Marie-Anne Lindmayr (continued)
What the Church teaches about Purgatory
Judas Maccabees, says the Bible, send to Jerusalem twelve thousand drachmas of money for a sacrifice to be offered for the soldiers killed in battle because he thought that the best reward was reserved to those that were dying in the best sentiment of piety (2 Macc 12, 39-45). It is therefore a holy and salutary thought to pray for the dead, so they may be delivered from their sins (2 Macc 12, 48).
The Holy Church teaches us: that there is a Purgatory and the Souls that are detained are helped by the prayers of the faithful, but especially by the offering of the sacrifice of the mass.
We are punished by where we have sin
Following this, the Souls would appear to her in a manner and with the characteristics corresponding to their state. She writes: God has taught me as to what the needs of these Souls are and how we can help them.
Certain Souls came to me with tears in their eyes. They asked me to do penance for them by controlling my eyes and to abstain from curiosity. Others appeared to me absolutely starved, tired and in an undescribable state. They were begging me to fast severely on bread and water and therefore repair their sins committed during their lives by excess in drinking and eating.
Others made me understand, by their behavior, their unfortunate angers, and their acts of impatience. They were begging me to help them through acts of patience and kindness.
Souls, who, during their lifetime, were never mortified, were showing me a cilice (instrument of penance - haircloth). When I was fasting for them a fully dressed and abundant table was shown to me.
The Souls who had sin by word were appearing to me with their mouth shut by a nail to show me I was to keep silence.
The Souls, who, on this earth, had a hard heart and were without pity, can only be helped through acts of mercy and generosity.
What has failed to the tree has to be expiated on the tree (of the cross). That is also why that all that is missing on other matters must be expiated by the same manner that the failure or breach was committed.
Seducers who converted in time, but they did not have the chance to repair the damages caused by their sins, I saw them in an appearance similar to the evil spirit, because it is in this manner that the devil seduces man so they may fall.
The poor Souls who, during their lives, did not control their eyes had to appear with unusually large and deformed eyes. The Souls full of sufficiency, full of pride of their knowledge, would appear with deformed heads.
When pride was the major cause of sin for Souls, these would appear with a cancerous face. If a Soul would appear and pointing to its forehead with a finger, this would mean she had been hard headed all her life.
A face, which would turn away from Marie-Anne, would mean pass susceptibility, just like she would recognize the lack of love for work through deformed hands.
When Marie-Anne would see a Soul in a corner praying, she knew disobedience and having disturbed the peace in its lifetime was the cause of it.
Those who through their lives had love animals excessively would appear to her with the animal around their neck.
Those who were too preoccupied with earthly things to the detriment of spiritual matters, she would recognized them because of their childlike form.
The Souls that stays the shortest time in Purgatory
Marie-Anne knows, by the experiences done with the Holy Souls of Purgatory, that those who accept death willingly spend the least amount of time in Purgatory.
The countess Marie-Anne, Josèphe, Thérèse Preising, nee Rechberg auf Hohenaschau, was very attached to the venerable Marie-Anne. She had frequent relations with her during her life. Thats why she was able shortly after her death, which occurred on 17 October 1721, to come and see Marie-Anne as described here: On 17th October 1721, a Friday morning at 4:00 am I was urged to pray for the countess who was in child delivery pains. At nine oclock in the morning she passed away. She appeared to me at the Choir shortly after her death, all happy, because she had been pious all her life. She appeared to me as she was in her living, holding an apple, in one hand, which she shared in half with great generosity. I learned from her how much we fail to our duty by making days of the nights and nights of the days. The countess mostly requested from me the Holy Communion, which she had often missed in her life. She admitted that she never deprived herself with food, figuring it was not necessary, and she unnecessarily wasted precious time. On 18th October, the whole community offered her the Holy Communion. On Friday the 24th October, she was entering Heaven, because of the Sabbatine Privilege of the brotherhood of our Lady of Mount Carmel, of which the countess was wearing the brown scapular. I saw her above in an inexpressible joy and I heard a most beautiful hymn. They were chanting: Vanitas vanitatum. The reason why the countess entered so soon into Heaven, was because, as a young mother, she willingly accepted the will of God and had strongly requested herself the Sacraments.
How can we help the Souls in Purgatory
How can we and how should we help the Souls in Purgatory? The answer stems in part at least, from what was just said. But it will be good to look deeper into the matter by checking the notes from the venerables diary.
The most efficient means are those utilized by the Church to help the faithful departed: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrements, and prayers. This is why Saint Pierre Damien makes this prayer: O Holy Host, You that breaks down the gates of Purgatory, and opens the door of the Kingdom of heaven to the faithful!
The severe justice of God, according to the venerable Marie-Anne, requires the full payment until the last penny. That has to be understood not only as debts of money, but also debts contracted through all kinds of faults against the commandments of God and the Church as well as against the Christian justice. This applies especially for the faults against God and our neighbor, against this great commandment of love to which we dont pay enough attention. It is therefore really necessary for us, poor humans, to believe and to keep in mind that, in the other world, things are completely different than we can imagine and that the cleansing of our soul by frequent confession, communion, complete with the firm intention not to offend God again; is really necessary. By behaving as such, we wont leave too many debts behind us.
Christ taught me that after the Holy Mass, the Sacraments, and the indulgences for the departed, the best mean is to be virtuous. Christ Himself showed me by comparing an injured or sick person. But since I am not so clever, I will not attempt to explain it. That is why you will have to make a greater effort at understanding what I am about to write. The doctor is called for a person gravelly ill. At first glance, the doctor realizes that this man is really sick and in a bad state, but he does not diagnosed by visual examination only: he establishes a diagnostic as exact a possible, questioning the sick, asking him where he feels the most pain, and where and how it all started. When the doctor has established the proper diagnostic of the disease, he will use the appropriate means and soon the sick will be better. But if the doctor did not see the exact nature of the problem, he will not be able to help the sick, even by prescribing the most expensive medication. It may well be that a very inexpensive product will cure him because it is the one most appropriate for the disease. Christ referred to the poor Souls in Purgatory as being such patients. I could not have helped them, these poor Souls, if I had examined them only superficially and did not take the time to learn what were the faults and sins that was causing them such great pains and sufferings. It would not be reasonable to put a bandage on a hand for a person injured on the head.
Similar to a doctor or surgeon, I had to study thoroughly to find the proper means to help these poor Souls in Purgatory.
It is without a doubt that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most precious mean, the most efficient mean and the most salutary to help the Souls in Purgatory, and can even extinguish the fire of Purgatory. But It is not always applied nor applied in the same way to all the Souls, because in the manner we have sinned, so in the same manner we must expiate and suffer.