You’re a parent who thinks you’re doing well by your children because they go to expensive schools (likely a Catholic one), are never short of what they fancy (Lady Gaga DVD, PSP, cellphones), and ever in supply of funds for MacDo or Jollibee tarries with classmates.
More importantly, you take them to church on Sundays and holy days of obligation. These, amid their being children, should entitle them to Heaven if go, they must.
Now, don’t be presumptuous. Taking children to church is fine, no doubt, but lavishing upon them mundane things might not exactly be rubric for good parenthood.
The following of our series on the interview by Sister Emmanuel Maillard (E) and mystic Maria Simma (M) gives a detailed example of how children, despite their apparent innocence, can land first in Purgatory before going to Heaven.
Then, too, Maria answers other questions, such as one that pertains to sexual perversions.
E: Maria, are there any children in Purgatory?
M: Yes, but Purgatory for them is not very long or painful, since they lack much discernment.
E: I believe certain children have come to visit you; you were telling me the story of this little child, the youngest one you say, a little girl of four. But tell me: why was she in Purgatory?
M: Because she had received from her parents, as a Christmas present, a doll. She had a twin sister who had also received a doll. This little four-year-old girl had broken her doll; secretly, knowing that no one was watching her, she went to put the broken doll in the place of her sister’s, swapping them, knowing full well in her little heart that she was going to upset her sister — and she knew very well too that it was a lie and an injustice. Because of this, the poor girl had to do Purgatory.In fact, children often have a more tender conscience than that of adults. It is necessary above all with them to combat lying. They are very sensitive to untruth.
E: Maria, how can parents help to form the conscience of their children?
M: Firstly through good example — this is the most important. Then through prayer. Parents must bless their children and instruct them well in the things of God.
E: Very Important! Have you been visited by souls who, on earth, practiced perversions? I am thinking, for example, about the sexual domain.
M; Yes, they are not lost, but they have much to suffer to be purified. For example, homosexuality, this truly comes from the Evil One.
E: What advice would you give, then, to all those people afflicted by homosexuality, with this tendency in them?
M: Pray a lot for the strength to turn away from it. They should above all pray to the Archangel Michael; he is the great fighter par excellence against the Evil One.
E: What are the attitudes of the heart which can lead us to losing our soul for good, I mean going to Hell?
M: It is when the soul does not want to go towards God, when it actually says: "I do not want."
E: Here I would like to mention that on this subject I questioned Vicka, one of the visionaries in Medjugorje, who also told me that those who go to Hell — and she has seen Hell — are solely those who decide to go there. It isn’t God who puts someone in Hell — on the contrary, He is the Savior, He begs the souls to welcome His mercy. The sin against the Holy Spirit that Jesus speaks of, which cannot be forgiven, is the absolute refusal of mercy, and this in full awareness, full conscience. Pope John Paul II explains this very well in his encyclical on mercy. Here too, we can do so much with prayer for souls in danger of being lost.
Maria, would you happen to have a story illustrating this?
M: One day, I was on a train and in my compartment there was a man who didn’t stop speaking evil of the Church, of priests, even of God. I said to him: "Listen, you don’t have the right to say all that, it’s not good." He was furious at me. Afterwards, I arrived at my station, I got down from the train, and said to God: "Lord, do not let this soul be lost." Years later; the soul of this man came to visit me; he told me that he had come very close to Hell, but he was saved simply by this prayer I had said at that moment!
Yes, it’s extraordinary to see that just one thought, one impulse of the heart, a simple prayer for someone can prevent them from falling into Hell. It is pride which leads to Hell. Hell is to stubbornly say "NO" against God. Our prayers can elicit an act of humility in the dying, a single instant of humility, however small, which can help them to avoid Hell.
E: But Maria, it is incredible, all the same! How can one actually say "NO" to God at the moment of death, when one sees him?
M: For example, a man once told me that he did not want to go to Heaven. Why? Because God accepts injustice. I said to him that it was men, not God…He said: "I hope that I do not meet God after my death, or I will kill him with an axe." He had a deep hatred of God. God grants man free will; he wishes each one to have his free choice.
God gives to everyone during his earthly life, and at the hour of his death, sufficient grace for conversion, even after a life spent in darkness. If one asks for forgiveness, sincerely, of course one can be saved.
E: Jesus said that it was difficult for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Have you seen such cases?
M: Yes! But if they do good works, works of charity, if they practice love, they can get there, just like the poor.
E:Maria, do you still have visits these days from souls in Purgatory?
