Tag Archives: Purgatory

2022-05-22 · 4:30 am

Gardening exploits. Mighty mites might mollify. Attitude on purgatory.

I call them red cement bugs. These arachnids are quite harmless if they don’t get into the house. If they do, just make sure they have no food (live plants) or any water source (like from your watering the same plants) and you’ll be fine within a few days. They also calm down in serious heat. I’ve not seen any inside, but a zazillion outside on the very top of the experimental rocket stove. They invaded the tomatoes last year as there’s not much grass near that western edge of the house’s cement foundation.

Meanwhile, the garden is now fully planted with Potatoes, Spaghetti Squarrrsh, October Beans, Corn, Green Beans, Lettuce (two kinds), Spinach, Asparagus. The bulb-flowers are done already, so I planted some milkweed seeds that I got from the car dealership years ago. We’ll see if they catch on. I’m wondering about Marigolds to keep the varmints and various kinds of bugs away. Is there any kind of marigold that’s best for this?

So far, squirrels have eaten most all of one kind of lettuce, with the other kind not doing well. I’ll have to use cages next year. That was the plan for this year but it all got away from me. The one row of corn… well… I’ve never seen a single row grow well waaay back in the day. Remember the old days of non-engineered corn when the border rows would be quite short? My level of gardening still puts me waaay back in the day. It’s an experiment. That’s all part of it.

But who has time for gardening? Certainly not me. So, it’s just a little every day or a couple times a week with the major projects only once every month or so, starting in late winter. On a daily basis it’s just a matter of few minutes of watering and harvesting a half dozen tall-enough asparagi. But harvesting is part of food prep, replacing that time otherwise spent on grocery shopping, and so doesn’t count for gardening time.

And anyway, walking the perimeter is exercise for old geezers like me and one can fit in Hail Marys for the souls in purgatory. Just to be clear, praying for the souls in purgatory is also working in the vineyard of the Lord. Praying for the souls in purgatory is not an exercise in condescension. For me it’s more like an apology: “Sorry for not having prayed more for you during my own sojourn upon earth. Please, forgive me. Hail Mary…” Something like that. Otherwise, gardening is like being a mere red cement bug arachnid.

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2022-03-10 · 10:56 am

The most frightening description of purgatory I ever heard and how to be healed

Imagine being in purgatory until the end of the world. This is my paraphrase of what was told to me:

  • Your sins are alive, present… You’re immersed in their evil… They are not a memory… They are alive… There’s no escape… So dark… So evil… On the attack… Mocking you…

The reason that this is so frightening is because it is all about the sinful person in purgatory:

  • This is what I did. These sins are inescapable. Look at them! They are so horrible. Woe is me…

In going through purgatory in this world (good idea, that), the way to be healed of the trauma of sin is to go to Confession, taking the emphasis off of oneself and noticing the wounds of the Lord by which we are healed. His wounds in hands and feet and side, His Heart, bear the story of our sins, speaking as if they are alive (and they are), telling the whole story of darkness, evil, not a memory – there they are! – (Revelation 5:6). But this is not an accusation so as to get us depressed, despairing and hopeless, but rather an invitation to recognize the completeness of the forgiveness of a mercy founded on justice, with Jesus standing in our place, Innocent for the guilty, having the right in His own justice to have mercy on us. He took on the punishment we deserve. He really loves us. So, He wants us to be with Him, thanking Him, not moping around staring at ourselves beating ourselves up…

Once we learn to stop looking to ourselves, looking instead to Jesus, we will no longer be frightened. Love casts out fear.

To put it another way: when we learn humble thanksgiving, it’s time to go to heaven with prompt eagerness, ready to give thanks to Jesus for all that He has done for us.

BTW, that scene of heaven, purgatory and hell at the top of the post is from a gargantuan mural in the choir side of the church of the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome (in urbe, as they say).

