One is never sure whether a loved one goes straight to heaven after death.
One can only be consoled with the knowledge that God does not send a soul straight to hell for failure to make reparations for sins committed in life.
Because of his infinite patience, God created Purgatory, a place where the soul purifies itself after choosing to suffer cleansing fire before presenting itself to its Maker.
Maria Simma, an Austrian visionary gifted with the ability to talk to souls in Purgatory, said surviving relatives could best help their departed loved ones by offering Masses for them to expedite their entry into Heaven.
In a 1997 interview with French nun Emmanuel Maillard, Simma said the Mass was “the most efficacious means” to liberate souls in Purgatory “because it is Christ who offers Himself out of His love for us. It is Christ offering Himself to God and therefore it is the best offering.”
Simma also revealed that the Virgin Mary “frequently visits” the souls in Purgatory to “console them and give them courage” and sends souls that have completely purified themselves to Heaven on Christmas, All Saints’ Day, Good Friday, Assumption Day (Aug. 15) and on the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord (40th day from Easter).
The interview with Simma, who died in 2004 at age 89, was published in English as the book “Amazing Secrets of the Souls in Purgatory.”
Excerpts from the interview appear in the prayer book “Devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory,” published by St. Pauls Philippines (translated by
Fr. Romeo S. Hitosis, SSP, and edited by Fr. Domie G. Guzman, SSP).
Simma said the efficacy of the Mass on the purification of souls “also depends upon the disposition of the souls while still on earth.”
Importance of Mass
She explained that the level of purification achieved by souls in Purgatory through Masses offered for them also depended on the importance they gave to the Mass while they were still alive.
“The greater their esteem for the Mass when they were still alive on earth, the greater also is the efficacy of the Mass for them in Purgatory,” Simma said.
“If they attended Mass and prayed with all their hearts, if they went to Mass on weekdays—according to their available time—they drew great profit from Masses celebrated for them. Here, too, one harvests what one has sown,” she said.
Simma also said the souls of the departed “see very well the day of their funeral. They know those who are praying for them and those who don’t.”
“Tears of their loved ones do not help them. What helps them is prayer. They complain that many of those who attend their burial do not pray for them,” she said.
Visits from souls
Simma told Maillard she was often visited by souls given permission to leave Purgatory to ask her that Masses be offered for them and that their surviving relatives and friends pray the Holy Rosary or make the Way of the Cross for them.
It is the soul that decides to first cleanse itself before presenting itself to God, she said.
According to Maillard, who included her personal notes in some parts of the interview, the soul makes that decision because the soul deems itself unworthy of embracing God while still carrying the stains of sins it committed in life.
While waiting to be cleansed, the soul suffers from a constant, almost unbearable longing to be with God, but endures cleansing fire rather than to earth.
No going back
Simma said no soul would like to return to earth once it had experienced Purgatory. This is because Purgatory already assures souls that they are just one step from heaven and reunification with God.
“No soul in Purgatory would like to return to earth because they already have knowledge of God infinitely superior to ours. They could never decide to go back to the darkness of this world,” she said.
Sins that lead souls to Purgatory include those “against charity, love of neighbors, stubbornness of the heart, hostility, calumny,” Simma said.
“I also know that abusive language and calumny are among the serious sins that need thorough purification,” she said.
Clean heart
Meanwhile, those who go straight to Heaven are those “who have a clean heart, a heart that does good to everyone. Charity covers a multitude of sins,” Simma said.
“We have to help the souls in Purgatory (through our prayers), for they, in turn, will help us. We have to be very humble. Humility is the great enemy of the devil. Humility eliminates evil,” she said.