St Gregory Purgatorial Society High Mass event

Dear Friends,

The Annual Mass for the members of the St Gregory Purgatorial Society will be on Saturday, November 2, at 11 a.m. at St Stanislaus Church (New Haven). It will be a Solemn High Mass.

The enrollment of our beloved family and friends in the Purgatorial Society is an act of love and hope. As we know from the revelation of Sacred Scripture: nothing unclean can enter Heaven and enjoy the Beatific Vision.

The Souls in Purgatory need our help to get to Heaven. We can do this my enrolling the names in the Purgatorial Society for November 2nd. Each First Friday of the year the Souls are remembered at the 8:00 a.m. Mass and in the rosary. This is an annual enrollment from November to November.

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die …” – John 11:25-26

links: http://saint-gregory.org/purgatorial-society/ 

http://saint-gregory.org/

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Paul A. Zalonski
Catholic Connecticut
255 Foxon Hill Road
East Haven, CT 06513-1216 USA

Paul's email: CatholicCT@gmail.com

Follow Paul on Twitter @CatholicCT
Connect on Facebook "Catholic Connecticut CatholicCT"

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Purgatorial Mass

Dear Friends,

During the month of November Catholics pray for the holy souls in purgatory. Purgatory is for those souls who are holy, but not quite holy enough and need purification prior to entering into the Beatific Vision. Hence, the souls in purgatory are in need our prayers and good works, especially those who have been forgotten. The St. Gregory Purgatorial Society is oriented toward assisting these souls and in the process we can grow in holiness ourselves.

The Purgatorial Mass is on Tuesday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Stanislaus Church (New Haven, CT). The Missa Cantata with Absolutions at Catafalque will be offered for those souls enrolled in the Purgatorial Society on this day and on each First Friday of the coming year.

Complete and mail form: 

To...
St. Gregory Society
PO Box 891
New Haven, CT 06504

St. Gertrude, pray for all the Souls in the St. Gregory Purgatorial Society.

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Contributor: Paul A. Zalonski
Catholic Connecticut
255 Foxon Hill Road
East Haven, CT 06513-1216 USA

Email Paul directly: CatholicCT@gmail.com

Follow Paul on Twitter @CatholicCT
Connect with Paul on Facebook "Catholic Connecticut CatholicCT" 

Living in a home with entities

I know many people who read this story aren't going to believe it, but this is the true story of my life, living in a home with at least three entities (according to one priest), and one of them possibly demonic. 

In 1999, I purchased my current home. The house was originally the town creamery, built in 1870 and years later converted into a private home. I had grown up in one of the oldest homes still standing in my small hometown, built in 1745. I am used to thumps, bumps and creeks in an old home, and I don’t spook easily. 

On April 1, 1999, my then husband and our two young daughters moved from our apartment into our own home and we were thrilled. We had spent two months remodeling, painting and installing new floors and carpet before we moved in. The house had been lived in by two elderly people for decades. The husband died and the wife was unable to live alone. I knew the couple all my life and their executor knew I was looking for a home in that town at the time so came to me offering the house before it was listed. Part of the deal was, we had to clean it out. I didn’t know what that would mean, but I wanted the house, so we agreed to purchase the house and clean it out. 

The house was full of garbage, literal and figurative. The kitchen cabinets and draws had been stuffed with bones. Hundreds of bones from assorted animals, we suspect some from the yard and some they had eaten. Animal skeletons were in the basement and in the sheds on the property. There were collections of bone cutting knives, the likes of which I had never seen before. 

During this time of cleaning and remodeling, windows would close, doors would open and things would go ‘bump’. I didn’t pay much attention to any of it, as I said having grown up in an old house I know these things can happen if a house is not level or air flowing from floor to floor can swing doors open or slam them shut. 

About a week living in the house, my children were sleeping upstairs and I was downstairs still awake. My husband came downstairs to go out to the back porch to smoke (no smoking in the house was our rule). While he was outside I heard what sounded like furniture being dragged from one end of the upstairs to the other. I froze. First, there were no adults upstairs, only my children who were both preschool ages. Second, the entire upstairs was newly carpeted and what I was hearing was the sound of heavy furniture being dragged across a hardwood floor. 

I quickly went upstairs and checked every room. Nothing. The children were sleeping soundly and I heard nothing while I was up there. I went downstairs and sat down and listened. This happened again. Again I went upstairs and found nothing moved. 

Back downstairs I sat and listened, the noise started right back up again. My husband came in and I asked him to sit and listen for a moment. He sat with his eyes closed, half asleep at the table with me. Then his eyes popped open. He heard the loud sound of something being dragged around upstairs. Together we went up stairs and searched again. Found nothing moved and kids sound asleep. He went to bed after a while and I stayed up sitting in the hallway to listen. Not a single sound as long as I was upstairs. 

Back downstairs an hour or so later and the moving sound started back up again. All night long this repeated. I slept that night on the floor of the children’s room. 

