Posted on 11/22/2008 3:17:34 PM PST by NYer
Set out below is an account of the experience of a priest who died and was shown Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. It is of course only his personal experience but there is nothing in it which is contrary to faith and I trust that some of you might find, as I did, that it was a warning and an encouragement.
What a story.
Not a fabrication at all. Did you read the article?
Beginning Catholic: Catholic Purgatory: What Does It Mean? [Ecumenical]
Explaining Purgatory from a New Testament Perspective [Ecumenical]
PURIFYING THE SOUL ON EARTH IS WORTH 100X WHAT IT TAKES AFTER [Catholic Caucus]
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 12: Purgatory
The Early Church Fathers on Purgatory - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus
Required for entrance to Purgatory? Personal question for Cathloic Freepers.
(Protestant) Minister Who Had Near-Death Episode Believes In Purgatory
Straight Answers: What Is Purgatory Like?
Do Catholics Believe in Purgatory?
Purgatory, Indulgences, and the Work of Jesus Christ (Discussion)
Prayer to Release the Souls of Purgatory
Do you recall where you got the Purgatory definitions from?
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"If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us." 2 Timothy 2:12
"For this is thankworthy, if for conscience towards God, a man endure sorrows, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if committing sin, and being buffeted for it, you endure? But if doing well you suffer patiently; this is thankworthy before God. For unto this are you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps." 1 Peter 2:19-21
"But if also you suffer any thing for justice' sake, blessed are ye. And be not afraid of their fear, and be not troubled." 1 Peter 3:14
"For it is better doing well (if such be the will of God) to suffer, than doing ill." 1 Peter 3:17
"Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God, commend their souls in good deeds to the faithful Creator." 1 Peter 4:19
Good point.
You have no idea what you’re saying...
You noticed this too. This is what St. Faustina wrote in hter diary.
Souls in Purgatory
| The next night] I saw my Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her "The Star of the Sea." She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of that prison of suffering. [I heard an interior voice] which said, My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it. Since that time I am in closer communion with the suffering souls. (20) |
| One night, a sister who had died two months previously came to me. She was a sister of the first choir. I saw her in a terrible condition, all in flames with her face painfully distorted. This lasted only a short time, and then she disappeared. A shudder went through my soul because I did not know whether she was suffering in purgatory or in hell. Nevertheless I redoubled my prayers for her. The next night she came again, but I saw her in an even more horrible state, in the midst of flames which were even more intense, and despair was written all over the face. I was astonished to see her in a worse condition after the prayers I had offered for her, and I asked, "Haven't my prayers helped you?" She answered that my prayers had not helped her and that nothing would help her. I said to her," And the prayers which the whole community has offered for you...?" She said no, that these prayers had helped some other souls.... Despite this, I kept on praying.... After some time she came back.. but already her appearance had changed. There were no longer any flames ..and her face was radiant, her eyes beaming with joy. She told me that I had a true love for my neighbour and that many other souls had profited from my prayers. She urged me not to cease praying for the souls in purgatory, and she added that she herself would not remain there much longer. How astounding are the decrees of God! (58) |
| In spite of the noise [the gardeners] were making, I heard these words in my soul: "Pray for me!" But as I could not understand these words very well, I moved a few steps away from the wards, trying to think who it could be who was asking me to pray. Then I heard the words: "I am Sister..." This sister was in Warsaw while I was, at the time, in Vilnius. "Pray for me until I tell you to stop. I am dying." Immediately, I began to pray fervently for her [addressing myself] to the expiring Heart of Jesus. She gave me no respite , and I kept praying from three until five. At five I heard the words, "Thank you!" and I understood that she had died. .....In the afternoon [the following day] a postcard came saying that Sister... had died at such and such a time. I understood that it was at the same hour when she had said to me, "Pray for me." (315) |
| This evening, one of the deceased sisters came and asked me for one day of fasting and to offer all my [spiritual] exercises on that day for her. I answered that I would. From early morning on the following day, I offered everything for her intention. During Holy Mass, I had a brief experience of her torment. I experienced such intense hunger for God that I seemed to be dying of the desire to become united with Him. This lasted only a short time, but I understood what the longing of the souls in purgatory was like. (1185-6) |
“take a number”? Sounds like the Social Security office.