So, three Hail Marys for the souls in purgatory… Hail Mary…

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2021-11-03 · 7:10 am

Thérèse of Lisieux: Don’t want to go to Purgatory

Great video Father Mark. Yes. I’ve been repeating Saint Thérèse’s admonition for decades: Don’t want to go to purgatory. It pains Jesus to hear such lack of trust from His Little Flock. Jesus wants us to go straight to heaven. I’ll wax poetic on the whys and wherefores of all of this in the spiritual life during this month of November.

I’ve offered nine Masses in the last few days, the usual weekend Masses and then All Saints and then All Souls, in both counties spread throughout the mountains of Western North Carolina. Too exhausted to blog much. But I did make it up to our Town Cemetery to pray for the dead. I always stop by the graves of a neighbor’s parents and then these two brothers. The older brother was already long killed in battle before his brother signed up. The older brother was the same age in his death as I was when I signed up for the Vietnam draft:

  • Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
    • Te decet hymnus Deus in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet.
    • Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
  • Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.
    • Thou art worthy to praised, O God, in Zion, and to thee shall prayer be offered in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer, for to thee shall all flesh come.
    • Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.

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2021-05-14 · 6:38 am

Fatima 13 May 1917: 104th anniversary – First Apparition of Mary

fatima children-

Our Lady of Fatima (Saint Anne’s Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC)

In the words of Ven. Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos (Irmã Maria Lúcia de Jesus e do Coração Imaculado, O.C.D.):

And we began to go down the slope driving the sheep towards the road. When we were half-way down, near a holm oak there, we saw another flash of lightening, and after a few steps we saw on a holm oak a lady dressed in white, shining brighter than the sun, giving out rays of clear and intense light, just like a crystal goblet full of pure water when the fiery sun passes through it. We stopped astounded by the Apparition. We were so near that we were in the light that encircled her, or which she radiated, perhaps a meter and a half away.

“Please don’t be afraid of me, I’m not going to harm you.” “Where are you from?” “I come from heaven.” The Lady wore a pure white mantle, edged with gold and which fell to her feet. In her hands the beads of a rosary shone like stars, with its crucifix the most radiant gem of all. The Lady’s presence produced in her only gladness and confident joy. “And what do you want of me?” “I want you to return here on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months, and at the very same hour. Later I shall tell you who I am, and what it is that I most desire. And I shall return here yet a seventh time.”

“And shall I go to heaven?” “Yes, you will.” “And Jacinta?” “She will go too.” “And Francisco?” “Francisco, too, my dear, but he will first have many Rosaries to say.” For a few moments the Lady looked at Francisco with compassion, tinged with a little sadness. Lucia then remembered some friends who had died. “Is Maria Neves in heaven?” “Yes, she is.” “And Amelia?” “She is in purgatory.”

“Will you offer yourselves to God, and bear all the sufferings He sends you? In atonement for all the sins that offend Him? And for the conversion of sinners?” “Oh, we will, we will!” “Then you will have a great deal to suffer, but the grace of God will be with you and will strengthen you.” She opened her hands, and we were bathed in a heavenly light that appeared to come directly from her hands. The light’s reality cut into our hearts and our souls, and we knew somehow that this light was God, and we could see ourselves embraced in it. By an interior impulse of grace we fell to our knees, repeating in our hearts: “Oh, Holy Trinity, we adore You. My God, my God, I love You in the Blessed Sacrament.””Say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.”

After that she began to rise slowly in the direction of the east, until she disappeared in the immense distance. The light that encircles Her seemed to make a way amidst the stars, and that is why we sometimes said we had seen the heavens open.

/// So, to the heart of it: Keeping our sights on heaven and not forgetting those in purgatory, this is about suffering in atonement for sin and for the conversion of sinners:

“Will you offer yourselves to God, and bear all the sufferings He sends you? In atonement for all the sins that offend Him? And for the conversion of sinners?”

“Oh, we will, we will!”

“Then you will have a great deal to suffer, but the grace of God will be with you and will strengthen you.”

“Oh, Holy Trinity, we adore You. My God, my God, I love You in the Blessed Sacrament.”

“Say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.”