Another day, I was sitting in the family room folding laundry when a snake appeared in the middle of the room. This house has a full basement, and sits well above the ground. I have no idea how any snake could get into the house, let alone my family room (which has no doors to the outside), but there it was slithering across the room. Took me and my husband a while to catch it (kept going under our furniture), but we did and removed it from the house. 

Around early June, I heard a hissing sound in my dining room. My husband was at work, so I called my father who lives close to come over and check it out. I was worried it was a pipe or even another snake in the house. After listening and searching we found the spot where the hissing sound was coming from.  It was about 4 feet off the ground in my dining room in one spot and nowhere else. In the middle of the air, not coming from a wall or ceiling or floor- just the middle of the air. We could find nothing anywhere to explain it. I then began to feel uneasy about this hissing sound. I began to think it was sinister. The hissing continued for over an hour then stopped- for the moment. 

The week before Fourth of July, we cleaned out the basement (which we had left for last) and got rid of the last remnants of the previous owners property. That weekend, the house went wild with noises and things moving, doors slamming, open windows closing and the sound of people talking. It was so bad we nearly left and went to my parent’s house. I was a Baptist at this time, so there was no holy water to be had. 

Instead I reached for my bible and went from room to room reading scripture and telling whatever was in the house it was not welcome. I told it to “shut up” and “get lost” (I was tired and fed up and I had two kids who needed sleep and I didn’t want them terrorized). I don’t know why it worked but the house went silent and we all finally slept. 

For years this continued. All our family and friends knew about the “activity” in our house, some preferred to stay outside during our cookouts and family gatherings. 

Whenever things got overly “active” I would go room to room reading the scriptures as I had done years ago. This helped the situation, but it never cured the problem. 

By the fall of 2006, I was divorced for several years and my children and I were beginning to prepare for entering the Catholic Church that Easter of 2007. This year was full of new things for all of us, including praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  Just before Lent began in 2007, I decided my children and I would start a tradition of coming up with a living person to pray for during Lent and someone who had passed away. We printed out prayers with our intentions and each evening we would include them in our nightly prayers. 

The house activity picked up noticeably every Lent. But now we had Catholic prayers and holy water at our disposal. If you are wondering if I had spoken to a priest yet, the answer is no. I was a new Catholic and was afraid the priest would think I was nuts. Plus, I had been “dealing” with whatever was in the house for years by this time, so I thought I could handle it. 

Lent of 2010 started out the same as our previous Lenten seasons, we still picked out people to pray for and printed out specific prayers we would pray daily for them. One night, my now twelve year old daughter was screaming and crying hysterically in her room. I ran upstairs to find her white. Now, I have heard that expression before, but I had never seen someone go white. She was white and shaking uncontrollably. She couldn’t even talk for a while, I half carried and half walked her downstairs. I was on the verge of calling 911 because she wasn’t making any sense and I didn’t know what was wrong with her. Finally, she began to talk and told me a ‘woman’ woke her up yelling at her. Telling her, no one really loves her, that her life isn’t worth living and she’s ugly and useless and no one wants her around and that she should just die. This female entity held my daughter down and terrorized her with insults and vulgar language for quite awhile before she was able to cry out and get my attention. 

I was furious. I went room from room with Holy Water and the Saint Michael prayer and some Hail Mary’s telling this thing it was not welcome in our home and was not allowed to speak ever again. My daughter never again slept in that room. 

About a week later, my eldest daughter (about 15 at the time) heard growling in the upstairs hallway and a gurgling sound beside her bed. She said it sounded like someone dying. The growling was loudest in the upstairs hallway. She was too terrified to leave her room, so she covered her head with her blankets and cried until she finally got the courage to dart out of bed and run downstairs. 

Our family room was converted into a family bedroom with no one willing to sleep upstairs. For almost a year, no one slept upstairs in our home. We were prisoners to these entities. 

We never verbally heard from that female entity again, but she wasn’t done. The seed had been planted. My daughter, who had been active in sports, school groups etc, fell into a quiet depression. She didn’t laugh like she used to and she didn’t seem herself. For a year, unknown to myself, my daughter began cutting herself. This thing had told her to hurt herself. 

When I discovered what was going on, my daughter went into specialized therapy and I went to my parish priest (I’ll call Father M). I told him the whole story and asked him what I should do. He told me I was doing everything right (the Holy Water, prayers, getting my daughter help etc). He said he would put me in touch with the Dioceses if the situation got any worse. A week later, that priest was moved to another parish, so I had no more contact with him. I kept doing what he’d told me with the Holy Water and prayers. 

Things calmed down a bit and we re-arranged upstairs bedrooms (the room with the female entity has to this day never been slept in again by anyone). That room is used for storage only. 

A few years ago, my youngest daughter woke up to find bizarre "foot/hand-prints" on her ceiling and walls. They were blueish in color and didn't look human or like any animal we knew of. We took several photos, if you can tell it looks like a foot but with a long "toe" sticking out to the right and then smaller toes at the top. Just weird stuff and it was ALL over the ceiling and walls. 

bizarre foot-like print found on the ceiling

While sitting in the family room one day, my youngest daughter and I were talking when we both heard my name called by a man, which sounded to both of us like my deceased grandfather. We looked around the house inside and outside to see who could have called my name. There was no one there but the two of us. On another occasion my mother was over, we were watching a movie and there was a crash in the kitchen, the cooking timer had been thrown across the room and was spinning on the floor. We had yet another snake in the house and more than one bat (though that could merely be natural) making its way into our home.

