Making sense of private revelations

It is never a sin not to believe in private revelations, such as those I have written about in this column, mostly messages conveyed by the Blessed Virgin Mary through modernday mystics. But it makes sense to lend ear to the Queen of the Universe, Mother of God, our Mother. She would not appear to mankind out of frivolity. There is divine reason for her visits to mankind especially in our unusual days.

Also, it helps to recall what is said in the Bible, Ezekiel 33:2: “Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.”

Many who come across the warnings from Heaven in our apocalyptic times should feel designated “watchpersons,” consequently obliged to sound the trumpet, the alarm over what’s prophesied, especially conditional ones posited on conversion so that mitigation, if not eradication altogether, happens.

Yes, too, Pope Urban VIII (1623-44) had this to say about believing or not believing private revelations: “in cases which concern private revelations, it is better to believe than not to believe, for, if you believe and it is proven untrue you will be happy that you have believed, because our Holy Mother asked it. If you believe, and it should be proven false, you will receive all blessings as if it had been true, because you believed it to be true.”

Needless to say, prayers and prudence must always be resorted to when coming across purported private revelations, because some come from the devil. Yes, devils are real although many these days have relegated them to fiction, which is exactly what the astute devil wants. This is why as much as possible, I write only about mystics with either the approval of the Church or at least the backing of the holiest of people or priests.

So again, let me share some messages, this time focusing largely on the importance of prayers which many ignore.

Amid Covid 19, a message from Mother Mary to the visionaries of Medjugorje ( apparitions from 1981 to present): “You have forgotten that with prayer and fasting you can ward off war and suspend natural laws...

“Dear children! You are not aware of the importance of the messages which God is sending you through me. He is giving you great graces and you don’t realize it. Pray to the Holy Spirit for enlightenment. If you only knew how many graces God is giving you, you would pray without ceasing… .

“If you want to pray better, you always need to pray more. Time is not a problem. The problem is love. Because, if you love something and care about something, you will always find the time for it… .

“You must renounce your preoccupations and be ready so that the Spirit can lead and guide you interiorly. Only in this way can you advance spiritually. When you do this, you will discover that you have the time to complete all your duties and also have time left over...

“There are many souls in Purgatory. Pray for their intentions … There is a large number of souls who have been in Purgatory for a long time because no one prays for them. These persons wait for your prayers and your sacrifices… .

“Jesus gives you His graces in the Mass. Let the Holy Mass be your life. Mass is the greatest prayer of God. You will never be able to understand its greatness. That is why you must be perfect and humble at Mass, and you should prepare yourselves for it … for an hour at least. May the Mass, the most exalted and most powerful act of your prayer, be the center of your spiritual life. Receive Holy Communion with an open and pure heart”

Elsewhere, the Blessed Mother also told mystic Neal of Perryville, Missouri USA on May 13, 2013: “As a good mother I come here each and every month to encourage you, to guide you in wisdom and truth. Learn the true faith of the Church. God will never fail you. God is in control of all things, and He knows all things. He sees the hearts and minds and souls of all of you. God sees good here. If you saw what your prayers are doing – and the power of your prayers, you would never cease praying.”

To teeners in Kibeho, Rwanda (1981-89 apparitions), the Blessed Mother said: “I have come to prepare the way for Him for your own good – and yet, you do not want to accept. You do not want to understand. There is so little time remaining, yet you still allow yourselves to be distracted by earthly goods and desires – which will soon all pass away. I see so many of My children going astray. And so I come to plead with them and to show them the correct way.”

Also in Rwanda, the Blessed Mother said: “Praying for your departed loved ones is of great comfort to them and of great help for the souls in purgatory, but people still must work to earn a place in heaven… .

“Why do you gladly accept the worldly material privileges which God grants you? And yet you won’t accept the trials which leads you to God. Which of these ways, do you reckon, will lead you to God? You, who carry the cross without even knowing that you are doing so, accept the cross and the one for whom you are carrying it.”

Further, she said: “The one who turns to God in this world and lives according to God’s Will, can, through Divine Mercy, shorten and even avoid his time in Purgatory.”

And then, on other matters, the Blessed Mother told mystic Auguste Arnaud of Herault in France on July 8, 1873: “Do not work on Sundays. Blessed is he who believes and unhappy the man who does not believe.”

To mystic Estelle Faguette of Pellevoisin, France on Feb. 18, 1876, the Blessed Mother said: “It saddens me the most to see that people have no respect for My Son in the Eucharist, and the way people pray whilst their minds are on other things. I say this to those who pretend to be pious.”

IN MY EFFORT to boost belief in and understanding of life after death, I plan to start in my next column a series based on the Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory which reveals such interesting information as the location of Purgatory and Hell, on whether the departed somehow still has attachment to their bereaved families, whether persons in Purgatory come to know each other, etc.