Visions of Purgatory: A Private Revelation
Anonymous
ISBN 9781594172182
eISBN 9781594172229
ASIN B00P71XPRC
This was one of three volumes I worked through during November this year. November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Over the last few years I have found myself drawn to this topic time and time again. When I was younger I am not even sure what I believed about it or if it even exited. But as I have aged, and have started watching some friends pass away more frequently I have found I have a greater and greater devotion to these souls. And this was a very encouraging and comforting volume.
The description of this volume states:
“Visions of Purgatory offers a surprisingly sober and clear account of purgatory that offers more consolation than fear before this great mystery of God's mercy. Translated from French, the text was written in the latter half of the twentieth century by an anonymous author and contains a private revelation of purgatory with annotations from the Magisterium of the Church and the teachings of the saints, above all St. Thomas Aquinas. It is organized into three parts: the first part explains the role of private revelations and how to gain profit from them; the second part contains doctrinal teachings that form a kind of treatise on purgatory; the third and final part is dedicated to revelations of souls in purgatory. Details concerning the life of the author have been omitted in order to maintain the author's anonymity.”
The sections in this volume are:
Preface
Introduction
Part One:
Having The Heart Of A Child
Part Two:
“Blessed Are The Clean Of Heart, For They Shall See God.” Matthew 5:8
Part Three:
“I Was In Prison And You Visited Me.” Matthew 25:36
Theological Note on Purgatory
Bibliography
I only highlighted a few passages this time through this volume, they were:
““My child, put heaven in your soul, purgatory in your heart, and earth in your hands . . . That is to say: Heaven should be the object of your contemplation, purgatory should be the privileged object of your prayer, earth should be the place where you sanctify yourself by your works and the accomplishment of your duties of state.””
“In your spiritual life it is very important that your imagination be constantly purified and tamed—it should be the servant of the intellect. But the imagination is a vagabond and often finds an accomplice in the memory; the memory is a glutton, which swallows all the imagination presents to it. These two powers are very versatile; they love to operate independently of the will and the intellect.”
“Always look toward the Giver; the gift that he presents you with in his mercy should always make you turn to him.”
“Fasting and penance are great resources for the blessed souls in purgatory. But for these mortifications you should ask the permission of your Father . . .”
“Mortify your senses, especially your eyes and your tongue, for God needs interior and silent souls. Keep your pains and sorrows only for Jesus; don’t talk about them to anyone but him.”
“Do everything to avoid purgatory—not out of fear, but out of love.”
“I am going to tell you the most effective means to avoid going to purgatory. Seek only one thing in everything: the glory of God. Be perfectly free of affection for all creatures and only want to do the will of God.5 Dispose yourself to die with love. Exercise the virtues of obedience, humility, discretion, and wear the scapular of the Queen of Carmel.”
The preface begins with:
“Meditating on the mystery of purgatory in the light of the teachings of the Church is a source of great spiritual profit for the Christian. This meditation gives us, in effect, a more profound sense of the holiness of God, as well as a high idea of our vocation, which does not support lukewarmness or cowardly compromises with the world. There we learn purity of love and intensify our desire to see God. Finally, this meditation increases our charity by pushing us to work for those whom St. Veronica Giuliani compassionately calls “the forgotten souls.””
and it ends with
“To encourage the faithful to pray for the souls of purgatory, it seems opportune to publish this book whose author, at the request of his spiritual director, wishes to remain anonymous. Certainly, private revelations do not add anything to the unique revelation of Jesus Christ, which is guarded and transmitted faithfully by the Church. Their conformity with the teaching of the magisterium should be verified.
It should also be noted that the ecclesiastical approval itself, where it is granted, does not guarantee the supernatural origin of what is published here. Finally, it is important to emphasize that private revelations are not intended to satisfy a vain curiosity or to decide problems discussed by theologians. That is to say, the reader of this work is free to make his or her own judgment.
For my part, I would like this account, beyond its particular form, to revive devotion to the souls in purgatory and promote beneficial reflections. With St. Catherine of Genoa, it is good to say:
O infinite good, how is it that you are not loved and known more by those who are made to know and rejoice in thee? By the little bit of feeling and of taste that God by his grace gives as proof, man should leave this world, to possess them, leaving every other thing.”
During November while reading this and other volumes on Holy Souls in Purgatory I was also rereading the C.S. Lewis Ransom Cycle. Recent scholarship published found a handwritten preface to The Screwtape Letters in the C.S. Lewis Archive in Wheaton, IL. This note indicates the letters were found and translated by Dr. Ransom. And that they were written in Old Solar. Thus linking the 3 Ransom novels, the 2 Screwtape pieces and the partial fourth Ransom novel into one series. The two Screwtape pieces fit in perfectly with reading about Purgatory and if anything made them even more powerful reads.
I read this volume a number of years ago, but for some reason never recorded having done so. It was marked as read on my Kindle. But I could not find dates for having read it.
This is a very powerful volume. It is a book that encourages, comforts and inspires readers. It will inspire you to read more about purgatory and to be praying for those there. It is very encouraging in some of the stories from saints told within these pages.
I believe this is a volume every Catholic should read. It is such an important topic and this is a wonderful volume on it. I highly recommend this book and challenge you to give it a read!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2024 Catholic Reading Plan!
For all reviews of books from Scepter Publishing click here.
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