One night, when the kids were sleeping I was folding laundry on the couch and separated it into different piles for the kids to take upstairs the next day. I fell asleep watching TV and woke some time later to find all the laundry moved from the couch, neatly piled up in the doorway of the family room blocking my way  from leaving the room. And I felt like I wasn’t alone. I knew something was watching me, perhaps watching for my reaction to what it had done. That disturbed me because I never heard it and whatever it was, was right beside me- not to mention, moving two full baskets of laundry and neatly stacking them in the doorway is creepy!

It was time to talk to the new priest (I’ll call Father J). Father J was eager to listen and make suggestions. He said he didn’t have the “discernment” ability to tell me what sort of entities I had, but told me he believes there are “at least three entities” in my home. He wanted me to investigate the home’s history (I did only a little to discover it was a creamery. I didn’t look into any deaths on the property- I don’t think I really wanted to know those answers to be honest). Father J also suggested I contact Lorraine Warren (Catholic paranormal investigator) and watch “The Conjuring” movie. I did not contact Catholic "medium" Lorraine Warren,(I can’t say for sure why, but it didn’t’ feel like the right thing to do at the time). I did watch the movie- didn’t really help me much. What did help was he prayed over, blessed and poured Holy Water over several crucifixes then he said to put them around my home. And he told me to continue with the Saint Michael prayers and the Rosary. I did and things went completely silent for months. The first real peace we had ever had in this house. 

I was also discussing these things with our parish deacon, who is currently in seminary to become a priest. He too, was helpful and eager to listen. I've worked with two Franciscan nuns also who have helped in their prayers for us and sharing suggestions that might help. I've had a lovely statue of the Holy Virgin Mary blessed and placed it in my window. And I've prayed specific prayers to Mary asking for her protection against any evil in the house. I think this might have been the most effective thing I’ve done. 

Father J would check up on me occasionally to see how things were going, and they were better. The blessed items and frequent Holy Water around the house and prayers kept things quiet. Until Lent. 

Every year during Lent the house gets active. We decided to stop praying for the dead in our house, and instead pray for them at church. This helped greatly. I don’t really understand it, but according to Father J, if you live around water, you can have more activity with entities. My house is nearly surrounded by water. I have a brook that runs the property line and a large pond in the backyard. Father J, told me about an elderly woman in another town he had helped some years ago, that had entities coming out of a nearby pond the moment her husband died and began wreaking havoc in her home. Apparently people had been drowned in that pond long ago. 

Soon after, Father J was shuffled off to another parish just like Father M had been. The new priest was not approachable on the subject of entities and such, so I went to another parish entirely to continue working with a priest on this matter. Father E was…well, thrilled with my house. He had only heard of one other home, but nothing as active as our home and this was his first dealing with such a situation. Father E would call to check on us and we would meet with him occasionally to update him on how things were going. He prayed for us and blessed more items to place around the house. Things in the house were manageable. I had found a balance with the blessed items, Holy Water and prayers keeping the house rather quiet. Father E is no longer in Connecticut, so I am once more without a priest to help deal with this house; though things have gotten much better over the last few years. I am hoping to find another priest soon and have him over to bless the house and property and any new Catholic items I have to place around the house- though we've got quite a bit already.

My youngest daughter spent her teen years battling depression and self harm. Another priest, via the Internet, turned my attention back to Vatican Exorcist Father Amorth (I had read him years ago) and his prayers for parents to pray for the deliverance of their children from demonic attacks! I had never heard of that before. I didn’t know that I had any “power” over demonic attacks to my children, but according to this exorcist all parents do. In Amorth’s book “An Exorcist Tells His Story” there are “prayers of deliverance” at the back of the book for the laity to pray, that I began praying for my daughter. I believe these helped her. She has since graduated high school and is a college student – the self harm has stopped. Thanks be to God. 

Our house has been very quiet for months now, peaceful actually. Though as it is Lent, I can’t help but feel a little nervous that at any moment, all hell is going to break loose again. More than one priest has warned that trying to remove something from a home, can often make things much more violent and stirred up. For us, it’s all about maintaining the status quo in this house until someone figures out what we are dealing with and how to remove it/them. So we take it day by day and are enjoying the peace we seem to have found at the moment. 


In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

If you have any such experiences, please share them with me. I would love to hear from you- especially from any priests! 

Sunday Review

This post is about some things that caught my eye this week. The good, the bad, the ugly and the ironic. 

Before I get to that, I've come to the conclusion that the Holy Father has an extremely narrow view of the world. All his constant talk of helping the poor (a given for any decent human being) and pushing for a larger role of women in the Church (deaconesses etc) and of course more "dialogue" is because Pope Francis, for all his globalist talk doesn't actually look at the global Catholic Church. I think he sees only the environment he was in and applies that to the entire world. 