N.B. The title of our Lady of Fatima is actually “Our Lady of the Rosary.”

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Homily: Ask, seek, knock, but… wait… what?

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2021-02-26 · 5:02 am
2020-11-02 · 7:37 am

All Souls Day

Uniting yourself to Holy Mass at any hour as Jesus is offering Himself, you can include the intention of the deliverance of the Holy Souls in Purgatory unto heaven where they will offer their biggest thankyou to Jesus, now having come to know, as we must all come to know, how far Jesus had to reach into the hell of this world to grab us, bring us to Himself, bring us finally to heaven so as to give us as a gift united with Himself to our Heavenly Father, who loved the world so much as to send His only Son…

If I remember correctly, although in English, the top picture is actually the mural of apse of the convent chapel of some cloistered nuns in northern Italy. The bottom picture is the fresco in the Angelicum OP community chapel at the University in Rome.

We are doing our purgatory hopefully here on earth. Those who didn’t do it completely are in Purgatory after death before heaven. We must pay our debt in charity to them or we will also go to Purgatory. They are members of the Body of Christ, and if ignore them, it is to our own peril. Our Lord will have us thrown in prison, as He says, until we have paid the last penny. And that is praying for the souls in Purgatory. Do it! Especially today. And visit a cemetery! Realize you’ll be there yourself very very soon, sooner than you thought. No time to lose. Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory! Jesus says that then they will be the ones to welcome you into the Eternal Habitations, that is, Heaven. We’re one family. Hail Mary… x3!

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2020-07-19 · 5:38 am

Styx: Come Sail Away – Lyrics analysis – Angels, Holy Souls, Purgatory, Heaven

don bosco dream barque of peter

So, I’m a Catholic priest, and now, in 2020, 60 years old. When I was a senior in High School, 1978, Come Sail Away! by Styx was my favorite song. In analyzing the lyrics, I’m surely guilty of reading my own perspective into it all. Come along for the ride, or better: Come Sail Away! [My comments.]

I’m sailing away [Sorry, but I’m so very much wanting to go to heaven that this sailing away” thing instantly refers to death as described in the Funeral Preface: “Life is changed, not ended.]
Set an open course for the Virgin Sea [Because we’ve never been to that “Virgin Sea.” You recall in Luke 5:4 that Jesus commanded: “Duc in altum!” which we translate as: “Set out into the deep!”  But “in altum” refers to “into the heights” as opposed to “de profundis…” “out of the depths.” One of our fresh water lakes in the north woods of Minnesota – 120 feet deep at that point – was entirely clear as the air, so that one could easily see, in detail, the landscape, if you will, at the bottom of the lake. That would be like hovering over the edge of the roof of a short skyscraper. Fishermen on the freshwater sea of Galilee would have this experience of being in the skies over the depths, neither of which guarantees any earthly security. Even if we’re entirely with our Lord as His little flock, it’s still all very new to us going to the other side, as it were.]
‘Cause I’ve got to be free [Indeed. We have do not have the freedom not to be free of this world. We will die. We will move on. But there is more to this. In 1 Peter 2:24 we are told that to be free from sin we might live for righteousness. Saint Paul says that a dead person is absolved from sin (see Romans 6:6), you know, “‘Cause I’ve got to be free.”]
Free to face the life that’s ahead of me [Free for life. So, we’re headed in the right direction here, up to heaven, but there might be purgatory, right? We shall see. We can’t judge ourselves on such matters. We’ll see what the Lord has to say about this. But we must have the hope that we are facing life, and embrace that freely: “Free to face.”]
On board, I’m the captain [Speaking to the angels here. Our angel guardians enlighten us, guard us, rule us, guide us. Yes. But we have free will to assent to this, or not. We’re the captains in this most basic sense. If we follow the Lord we do so by grace, but He also uses our free will.]
So climb aboard
We’ll search for tomorrow
On every shore. And I’ll try – Oh Lord! I’ll try – to carry on [Speaking to the angels as he’s dying, as his entire life is flashing before his eyes. Is there any hope possible for the shores of his life? Do any growth in God’s love accompany him now? Many, many of even the greatest of saints were afflicted at the moment of death, Satan trying to make them despair, accusing them. But they cut through the mind games of Satan with the love of God, not their fallen-nothing-love for God, but God’s very love within them by grace.]
I look to the sea [this very moment of death, launching out into the depths, the heights.]
Reflections in the waves spark my memory [Do we sink like Peter upon the waves? Do we allow Jesus to catch us? See Matthew 14:30-31.]
Some happy some sad [So nostalgic! I’ve been nostalgic since I was a little, little kid. This is like an extended examination of conscience…]
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had [Yep. All that.]
We live happily forever
So the story goes [How naive we all were!]
But somehow we missed out [By saving grace…]
On that pot of gold [bypassing the “treasures” of this world so that our souls are purified like gold in fire. And this is a statement of hope. This fellow is all about what lies ahead with real life. I love that.]
But we’ll try best that we can
To carry on [The hope that comes with God’s love would have us do this as we move from this life to the next.]

