throw in my own two cents worth for you discernment.

Yes they were the Holy Souls and they were serving out their time in Front of the Blessed Sacrament. Agreed. But they were not necessarily there because of offenses against the Blessed Sacrament necessarily.

Serving one's time in front of the Sacrament is a last stage of the levels in Purgatory.

They were there on Christmas because this is the time when the most souls get released, if the priest had seen it Our Lady would have appeared to take them to heaven, that's why they vanished. He didn't get that great gift, a pity.

The priest was neither better or worse than others for having seen this, it is a gift like most such mystical goings on for others. A Christmas gift for us, if you like.

They were dressed poorly to indicate their spiritual needs.

Notice what the Holy Souls said , 'Strange things happen at Christmas'. Plural. She was indicating their soon release and Mary's visit.

Pay special attention this Christmas in your own Church , especially at Christmas Eve; all Churches everywhere are filled with souls about to get out, after the Mother of God comes calling. .

The most wonderful Christmas Santa tale of them all.

 

I have no discernment over whether this story and your addition to it are indeed fact. But I can tell you that this story just made soul very content and I will sit in church this Christmas Eve with a special eye out, that is for sure. If my 5 year old son can believe in Santa, then I can surely believe this.

 

Thank you for Father Llorente's testimony. He reminds us to be quiet during Mass. I'll make a short comment to family during Mass, then get upset when the people ahead or behind me are having a conversation.

Silence, I do not get to attend the Latin Mass very often but you really notice the silence there.

 

My oldest daughter was confirmed last month. We arrived at the ceremony 45 minutes early to get a good seat. It was like a party in the sanctuary with our Lord in the tabernacle. People talking loudly, kids playing with toys, people on their phones. But at least they were in church, for the first time in a long time I would guess, so that's good

 

It is good but also sad in a way to not see the reverence that he so much deserves. He gave us everything. He gave us the greatest gift of all. No one past, present or future in this world or even the devil himself could ever do for you or give to you that which would come even close to what Jesus gave willingly for us! He is there present whenever the red lantern is lit and he deserve homage and respect. I agree with you about it is a good start again to be in church but hopefully it is the start to some greater change to occur within those individuals. There are times I even question my own worth even in a state of grace to even still be allowed to accept this great and holy gift and miracle he has given us. How can I ever be worthy enough to have has blood and flesh in me? I of course have never not received communion but I often wonder every time I say, "Lord I am not worthy....." about how could I ever be worthy enough, me a sinner to receive him under my roof. Thankfully he loves us so much that our faith in him makes us worthy. What amazing grace and love when you think about it! It took me a long time in my life to realize that and I am so glad I now know that. I was once, and not that long ago, was someone who did not feel I needed to be in church or ever needed to receive him. When I went to church, I sang, and talked and took communion but I did not realize all that it meant. I did not realize what a great gift for us it truly is. Now I do and now I pray for others everyday to come to know and love Jesus and to grow in faith and understanding. Now I have truly gone 180 degrees in life and I feel sorrow on the days I don't receive him under my roof whether I feel worthy or not!

 

I read a curious article by a priest a while back that suggests we only need to keep quiet in Church during services. The rationale being that the Church is for community not for devotion. This took me so much abck I had to go away and think about it. He suggested that the people who wanted to be quiet are the selfish ones, wanting to curtail the communities natural need to communicate.

Such a different way of looking at things it threw me a lot. But it is not selfish wishing to simply pray, if we cannot have prayer in Church in silence then where? Also we have the whole world to talk in , would being silent in one place be such a burden? The Lord wants to talk and we need to listen, for this we need silence. I fin this about Protestant services in fac, there is far,far too much talk and not enough silence. Too much head; not enough heart. People like the Quakers are very much an exception. I love the Quakers for their silence.

 

I have never seen women at the Latin Mass dressed indecently,..but maybe a mink once.

 

I don't actually understand the first post and the Priest saying that the Holy Souls were doing their Purgatory in the Church. How can adoring the Blessed Sacrament be a purgatory. If I was in Purgatory and God said to me that I had to spend time in adoration, I would be delighted it wouldn't be a penance at all.

 

I can make a one hour holy hour, but anymore would be penance. still time served in church sure does sound a lot better than the cleansing fires. It must be all a matter of degrees.

 

Mac, I'm the opposite I would lve to spend days before the Blessed Sacrament but never have enough time. I always have to leave when I want to stay.
Thats what |I do not get about the Holy Souls. They can stay for years in adoration. That to me would be heaven. They would see Our Lord in the tabernacle with clear eyes. Sometimes I think they would see the tabernacle disolve and Our Lord wouled just be glowing right before their eyes, right in front of them. If I was there I would be so happy that even if I was still feeling the fires of Purgatory it would not matter.

 

Padraig,

As the years go by, I have found a growing phenomenon that appears on the surface to be a contradiction. As intimacy with God has deepened, awe and reverence of His Holiness and Humility has also grown. The Fear of the Lord may be the beginning of wisdom, but properly understood, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit that will never run its course. Silence indeed is golden, especially in our times (spoken by a Charismatic!):

Zeph 1:7 Silence in the presence of the Lord God! For near is the day of the Lord...

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

Safe in the Father's Lap!

 

It reminds me of the old Greek legend of the guy who wanted to fly and s made himself a pair of wings.

A 12 year old boy named Icarus.