What the Church and status of people are/look like in Argentina is not what the Church looks like in the United States, the United Kingdom or any where else. This article by Rome Reports reflects my thoughts on the influence Argentina has on Pope Francis and the Bishops of Argentina. 

On Friday, Pope Francis (again) talked of expanding the role of women in the Church...

quote Catholic Online: If women are able to freely put their gifts at the service of the entire community, "the way in which society understands and is organized is positively transformed, reflecting better the substantial unity of the human family," he said.
Because of this, a beneficial model for society is one that amplifies the presence of women in social, economic and political life at the local, national and international levels, "as well as in the ecclesial," he said.
"Women have the right to be actively involved in all areas, and their right must be asserted and protected even by legal means wherever they prove necessary."
This, Francis said, involves "expanding the spaces of a more incisive feminine presence." 

And: 

quote: However, "women can also become fully involved in exchanges at the religious level, as well as those at the theological level," the Pope said, noting that many women "are well prepared to face encounters of interreligious dialogue at the highest levels and not just from the Catholic side.""This means that the contribution of women is not limited to 'feminine' arguments or to encounters of only women," he said, adding that dialogue "is a path that man and woman must accomplish together."

...has he seen the Church in the United States? Women run nearly everything! I'd like to hear the pope speak to the problems in the United States...abortion, euthanasia, birth control, fornication- specifically the number of Catholics who live together before marriage, immodest clothing- when was the last time anyone ever heard about dressing modestly so you don't cause someone else to lust? There are dozens upon dozens of topics that Catholics in the United States (and other countries) need to hear our pope discuss, but all we get is more social agenda speeches about women's roles and the environment. It's disheartening. 

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Now for the Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Ironic stuff...

The Good... 

This story is from last month but I apparently missed it. A friend sent it to me this week. The fantastic story of Father Maniyangat, who died and was taken by his guardian angel to Hell, then Purgatory and finally to Heaven where Jesus spoke to him telling him “I want you to go back to the world. In your second life, you will be an instrument of peace and healing to My people. You will walk in a foreign land and you will speak in a foreign tongue. Everything is possible for you with My grace.." ! 

Quote: "First the angel escorted me to hell. It was an awful sight! I saw Satan and the devils, an unquenchable fire of about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, worms crawling, people screaming and fighting, others being tortured by demons. The angel told me that all these sufferings were due to unrepented mortal sins. Then, I understood that there are seven degrees of suffering or levels according to the number and kinds of mortal sins committed in their earthly lives. The souls looked very ugly, cruel and horrific. It was a fearful experience. I saw people whom I knew, but I am not allowed to reveal their identities. The sins that convicted them were mainly abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, hatefulness, unforgiveness and sacrilege. The angel told me that if they had repented, they would have avoided hell and gone instead to purgatory. I also understood that some people who repent from these sins might be purified on earth through their sufferings. This way they can avoid purgatory and go straight to heaven. I was surprised when I saw in hell even priests and Bishops, some of whom I never expected to see. Many of them were there because they had misled the people with false teaching and bad example."

Source: Priest Testifies to His Experience of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory After Death and His Return to His Body

I highly recommend reading this story if you haven't already! Good stuff! 

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The Bad... 

Whenever we see Catholic clergy leading people into mortal sin it is bad, there is nothing, zero, nada good to be found in this story for Catholics in the United States. 

Quote: "CHICAGO, June 9, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — American Cardinal Blase Cupich has written a glowing introduction to the English translation of a high-ranking Vatican prelate’s new book that calls for Holy Communion to be given to civilly-divorced-and-remarried Catholics living in adultery as well as to cohabiting Catholics." 

and...

"Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legal Texts, argues in his book that Amoris Laetitia “could allow access to Penance and the Eucharist for the faithful who find themselves in an irregular union.” He explains “irregular union” applies to “all those who are married only civilly or living with a de facto union or tied to a previous canonical marriage.”
He argues that Amoris Laetitia allows for Catholic couples regularly committing acts of adultery to only have a “desire to change and the inability to do so” in order to receive Holy Communion."

The seeds of Pope Francis' Amoris Laetitia are being reaped and the crop is deadly weeds spawned from Hell. 

Source: U.S. cardinal writes forward to new book approving Communion for adulterers 

While that is bad, there is hope coming from the Bishops in Poland (God bless them!)

For more hope read: Polish bishops’ conference calls civilly-divorced-and-remarried Catholics to ‘true conversion,’ not communion

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The Ugly...

This is ugly and evil. Yesterday in New York City a large group of people decided to protest something (I really don't understand what exactly) by getting completely naked covering themselves only in body paint and walking down the streets of New York in front of families, children and tourists who had no idea what they were in for. 

It was disgusting. As Wayne Dupree puts it..."These Americans decided to walk down the streets of New York City with nothing but just body paint in protest of freedom I guess. Most will call it repulsive and childish. I call it a spirit of evil." 

