Since arriving in Medjugorje the Holy Spirit has asked me to pray for priests, bishops and religious in purgatory. One day I asked Jesus if any were in hell and here is what he said!

Yes!!

Firstly He showed me the terrible pain that priests and religious suffer in purgatory. It seemed well beyond the normal agony of purgatory. Now you might be wondering why does God ‘punish’ them so much but instead I want you to think of an immaculately white wedding dress that got a bottle of red wine spilt over it!

Because of it’s whiteness and the quality of the material it will need to be washed and washed and washed until it’s restored.

Similarly with priests, bishops and religious! God loves them so much that he gave them the gift of becoming priests, of serving him… But many got lost in the quest after power and have misused their priesthood and positions. The result is that their souls are black…. Dead.

But God’s mercy for His chosen ones is enormous and so many find their way to purgatory where they cry for their sins. Many times Jesus gives me inner visions of them and while their pain is desperate, so is their love and their desire to get to heaven and intercede for the purification of the Church!

The main reasons Jesus has shown me for their suffering in purgatory are…

1. Silence in their preaching and teaching where they did not teach lay people the ways of God.

2. Misusing the sacraments, giving absolution to people ‘willy nilly’ without checking for true contrition and celebrating Holy Mass without love and devotion.

3. Terrible sins against charity when it comes to the poor. Not loving and helping  the people in most need of help such as the mentally unwell, gays, thieves….

4. Sins of omission against prayer. Neglecting their own prayer lives, the divine office, adoration, rosary, intercession.

5. Spreading of false theologies and compromised teaching due to a lack of obedience to church teaching

The list could go on but they are the main ones. But going back to whether any go to hell Jesus told me that yes, many do not accept God’s mercy and choose hell!

Yesterday as I was in adoration a man of prayer passed me a leaflet with some of the visions of Saint Gemma Galgani and the Lord gave her a graphic account of what happens to the priests who go to hell. It was quite frightening really and yet it made sense, those that rebel against God the most will suffer the most!

So today let us pray for our priests that they will become men of prayer. Men of preaching, teaching and healing and that they may not only avoid hell, but that they may avoid purgatory and that they may enjoy the privileged positions in heaven that Jesus has in mind for them since the day they were conceived!

Our Lady, help our priests!

Yesterday while in Mostar thousands of holy souls surrounded me for prayer. We began to pray and I saw them getting released. Blasphemy was the main reason for their suffering. As they came to heaven they turned to light and were reunited with their families. What hit me the most was parents being reunited with their children. As I prayed about this Jesus explained that it is far easier for children to get to heaven due to their innocence than for adults who neglected their prayer.

Today Our Lady asked me to pray in a special way for souls in purgatory. When I went to adoration I had an hour long inner vision or impression of life in purgatory. Here are some of the things Jesus showed me….

-Purgatory is a place of hope. There is absolutely no doubt or despair in purgatory. Although there is terrible suffering, it is hope filled suffering.

-Purgatory is a place of absolute humility. There is not one single complaint in purgatory despite the suffering. Every soul accepts the suffering of purification in love, hope and justice as they hope for eternal bliss in heaven. The Holy Souls could teach us how to suffer perfectly.

-Purgatory is a place of the deepest of gratitude to God for saving them from hell and promising them heaven. Their gratitude and acceptance of suffering cannot but humble us when our cross seems too heavy.

-There is no sin in purgatory. Unlike here on earth where we can recall a certain sin and ‘go over’ it in our heads and fall into anger, in purgatory the entire will and intellect are absorbed in God and the purification of the soul happens passively.

-Purgatory is a place of peace and order. Because there is no sin in purgatory, nor the ability to sin, consequently there are no demons or temptations of any kind. The result is a place of perfect peace, prayer and suffering. A contemplative religious order comes to mind as a comparison.

-The souls in purgatory are extremely wise. They have infused knowledge of sin and of spiritual realities. If any one of them were to teach us they’d know more than the wisest saint.

-Purgatory is a place of love. Although helpless to help each other they do love each other and burn with a love of God.

