Never Give Up On Prayer For the Departed
In her August 13 apparition at Fatima the Virgin said, “pray, pray much, and sacrifice for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to sacrifice and pray for them.”.
A personal experience described below clearly demonstrates the Immense Mercy of God, the immense Power of Prayer and the need for perseverance and faith.
Never Give Up On Prayer
In 1992 my mother-in-law committed suicide. Two years later her husband also committed suicide. Neither of them were Catholic and on account of the circumstances of their deaths our family was greatly concerned about their salvation. The catechism tells us: "God in His almighty Providence can bring good from the consequences of evil" (cc312)
As a result of these tragedies I began to pray the rosary and to go to daily Mass. Three years later I made a pilgrimage and on my return, while attending a novena the priest said we could receive a plenary indulgence if we attended the whole novena. That summer I offered plenary indulgences for both deceased in-laws. I continued to pray for them because I realised no prayer is every wasted. Also I had learned from Fr Corapi about anticipatory prayers. God is outside of time and He knows what we will do before we do it. This meant that the prayers and Masses I offered for my in-laws could have been applied to them at the time of their deaths, and helped to save them.
On reading more I realized that a Plenary Indulgence is not easily obtained. To obtain such indulgence one must have no attachment at all to sin, however small the sin may be. This is not an easy thing. I then suggested to my husband we have a series of Gregorian Masses said for his parents in case they were still in Purgatory. The Masses were schedule to begin on October 1 (Feast of St Therese) and finish on 30 October
I asked for a sign of their salvation to be given to me once the Masses were completed. October 30 came and I waited for the sign. It did not come. October 31 came and no sign. I was then sure I would get the sign on All Saints Day (November 1). It never came. The next day - All Souls Day - would be perfect. No sign again. Now I started to really get worried. Could they be in Hell? I was distressed. I had so hoped that God would apply all the prayers and Masses ahead of time to help them at their last moments. I continued to pray but it took one more month.
A Month Later - Sign
On the First Saturday of December I woke up at 3.30am and felt I needed to go to Adoration. I could not get out of bed. I woke up again at 4.30am. This time I got up and went to Adoration. I had this really strong urge - hard to explain - to pray for in laws at Mass that morning. After Mass I was supposed to pray at an abortion clinic, but something told me I had to go home instead. On the way home I stopped to put Holy Water on the graves of my in-laws, as I knew this helped the Holy Souls. This was not easy as the cemetery was covered in snow. But I did, and wiped all the snow off, sprinkled Holy Water on the graves and prayed some more for them.
On arriving at home there was a package on the doorstep. I gave it to my son because I could see a stuffed animal toy in the bag and assumed it was from his girlfriend. He looked and said: "This is for you. It's flowers."
When I opened it up I began to sob. There in the package were a dozen white roses! I had asked to two white roses for my sign, but our God is a truly generous God and He gives us more than we ever ask for! The card with the flowers said: "I am just the messenger", and it was signed "John R." Also in the package was a rose pin attached to a St Therese prayer and a stuffed doggy toy.
Circumstances of the Sign
I called John to thank him. He said he was truly just the messenger. He explained to me that he had been woken up at 3am that morning and felt he was floating. He kept getting the message: "Get June white roses" He tried to pray but he could not. He said the Holy Spirit would not let up on him about the roses until he finally got them. When I told him the whole story about the white roses being a sign, he could not contain himself and had to hang up the phone.
My father-in-law loved dogs and a few days later I discovered a photo in which he had a dog that looked exactly like the stuffed toy, spots and all. As for the St Therese card the Gregorian Masses started on her Feast Day and my mother-in-law loved red roses. In my heart I believe the roses, the dog, the card and pin were all part of the message from Heaven that my two in-laws were now in that wonderful place.
The Lesson
Never, never give up on praying for your loved one, even after their deaths! Please pray every day for the Souls in Purgatory. My in-laws were not Catholic. Maybe we were the only ones praying for them. How many non-Catholics there must be in Purgatory because they have no one to pray for them! How many non-Catholics must be lost because they have no one to pray for them, either before or after their deaths!
Source Spirit Digest