I agree with Mr. Dupree. 

Source: Liberals Go Super Extreme! Body Paint Protests Through NY City

*warning: don't click the video of the "protest" its full of nudity


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The Ironic... 

Pope Francis is speaking out about "the people being scandalized" by priests and he's putting his foot down! The irony is he's not worried about the scandalized folks still reeling from the things he's said ('who am I to judge?', 'don't breed like rabbits' etc) or by liberal priests leading people toward Hell with heretical teachings. Nope. Rather the pope is putting his foot down (rightly so) to prevent people from being scandalized because priests in Nigeria are protesting the pope's pick for Bishop. 

Imagine for a moment, that the following statement by Pope Francis were about the people scandalized by priests supporting the LBGTQxyz agenda, or "Catholic" politicians supporting abortion, birth control, euthanasia etc., or priests giving Holy Communion to people in mortal sin, or Catholic clergy and parishes marching in gay pride parades! All we can do is imagine, because our Holy Father is silent on these scandalous situations and the damage it is doing to the laity. 

Quote: According to the pope's remarks posted by Kaigama, Francis said, "I think that, in this case, we are not dealing with tribalism, but with an attempted taking of the vineyard of the Lord." The pope also referred to "the parable of the murderous tenants" in Matthew 21:33-44.
"Whoever was opposed to Bishop Okpaleke taking possession of the diocese wants to destroy the church. This is forbidden," the pope said.
Francis said he even had considered "suppressing the diocese, but then I thought that the church is a mother and cannot abandon her many children."
Instead, he said, every priest of the diocese, whether residing in Nigeria or abroad, is to write a letter to him asking for forgiveness because "we all must share this common sorrow."
Each priest's letter, he said, "must clearly manifest total obedience to the pope" and indicate a willingness "to accept the bishop whom the pope sends and has appointed."
"The letter must be sent within 30 days, from today to July 9th, 2017. Whoever does not do this will be ipso facto suspended 'a divinis' and will lose his current office," the pope said, according to the posts.
"This seems very hard, but why must the pope do this?" Francis asked. "Because the people of God are scandalized. Jesus reminds us that whoever causes scandal must suffer the consequences."

If only our Holy Father would put his foot down over the things that actually scandalize Catholic laity on a daily basis around the world! We'd have a whole new Church! Guess the people who are scandalized by these things just don't bother the Pope much.

Source: Pope tells Nigerian priests accept bishop or be suspended



In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 




Sources:

http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=75145

http://www.romereports.com/2017/06/10/the-homeland-that-shaped-pope-francis

http://catholicsay.com/priest-testifies-to-his-experience-of-heaven-hell-and-purgatory-after-death-and-his-return-to-his-body/

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-tells-nigerian-priests-accept-bishop-or-be-suspended

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/u.s.-cardinal-writes-forward-to-new-book-approving-communion-for-adulterers

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/polish-bishops-conference-calls-civilly-divorced-and-remarried-catholics-to 

Praying for the dead and All Soul's Day

Rather than repeat my thoughts on All Soul's Day and praying for the dead, I am sharing a link to what I wrote a year ago.


Please check it out: HERE.

http://connecticutcatholiccorner.blogspot.com/2013/11/all-souls-day-praying-for-dead.html



In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

All Souls' Day: Praying for the Dead

Today is “All Souls Day” in the Catholic Church.  The purpose of All Soul’s Day is to commemorate the faithful departed.  Most specifically those who have died in the last year.

We commemorate them with prayers and Mass -though these things should NOT be limited to All Soul’s Day alone.  We should continue to pray for our dead and have Masses said for them year round to help them should they be in Purgatory.  The Jewish people have prayed for their dead (Kaddishor Kadis) for thousands of years- long before the Catholic Church existed.  So this is not something the Catholic Church made up, nor is it a pagan practice.

Why pray for the dead?

“It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be freed from sins.” (IIMach. 12:46)

Because it helps those in Purgatory who at this point can no longer pray for themselves.  They are in need of prayers and Masses being said for them to complete their purgatory time.

Purgatory is a process (and often considered a place) which the departed on their way to heaven (if you are going the Other Direction you don’t go to Purgatory) are purged of venial sin.  If you have Mortal Sin on your soul at the time of your death… well it’s called “Mortal” for a reason.

Purgatory PURGES and PURIFIES your soul before you can enter Heaven, because as the Sacred Scriptures declare NOTHING impure can enter into Heaven. 

Rev. 21: “ ²⁷ There shall not enter into it anything defiled, or that worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they that are written in the book of life of the Lamb.”

All must be cleansed and will be purified with fire according to Sacred Scripture: Mark 9:49 “For everyone shall be salted with fire.”

There is even a Purgatory Museum in Rome of artifacts touched by those suffering in Purgatory.

Many misinformed protestants will snarl “Jesus already paid for our sin!” yes He did and that opened the door to Heaven for us.  To enter through the door Jesus opened WE must be pure.  If we have ANY sin on us, we are NOT pure and must be purified.  THAT is Purgatory.

