In a most touching testimony, Sylvia and Franck share how their lives changed entirely once they encountered God in their life. And, furthermore, how they discovered the potency of praying for the souls in purgatory.
While visiting the shrine of Montligeon, Sylvia and Franck shared about the importance of praying for the souls in purgatory. You can follow Sylvia’s full account in the video opposite.
I come from a practising Catholic family but, in my teens, I got away from faith. I had loads of questions and hoped that God existed, but I also was in doubt. And I made the wrong choice.
I was a care assistant and in 2015 I was working in a digestive cancer ward where we used to receive a lot of people in their last days of life. In those days, I was stirred by a young man who was about to die and who was not at peace. I thought: “Jesus, if you really exist and if I were to die now, I too would not be at peace.” The man died some time later and I used to often think back about it, as well as about the meaning of my life and regularly, about all the people who had passed away.
A soul in purgatory asks for my prayers
A few months later, in a dream I saw this young man I had been looking after. He was asking me for help as he was enduring much pain. This dream occurred several times and affected me a great deal. I came to acknowledge that it could not possibly be my imagination playing up, but rather a soul in purgatory. I so scared that people would think I was nuts that I kept it all to myself.
Indeed, as far as I was concerned, a dead man in need of prayers with the permission of God and due to His love, was asking her for help. I engaged to have a Mass celebrated for him, and that very evening I saw him again in a dream. He was radiant with happiness, and thanked me. Once Mass was celebrated for him, he never dreamed of him again. At that time, I thought: “My God, you really do exist!” This experience opened my heart up to God’s love and gave me great compassion for the souls in purgatory. I resumed to attending Mass and praying again.
“I see a face and I know this soul needs help”.
Sylvia, about a deceased person
“We can’t let the poor souls suffer and not help them!”
Sylvia
With Franck, my husband, we pray together and especially for the souls in purgatory. This is so important, because the Lord regularly shows me for whom I have to pray and have Mass celebrated. We can’t let the poor souls suffer and not help them! As far as I am concerned, when God shows me whom I should pray for, he makes manifest his love and mercy; his love for souls is so, he wants them all close to him. He enables us to help them. It’s wonderful! Moreover, it is a matter of true communion: we pray for them and we can ask them to intercede for us.
Purgatory is God’s justice and at the same time his mercy.
Purgatory is God’s justice and at the same time his mercy. Even if one repents of all one’s sins and say “yes” to God, one cannot go to heaven just like that. The sins we commit when we do not do his will disfigure our soul. When a soul is not in the complete likeness of God, how could it be in heaven with him? We have to go through a purification process, or else we would all end up in hell, and that cannot be. I ponder and pray: “Lord, if you take me now, I’ll throw myself into that purifying fire straight away, because I can’t come before you like this, with all my filth”.
My whole life changed after I encountered God.
At those days, I was heavily burdened with guilt. I used to blame myself and believed that the Lord would never forgive me. I did not know what to think and I even thought that I deserved hell because what I had done was unforgivable.
Subsequently to my conversion, I read Maria Simma’s book on purgatory. She supported the importance of praying for the poor souls, but she also asserted of God’s mercy. If one sincerely repents, God can forgive all, even the worst. Confession is truly of utmost importance. I resumed going to Mass and to confession. And there, I encountered the mercy of God, by means of the priest officiating. What a beautiful moment!
I began a journey of inner healing, a journey that did not chastised me but lifted me up. The Lord was telling me: “I love you, despite all your faults, I do not condemn you”. The Lord is the only one who truly is intimate with our hearts; and how he knew my heart! I could but trust him, and this trust in him grew in me.
Our God is always here, close by. Often we are not aware of it, and we leave him aside, even though he remains here, awaiting us. He cannot constrain us. We have free will, yet if we decide to take a step towards him, he much more takes an infinite number of steps towards us. He is so patient! He is a God who thirsts for our love! I think and pray: “Without you, I can do nothing, Lord, I’m weak, I’m a sinner, but I want to go towards you, to carry on walking your path, because you are life and you are true happiness.
