By DEB PIROCH
“Let’s empty Purgatory.” — Padre Pio
November 1-2 are All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day.
This dear Capuchin saint had a special devotion to the souls of Purgatory from early on as a priest. In 1910, the same year he received the stigmata, he wrote for permission to his spiritual director:
“On other occasions I have offered myself to the Lord as a victim for poor sinners and for souls in Purgatory. This desire has grown continuously in my heart, and now it has become a powerful passion. I have made this offering to the Lord several times…even increasing in me a hundredfold for me, as long as He converts and saves sinners and quickly admits to Paradise the souls in Purgatory. I now wish to make this offering with your authorization.”
He was only 23 years old.
There are numerous saints who speak of the suffering of Purgatory. And yet, Padre Pio stated, “The souls in Purgatory don’t suffer more than I do. I am sure that I am not wrong in this.” Padre Pio suffered a lot: He bled regularly with the stigmata, he was tormented by the Devil. The Devil was so brutal that Padre Pio’s secretary said he even would beat him black and blue, as with a metal chain, and one could hear him crying for his friend Fr. Alessio for help from his room.
Once in 1945 he told Fr. Modestino, when asked if the fire on the hearth was like Purgatory, he answered it was like “like fresh water compared with boiling water.” We don’t have a definite word from the Church on what precisely Purgatory will feel like. We know that it will be a mix of acute pain — the pain of purification and being yet separated from God.
But at the same time, St. Catherine of Genoa said that “I do not believe it would be possible to find any joy comparable to the joy of a soul in Purgatory except for the joy of the blessed in Paradise.” Because in Purgatory we know the infinite good of God’s mercy in granting our salvation.
“I have seen so many [souls] that they don’t frighten me anymore” — to Bishop Alberto Costa.
Padre Pio was often visited by poor souls who wished him to say Masses for them, and often experienced what we would call supernatural events, such as hearing singing when the souls were not to be seen but were on their way from Purgatory to Heaven.
Years later, in 1944, a brother priest, Padre Raffaele, heard a racket and asked that the people talking would please be let out and the door closed and locked behind them. But, when he went to check, there was no one there and the door was locked.
When he asked Padre Pio about the noise, the saint answered, “Oh, those were soldiers who died in battle; they wanted to thank me for prayers for their salvation. More souls of the dead come up that road to ask for my prayers than the souls of the living.” He also stated on another occasion that many poor souls came to his Masses.
The Capuchins had a custom of praying three days in a row for a member of their order after a priest or brother passed away. In 1937, about to leave the choir loft, Padre Pio looked down and saw Padre Bernard, who was deceased, on the altar. He walked from our Lady’s altar to the sacristy and he saw this for three days running. This he took as a thanks for the Masses the order said for his soul.
Our Church’s holy day serves as a holy reminder for us, for as the Bible says in 2 Macc. 12:46: “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed of their sins.” We don’t just remember those who have died just once a year, but every single day in the Mass.
Martin Luther did heinous damage in splitting the Church. Maccabees is one of the sections removed from the Protestant Bibles. Contemplate all the generations of Protestants who have no longer prayed for their dead.
Padre Pio said, “The souls in Purgatory repay the prayers that we say for them” and “When we pray for the souls we will always get something back.” Whenever one asks them to intercede — waking one up on time, finding a lost object — so often they do not lose a chance to earn the graces offered. Do not hesitate to ask them for a favor and pray for them in kind. Padre Pio felt so close to them, that he told one of his spiritual children that once his own soul was purified and he stood before the gates of Heaven, he would wait there till all of his spiritual children had entered, too.
With his gift of foresight or prophecy, Padre Pio often knew if a soul had been saved and, at times, how long a soul would be in Purgatory, or if the person was still in need of prayers. Once a woman by the name of Annita Loddi went to Confession to him on the Feast of St. Francis, and asked Padre Pio to please ask St. Francis to go to Purgatory and free the souls of her parents. His answer was, “I can do it myself.” Of course, Padre Pio could offer Mass, the ultimate source of grace for the poor souls. Padre Pio was not “psychic,” or anything questionable of occult origin. Everything he knew came from God alone.
Mother Angelica used to say we are all called to be saints. As part of the living, the Church Militant, pray for the Church Suffering, or Purgatory. One excellent priest I knew told me before he died to please pray for him when he died on more than one occasion. He said, “Priests have no children!” They do have spiritual children. But a generation can pass so quickly, and each of us may be forgotten.
Second, pray for your family, friends, acquaintances even. Or just the poor souls in general.
Third, some years ago I started including my relatives’ intentions. I know my immediate deceased relatives must have prayed for many when they were alive that were dear to them but whom I don’t know. I pray for them, so the cycle can be continued. That’s what the community of saints is all about.
“Prayer: O Lord, who are ever merciful and bounteous with Thy gifts, look down upon the suffering souls in Purgatory. Remember not their offenses and negligences, but be mindful of Thy loving mercy, which is from all eternity. Cleanse them from their sins and fulfill their ardent desires that they may be made worthy to behold Thee face to face in Thy glory. May they soon be united with Thee and hear those blessed words which will call them to their heavenly home: ‘Come blessed of My Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’.”
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