Picture the gates of Heaven open with Jesus in the doorway with His arms wide open.  Between you and Jesus is a fire you must walk through.  Along that walk all the filth of sin is burnt off you and when you walk out on the other side you are like refined gold walking straight into Jesus’ arms.  You’ve just been purified by Purgatory.

Now some people walk through the flames of Purgatory quickly because they have fewer sins on their soul.  Others have many sins and the purifying fires take longer to cleanse them.  While they are “suffering” in Purgatory YOUR prayers and Masses being said actually help them along the way closer to Jesus.  They can’t pray for themselves while in the process of purification, so they depend on the living and Saints in Heaven to REMEMBER them and PRAY for them.  These prayers and Masses said are like bringing them an icy cold drink of water in the heat of the purifying flames.

How do we know these things about Purgatory?  The Saints!  Jesus gave visions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory to numerous Saints who wrote down what they were shown.  Mary the Mother of God Incarnate herself spoke of Purgatory to the children at Fatima.  Saint Catherine of Genoa talked about the beauty of Purgatory because it was a means God created for people to reach Him with pure cleansed souls and how the suffering in Purgatory are happy to suffer it because of love for God.

Many Catholic mystics (some Saints, some Blessed) also talk about seeing the “ghosts” of Purgatory- or the souls of those in Purgatory.  These can often be the “ghosts” people believe they see- or they can be demon’s set out to trick people, so don’t believe all you THINK you see.

Sister Maria Anna Lindmayr and Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich and Saint Gertrude the Great, to name a few, explain that those they’ve seen in Purgatory are often suffering in a specific way for a specific sin.  For instance if in life you were a glutton- eating and drinking excessively into actual sin, the soul was shown to have a nail through his/her mouth while in Purgatory.

 

I read a story several years ago (wish I could recall what book it was in) about a parish cemetery and the “ghost” of a woman who stood in tattered grave clothes with messy hair upon her grave. She was tethered to that spot as part of her Purgatory suffering.  I believe it was a priest who noticed her and asked what she was doing there.  She told him she was serving her Purgatory in such a state just outside of her parish Church because in life, she had been a vain woman.  When she attended Mass, she would dress in the finest clothes and spend a great deal of time fixing her hair and face to draw attention to herself.  She had caused many to be distracted in her parish Church.  The priest said he would pray for her and he did.  The next time he saw her she had moved from above her grave to the gates of the cemetery.   The priest stopped to speak with her again.  She thanked him for his prayers and asked for more because they had helped her get closer to God in the Church.  The priest agreed and again prayed for her.  The next time he saw her, her hair was tidy and her clothes were no longer tattered but still filthy.  She begged the priest to pray for her and have a Mass said for her.  He agreed.  He then saw that woman one last time, smiling and glowing as she finally stepped over the threshold of the parish Church and disappeared having been relieved of her Purgatory suffering by the prayers and Mass said by the priest.

If the priest hadn’t noticed her or had ignored her, she would still be tethered there because she could not pray for herself and she had been forgotten by everyone else.  There was no one to think of her, to pray for her or to have Masses said for her.  The length of her suffering was shortened because someone prayed for her and had Masses said for her.

This is why we MUST pray for the dead and have Masses said for them!  They need us!  They suffer and will continue to suffer in days, months and years when we neglect to pray for them.

So today and throughout the year PRAY FOR THE DEAD and don’t neglect to have Masses said for them!

Litany for the Poor Souls in Purgatory

O Jesus, Thou suffered and died that all mankind might be saved and brought to eternal happiness. Hear our pleas for further mercy on the souls of:

My dear parents and grandparents,
My brothers and sisters and other near relatives,
My godparents and sponsors of Confirmation,
My spiritual and temporal benefactors,
My friends and neighbors,
All for whom love or duty bids me pray,
Those who have suffered disadvantage or harm through me,
Those who have offended me,
Those whose release is near at hand,
Those who desire most to be united to Thee,
Those who endure the greatest sufferings,
Those whose release is most remote,
Those who are least remembered
Those who are most deserving on account of their services to the Church,
The rich, who are now the most destitute,
The mighty, who are now powerless,
The once spiritually blind, who now see their folly
The frivolous, who spent their time in idleness,
The poor who did not seek the treasures of heaven,
The tepid who devoted little time to prayer,
The indolent who neglected to perform good works,
Those of little faith, who neglected the frequent reception of the Sacraments,
The habitual sinners, who owe their salvation to a miracle of grace,
Parents who failed to watch over their children,
Superiors who were not solicitous for the salvation of those entrusted to them,
Those who strove for worldly riches and pleasures,
The worldly minded, who failed to use their wealth and talent for the service of God,
Those who witnessed the death of others, but would not think of their own,
Those who did not provide for the life hereafter,
Those whose sentence is severe because of the great things entrusted to them,
The popes, kings, and rulers,
The bishops and their counselors,
My teachers and spiritual advisors,
The priests and religious of the Catholic Church,
The defenders of the Holy Faith,
Those who died on the battlefield,
Those who fought for their country,
Those who were buried in the sea,
Those who died of apoplexy,
Those who died of heart attacks,
Those who suffered and died of cancer,
Those who died suddenly in accidents,
Those who died without the last rites of the Church,
Those who shall die within the next twenty-four hours,
My own poor soul when I shall have to appear before Thy judgment seat.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them: For evermore with Thy Saints, because Thou art gracious.
May the prayer of Thy suppliant people, we beseech Thee, O Lord, benefit the souls of Thy departed servants and handmaids: that Thou mayest both deliver them from all their sins, and make them to be partakers of Thy redemption. Amen.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine on them. Amen.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

