We are not unfamiliar with life after death stories - stories of departed loved ones who have made their “presence” felt. Sometimes, these can be pleasant moments; sometimes, however – and this is often the stuff of which ghost stories are made – the “encounter” can be a disturbing one.
Sister Lucia’s vision of hell, as she was allowed to see in Fatima, Portugal, are downright terrifying and should serve as a reminder of what lies in store for those who keep on defying God.
For souls that have not been damned, however, there is that “place” of eternal hope, where one is promised union with God after a certain period of purification or purging.
Could the following life after death stories give us an idea of life after death, in particular, of purgatory?
Desperately Seeking Forgiveness
While conducting a healing-and-deliverance seminar in one of the Catholic churches in the Philippines, Fr. X was told of the presence of a soul that kept on disturbing the place and asking people for prayers. They learned that a brutal murder had taken place there, that a person had been stabbed to death and his body cut into pieces.
The group, assuming the disturbed soul belonged to that murdered man, promised to pray for his soul before leaving the place. As they were in the car, they felt the presence of that soul with them so they decided to stop the car and pray for the soul before continuing on their way.
After a few days, they went back to the site and asked about that disturbed soul. After speaking to some villagers, they slowly became convinced that the disturbed soul actually belonged to the murderer not to the murdered.
He had murdered a relative by stabbing him to death and cutting up the body. Fr. X thinks that the disturbed soul of the murderer was going through some sort of purging and asking for forgiveness.
Prayers: Food for the Soul
A son, dreaming of his deceased father, saw that his father was sad and quiet. He offered prayers for his father everyday, particularly the “Fifteen Prayers” of St. Bridget.
One day, he dreamt of his father again. This time, his father was seated at the “Kabisera,” the head of the table, smiling and asking his son to dine with him.
Could it be that the son’s constant prayers had provided the father’s soul with some welcome relief in purgatory? Or was he already enjoying the eternal banquet in heaven?
Messages from Beyond
Flor has had several dreams about her departed mother.
In one of her dreams, she and her siblings were gathered around the table talking, when their mother asked them all to go some place with her. They rode in a jeep. After quite a distance, Flor suddenly remembered that she forgot something and told her mother about it. She remembered going down the jeep and that’s when she woke up. Did it mean that her mother was telling her she was not yet ready for the life beyond because she had many earthly preoccupations?
In another dream, Flor saw her mother in a crowd. Suddenly, the crowd dispersed leaving Flor alone with her mother. When she tried to hug her, she was gone. The dream made her cry and her sister had to wake her up. When she fell asleep again, her dream continued but this time in another place. She saw her whole family get into a motorboat, which was traveling over grassland.
When the boat could not go any further, they all went down and saw a crossroad. Flor insisted to her family that they take the shorter road, which had lots of thorns. Her other family members insisted that they take the longer but less hazardous road. Flor ended up taking the shorter road with her sister.
Somewhere down the road, she and her sister got separated. When Flor got to the end of the road, she saw a house with lots of sad people, some were sitting, some were standing, some looked as if they were waiting for somebody. When she asked where her mother was, someone told her to go to the church.
True enough, when she got to the church, she saw her mother and there was a feast going on. There were clouds of smoke everywhere and people seemed happy.
Interview with a Parapsychologist
Charina Jessica “Jinky” Amores, a family therapist, counsel psychologist, and parapsychologist, has the gift of clairvoyance or the ability to talk to spirits. Jinky has been featured several times in numerous prominent magazines. She noticed her gift when she was five years old and she learned to develop that gift as she grew. Her sessions with spirits showed her the meaning of purgatory.
One story narrated by Jinky was that of a cancer patient she helped with her transition to death. Two weeks later, she was visited by the dead cancer patient who talked about seeing pillars of light. She immediately thought she was in heaven but the one who welcomed her said that she was only in the first level before heaven. She described classes ongoing in places with no walls; of a space where some souls cannot go in. There is no essence of time and space and of material things. It is only the mind that works. There is a feeling of peace and joy.
One of Jinky’s most memorable incidents was when her aunt passed away on a Saturday, around 1 a.m. Jinky was supposed to meet with her at 8 o’lock. Not knowing that her aunt was already dead, Jinky called her up to confirm their meeting. Her aunt told her that she couldn’t keep their appointment anymore because she need to take a long rest, and that she left a rosary for her.
She insisted to her aunt that they meet at 8 o’lock (as agreed) because she had to take an exam by 10. (Jinky now believes that was probably why her aunt didn’t tell her that she had died; so she could take her exam.) After the exam, around 12 noon, someone told her that her aunt had passed away. She found it impossible because they had just spoken with each other earlier! The following day, Jinky went to her aunt’s wake. She saw her aunt standing by the coffin, smiling. Her aunt said, “I experienced God because He lives in my heart. I want you to put Him in your heart so that when you die, it won’t be scary.”
It was just like a normal lecture but it was in the way she said it, or the feeling that she saw enveloped by a green light, that made it remarkable. That was about ten years ago and every time Jinky thinks of it, she gets butterflies in her stomach and that feeling that there is no anger, no hatred, in that place where her aunt is.