INDULGENCES: HOW DOES GOD COUNT?
INDULGENCES: HOW DOES GOD COUNT?
Source: Spirit Daily
How many things that you see, hear, or read, that you think, say, and do, will benefit your standing in eternity? No bigger question, this.
And nothing brings that into focus more than the hereafter -- and the notion of purgatory.
Here on earth, there is "Saint Patrick's Purgatory."
Saint Patrick's Purgatory is an ancient pilgrimage site on Station Island in Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland.
According to legend, the site dates from the fifth century, when Christ showed Saint Patrick a cave, sometimes referred to as a pit or a well, on this austere island that was an entrance to that middle point, that way station, that gray area in the afterlife.
The island's importance in medieval times is clear from the fact that it is mentioned in texts from as early as 1185. Here, there is strict penance, as in our own lives penance lessen eternal purgation.
"Legend maintains that Saint Patrick had grown discouraged by the doubts of his potential converts, who told him they would not believe his teachings until they had substantial proof," notes an encyclopedia. "Saint Patrick prayed that God would help him relate the Word of God and convert the Irish people, and in return, God revealed to him a pit in the ground, which he called Purgatory; by showing this place to the people, they would believe all that he said. By witnessing Purgatory, the people would finally know the reality of the joys of Heaven and the torments of hell."
A portal to the hereafter -- as also penance, mortifications, fasting open portals wherever we may be.
Notes the reference source of pilgrims who sought physical and spiritual healing here, after obtaining permission from their bishop:
Today, it is a bit easier! But the point of interior cleansing and prayer in preparation is made.
In this regard, few are the places with more Catholic insights -- not even Station Island -- than the revelation known as "an unpublished manuscript on purgatory," by a nun south of Ireland, in France, who had visions and auditory locutions from a deceased sister who purportedly spoke from purgatory itself. As the cloistered French locutionist was told (by the second sister who once had lived in the convent):
When we are on the "other side," this nun was asked, what about plenary indulgences? How do they work?
"I may as well tell you that few, very few people gain them entirely," revealed the deceased religious, whose words were approved by a string of French clerics, including the promoter for the cause of Saint Therese the Little Flower. "There has to be such a wonderful disposition of heart and will that it is rare, much rarer than you think it is, to have the entire remission of one's faults. In purgatory, we receive only the indulgences applied to us by way of suffrage, as God permits according to our dispositions.
"When a soul is near the object of its desires, namely Heaven, it may be admitted to eternal joy by the efficacy of one plenary indulgence well gained, or even gained only in half and applied to its intentions, but for other souls it is not so. They have often during life despised or made little use of indulgences, and God Who is always just, rewards them according to their works. They gain something, as it pleases God, but hardly ever the full benefit of the indulgence."
Noted another mystic, Maria Simma, in Amazing Secrets of the Souls in Purgatory, "Contrition is very important. The sins are forgiven, in any case, but there remain the consequences of sins. If one wishes to receive a full indulgence at the moment of death -- that means going straight to Heaven -- the soul has to be free from all attachment."
One ponders that with the need to ask how much precious time on earth we waste discussing or arguing about politics inside and outside the Church instead of surveying what is inside and outside of ourselves.
"There are numbers of useless actions, many days entirely futile, without any love for Jesus or purity of intention," said the revelation. "They are all lost since they have no value for Heaven. It is only those actions done with great love and under the Eye of God, wishing to do His Holy Will, that will receive their reward immediately, without the soul passing through purgatory.
"What great blindness there is in the world about all this.
"Work without ceasing at your own perfection," advised the deceased sister. "If you want to, you can become what Jesus wishes for you to be, for you have enough strength of character to overcome all the difficulties which stand in the way of your union with Him.
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| Saint Patrick's Purgatory |
How many things that you see, hear, or read, that you think, say, and do, will benefit your standing in eternity? No bigger question, this.
And nothing brings that into focus more than the hereafter -- and the notion of purgatory.
Here on earth, there is "Saint Patrick's Purgatory."
Saint Patrick's Purgatory is an ancient pilgrimage site on Station Island in Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland.
According to legend, the site dates from the fifth century, when Christ showed Saint Patrick a cave, sometimes referred to as a pit or a well, on this austere island that was an entrance to that middle point, that way station, that gray area in the afterlife.
