‘Lives full of good works, found empty at death’
The first time I stumbled upon the Manuscript of Purgatory (which was then titled The Unpublished Manuscript of Purgatory) in a religious bookstore years ago, I was thrilled. To know more about the mysterious afterlife was a huge faith boost and I was convinced that if others knew about the publication, they, too, would be overwhelmed. And so it came to pass that when copies of the publication were available at the store, I made sure I bought several copies for distribution to others for free, in anticipation of their exhilarating reaction to the Manuscript. That was two decades ago and I have yet to hear from them. Meanwhile, the publication can no longer be found on bookstore shelves.
This time, with the Covid 19 pandemic driving some spiritual sense among some, I thus thought that readers would take time out to consider more seriously the Manuscript (yes, proper capitalization here as a personal choice). It’s classified as a historical, with the traditional imprimatur and nihil obstat from Catholic Church authorities.
Below are more chosen excerpts from the publication in a question-and-answer format between then living Sister Mary of the Cross (Q) and the deceased Sister Mary Gabriel (A) who was still awaiting deliverance from Purgatory. Their encounters happened in the 19th century.
Q: Do you know in Purgatory about the persecution of the Church? Do you know when it will end?
A: We know that the Church is being persecuted and we pray for her triumph, but when this will be, I do not know. Some of the souls may know, but I do not. In Purgatory the souls are not entirely occupied by their sufferings. They pray for all the interests of God and for those who shorten their sufferings. They pray and thank God for His infinite mercies in their regard, because the space between Purgatory and Hell for some of them was very narrow and they barely escaped falling into Hell. Judge then what the gratitude of those souls is who were barely rescued from Satan. I cannot explain to you how it is that we no longer see the earth as you do. This can only be understood when the soul has left the body, because then the earth which it has left, leaving there its body, seems to it as a mere speck compared with the vast unending horizons of eternity which then open before it… .
Alas, how many lives seem to be filled with good works and at death are found empty. This is because all those actions that appeared to be good, all those showy works, all that conduct that seemed irreproachable — all these were not done for Jesus alone. Some will have their eyes opened when they come here to this life (in Purgatory). On earth they wanted to be made much of, to shine, to be thought very exact in religious observances, to be esteemed as perfect religious. This is the mainspring of so many lives.
If you only knew how few people work for God and act for Him alone. Alas, at death, when they are no longer blinded, what regrets they will have.
If only sometimes they would think of eternity. What is life compared to that day which will have no evening for the elect, or to that night which will have no dawning for the damned? On earth, people attach themselves to everything and everyone except to Him, who alone ought to have our love and to whom we refuse it. Jesus in the Tabernacle waits for souls to love Him and He finds none. Hardly one soul in a thousand loves Him as it should… .
Q: Is Jesus well-loved in Heaven?
A: In Heaven they love Him very much, there He is compensated. But Jesus wants more than that. He wants to be loved on earth, on that earth where He annihilates Himself in every Tabernacle, in order to be approached more easily and yet He is refused. People pass before a church with more indifference than they would before any public monument. If by chance, they go into the holy place, it is only to insult still more the Divine Captive who dwells there, namely, by their coldness and their irreverence. Their prayers are said hurriedly and without attention, instead of speaking to Him from their hearts and saying words of friendship and gratitude for all His favors to them.
Q: Do religious and those of the same family communicate together? A: Purgatory, as in Heaven, religious and those of the same family are not always together. Souls do not all merit the same punishment or the same reward. Still in Purgatory we do recognize others and if God permits it we may communicate with one another.
Q: Are you able to receive a prayer or a thought of friends who are dead, and let them know of the remembrance we have of them?
A: Thoughts of earth can be made known here, but there is not much in all that, because I have already told you that the souls in Purgatory know those persons who interest themselves in their behalf on earth. God sometimes allows those on earth to receive a prayer, a warning or some information… .
Q: Does everyone in Purgatory know the faults of the others as they will be known at the last judgment?
A: In general we do not know about the faults of one another, except in some rare cases when God has particular designs with regard to certain souls, but it is to few that He acts in this way.
Q: Have you a more perfect knowledge of God than we have?
A: What a question! Of course we know Him far better and love Him far more. Indeed, it is just that which causes our greatest suffering. On earth you simply do not know what God is. There, each one of you has an idea of what you think God is, according to your very limited knowledge, but when we leave our covering of clay and when nothing impedes the liberty of our souls, we at last begin to know God, His goodness, His mercy, His love. After this clearer view and the thirst for union, our souls yearn for God. This is our very life and we are forever repulsed because we are not sufficiently pure. This, in a word, is our worst suffering, the hardest, the most bitter. Oh, if only we were allowed to come back to earth, after knowing what God really is, what a different life we would lead! But what useless regrets, and yet on earth you do not think of these things and live as if you were blind. Eternity is of no account to you. The earth, which is only a journey and receives only the body which in itself turns to dust, is the sole object to which almost all of your desires tend and you do not even think of Heaven while Jesus and His love are entirely forgotten. (To be continued)