To learn more about Purgatory, I highly recommend the following books:

-"The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich (Volumes 1 and 2)" by the Very Reverend Carl E. Schmoger, C.SS.R.

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

-"Visions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory" by Bob and Penny Lord

And anything with the writings of St. Catherine of Genoa or Saint Gertrude the Great.

Link: http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer/kaddish.htm

Link: http://www.olrl.org/pray/porsouls.shtml

Link: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kaddish.html

Long Island Medium (Theresa Caputo) works for Satan

She’s charming, she’s whacky, and she’s got funny hair and crazy fingernails- she’s also working for the devil.

Sound harsh?  Good.

Theresa Caputo

Theresa Caputo, AKA “The Long Island Medium” seen weekly on the TLC cable channel, is the devil’s own Pied Piper leading people along the devil’s path.  Does she know it?  Probably not, but she should. 

Caputo is a psychic- yes they do exist.  I am not talking about the “Miss Cleo” types who randomly make up anything to make a billion (yes, that’s right) dollars.  I am talking about the psychics who actually do see and hear things.  They exist.  The trouble is not that they see and hear things per se (many Saints had that gift), it’s who is behind what they see and hear and the fact that Caputo does not have the discernment to know its evil.

What do I mean by ‘evil’?  I mean anything that is against God’s Will is evil.  You might be a fan of Caputo’s who watches the shows and say to me: “She helps people by making them feel better!”   I bet a lot of pot smokers out there would tell you the same thing about pot – yet it would remain damaging to your lungs no matter how good it might make a person feel.

Associating with psychics is damaging to a person’s soul.   It jeopardizes a person’s salvation.  How?

First of all, what Caputo is teaching from her television show is heretical to Catholic teaching- to ALL Christian teaching. 

Reincarnation.

Sunday, May 26^th, the “Long Island Medium” told her audience that she had lived past lives when she went into a ‘past life regression’ session to find out why she was ‘chosen’ to be a psychic.  Any Christian worth their salt will tell you the bible flat out refutes ‘reincarnation’ completely…

Hebrews 9:27  “And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment"

In another episode, Caputo told a woman her dead daughter’s soul was now “reborn” into the body of her newest grandchild.  Poppycock!

Reincarnation comes from Eastern religions like Buddhism- it is a heresy to ALL Christian groups, Catholic and Protestant alike.  A person is ONE soul and ONE body together.  A person dies when the soul separates from the body.  The Resurrection is about the soul reuniting with the body for eternity- in Heaven or Hell, at Judgment Day.

That is the basis of Christian belief in the Resurrection (yes, some Christians believe in ‘soul sleep’ but that is for another discussion).  The “Resurrection of the Body” is not about an animated corpse because the soul has now been placed into yet another body and another and another.  There is ONE soul for ONE body.  That’s it.  Period.

So what about Caputo’s “gift”?  Is she making it all up?  Is it a hoax?  Why is it wrong to hear what a psychic has to say if it makes you feel better?

It’s the devil’s path.  The spirit world exists; there is no doubt about it.  Christians know there is life after death- heaven or hell, are our final destinations, its one or the other for eternity (Matt. 25:46).  We know there are angels and demons.  We know there are people in Purgatory.  Some people can see them – numerous Saints have seen them and wrote about them – they are often called ‘ghosts’. 

St. Bernard, in his life of St. Malachy shares this case…

     “This saint relates that one day he saw his sister, who had been dead for some time.  She was doing her purgatory in a cemetery.  On account of her vanity and the attention she had devoted to her hair and body, she had been sentenced to live in the very grave where she had been buried, and to witness the dissolution of her body.  The saint offered the Sacrifice of the Mass for her for thirty days; at the end of this period he saw his sister again.  This time she had been sentenced to complete her purgatory at the gate of the church, doubtless because of her irreverent demeanor in the holy place; perhaps she had distracted the faithful from the Sacred Mysteries in order to draw eyes and appreciation to herself.  She was exceedingly sad, wearing a mourning veil, and was in extreme anguish.  The saint offered the Sacrifice once more for thirty days, and she appeared to him for the last time in the sanctuary, with unruffled countenance, radiant in a white robe.  The Bishop knew by this sign that his sister had gained her deliverance.”  [Source:  “The End of the Present World”, written by Father Charles Arminjon.  Page 153]

Even Jesus Christ was mistaken for a ghost, not once but twice in scripture.

Matt. 14:26 “When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.”

