CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – “Though there are indeed ghosts, the dead do not want to come back and live in our world.”
Fr. Tim Melliza, SSP, local superior of the St. Paul Novitiate here, pointed this out as Filipinos commemorate anew All Saints’ Day this weekend amid horrifying costumes being sold in malls and horror movies being shown in theatres.
This, even as Fr. Melliza warned folk against occult practices, such as the so-called “spirit of the glass” in their attempt to communicate with their beloved dead.
“Occult practices are very dangerous because they will make us superstitious. We cannot command the world of the spirits, we cannot command that the poor souls in purgatory should come and enter a glass,” Melizza told Punto.
But there are indeed ghosts, or souls from Purgatory manifesting themselves on earth, he said, as he cited the case of Maria Simma, a country woman who had lived in Sonntag, Austria and died on March 16, 2004 at age 89 years.
Simma, now considered as one of the greatest mystics of modern times, lived most of her life communicating with souls from Purgatory who appeared to her to ask for favors.
In the teaching of the Catholic church, Purgatory refers to a place of expiation for those who are destined for Heaven after death, but still need to be cleansed of traces of their past sins.
“In the case of Maria Simma, the poor souls just appeared to her, apparently with the permission of Jesus, just to show us that purgatory really exists. Occults are different; they trick us to believe that we can command the spirits. They are beyond our power, only God can command them. Occults fool us to believe that we have extra powers,” Fr. Melliza said.
Instead of folk wasting time sharing their own ghost stories during cemetery vigils this All Saints’ Day, Melliza suggests reading religious books on the afterlife, such as one based on the experiences of Simma. These publications, he noted, are locally available.
Fr. Melizza noted that Simma’s “sharing of her experience has also been approved by her bishop.”
“We can believe that she was not telling lies. And her life founded in poverty, obedience and chastity attests also to the seriousness of her encounters with the poor souls. We cannot disregard her experience, and as long as her sharing deepens our faith, remove our fear of death and makes us look forward to eternity, then this book is worth reading and meditating,” he said.
One publication based on an interview, done by Sr. Emmanuel Maillard before Simma’s death, provides many interesting statements from Simma based on information she got from the souls from Purgatory which had appeared to her.
Sr. Emmanuel quoted Simma as saying: “Souls in Purgatory see very well the day of their funeral. They know those who are praying for them and those who aren’t. Tears of their loved ones do not help them. What helps them are prayers. They complain that many of those who attend their burial do not pray for them.”
Simma was also quoted to have stressed the need to pray for the souls of the departed as she noted “merits cannot be gained after death.
While still living on earth, we can make reparations for the evil done by doing good works. The souls in Purgatory envy us for this possibility that is no longer in their power.”
“Sufferings are proof of God’s love for us and if we offer them well (to God), they can save many souls,” Simma said.
For Fr. Melizza, historical accounts similar to those of Simma are a “declaration of the poor souls that they prefer to be in purgatory than to live in our world, which is really a valley of tears for all our problems and conflicts.”
Fr. Melizza cited another publication, one of the most revered by many Catholics, long referred to as “the Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory”, although he noted that it has already been published in many languages. It contains interesting statements about life beyond the grave, particularly in Purgatory.
The manuscript, whose authenticity some Catholic authorities have described as “beyond doubt”, was written by a French nun who, in 1873, experienced continuing encounters with the soul of another nun who had died two years before.
The nun’s entry in the manuscript dated March 25, 1874 quotes the ghost-nun as telling her: “I am now in the second Purgatory. Since my death, I have been in the first, where one endures such great suffering. We also suffer in the second, but not nearly as much as the first.”
Another entry dated May, 1874, quotes the ghost as saying: “I have been in the second Purgatory since the Feast of the Annunciation. On that day, I saw the Blessed Virgin for the first time. In the first state, we never saw her. The sight of her encourages us and this beloved Mother speaks to us of Heaven. While we see her, our sufferings are greatly diminished.”
Other interesting parts of the manuscript included a reply to a question as to whether those in Purgatory knew each other. The soul replied: “yes, in the matter in which should know. There are no names in the other world. You can not compare Purgatory and Earth. When the soul is free and released from its mortal shell, its name is buried in the grave with the body.”
Even more interesting was the reply to the question as to where Purgatory is located. The soul replied: “It is in the center of the earth, close to Hell, as you saw one day after Holy Communion. The large number of souls there are confined to a limited space. There are thousands and thousands of souls there. But then what space does a soul occupy?”
“Each day thousands of souls come to Purgatory and most of them remain thirty to forty years, some for longer periods, others for shorter. I tell you this in terms of earthly calculations because here it is quite different,” the soul was quoted to have said.
Fr. Melizza noted that “the devotion to the poor souls is a very ancient Church tradition and all the saints were devoted to the poor souls in purgatory.”
Referring to the cases of Simma and the manuscript, Fr. Melizza said “what these souls shared refreshes us that what the Catholic Church teaches about the existence of the suffering Church is true. They are helpless, we can do something about them through our prayers and sacrifice.”
