The Heroic Act of Charity

From my previous post on Indulgences, I quoted from the Cathechism of the Catholic Church something about the Heroic Act.

This refers to the Heroic Act of Charity.

There may be some among us who feel sad for the neglected and forgotten Holy Souls in Purgatory and want to help as much as possible.  Besides the Prayer of St Gertrude, we can also offer all the satisfactory value of our prayers, alms, fasts, penances, and the suffrages given to us after our deaths, without reserving anything at all with which to discharge our own debts. We do not do this of our own, but instead deposit our offering with the Blessed Virgin Mary that she might distribute them, as the Mediatrix of All Graces, according to her good pleasure, to those souls she chooses to deliver from Purgatory.

Since by doing this, we forgo the lessening of our own time in Purgatory, hence the title Heroic Act.  St Gertrude and St Therese of Lisieux made this vow while still alive.

This vow is revocable at any time.

By making this vow, we greatly increase our merits in Heaven, especially because we put our total faith in God's Mercy on us.

The Heroic Act of Charity

O Holy and Adorable Trinity, desiring to aid in the relief and release of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, through my devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, I cede and renounce, on behalf of these souls, all the satisfactory part of my works, and all the suffrages which may be given to me after my death. In their entirety, I offer them to Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God, that she may use them, according to her good pleasure, for those souls of the faithful departed whom she desires to alleviate their suffering. O my God, deign to accept and bless my offering which I make to Thee through the most august Queen of Heaven and Earth. Amen.

For those who may argue against praying 'for the dead'.
II Maccabees 12:43-46 : "And making a gathering, he [Judas] sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,) And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins."

Under Attack? Say the Fifteen Prayers of St Bridget!

Do you feel like your life is spiralling out of control?  And the meds aren't helping?
Do you feel unexplained aches and pains?  And the doctors can't figure out what's wrong with you?
Do you suffer feelings of worthlessness and depression?  And you just don't know why because you have a great job, fantastic friends and a marvellous family?
Do you hear voices that tell you to kill yourself?  For whatever reason?  And nothing's wrong with your hearing?

Then perhaps you should stop taking the pills, stop seeing the doctors and stop sitting in a dark room, and STOP feeling panicky because you just don't know what is wrong.

Say the Fifteen Prayers of St Bridget (see tab above) and don't stop even if things seem to be get worse.  They WILL get worse for a day or two before they get better.  And the darkness lifts from your life.

Take it from one who let the darkness stay for ten years.  That was too big a chunk of my life to lose.

Why Do I Believe In Purgatory?

Actually I find myself shaking my head at this question.  For a Catholic like me, the belief in Purgatory is dogma. 

Canon XXX Session VI Of The Council Of Trent
"If any one saith that after the grace of Justification has been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the debt of eternal punishement is blotted out in such wise that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged, either in this world, or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven can be opened to him - let him be anathema."

Decree Concerning Purgatory : Council of Trent : Session XXV
"Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the sacred writitngs, and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught in sacred councils and very recently in this Ecumenical Synod, that there is a Purgatory and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the Faithful, but particularly by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar - the Holy Synod enjoins on bishops that they diligently endeavour that the sound doctrine concerning Purgatory, transmitted by the holy Fathers and sacred councils, be believed, maintained, taught, and everywhere proclaimed by the Faithful of Christ."

I'm not going to bother going into the explanation of why I have to be obedient to the shepherds of my church... just read the lives of the saints and anyone can see how much obedience was relevant to their spiritual lives.

But, being a questioning person and someone who likes to know why, I thought about finding out about Purgatory.  I am not going to be like some of the people I have come across on the Internet who proclaim loudly that Purgatory is a lie Purgatory is a falsehood... and when I ask them to tell me why, they fall silent.  I think they have put so much faith in someone in their lives that they believe everything the person tells them but they do not know why.

Logically when something is already put in place and you are obedient to it, especially when it has been the tradition and  belief of CENTURIES, it is not wrong.  For hundreds and thousands of people (and most of them so much more exalted and saintly compared to my poor self) have all these years of experience in this.  I'd rather believe them than someone who only began thinking about Purgatory two years ago.  Makes sense, don't you think?  After all, a lot of the people who have had encounters with souls from Purgatory have been canonised.  Am I going to say all of them are wrong, misled and high on drugs?  

Just take a look at this incomplete list of saints who have prayed and offered suffrages for the souls in Purgatory.

1.  St Catherine of Genoa (lived 1447-1510)She personally experienced the flames of Purgatory and wrote The Treatise on Purgatory http://www.catholictreasury.info/books/treatise_on_purgatory/.

