Here a description of the state of some purgatories , seen by Sr Emmerich .

Pray for them !!!!



http://propheciesii.blogspot.de/
(somewhere in the middle)


The Prophecies of
Anne Catherine Emmerich....Part 3
On the Existence of Purgatory .......section 1

1) "I was with my guide," she says, "among the poor souls in purgatory. I saw their desolation, their inability to help themselves, and the little assistance they get from the living. Ah, their misery is inexpressible! Whilst contemplating their state, I saw a mountain separated me from my guide. I sighed for him like one famished, I almost swooned with desire. I saw him on the opposite side, but I could not reach him. He said to me: 'See, how thou sighest for help! The poor souls are always in the state in which thou art!' He often took me to pray before caverns and prisons. I prostrated, I wept with my arms extended, and I cried to God for mercy. My angel encouraged me to offer all kinds of privations for the poor souls. they cannot help themselves, they are cruelly neglected. I often sent him to the angels of certain persons in suffering, to inspire them to suffer their pains for them. They are instantly relieved by such offerings; they become joyous, so grateful! Whenever I do something for them, they pray for me. I am terrified to see the riches the Church holds out in such abundance neglected, dissipated, so lightly esteemed, whilst the poor souls are languishing for them."

2) "The prayer most pleasing to God is that made for others and particularly for the poor souls. Pray for them, if you want your prayers to bring high interest."

3) "The poor souls suffer inexpressibly. The difference between the pains of purgatory and those of hell is this: in hell reigns only despair, whilst in purgatory the hope of deliverance sweetens all. The greatest torment of the damned is the anger of God. Some faint idea of His wrath may be formed from the terror of a defenceless person exposed to the attack of a furious man.'

4) "Last night I was in purgatory. It seemed to me that I was taken into a deep abyss, a vast region, where I saw, and the site filled me with sorrow, the poor souls so sad, so silent, yet with something in their countenance which tells that the thought of God's mercy gives joy to their heart. Enthroned in their midst was the Mother of God, more beautiful than I had ever seen her before."-- Then she said to him (her inquisitor Dean Rensing) "Instruct your penitents to pray fervently for the poor souls in purgatory, for they in gratitude will pray for them in return. Prayer for these poor souls is most agreeable to God, as it admits them to His presence sooner."

5) "I went with my guide into a gloomy prison for souls, where I consoled on all sides. The souls were buried in darkness, all more or less so; some to the neck, others to the waist. They were in separate, though adjoining dungeons, some tortured with thirst, others by cold, others by heat, unable to help themselves, sighing in uninterrupted torments. I saw numbers delivered and their joy was inexpressible. They went forth as gray figures. They received for their short passage to a higher region the costume and distinctive marks of their state upon earth. They assembled in a vast place above purgatory enclosed as with a thorn-hedge. I saw many physicians received by a procession of physicians like themselves and conducted on high. I saw numbers of soldiers liberated, and the sight made me rejoice with the poor men slaughtered in war. I saw few female religious, still fewer judges; but led out by blessed nuns were numbers of virginal souls who had wanted only an opportunity to consecrate themselves to the religious life. I saw some kings of olden times, some members of royal families, a large number of ecclesiastics, and many peasants, among whom I saw some of my acquaintance and others who, by their costume, seemed to belong to foreign lands. Each class was led on high and in different directions by souls of their own condition in life and, as they ascended, they were divested of their earthly insignia and clothed in a luminous robe peculiar to the blessed. I recognized in purgatory not only my own acquaintances, but also their relatives whom, perhaps, I had never before seen. I saw in the greatest abandonment those poor, dear souls who have no one to think of them. Among those who forget them are so many of their brethen in the faith who neglect prayer! It is for such souls that I pray the most.
........Then I saw many of the poor souls whom I had known in life, with whom I had had dealings, looking wistfully after me from purgatory, and I understood the difference between true and false sympathy. They followed me with sad eyes, repenting of many things now that I was forced to leave them.--They were citizens of the little city." (Vol II pp 202-203)

Thank you, Bliss.

Yes, we are called to pray for the souls in Purgatory, for, as the vision notes, they are now unable to help themselves. I think that part is considered an attribute of souls who have died but are not yet resurrected, but am not sure of its doctrinal status.

A number of saints and mystics have had similar visions of Purgatory, including the children of Fatima (who also were given to see hell). The Catholic Church considers these kinds of visions to be "private revelations," which the faithful are not obliged to believe even if they are compelling and not in contradiction to Scripture and Church teaching. As Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later, Pope Benedict XVI) noted:

quote:

"Interior vision" is not fantasy but, as we have said, a true and valid means of verification. But it also has its limitations. Even in exterior vision the subjective element is always present. We do not see the pure object, but it comes to us through the filter of our senses, which carry out a work of translation. This is still more evident in the case of interior vision, especially when it involves realities which in themselves transcend our horizon.

The subject, the visionary, is still more powerfully involved. He sees insofar as he is able, in the modes of representation and consciousness available to him. In the case of interior vision, the process of translation is even more extensive than in exterior vision, for the subject shares in an essential way in the formation of the image of what appears. He can arrive at the image only within the bounds of his capacities and possibilities.

Such visions therefore are never simple "photographs" of the other world, but are influenced by the potentialities and limitations of the perceiving subject.

The whole essay is worth reading, as it's a reflection on Fatima, which is an approved apparition.

I have noted elsewhere that it might put things in perspective to consider NDEs in terms of private revelations. Some are obviously more credible (in terms of Christian faith and theology) than others.

Here a very remarkable NDE.
The main topic is "Forgiveness", and this NDE story (of a morder that happened) is an example of the INFINITE spiritual power that encorporates love and forgiveness



http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/NDE...nces/robyn_f_nde.htm