A gathering of angels appeared above my head [So, right at the moment of death…]
They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said [“A song of hope”. I love that. The angels have helped us through life, but….]
They said come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me now
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me

Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me now
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me

I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise [Not angels! It’s the souls in Purgatory who by our prayers were freed and went on their way to heaven, eagerly awaiting the moment, as Jesus says, to welcome us into the eternal habitations, into heaven. We would think they are angels at first glance because the saints in heaven reflect the very glory of God.]
We climbed aboard their starship [the Holy Spirit], we headed for the skies [Duc in altum! This is a meditation which brings me great joy and great peace… and joy! We’re on our way to heaven!]
Singing come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me now
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me

Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away, come sail away

So, say a prayer for the souls in purgatory. They will be the ones to greet you on the other side and welcome you into the eternal habitations. Hail Mary…

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2019-11-04 · 8:10 am

Purgatory until the end of the world

purgatory angelicum lawrence op

The very instant anyone who finds himself in purgatory knows when they enter…

  • … is that there’s nothing they can do to help themselves. The time for that was when they were on earth, when they were supposed to be generous enough in walking in our Lord’s presence that when they died they would go straight to heaven.
  • … is that unless someone helps them with a prayer or two they won’t be helped along toward heaven. However much they thought they were paying attention to God while they lived, they didn’t quite get it that Jesus is also making our fellow human beings members of His Mystical Body. They have to come to realize the extent of our Lord’s love for them by learning how much the members of the body are supposed to work together for the good of all. When someone prayers for them – that is when they will learn more of the love of God for them. And then they will be closer to offering a thanksgiving in heaven.
  • … is that they can’t ask for these prayers. They are silent. This was the original intent of the moment of silence for those who have died, listening to the silence, and thus responding by offering a prayer or two as best we can.
  • … is that even if they could ask, we wouldn’t hear them as we also are so obtuse in our fallen human nature to hear these members of the family of faith. One asks, then, if we hear the cries for help from the those right around us in this world.
  • … is that they are there until the end of the world, well, unless we pray.
  • … is that is most unlikely that we will pray for them. After all, out of sight, out of mind, out of prayers.

purgatory

So…

  • … if we do pray for them, not having been asked, not knowing the result, thinking all the while that our prayers are weak and quite useless, imagine that surely our Lord sees all of this and mightily approves of our hope in His mercy and makes our prayers effective.
  • …. imagine the great joy when prayers come the way of those in purgatory. They have not been forgotten. Someone does love them. And with God-speed they race to the gates of heaven.
  • … imagine the gratitude and thanksgiving. It is such that our Lord Jesus Himself exclaims that it will be these souls for whom we have paid our debt, for whom we have prayed, who have now made it to heaven, who will themselves welcome us into the eternal habitations, that is, heaven.

It’s a good practice every day, any time during the day, to pray three Hail Mary’s for the souls in purgatory. You will be amassing an army praying for you in return, with enthusiasm, with more hope for you than you could possibly have for yourself, cheering you on.