2.  St Gertrude the Great (lived 1256-1302)

3.  St John Chrysostom (lived 347-407)

4.  St Augustine (lived 354-430)

5.  St James The Apostle (born in the First Century)

6.  St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)

7.  St John Vianney (1786-1859)

8.  St Nicholas of Tolentino (1245-1305)
In 1884 Nicholas was proclaimed by Pope Leo XIII "Patron of the Souls in Purgatory".

9.  St Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938)
Was given the grace of being with the souls in purgatory.

10.  St Lidwina (1380-1433)
She visited Purgatory.

11.  St. Lutgarda

12.  St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

13.  St Peter Damien (1007-1072)

14.  St Magdalen de Pazzi (died 1607)
Was brought to see the souls in purgatory.

15.  St Malachy (1094-1198)

16.  St Peter Claver (1580-1654)

17.  St Vincent Ferrer (1357-1419)

18.  St Gregory of Nyssa (died 386)

19.  Blessed Anna of the Angels Monteagudo (1602-1686)

20.  Blessed Eugenie Smet (1825-1871)
Also known as Blessed Mary of Providence, she established the Society of Helpers of the Holy Souls in France, Paris (19 Jan 1856). 

21.  Venerable Catherine Paluzzi

All one has to do is look at the years these saints lived and died and you can see that they are spread out throughout known history.  If purgatory is a lie, it is a very well-crafted and well-organized lie.  Imagine getting all these people to lie consistently about the same details.  And I'm getting pretty tired of hearing of how good the Vatican is at putting together falsehoods to keep their 'sheep' in ignorance. 

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

Abraham Lincoln, (attributed) 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

The way some people talk about the Catholics as if we are all dull-headed and stupid and mindless sheep borders on the insulting and actually inspires me to stay away from them.  They are so blinded in their erroneous beliefs that they refuse to hear other than what they are saying.

It's so SIMPLE.  If you want to find out about something, do your research.

And there are so many books and articles on Purgatory.  Anyone who reads the books with an open heart should be more than satisfied as to Purgatory's existence. 

Besides, Purgatory is a LOGICAL state.  For if we are not so evil that we deserve Hell and yet not so saintly that we deserve Heaven, where do we go, especially when the Bible keeps telling us in many verses that sin cannot enter heaven.

"And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." Revelation 21:27

So where are we purified?  There has to be a middle state, other than Heaven or Hell.  Some say we are purified on earth.  Ah but what if you die before you have begun atoning?  What happens then?

There are also those who believe that once you have accepted salvation in Christ, you are saved.  All you need is faith.  Well, sorry, but here's another Bible verse :

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." James 2:19

So you've got company with the devils.  But don't tell me the devils go to Heaven too.

Here are some of the books I have been reading... and I RECOMMEND them most highly.  May God bless all in search in truth!

 

Charity For The Suffering Souls by Rev. John A. Nageleisen

 

 Purgatory : Explained By The Lives and Legends of The Saints by Fr. F. X. Schouppe

  
Hungry Souls : Supernatural Visits, Messages, and Warnings from Purgatory by Gerard J.M. Van Den Aardweg and Janusz Rosikon

Susan Tassone's books on purgatory http://susantassone.com/books/

Reading The Lives of The Saints

In the beginning of my quest to learn more about God and to become closer to Him, I came across a suggestion by someone.  That person suggested that one can read the lives of the saints.  I forgotten who said it but I also came across the same thing in Sr Emmanuel's book where she wrote that the Gospa wishes us to read about the lives of the saints.

Since then I have read countless books and articles on saints such as :

St Bridget of Sweden
St Therese of Lisieux
The Cure of Ars
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
St Anne
St Joachim
Blessed Mary of Agreda
St Gertrude

and many more!

What I have found is the great love they all had for God.  The way they lived their lives were done as closely as possible to what they thought God wanted.  And as a result, they put into word and action their love for their fellow men, in whose faces they saw Jesus.

In the beginning, I found it hard to accept some of the things I read, for I am a product of this world... I have read the magazines & books and I have watched thousands of hours of television programs that keep on telling me, in a sort of mantra :

Put yourself first.
Go for success.
Money is king.
Image is important.
Be assertive and don't let others push you around.
Don't let others cheat you.

But all of these things are WRONG for...

How can I put myself first when God wants me to put myself least?
Success in this world is symbolized by bank account total and size of assets...but how can I accumulate all that if I am required to be charitable and to share what I have with those in need??  And there are so many more people in need than there is money in my pocket :(
To have the right image for this world requires a certain amount of vanity and money invested in hair saloons makeup studios boutiques.
The saints accepted all their suffering and even calumny in silence.  They didn't hit back and just offered their suffering up to God. 
The best part yet, all the suffering offered up to God were able to save souls!