-Purgatory is a place of different intensities of light. As the souls become more purified they shine more and more. Even the darkness places of purgatory have light, although so little due to the blackness of the darkest souls.

-There is no pure joy in purgatory. There is joy in the suffering but there is no reprieve, the suffering is constant and only in heaven will the souls be around peace. Yet the certainty of heaven make purgatory a ‘happy’ place.

-The Holy Souls love in a special way their families and loved ones on earth.

-When souls leave purgatory they shine as bright as stars and as there are brought into the presence of God they are simultaneously reunited with their families and loved ones on earth. Once in heaven there is no more account of how long they spent in purgatory. To compare would be to fall into pride.

Finally the Lord showed me many souls who had sinned far less than me who had spent a long time in purgatory. This was to teach me humility and gratitude for the grace of conversion which like all graces was completely unmerited. 

Some more of what Jesus has taught me about purgatory…. 

Purgatory is real and though it be a place of suffering and atonement, it is also a place of love and mercy. Mercy because souls who die without perfect sanctity or perfect contrition are not ‘spiritually able to stand in heaven, it is a great relief to them to find purgatory where

1. They are guaranteed of their salvation

2. They are cleansed

Suffering in in purgatory is not salvific because the soul is separated from the body. Man must atone for the sins of man and this is why the holy souls desperately need your prayers and human sacrifices. In turn, much like angels, the souls can intercede for you. Souls in purgatory are especially active in the reconciliation of families since this is often the area where the  greatest divides have happened. What they once hid in secrecy in their earthly lives they now desperately try to reveal in purgatory so that

1. It may be atoned for

2. Demonic strongholds may be broken

Souls in purgatory are full of love and mercy and when they pass to heaven they will stand as special intercessors for you.

Purgatory has different levels depending on the state of the soul. It could be likened to a hospital where this is everything from the acute emergency care to minor. The soul in purgatory has a ‘spirit body’ and the suffering they experience corresponds to where they sinned with their physical bodies, such is the link between spirit and flesh. Souls in purgatory are not any less loved by God than those in heaven, they are by no means second class saints. 

Traditionally in the Catholic Church the month of November is a special month of prayer for the ‘Holy Souls’  (souls in purgatory) .

As I have been praying over the past few days and weeks I’ve been particularly drawn to these souls.  Firstly there are a few myths in relation to purgatory . . .

The Catholic Church teaches that purgatory is a part of the heavens where many souls go to be fully purified before entering heaven.  As we all know spiritual transformation is a process and so God in His kindness has allowed for there to be a way to complete what may not have been done on earth. A soul that converts at the last minute for example may need to pass some time in purgatory before entering into the eternal bliss of heaven.

Souls in purgatory are a bit like people in hospital who can’t get out of bed!  They are utterly dependent on others to help them!  The soul in purgatory cannot pray for itself as in order for prayer to be effective they need a body. . . . . Mine and yours!

And so just like we can visit the sick in hospital with a bag of apples and a chat,  we can ‘visit’  the Holy Souls by simply thinking of them and by praying for them.

While the sick man in hospital can’t help himself,  if you sit and listen he could give you much wisdom! Similarly the Holy Souls can help us so that we can learn from their lives.  Many if they could live all over would do things differently.

They may not speak to us directly but through their intercession we might just pick up that book or read this blog and say ‘hey,  that makes sense.

When they get to heaven these souls will become our extra special friends and help us in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways.
Perhaps take a moment,  reflect that there may be a soul in your family that God desires to bring to heaven this month. Your prayers can do just this!  Bring that soul or souls to the next Holy Mass you attend,  say a decade of the rosary or make a small sacrifice for the release of that soul.

If you are attentive you will receive ‘signal graces’ and you’ll know when to stop.  I was once praying for a deceased elderly man I knew who wore a cap!  After mass that day an old man dropped his hat and I had to give it to him. . . These little ‘coincidences’ are one of the ways how the saints and angels communicate with us!

God bless all today,  thanks for reading!