  • Hail Mary…
  • Hail Mary…
  • Hail Mary…

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2019-09-24 · 7:02 am

Editing Jesus’ prayer He provided to Saint Gertrude as a Daily Offering

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Just before the “Amen” I couldn’t but add: “and for me, as sinner, the worst of all.”

I recall a story about a bishop introducing himself I’m not sure on what occasion, perhaps a retreat for priests at which he was invited to lead a Penance Service. His introductory remarks were about himself, and were meant to put people at ease. It went something like this: “I’m Bishop So-And-So, and I’ve been a sinner since I was made a bishop [number of] years ago. And before that, I was a sinner since I was ordained a priest [number of] years ago. And before that, I was a sinner since before my first Confession, [number of] years ago. Good for him.

There’s another practice that I would heartily recommend to all, that of saying three Hail Marys daily for the souls in purgatory. Helping them out, it is they who will welcome you into the everlasting habitations, into heaven, as Jesus says.

  • Hail Mary…
  • Hail Mary…
  • Hail Mary…

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2019-07-27 · 5:56 am

On dying, death and purgatory

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Allow me to share a couple of stories from the rehab / nursing homes of the parish. This is my joy in life, going to the rehab / nursing homes / hospitals / …

Diane:

I’ve been regularly visiting an elderly lady, Diane by name, at Valley View nursing home for many months. She received all the sacraments and last rites and got all the Pontifical blessings and indulgences. We prayed together some hours previous to her passing on, preceding the rest of us who remain – for the moment – here on earth.

I told her that she was leading the way, that we would soon follow. She expressed some fear. But grace was with her. She took in my words, inept as they were, about being at peace because Jesus has a good grip on her soul, flooded with grace as she was with so many sacraments and the rest. She became so peaceful. She was so very thankful. “Thank you, Father,” she weakly whispered many times. Such a gentle soul. Such a good soul.

As I heard from one of the nurses later, the door to her room was open, as usual, and, across the hallway, many of the residents were eating in the dining room, which also had its doors open. What I report next tends to give shivers to the listeners, with smiles and wide eyes of wonder. As seen from the dining room, a super bright light filled Diane’s room, like the flash of a soul come to life after a long exile upon earth: “The light was so very bright, and filling her room, so bright” recounted one of the residents in the dining room. That’s, of course, when she died. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen. Hail Mary…

Marie:

Marie’s good sister, Cathy, is the one who put that sticky note pictured on the top of this post on the door of Marie’s room just as I was about to knock. “No priests allowed” – with a smiley face, mind you. Hahaha. What it means is that I’m not allowed to have a room in the rehab / nursing home and be one way to heaven before anyone else. They want all the sacraments and such so as to be on their way in good order.

There were many visitors there. Lots of laughter, some tears. Marie received a pretty devastating diagnosis. Going back another day, I was greeted outside the room by this new sticky note:

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Not that I’m a “good priest.” Hahaha. You might as well say, “No Father George allowed.” Anyway, this thing about being a good priest quickly turned into a discussion about purgatory, what with me saying that even though I’m so evil and bad, I still want to go to heaven. Miss Marie, as always, is want to say the following:

“Oh, that’s right Father George, just go ahead and go to heaven right now and then end up in purgatory until the. end. of. the. world. Or, you can wait until Jesus calls you and then you can go straight to heaven. Your choice, Father George.”

Stunning, really. Said like a modern day Saint Catherine of Siena who spoke so eloquently about purgatory.

This went on to a discussion about Saint Therese of Lisieux and her desire to go straight to heaven. She was berated by an elderly nun who said that she herself feared Jesus as the great Administrator of Justice and that she expected to be in purgatory. She died before Therese did, and appeared to Therese from purgatory to say that she was there because of concentrating on justice over against mercy. These two go hand in hand. Saint Therese, trusting in Jesus’ friendship, who Himself is eager to be good friends with us, calling us His friends, seems to have gone straight to heaven.

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