But it's been three years now... and I have not stopped reading the lives of the saints.  Amazingly my way of thinking is also changing.  For once in my life, I now understand the bible verses Matthew 5:38-40. 

I will tell anyone that reading the lives of the saints would be very very beneficial... just read with an open heart and you'd be amazed at the gems you will discover.

Confraternity of The Most Holy Rosary

Three years into my spiritual journey, I reached a point where I felt like making another commitment... other than becoming a member of FOSS. 

After going through some questions about the rosary (and getting my answers), I decided to join the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary.  The decision felt so good :) 

All I needed to do was to make sure I did a full fifteen-decade rosary a week, an effort I would be sharing with countless others throughout the world.  I would be making sure that I'd never forget milestones in Jesus' life... especially the sorrowful ones.  Meditating on The Passion of Christ is such an amazing experience... only those who have tried it know what I am talking about.  And everyone who tries it WILL know what I am talking about. 

One of my ongoing discoveries about myself is that the more I read and learn about God, about Jesus and all His Saints and Angels, the more revelations and wonders I uncover and understand.

I had been guilty of thinking of my God as removed from me and my life when the truth is that He is very much part of my life and so are his saints and angels.  And when I read of incidents such as the one below, I feel such a surge of love and warmth... I also wonder just how many times my own guardian angel 'saved' me without my knowledge.  Such 'rescues' may not be as obvious as the one experienced by Michael the soldier but I have no doubt that they were just as critical.

What I repost below comes from another website ... just click on the title below to go to that website.

Incredible Miracle: U.S. Marine Saved by Saint Michael

This is the true story of a Marine wounded in Korea in 1950. Writing to his mother, he told her of a fascinating encounter he experienced in the war.  Father Walter Muldy, a navy chaplain who spoke to the young Marine and his mother as well as to the outfit commander, always affirmed the veracity of this narrative. We heard it from someone who read the original letter and retell the story here in all its details and in the first person to better convey some of the impact it must have had when first told by the son to his mother.

• Click here to print the novena to Saint Michael
• Michael, Michael of the Morning Prayer
• Saint Michael Chaplet
• Prayer to Saint Michael
• Video:  Where Saint Michael Appeared

Dear Mom,

I am writing to you from a hospital bed. Don't worry, Mom, I am okay. I was wounded, but the doctor says that I will be up in no time.

But that's not what I have to tell you, Mom. Something happened to me that I don't dare tell anyone else for fear of their disbelief. But I have to tell you, the one person I can confide in, though even you may find it hard to believe.

You remember the prayer to Saint Michael that you taught me to pray when I was little: "Michael, Michael of the morning,…" Before I left home for Korea, you urged me to remember this prayer before any confrontation with the enemy. But you really didn't have to remind me, Mom. I have always prayed it, and when I got to Korea, I sometimes said it a couple of times a day while marching or resting.

Well, one day, we were told to move forward to scout for Commies. It was a really cold day. As I was walking along, I perceived another fellow walking beside me, and I looked to see who it was.

He was a big fellow, a Marine about 6'4" and built proportionally. Funny, but I didn't know him, and I thought I knew everyone in my unit. I was glad to have the company and broke the silence between us:

"Chilly today, isn't it?" Then I chuckled because suddenly it seemed absurd to talk about the weather when we were advancing to meet the enemy.
He chuckled too, softly.

"I thought I knew everyone in my outfit," I continued, " but I have never seen you before."

"No," he agreed, "I have just joined. The name is Michael."

"Really?! That's mine, too."

"I know," the Marine said, "Michael, Michael of the morning…."

Mom, I was really surprised that he knew about my prayer, but I had taught  it to many of the other guys, so I supposed that the newcomer must have picked it up from someone else. As a matter of fact, it had gotten around to the extent that some of the fellows were calling me "Saint Michael."

Then, out of the blue, Michael said, "There's going to be trouble ahead."

I wondered how he could know that. I was breathing hard from the march, and my breath hit the cold air like dense clouds of fog. Michael seemed to be in top shape because I couldn't see his breath at all. Just then, it started to snow heavily, and soon it was so dense I could no longer hear or see the rest of my outfit. I got a little scared and yelled, "Michael!" Then I felt his strong hand on my shoulder and heard his voice in my ear, "It's going to clear up soon."

It did clear up, suddenly. And then, just a short distance ahead of us, like so many dreadful realities, were seven Commies, looking rather comical in their funny hats. But there was nothing funny about them now; their guns were steady and pointed straight in our direction.

