The Amazing Secrets of the Souls in Purgatory

(UPDATE: I forgot to add that I have no idea if the Church approves these visions, therefore rules for acceptance or rejection of private revelation are in place)

This morning my husband confessed to me that he didn't really know very much about Purgatory or the Holy Souls suffering there. I don't think he is alone in this. Purgatory is not talked about very often anymore and I don't think it's taught as part of Catechism classes much either. I myself didn't know much until a few years ago when a friend sent me a fascinating interview with a woman named Maria Simma who wrote a book called The Amazing Secrets of the Souls in Purgatory. Maria Simma is a woman who possesses the very special charism of being visited by the souls in Purgatory. The interview is done by Sister Emmanuel of Medjugorje who tracked Miss Simma down after reading her book.

I wanted to reproduce the entire thing here, but it is quite long. I have it saved as a 21 page Word Document. Then I discovered, while checking around online, that you can read the entire thing here at Holy Souls Crusade. So what I think I'll do instead, is post some of the highlights here, and this may end up running into several posts because I find this stuff just completely fascinating. For more background information on both Maria Simma and Sister Emmanuel, you'll want to go to the link at Holy Souls Crusade.

The interview with Maria Simma:

Maria, Can you tell us how you were visited for the first time by a soul in Purgatory?

Yes, it was in 1940. One night, around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, I heard someone coming into my bedroom. This woke me up; I looked to see who on earth could have walked into my bedroom.

Were you afraid?

No, I'm not at all the fearful. Even when I was a little child, my mother said I was a special child because I was never afraid.

So, that night...tell us!

Well, I saw a complete stranger. He walked back and forth slowly. I said to him severely: "How did you get in here? Go away!" But he continued to walk impatiently around the bedroom, as if he hadn't heard. So I asked him again; "What are you doing?" but as he still didn't answer, I jumped out of the bed and tried to grab him, but I grasped only air. There was nothing there, So I went back to bed, but again I heard him pacing back and forth.I wondered how I could see this man, but I couldn't grab him. I rose again to hold onto him and stop him walking around; again, I grasped only emptiness. Puzzled, I went back to bed. He didn't come back, but I couldn't get back to sleep. The next day, after Mass, I went to see my spiritual director and told him everything. He told me that if this should happen, I shouldn't ask, "Who are you?: but "What do you want from me?" The following night, the man returned, definitely the same man. I asked him, "What do you want from me?" He replied: "Have three Masses celebrated for me and I will be delivered."So I understood that it was a soul in Purgatory. My spiritual father confirmed this.He also advised me never to turn away the poor souls, but to accept with generosity whatever they asked of me.

And afterwards, the visits continued?

Yes. For several years, there were only three or four souls, above all in November. Afterwards, there were more.

What do these souls ask of you?

In most cases, they ask to have Masses celebrated and that one be present at these Masses; they ask to have the rosary said and also that one make the Stations of the Cross. At this point, the major question is raised: What exactly is Purgatory? I'd say that it's a marvelous invention of God. Let me give you an image which is my own. Suppose that one day a door opens, and a splendid being appears, extremely beautiful, of a beauty that has never been seen on earth. You are fascinated, overwhelmed by this being of light and beauty, even more so that this being shows that he is madly in love with you -- you have never dreamed of being loved so much. You sense too that he has a great desire to draw you to him, to be one with you. And the fire of love which burns in your heart impels you to throw yourself into his arms. But wait -- you realize at this moment that you haven't washed for months and months, that you smell bad; you nose is running, your hair is greasy and matted, there are big dirty stains on your clothes, etc. So you say to yourself, "No, I just can't present myself in this state. First I must go and wash: a good shower, then straight away I'll come back."

But the love which has been born in your heart is so intense, so burning, so strong, that this delay for the shower is absolutely unbearable. And the pain of the absence, even if it only lasts for a couple of minutes, is an atrocious wound in the heart, proportional to the intensity of the revelation of the love -- it is a "love-wound".

Purgatory is exactly this. It's a delay imposed by our impurity, a delay before God's embrace, a wound of love which causes intense suffering, a waiting, if you like, a nostalgia for love. It is precisely this burning, this longing which cleanses us of whatever is still impure in us. Purgatory is a place of desire, a made desire for God, desire for this God whom we already know, for we have seen him, but with whom we are not yet united.