Luke 24:39 “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

Here in Luke 24, Jesus clarifies that ghosts do not have bodies, they are spirit only.  He tells them He still has his body.  The body and soul are RESURRECTED together.  This is as it will be for all of us.  ONE body and ONE soul.

What psychics are doing is allowing (encouraging) their “spirit guides” (as Caputo and others call them) to show them things and let them hear things.  These “spirit guides” are demonic.  Guardian Angels from God would NOT direct people to believe in heresy, nor would they direct people to go against the Word of God in Scripture or against Church teaching.  The “angels” who do this are FALLEN angels- demons.  They WANT people to be deceived and to believe in the devils powers, this is how they win souls for hell.

The devil has power – for now.  And he uses it to deceive, trick and lead people away from God and the Truth of Christianity.  This is where Caputo is leading people astray.  She’s been deceived by the devil and her “spirit guide” to go AGAINST the Word of God.  She’s been deceived into believing she’s lived passed lives. 

The demons (AKA "spirit guides") are showing her these things and she’s fallen for their deception hook, line and sinker.  She actually thinks what the demons show her, are lives her soul has lived in the past- no such thing!  She’s been deceived and she is spreading that deception to others.  A quick look at her "Long Island Medium" Facebook page shows the horrid ripple effect of her deception spreading worldwide to ignorant people.  People pleading with her to please contact the dead for them.  It's retched.

I don’t doubt that Caputo and others like her actually believe what they are doing is ‘good’ and even helpful to people, but it’s not.  Her "well intentions" aren't really helping anyone, it's harming people.  It is jeopardizing the souls of thousands of people.  It is deceiving people from the Truth, into heresy and perhaps even into occult and demonic practices. How?  This stuff is addicting.  It’s like a drug. People go to one psychic then another, then another.  They begin to want to see what they can do, so they play with Tarot Cards or Spirit boards (Ouija board) and CALL “spirits” to them.  The spirits who answer are demonic.

The devil doesn’t show himself as gruesome with horns, hooves and forked tail – who would listen to or follow that?!  The devil appears as “an angel of light” according to the Bible.  This is how he tricks people.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

     
 ^13 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”

Now who does that sound like to you? 

In the book “An Exorcist Tells His Story”, Father Gabriele Amorth, an exorcist priest in the Catholic Church tells about the power of the devil and exorcism’s he performed to release people from the power of the devil.  On pages 40 and 41, Father Amorth shares a story of a witness who calls himself “Erasmus of Bari” (as published in the magazine “Rinnovamento dello Spirito” in September 1987).  Erasmus of Bari tells how he was given gifts that he at first thought were from God- amazing gifts.  

The gift of [page 40 – direct quote] “clairvoyance, mind reading, medical diagnosing, reading of hearts and lives of people both living and dead, and other powers.  A few months later I received another faculty; the ability to take away pain merely by the imposition of hands.  I could eliminate or alleviate any sort of suffering…”  

He goes on to say that he knew it was off because it wasn’t from God.  He wasn’t living a changed life for God.  He was “quick to anger, slow in pardoning, easily resentful, and given to take offense at nothing.”  Realizing he wasn’t being gifted by God with abilities, he knew the only other source was the devil himself.  His “gifts” were not divine from God to do ‘good’ but rather diabolical and from Satan!  He'd been deceived!  As soon as he was prayed over and asked God for help the “gifts” disappeared.

Now how many people would think the devil would “do good” by giving gifts to take away people’s suffering?  This is the deception!  This is what the Bible means when it says the devil APPEARS as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).  It’s a deception and people need to be ALERT all the time.

Caputo probably honestly believes she is doing good (see her Facebook page) and that God gave her this “gift” – she is wrong just as “Erasmus of Bari” was wrong.

Don’t be deceived by psychics who themselves are deceived.  Some psychics are in it for the money (Miss Cleo), some for the fame (Sylvia Browne) and others like Caputo who seem to believe they are helping people, but what they are all doing is spreading deception and doing the devil's work.

Don’t be led down the devils path by anyone.  Trust in God.  Don’t go looking for answers from anywhere else.  God loves you, all of you, even the psychics and He wants you to reject the temptations of the devil and put all our trust in Him.  You don’t need to contact anyone dead.  You’re alive, live that life for God so that one day you will be resurrected, body and soul together for eternity in heaven.

Pray for Theresa Caputo, others like her and all who've fallen for the devil's trap.  Most of these people are GOOD people who have been deceived, don't hate on them, just love them, pray for them and TEACH them the Truth before it's too late.  And please, please, please DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS WATCH THIS STUFF!


God bless.

Julie

Catholic Catechism: #2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the 305 future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.

Catholic Catechism: #2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future.[48] Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

Catholic Catechism: #2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.

Catholic Catechism: #1013    Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When “the single course of our earthly life” is completed,⁵⁸⁶ we shall not return to other earthly lives: “It is appointed for men to die once.”⁵⁸⁷ There is no “reincarnation” after death.

***Theresa Caputo photo found on Google Images from: http://www.theresacaputo.com/about-me/