The island's importance in medieval times is clear from the fact that it is mentioned in texts from as early as 1185. Here, there is strict penance, as in our own lives penance lessen eternal purgation.
"Legend maintains that Saint Patrick had grown discouraged by the doubts of his potential converts, who told him they would not believe his teachings until they had substantial proof," notes an encyclopedia. "Saint Patrick prayed that God would help him relate the Word of God and convert the Irish people, and in return, God revealed to him a pit in the ground, which he called Purgatory; by showing this place to the people, they would believe all that he said. By witnessing Purgatory, the people would finally know the reality of the joys of Heaven and the torments of hell."
A portal to the hereafter -- as also penance, mortifications, fasting open portals wherever we may be.
Notes the reference source of pilgrims who sought physical and spiritual healing here, after obtaining permission from their bishop:
They would then spend fifteen days fasting and praying to prepare themselves for the visit to Station Island, a short boat ride away. At the end of the fifteen days, pilgrims would confess their sins, receive Communion and undergo a few final rituals before being locked in the cave for twenty-four hours. The next morning the prior would open the door, and if the pilgrim were found alive, he would be brought back to Saints Island for another fifteen days of prayer and fasting.
Today, it is a bit easier! But the point of interior cleansing and prayer in preparation is made.
In this regard, few are the places with more Catholic insights -- not even Station Island -- than the revelation known as "an unpublished manuscript on purgatory," by a nun south of Ireland, in France, who had visions and auditory locutions from a deceased sister who purportedly spoke from purgatory itself. As the cloistered French locutionist was told (by the second sister who once had lived in the convent):
Watch carefully over your interior life. Keep all your small troubles for Jesus alone. He is well able to make up for whatever He takes from you. Your life must be one of unceasing interior acts of love and mortification, but God alone must know of it.
Lead a very hidden life, yet one closely united to Jesus. Love God very much. How happy are the souls that do this. They possess a treasure! Do not complain about trifles. Keep your little sufferings to yourself and tell Jesus to Whom you ought to tell everything. Those who promote the recitation of the Rosary everywhere deserve praise. It is this prayer that is the most efficacious in the present time of need.
When we are on the "other side," this nun was asked, what about plenary indulgences? How do they work?
"I may as well tell you that few, very few people gain them entirely," revealed the deceased religious, whose words were approved by a string of French clerics, including the promoter for the cause of Saint Therese the Little Flower. "There has to be such a wonderful disposition of heart and will that it is rare, much rarer than you think it is, to have the entire remission of one's faults. In purgatory, we receive only the indulgences applied to us by way of suffrage, as God permits according to our dispositions.
"When a soul is near the object of its desires, namely Heaven, it may be admitted to eternal joy by the efficacy of one plenary indulgence well gained, or even gained only in half and applied to its intentions, but for other souls it is not so. They have often during life despised or made little use of indulgences, and God Who is always just, rewards them according to their works. They gain something, as it pleases God, but hardly ever the full benefit of the indulgence."
Noted another mystic, Maria Simma, in Amazing Secrets of the Souls in Purgatory, "Contrition is very important. The sins are forgiven, in any case, but there remain the consequences of sins. If one wishes to receive a full indulgence at the moment of death -- that means going straight to Heaven -- the soul has to be free from all attachment."
One ponders that with the need to ask how much precious time on earth we waste discussing or arguing about politics inside and outside the Church instead of surveying what is inside and outside of ourselves.
"There are numbers of useless actions, many days entirely futile, without any love for Jesus or purity of intention," said the revelation. "They are all lost since they have no value for Heaven. It is only those actions done with great love and under the Eye of God, wishing to do His Holy Will, that will receive their reward immediately, without the soul passing through purgatory.
"What great blindness there is in the world about all this.
"Work without ceasing at your own perfection," advised the deceased sister. "If you want to, you can become what Jesus wishes for you to be, for you have enough strength of character to overcome all the difficulties which stand in the way of your union with Him.
[resources: the manuscript on purgatory; Amazing Secrets of Purgatory; and books on the afterlife]Your life will be a continual martyrdom, but a martyrdom in which you nevertheless taste the sweetest joys
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