__________________________________________________
For cautious discernment:
DECEASED SAID TO
SEND SIGNS BOTH DURING FULL CONSCIOUSNESS AND IN 'TWILIGHT' DURING SLEEP
It was two years ago this week that
we ran an article on how deceased so often appear to the living in that
"twilight" state of consciousness between sleep and wakefulness.
There had been quite a response,
after
those accounts, in our mailbag. One has
to be especially careful in this realm -- not to ignore it (souls often
need assistance, St. Padre Pio taught us), but never to become preoccupied
with them.
Christmas seems to be a time of
memories, a time when the veil thins. It is also a time -- according
to at least two prominent private revelations -- when the greatest number
of souls are released from purgatory. Pray, pray, pray (at Christmas Mass,
for deceased and living).
We ran a follow-up back in 2009 but there were
more than enough accounts left over for another look at this phenomenon -- and not just
accounts that involved a
sleepy state.
Sometimes "signs" from the other
side come in broad daylight.
"My name is Maria Uribe and I
live in Winton, California," was one. "My mother died in Madeira Island,
Portugal, where I was born and raised. I was eleven years old when she
died of cancer. Her sister
lived in South Africa (Johannesburg) and one night she was in bed and she
heard three knocks at the window on the second floor three times. My aunt
remembered that my mom was very sick.
"That
same day we called that my mom had passed away and it was the same
time that she had heard the knocks on her window. They were very close. Mother was
saying good-bye. Meanwhile an older brother, Manuel, was
asleep in Venezuela. He woke up the next morning and noticed a drop of
blood on his pillow. Even though he was far away from home, he knew it was
mother. The lady who did the laundry later said that even though she used
bleach over and over, the blood stain never went away. Manuel was always
in trouble and mother cried for him a lot. He was away from home. On the
wall behind his desk, he had a rosary that hung from a nail. But he never
prayed it. One night asleep he saw mother in a white robe next to him with
the rosary on her hands, giving it to him to pray. The next morning when
he woke up, the rosary was across his chest! Even though he was far away,
he could not say good-bye but he loved our mother until he died. Manuel
passed away in September 2008. He died praying the Our Father and Hail
Mary."
This happens: conversions are
effected from the other side.
We are never
to initiate such communication. Nor do we speak back and forth
(except through Jesus). The Bible warns against necromancy (never go to a
medium).
But when there are spontaneous
communications, the Church has no issue with it -- and in fact it has
occurred to many saints, besides Padre Pio.
"My name is Jessica Stefanow and I
live in Lebanon, Pennsylvania," was another account. "I just wanted to let
you know about two experiences that I've had since my grandmother who was very
close passed away in 1996. The first was that she had given me an antique
doll that, when you opened a drawer in the front, played the piano. It
had not worked for years and needed to be fixed. On the day of her
funeral, this doll played by itself for about five or ten seconds! My mom
and I just looked at each other in shock! It did not play another note for
almost ten years (I finally found someone who could repair it).
"I bought the house that my grandma
lived and died in about five years after she passed away. In the eight
years I've lived here, I often have detected her perfume (which was a very
distinct scent) -- especially in the hallway and my sons' room, which was
her bedroom. Every time I do, I feel so peaceful and happy. I feel like
she's just letting me know that she's watching over us."
The deceased have much work to do in
Heaven. A lot of it is intercession. We are even told by the Church that
we can call on the souls in purgatory (to pray for us; we don't ask for
manifestations).
But, it seems, manifestations there
are.
There was another viewer who
encountered a specific scent in connection with a 91-year-old
mother who died and whose perfume was detected at that interesting time of
around three a.m.
What are we to make of those who
claim -- never mind dreams, or little whiffs of a particular scent -- to
have seen manifestations with eyes open or even in photographs?
Obviously, this takes more
reckoning. Said one e-mailer: "The Thanksgiving after my husband died
suddenly in July of 2002, my grandchildren and children had gone to Galena
for Santa's arrival and had our picture taken in front of the hotel. A
year later as I was making picture albums for my children, I came upon
the picture we had taken a year earlier -- with my husband standing behind
me in the picture. A priest friend told me I was very blessed as he was
there to reassure me that he was okay and that I would be also. I always
show this picture as I tell this story. People are amazed."
A viewer named Judy Dobson of
Danville, Pennsylvania, related
that "when my dad died, it was so painful: My dad and I were so close. He
was my guy. Before he died, he winked at me, his typical 'I love you.'
"Anyway, I was driving one night in our town
on a side street and I was thinking about him wistfully wishing he had
quit smoking; then he might not have died of lung cancer. Suddenly, I
heard his voice... not audibly, but in my head, is the only way I can
describe it. He said, 'Watch out for the lad on the bike' -- and when I
looked there was a young man to my right, riding his bike in the dark
without any lights on it.
"I never use the word 'lad,' but my Irish father used it all the time. It
was him, and he was present with me in the car for that brief time, not
only to warn me about the bike rider, but to comfort me that truly; this
man was going to enjoy Heaven, if he wasn't already!"
"I was seven and a half months pregnant with my daughter, Maria, when my
sister was killed in a car wreck," testified Barbara Momeno of DeKalb,
Illinois. "As I was having premature labor, I mentally and emotionally
attempted to put my grieving 'on hold.' Since my daughter initially had
complications, I still continued to put off my grieving. Then, I became
pregnant again with my youngest son.
"My daughter by this time was two and a half years old, and I hadn't
explained to her or even mentioned my sister by name to her since she was
too young. On the third anniversary of her death, my little girl awakened
with awe and a big smile and said to me, 'Your sister Becky.' I asked her
if she'd seen her, and she said, 'Yes! She was sooo pretty and so
happy, mama. And she was dressed all in white.'
"I immediately knew that she was in a better place. And I was certain that
she was alright. This also gave a lot of assurance to my Mother. I showed
my daughter a picture of my sister Becky, and she immediately and
excitedly told me who she was. Praise God for such a blessing!"
Indeed.
Some take a suspension of disbelief. We discern:
"A few days after my mom died, I awoke and -- yes -- I was
awake, and went into the living room. She was sitting in her regular
chair, but was young and beautiful... Standing behind her were her
parents.
"She told me to never be afraid to die because God is your Father and
when you appear before Him He reviews events and only asks why you did
what you did. She said to never be afraid of Him that the love that
there is in Heaven is unbelievable.
"All of a sudden Saint Therese appeared and motioned to her. Mom said
she had to go, since Therese is her heavenly guide. Then she was gone!
"Point of interest: my mother and I are both named after Therese."
Again, we discern. There are certainly unpleasant aspects to the
afterlife! And there is judgment. But God is Love. Certainly.
So many issues for discernment!
From Manhattan we heard from a good woman named Mary Pav who said:
"About five or six years ago I was passing through Penn Station after a
Christmas Eve visit to my family in New Jersey. An old woman in a
wheelchair was soliciting donations. I'd never seen her before, nor have I
since.
"I gave her some money, and she called after me, 'I love you' -- in the
same tone that my mother had said those words over and over when she was
old and frail and losing her faculties.
"I should have mentioned that my mother when she could, gave to people who
solicited funds, particularly women, particularly old women."
[resources:
Whispers of God's Love and
The Other Side]
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