Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli

Some days before All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2), Italians, like many other Europeans, begin visiting the graves of their deceased relatives. The cemeteries are crowded with people adorning the graves with fresh flowers and praying for the dead. In some places in Italy, there still survive other traditions that commemorate the departed. In Puglia, on the evening before Nov. 2, some families maintain the custom of placing bread, wine and water on the dinner table for the dead. In parts of Piedmont, when some families go to the cemetery in the evening of Nov. 2, they leave the dinner table undisturbed as a sign of hospitality to their deceased relatives. And, in Sicily, children wake up on the morning of All Souls’ Day expecting a treat of a toy or candy from some relative who has passed on and not forgotten them. In one way or another, these traditions and customs affirm the truth that, at death, life is not ended, but changed and that we who are bound together in life on earth remain bound to each other after death.

Our Catholic faith teaches us that the Church exists as the communion of those who are already in heaven, the dead undergoing purification and the living on earth. Furthermore, “according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 955). Thus, those on earth can pray to the saints in heaven as well as to the souls in purgatory, asking their help and intercession. The saints, for their part, can intercede for the living and the dead. And the souls in purgatory, likewise, can pray and intercede for us, the living. Since this is so, should we be surprised if at times, there is, with God’s will, some conscious contact with those who have gone before us?

Accounts circulate of the saints who have appeared after their death. Lourdes. Fatima. Banneux. Akita. Betania. These are a few of the approved apparitions of our Blessed Mother. Other saints have appeared as well. St. Therese of Lisieux is reported to have appeared to the Vietnamese mystic Brother Van. She is also reported as appearing twice to the Servant of God, Maria Esperanza de Bianchini of Betania (1928-2004).

There are many accounts of Padre Pio’s experiences with those who had died. On one occasion, he saw a man in a black mantle. The man had entered the monastery even though the doors were locked and it was late at night. When questioned by Padre Pio, the man responded, “Padre Pio, I am Pietro Di Mauro, son of Nicola, nicknamed Precoco. I died in this friary on the 18th of September 1908, in cell number 4, when this building was still a poorhouse. One night while in bed, I fell asleep with a lighted cigar which ignited the mattress and I died, suffocated and burned.” The man asked Padre Pio to offer Mass for him. Padre Pio checked the town records. What the man had said was true. He offered the Mass as requested.

On another occasion, Padre Pio told Cleonice Morcaldi of San Giovanni Rotondo that her mother had gone to heaven. Her mother had died one month before. Padre Pio told her, “This morning your mother has gone to heaven. I have seen her while I was celebrating Holy Mass.” There were many times that the deceased requested Padre Pio to offer Mass to shorten their time of purification.

St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) knew of the death of a nun living in the Passionist Convent of Corneto. She fervently prayed for the deceased sister. One morning while St. Gemma was fully awake, the deceased appeared to her and said, “I am Mother Maria Teresa of the Infant Jesus. I thank you so very much for the great concern you have shown me because soon I shall be able to attain my eternal happiness.” In her diary, St. Gemma related that 16 days later, she saw Sister Maria Teresa clad as a Passionist, accompanied by her Guardian Angel and by Jesus. She smiled and said to St. Gemma, “I am truly happy, and I go to enjoy my Jesus forever.”

In her Diary, St. Faustina, a great mystic of the 20th century, relates the vision of Purgatory that she had. In 1926, her guardian angel led her in a vision to Purgatory where she saw a vast crowd of the deceased. They told her that their greatest suffering was their longing to be with God. In the midst of all suffering souls, she saw our Blessed Mother who had come to visit and console them. Mary truly is the Mother of the Church, both the Church militant on earth, suffering in Purgatory and glorified in heaven.

In her “Treatise on Purgatory,” St. Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510), described Purgatory in a very consoling way. According to St. Catherine, the image of Purgatory as a place engulfed in flames is merely a symbolic or artistic manner of representing the reality of Purgatory. Purgatory is essentially a state in which the departed experience a burning desire to be with God, while recognizing their need to be purified of their sinfulness before entering the presence of the All-holy God. The longing of love’s desire purifies them and readies them for heaven. In fact, there is even a sense of joy in their longing, for they know that they will be with God forever.

As St. Paul teaches, all of us, living and dead, belong to the Lord (Rm 12:8). Christ has conquered death. The great love that God has for us in Christ, Crucified and Risen, does not separate us from each other at the moment when we pass from this world. We pray for those who have died, most especially by having Mass offered for them. And, they, for their part, make constant intercession for our well-being and salvation. In truth, the love we bear for those who have gone before us does not end in the grave nor does their love for us.