Christmas Is Ideal Time To Heal Family Trees And Pray For Those In Purgatory

 By Michael H. Brown

We've been writing a lot about family healing, and there's no better time than Christmas to approach generational deliverance. All families have their spirits, and they can cause problems. They're at the root of many familial disturbances. They can be inherited like genes.

Why is Christmas a good time to tackle this issue? First off, because at Christmas, families get together. We are better able to survey what problems may exist and discuss them -- as well as to discuss problems that may have been handed down through the generations.

It is also an opportune time because we can pray together if all parties are willing, and if not, to quietly pray over our entire families at get-togethers. A little Holy Water in the Christmas meal never hurts! It is good to use Holy Water throughout the house at a time when there are many visitors, and to also sprinkle some on the photographs of relatives, with a blessing.

This may sound almost superstitious but think of all the families that seem specially plagued by alcoholism, illness, dissension, divorce, sexual disorders, miscarriage, emotional disturbances, or financial problems. Deliverance experts assert that at times these disturbances can be caused by negative forces that follow families down through the generations (that infect not just an individual, but all of his or her ancestors). Most recently, we have written about Father Lou Cerulli, a wonderful priest from Montreal who says such spirits can be dispelled through both family prayer and the Eucharist.

Christmas is also a great time because we can approach another problem that may affect families: relatives in purgatory. According to Father Cerulli and other priests with whom we have spoken, family disturbances are sometimes caused by deceased relatives who need our prayers -- and are trying to get our attention. At Medjugorje the Blessed Mother said that on occasion souls are allowed to manifest in order to solicit our help. She also said that it's on Christmas (not All Souls' Day) when most souls are released from purgatory -- and so Christmas should be a special day of intercession!

Every Christmas we take the time here in our home to list everyone we know who is deceased and to pray for each of them by name -- to pray that they make Heaven that day. We urge that you try this also, if you don't already. According to a little booklet called the Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory (reputedly the words of a deceased purgatorial nun), the Virgin comes to purgatory on her feasts "and she goes back to Heaven with many souls." In a way that uncannily parallels the later revelations at Medjugorje, the book states that "it is not on All Souls' Day that most go to Heaven. It is on Christmas night."

We believe that. We believe that Christmas is when souls most ardently seek Heaven. And we can help get them there!

Resources (all in the SpiritDaily Bookstore): Healing the Family Tree (tapes), Healing the Family Tree (book), Intergenerational Healing, Praying in the Presence of the Lord for the Holy Souls, Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory, Secrets of Purgatory, Purgatory Explained, Purgatory, and After Life