M: Yes, two or three times a week.
(Next: Maria talks about the dangers of summoning dead persons back.)
More importantly, you take them to church on Sundays and holy days of obligation. These, amid their being children, should entitle them to Heaven if go, they must.
Now, don’t be presumptuous. Taking children to church is fine, no doubt, but lavishing upon them mundane things might not exactly be rubric for good parenthood.
The following of our series on the interview by Sister Emmanuel Maillard (E) and mystic Maria Simma (M) gives a detailed example of how children, despite their apparent innocence, can land first in Purgatory before going to Heaven.
Then, too, Maria answers other questions, such as one that pertains to sexual perversions.
E: Maria, are there any children in Purgatory?
M: Yes, but Purgatory for them is not very long or painful, since they lack much discernment.
E: I believe certain children have come to visit you; you were telling me the story of this little child, the youngest one you say, a little girl of four. But tell me: why was she in Purgatory?
M: Because she had received from her parents, as a Christmas present, a doll. She had a twin sister who had also received a doll. This little four-year-old girl had broken her doll; secretly, knowing that no one was watching her, she went to put the broken doll in the place of her sister’s, swapping them, knowing full well in her little heart that she was going to upset her sister — and she knew very well too that it was a lie and an injustice. Because of this, the poor girl had to do Purgatory.In fact, children often have a more tender conscience than that of adults. It is necessary above all with them to combat lying. They are very sensitive to untruth.
E: Maria, how can parents help to form the conscience of their children?
M: Firstly through good example — this is the most important. Then through prayer. Parents must bless their children and instruct them well in the things of God.
E: Very Important! Have you been visited by souls who, on earth, practiced perversions? I am thinking, for example, about the sexual domain.
M; Yes, they are not lost, but they have much to suffer to be purified. For example, homosexuality, this truly comes from the Evil One.
E: What advice would you give, then, to all those people afflicted by homosexuality, with this tendency in them?
M: Pray a lot for the strength to turn away from it. They should above all pray to the Archangel Michael; he is the great fighter par excellence against the Evil One.
E: What are the attitudes of the heart which can lead us to losing our soul for good, I mean going to Hell?
M: It is when the soul does not want to go towards God, when it actually says: "I do not want."
E: Here I would like to mention that on this subject I questioned Vicka, one of the visionaries in Medjugorje, who also told me that those who go to Hell — and she has seen Hell — are solely those who decide to go there. It isn’t God who puts someone in Hell — on the contrary, He is the Savior, He begs the souls to welcome His mercy. The sin against the Holy Spirit that Jesus speaks of, which cannot be forgiven, is the absolute refusal of mercy, and this in full awareness, full conscience. Pope John Paul II explains this very well in his encyclical on mercy. Here too, we can do so much with prayer for souls in danger of being lost.
Maria, would you happen to have a story illustrating this?
M: One day, I was on a train and in my compartment there was a man who didn’t stop speaking evil of the Church, of priests, even of God. I said to him: "Listen, you don’t have the right to say all that, it’s not good." He was furious at me. Afterwards, I arrived at my station, I got down from the train, and said to God: "Lord, do not let this soul be lost." Years later; the soul of this man came to visit me; he told me that he had come very close to Hell, but he was saved simply by this prayer I had said at that moment!
Yes, it’s extraordinary to see that just one thought, one impulse of the heart, a simple prayer for someone can prevent them from falling into Hell. It is pride which leads to Hell. Hell is to stubbornly say "NO" against God. Our prayers can elicit an act of humility in the dying, a single instant of humility, however small, which can help them to avoid Hell.
E: But Maria, it is incredible, all the same! How can one actually say "NO" to God at the moment of death, when one sees him?
M: For example, a man once told me that he did not want to go to Heaven. Why? Because God accepts injustice. I said to him that it was men, not God…He said: "I hope that I do not meet God after my death, or I will kill him with an axe." He had a deep hatred of God. God grants man free will; he wishes each one to have his free choice.
God gives to everyone during his earthly life, and at the hour of his death, sufficient grace for conversion, even after a life spent in darkness. If one asks for forgiveness, sincerely, of course one can be saved.
E: Jesus said that it was difficult for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Have you seen such cases?
M: Yes! But if they do good works, works of charity, if they practice love, they can get there, just like the poor.
E:Maria, do you still have visits these days from souls in Purgatory?
M: Yes, two or three times a week.
(Next: Maria talks about the dangers of summoning dead persons back.)