Thank you, bookmarked.
A.A., I never meant to imply that we aren't going to suffer ... or that suffering is necessarily a bad thing.
What I take issue with is the notion that ANYTHING that I do/don't do can win me favor with God or purify me in his eyes.
The concept that there is some interim place I can go to to "pay" the penalty for my sins and thus be cleansed is anathema .. - Christ's blood ALONE does that ... to say otherwise is totally contrary to the Gospel. It may be the doctrine of a church .. but it's not in the book.
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
“Man: I can remember... the nurses... saying something about “code pink,” and then clearly I remember... one of the doctors saying “he’s gone.” “
I don’tthink Code Pink meant an emergency situation as far as a patient was concerned. I thought it was a signal for nurses to come support a fellow nurse who was being mistreated by a doctor. The nurses gathered and formed a wall of pink to intimidate the abusive doctor.
I have serious difficulties with this concept - I'm of course not saying it's wrong, but that if I am to believe that, e.g., justice demands one who has had pre-marital sex with a partner and not confessed it spends eternity in hell I also have to believe that God is less merciful then, I'd guess, 90% of our earthly parents, who may not be happy about it, but would love their child enough to get over it. If I believe that, e.g., every unrepentant murderer spends eternity in hell, I have to believe that God is less merciful than our judicial system, which grants parole after a period served. As a Catholic who is really hanging on to her faith by a thread, I can't help but find the "eternal punishment" for fairly common sins committed in our short stay on earth to put God in the position of a petulant teenager, who would cut you off forever for a single slight in ways that seem profoundly unjust -- and mroe like a human attempt to keep people in line by threatening them with eternal damnation. I guess I would prefer to think better of God, but what do I know, as I'm really having a religious crisis at the moment.
The topic is purgatory, not hell. Purgatory exists because of God's mercy.
The priest also saw hell...and the many souls in it. So the topic isn’t only Purgatory, but eternal damnation.
bttt
Don't be fooled by the popularity of certain transgressions on earth, even among your friends, family and even you (and me).
Many Catholic references point out that it is precisely those sins, nearly universal among mankind, that are precisely the reason for souls lost to hell in the absence of Reconciliation and Redemption.
The reason juries and judges don't grant eternal punishment is because humans live in the context of a temporal world. The reason that God has infinite mercy and forgiveness is that your soul lives in an eternal world.
and mroe like a human attempt to keep people in line by threatening them with eternal damnation.
You have elucidated God's unlimited kindness here. Parents, in a limited way, are kind when they discipline their children, preventing more serious problems. God, in an infinite way, does the same thing. If it weren't for that threat, you surely be condemned to hell.
“As a Catholic who is really hanging on to her faith by a thread, I can’t help but find the “eternal punishment” for fairly common sins committed in our short stay on earth to put God in the position of a petulant teenager”
Please allow me to point out that God doesn’t “punish” us by “sending” us to Hell. God wants every one of us in Heaven. We send ourselves to Hell by failing to become worthy to spend eternity with God—not by God’s verdict, but through our own failings, and because we turn away from all of God’s attempts to bring us back to Him.
I very much fear that you may have been exposed to some very bad catechism and theology. Please do not fall away from the Church on that basis.
I’m not judging you, but just trying to help despite my own shortcomings and sins.
One thing to remember is that whenever human reason makes God seem petulent, cruel, or unreasonable, the problem lies with our own misunderstandings, not with God.
Have you read “Imitation of Christ” by Saint Alphonsus, or “Introduction to the Devout Life” by Saint Francis de Sales? I feel that they were very helpful to me.
There are some great people here in this forum who can speak with much knowledge and understanding. I’ve learned a lot here (in my own estimation).
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