"Down, Michael!!" I yelled as I dove for cover. Even as I was hitting the ground, I looked up and saw Michael still standing, as if paralyzed by fear, or so I thought at the time. Bullets were spurting all over the place, and Mom, there was no way those Commies could have missed at that short distance. I jumped up to pull him down, and then I was hit. The pain was like a hot fire in my chest, and as I fell, my head swooned and I remember thinking, "I must be dying…" Someone was laying me down, strong arms were holding me and laying me gently on the snow. Through the daze, I opened my eyes, and the sun seemed to blaze in my eyes. Michael was standing still, and there was a terrible splendor in his face. Suddenly, he seemed to grow, like the sun, the splendor increasing intensely around him like the wings of an angel. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I saw that Michael held a sword in his hand, and it flashed like a million lights.

Later on, when I woke up, the rest of the guys came to see me with the sergeant.

"How did you do it, son?" he asked me.

"Where's Michael?" I asked in reply.

"Michael who?" The sergeant seemed puzzled.

"Michael, the big Marine walking with me, right up to the last moment. I saw him there as I fell."

"Son," the sergeant said gravely, "you're the only Michael in my unit. I hand-picked all you fellows, and there's only one Michael. You. And son, you weren't walking with anyone. I was watching you because you were too far off from us, and I was worried.

Now tell me, son," he repeated, "how did you do it?"

It was the second time he had asked me that, and I found it irritating.

"How did I do what?"

"How did you kill those seven Commies? There wasn't a single bullet fired from your rifle."

"What?"

"Come on, son. They were strewn all around you, each one killed by a swordstroke."

And that, Mom, is the end of my story. It may have been the pain, or the blazing sun, or the chilling cold. I don't know, Mom, but there is one thing I am sure about. It happened.

Love your son, Michael

• Print your novena to Saint Michael
• Michael, Michael of the Morning Prayer
• Saint Michael Chaplet
• Prayer to Saint Michael
• Video:  Where Saint Michael Appeared

The Hungry Souls of Purgatory

Recently I got myself a Kindle (ebook reader).  One of the first few ebooks I read on it was entitled 'Hungry Souls - Supernatural Visits, Messages and Warnings from Purgatory' written by Dr Gerard J.M. van den Aardweg, who is a Dutch psychotherapist in private practice.

From this book I learned about the 100-year-old Little Purgatory Museum in Rome (Piccolo Museo Del Purgatorio) which was set up by a French priest called Victor Jouet.  The priest collected relics.. proof left behind by the holy souls of Purgatory.  Finger prints burned into a prayer book, a handprint burned into a table, Similar marks on shirt sleeves, an apron, a night cap.  And all investigated thoroughly by critical personages.  You can read more here.

Face Burned Into The Wood

Relics Preserved In Glass Cases

As I read the book, I felt very moved at the information shared by people, who on the whole were reluctant at first to believe what they were experiencing.  After that, they were reluctant to share with others, for fear of being ridiculed or denounced as liars.  But how on earth would one explain a burn bad enough to sear the flesh down to the bone?  This was experienced by a lady who was visited by her lover on the same night as his death.  He came to tell her that there WAS a purgatory.

But as I read the book, and learned of the purgatory revealed to St Catherine of Genoa, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina and many others, this is what I understood.

Purgatory is a place of purification.  After death, souls will spiral towards a bright beautiful light (a Centre) from which they will feel an all-consuming desire to go to and to belong to.  But then they will sink down into the Purification.  This will happen according to their will for they will feel their unworthiness, their uncleanness to be with the magnificence of God and they WANT to be cleansed of the rust of sin.

The first phase of purification involves flames of cleansing.  One soul showed to his daughter (a nun) a cistern of smoke and flames.  From where he stood near the wll, the nun could feel the pain and overwhelming heat of the flames.  But after masses and Stations of the Cross offered for him, the soul was delivered.

Some souls were delivered from the flames to a place of contentment and peace, but not yet in Heaven.  They were still in Purgatory.  This depends on the sins borne by the souls.  But these souls still feel torment... the torment of longing to be with God that is like a physical pain.

There was even a soul of a man who lived his life far from God but he was saved from hell by the goodness and faith of his wife.  This gives hope to those of us who worry about loved ones.

These souls say that if only the living understand how terrible it is to be in Purgatory, the living would do all things possible NOT to sin.  They would do anything to expiate for their sins on earth.  For a moment on earth is an eternity in Purgatory.  The soul who beseeeched his daughter for help told her that he had been in Purgatory for six years when in fact, he had only died barely three months ago. 

Oh read this book if you can.  I promise you it will touch you and will change the way you think and the way you live.

Postscript :
On the 29th of May 2012, I visited this museum.