His father was a very famous inventor named Daedalus. When King Minos heard of Daedalus' greatness. He hired him to build him a cave that would hold his local monster called the Minotaur. (A half-man, half-bull monster) Daedalus took the job, and created a labyrinth that would forever trap the Minotaur with all it's twists and turns. Consumed by greed, and power Minos refused to let Daedalus go free. And locked hm, and his son Icarus in a high tower overlooking the Beach. Despite the fact that they were his prisoners, thy were taken very well care of. They were brought three square meals a day, and if they needed anything else, they had their own servants, and were kept in one of the biggest rooms in Minos' palace. But still, Daedalus wanted to be free. He thought up an idea. He saw how the birds on the Beach could fly. He thought he could make wings too. He asked his servants for 20 feather-pillows every night, and for candles. He would use the feathers to form wings, and use melted candle-wax to keep them in place. After they were created, he tested them. They were a success. Daedalus had invented wings for humans. And could fly for miles. All he had to do was wait for a particularly windy day, when they could fly far away and fast. That day finally came, and they flew home. While they were flying, Daedalus gave his son 2 warnings; Not to fly too low tot he waters. If he did, the water would spoil the feathers and make them heavy. And not to fly too high, otherwise the sun would melt the wax, and make the wings come apart. Icarus, in a daze forgot all about the warnings, and flew far too close to the sun, and fell into the Aegean Sea. And died from drowning. To this day, the spot where he fell is called the Icaruns, named after him.

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As is written, who can stand in presence of the living God and live?

Exodus 19:20-25


20 The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them."




23 Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.'"




24 The LORD replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them."



25 So Moses went down to the people and told them

We behold the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament as in a glass darkly, the Holy Souls see the true reality. A blazing fire or truth and love.

 

Over the past few months, I've been yearning and praying for an increase in the fear of the Lord. (This lack is at least partly due to my pitiful education in the faith during the goofy 1970's.) As you mention, this longing for the fear of the Lord coincides with an increased love of silence, which has been a great gift. I think my inspiration to start reading the old testament is an answer to those prayers.

Anyone who wants the fear of the Lord should take a stroll through the old testament!

 

I did most of my spiritual reading for many years in the ver old monastery library, which the Abbot himself describedas , 'Junk'

It was never junk to me , mostly old books from the early 1900's and late 1800's. It has left me with a spirituality about a centruy behind the times. I have never regretted this cosideringa severe rot set in around about the 1960's which never hit me as Iwas stuck in a monastic time warp. I think about the sixties things got kinda super nice.

But God altough God is Mercy and love He is also the just judge , the old writers knew this so very well.

If I forgot, well sometimes whn I pray for souls I am shown to stop, that tehy are beyond prayer, in hell. Very sobering.

Yes I am a very old fashioned Catholic. Very old fashioned indded.

 

Padraig does it happen that you are told they are beyond prayer -- it must be heartbreak,king
Do you know them?

 

Padraig what do think of our lady of Good Success and Father Luiga Villa
Talking about Medjugorge being a deception

 

Can I ask please Rory, where Our Lady of Good Success says this?

 

Did you ever wonder Barbara what it would be like for someone who is in heaven and to look down and see their loved one(s) in hell. Say for instance a mother looking down and seeing her children in hell? You would think humanly speaking that the mother could not be happy in heaven, that for her heaven would turn into a kind of hell as she see's her loved ones suffer ..and suffer Eternally. Yes because a soul goes to hell they go to a place were love ceases, were the Holy Spirit is extinguished in the heart of men. So I think this ceasing of love , the love that binds us would make the mother perfectly resigned to the loss of her children below. ..and in a funny kind of way this seems to me the saddest thing of all. But we are human and living in this world and so are limited in the way we look at things, whereas in heaven we will not be limited having as we will the Beatific vision and understanding all things, perfectly and being perfectly conformed to the will of God.

Not so on Earth however. When I was young I was taught, as we were all taught to pray for the dead. But being young had little or no one I knew was dead but my two grandfathers who had both died before I was born and so of course had never met and knew little or nothing about. So for long years I prayed for them especially at the part of the mass where we are invited to do so. However whilst I began to have warm feelings about my mothers father, Patrick after whom I was named I did not get such feelings about my fathers father and I remember one time mentioning this to my mother as a child and the shock on her face as I said to her I thought he was in the place beyond prayer.

The years rolled on , my father took an interest in family history and more and more information rolled in about his father. That for example he was a multiple bigamist who had sired many children deserting each family as he had my grandmother in great poverty. That he had a history of of beating and maltreating his children and had been in court on several occasions for this and had been in prison at least once. That he had a limited career as a fortune teller and wandering the world.

So anyway it all served to confirm what I had already guessed as a child my firm belief the guy is in hell.

This didn't bother me so much as a child for I had never met him or loved him, so he was near relative but a stranger.

However one thing did disturb me a couple of years back. I found a dear friend dead in his appartment . This guy never ,ever went to Church or to my knowledge ever really prayed , though I kept trying to kinda woo him round . Now these days when I pray for folks especially folks very close to me I tend to get a visit or at least a strong feeling about where they have winded up. However with this dear friend there has always been a cold emptiness in prayer. The only reason why I am not exactly certain he is in hell is that my own heart rebels against facing the truth ; for as quoting St. Alphonsus, the Catechism states: “Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned.”*

I must say this hurts a lot, quite a lot. I often wonder if I could have done more to work towards his conversion whilst he was alive.

But at least it puts the fear of God into me and as Scripture says, 'The fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom'.