Fr. Tim Melliza, SSP, local superior of the St. Paul Novitiate here, pointed this out as Filipinos commemorate anew All Saints’ Day this weekend amid horrifying costumes being sold in malls and horror movies being shown in theatres.
This, even as Fr. Melliza warned folk against occult practices, such as the so-called “spirit of the glass” in their attempt to communicate with their beloved dead.
“Occult practices are very dangerous because they will make us superstitious. We cannot command the world of the spirits, we cannot command that the poor souls in purgatory should come and enter a glass,” Melizza told Punto.
But there are indeed ghosts, or souls from Purgatory manifesting themselves on earth, he said, as he cited the case of Maria Simma, a country woman who had lived in Sonntag, Austria and died on March 16, 2004 at age 89 years.
Simma, now considered as one of the greatest mystics of modern times, lived most of her life communicating with souls from Purgatory who appeared to her to ask for favors.
In the teaching of the Catholic church, Purgatory refers to a place of expiation for those who are destined for Heaven after death, but still need to be cleansed of traces of their past sins.
“In the case of Maria Simma, the poor souls just appeared to her, apparently with the permission of Jesus, just to show us that purgatory really exists. Occults are different; they trick us to believe that we can command the spirits. They are beyond our power, only God can command them. Occults fool us to believe that we have extra powers,” Fr. Melliza said.
Instead of folk wasting time sharing their own ghost stories during cemetery vigils this All Saints’ Day, Melliza suggests reading religious books on the afterlife, such as one based on the experiences of Simma. These publications, he noted, are locally available.
Fr. Melizza noted that Simma’s “sharing of her experience has also been approved by her bishop.”
“We can believe that she was not telling lies. And her life founded in poverty, obedience and chastity attests also to the seriousness of her encounters with the poor souls. We cannot disregard her experience, and as long as her sharing deepens our faith, remove our fear of death and makes us look forward to eternity, then this book is worth reading and meditating,” he said.
One publication based on an interview, done by Sr. Emmanuel Maillard before Simma’s death, provides many interesting statements from Simma based on information she got from the souls from Purgatory which had appeared to her.
Sr. Emmanuel quoted Simma as saying: “Souls in Purgatory see very well the day of their funeral. They know those who are praying for them and those who aren’t. Tears of their loved ones do not help them. What helps them are prayers. They complain that many of those who attend their burial do not pray for them.”
Simma was also quoted to have stressed the need to pray for the souls of the departed as she noted “merits cannot be gained after death.
While still living on earth, we can make reparations for the evil done by doing good works. The souls in Purgatory envy us for this possibility that is no longer in their power.”
“Sufferings are proof of God’s love for us and if we offer them well (to God), they can save many souls,” Simma said.
For Fr. Melizza, historical accounts similar to those of Simma are a “declaration of the poor souls that they prefer to be in purgatory than to live in our world, which is really a valley of tears for all our problems and conflicts.”
Fr. Melizza cited another publication, one of the most revered by many Catholics, long referred to as “the Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory”, although he noted that it has already been published in many languages. It contains interesting statements about life beyond the grave, particularly in Purgatory.
The manuscript, whose authenticity some Catholic authorities have described as “beyond doubt”, was written by a French nun who, in 1873, experienced continuing encounters with the soul of another nun who had died two years before.
The nun’s entry in the manuscript dated March 25, 1874 quotes the ghost-nun as telling her: “I am now in the second Purgatory. Since my death, I have been in the first, where one endures such great suffering. We also suffer in the second, but not nearly as much as the first.”
Another entry dated May, 1874, quotes the ghost as saying: “I have been in the second Purgatory since the Feast of the Annunciation. On that day, I saw the Blessed Virgin for the first time. In the first state, we never saw her. The sight of her encourages us and this beloved Mother speaks to us of Heaven. While we see her, our sufferings are greatly diminished.”
Other interesting parts of the manuscript included a reply to a question as to whether those in Purgatory knew each other. The soul replied: “yes, in the matter in which should know. There are no names in the other world. You can not compare Purgatory and Earth. When the soul is free and released from its mortal shell, its name is buried in the grave with the body.”
Even more interesting was the reply to the question as to where Purgatory is located. The soul replied: “It is in the center of the earth, close to Hell, as you saw one day after Holy Communion. The large number of souls there are confined to a limited space. There are thousands and thousands of souls there. But then what space does a soul occupy?”
“Each day thousands of souls come to Purgatory and most of them remain thirty to forty years, some for longer periods, others for shorter. I tell you this in terms of earthly calculations because here it is quite different,” the soul was quoted to have said.
Fr. Melizza noted that “the devotion to the poor souls is a very ancient Church tradition and all the saints were devoted to the poor souls in purgatory.”
Referring to the cases of Simma and the manuscript, Fr. Melizza said “what these souls shared refreshes us that what the Catholic Church teaches about the existence of the suffering Church is true. They are helpless, we can do something about them through our prayers and sacrifice.”
