Transcription
We are here in this beautiful monastery because God allowed something incredible to happen here. Uh, this encounter with a soul in purgatory so many years ago. Please, uh, share with us what happened. What years did this happen? Tell us the story. We want to know.
Yes, of course. So, uh, I would like to begin with, um, a special fact that took place in 1915. So, in 1915, the nuns of the monastery made a special vow called the heroic act, um, whereby they, uh, basically devoted all their work, sufferings, and prayers to the souls of purgatory. Um, and after that, uh, on September 2nd, 1918, uh, the mother of the monastery, the abbess mother, um, um, Mary, um, heard the bell of the parlor ringing after the weekly morning mass. Uh, she went to answer and basically, uh, she heard a strange and sad voice saying, "Um, I have to leave this donation here." Uh, there was the, the wheel, uh, where basically, uh, people used to put things. It is visible also today. And she found a 10 Lira note, where Lira was the, uh, currency used back at the time.
So, um.
That would be similar to what you have here.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So this is actually, um, the, uh, original, uh, is one of the originals that was used.
Uh, by the, the purgatory soul.
Yeah. Yeah.
Wow. That's incredible.
Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, so basically, uh, this strange person, man, because Mother Clara, Mother Teres did not know who it was, just left the, the note, just left the money and left. Uh, she asked if the nuns had to make specific prayers, if, um, they had to celebrate a mass for something, for someone. Uh, but, um, the, the strange voice said that there was no, no need for it. Uh, she also asked the name and surname of this person, but, um, she heard replying back that again, it was not necessary to be known.
So, from that moment, the visits repeated over time for a period of 14 months. So there were 28 visits during a 14-month period, and every time, basically, the same things happened. So, uh, Mother heard the bell ringing, she went to answer, she received the note. Uh, she asked for more information, but she never managed to get any news, any information from the person leaving the money. Um, although, over time, uh, the, the nuns began to discover something more. So, uh, for example, on March 14th, 1919, the church was closed because the nuns were cleaning it and preparing it for a 40 Hours' Adoration. So they cleaned the church and then they left after the evening prayers, sure that no one was there because the church was closed. And then at around 8:00 p.m., uh, they heard the bell of the sacristy, which was next to the church and was closed, ringing. So, clearly, they were quite worried and scared because, as far as they knew, it was not possible.
So, Mother Teres went to answer and she found the 10 Lira note. Although, at the moment, she didn't say it to the sisters because she didn't want to scare them. Uh, they also asked another lady who used to help them with the cleaning if there was someone in the church, but she said that no, there was no one. So this was the first time that the sisters began to think that the person was, uh, was not alive because this was a very mysterious and unusual fact.
It was something supernatural.
Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. From that up to that moment, they just thought that the person who was leaving the money was someone who had stolen it from the church, probably, and was returning it. So, up to that moment, they just thought that it was a man who had been stealing money and was returning it. But then, from that moment, they began to think that there was something very extraordinary, um, taking place. So they began to pray, uh, and to, yes, and to devote, to make personal offerings for this soul.
Then on April 11th, uh, for the first time, uh, the, the purgatory soul asked for prayers because he said, when she, when he left the note, "This offering is for a deceased." So, for the first time, he said that the money being left was for a person who was dead. Um, then, after a while, Mother Teres began to be scared because she suspected that all these, uh, things that were very strange and were taking place were not, uh, allowed by God, but she thought that the devil was behind them. So, uh, she didn't want to take the money anymore. So when the, the next visit took place, she refused to take the note, but the purgatory soul insisted, saying, "Please take it. It is to satisfy the divine justice." Uh, and then, to be absolutely sure that there was no evil forces behind it, she said, uh, aloud, a special prayer to the Virgin Mary. Uh, she heard the voice repeating it. So she was reassured and, um, this basically dissipated her doubts.
Yeah.
Uh, one strange thing, another strange thing about these events is that Mother Teres Mary was the only one hearing the voice. So if another sister went to the parlor after hearing the bell ringing, she could not hear him. Mother Teres Mary was the only one who was capable, who was allowed and able to hear and speak to this soul.
Okay. Uh, so, um, so the, uh, the visits continued, um, and then, um, around, uh, October of 1919, uh, basically, uh, the mystery about the identity of the soul was solved because he said, uh, he revealed, uh, his identity, saying that he was a priest, uh, who had been spending 40 years in purgatory because he dissipated church resources. So, uh, the mother started to ask the priest and the confessor to celebrate masses for him. Uh, but then, since he continued to leave money and to make offerings, and twice he also left 20 Lira, put as a cross, this was a big sum of money for the time. So, um, 10 Lira could be compared roughly to €300. So, clearly, it was a very substantial amount of money. So, um, at one point, the mother asked again, um, his name and surname. He did not say it, but she said, "Why are you still in purgatory? You know, if one mass is enough to feed one soul, why are you still there? Why are you still giving us money?" And he said, uh, "Because I take only a minor part of it." So, basically, even if they were celebrating masses for him, he could benefit only from a minor part of that devotion of the mass.
It's really interesting. That's something that maybe people don't always think about or understand.
Yeah.
And and perhaps, uh, there's unknown reasons there as to why he could only receive a part of it. Maybe, maybe in his life, maybe he had a small devotion to the souls in purgatory. We don't know.
We don't know. But those are things to think about and and discern.
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, then, um, another strange, um, part of the story is that this, uh, this, um, purgatory soul started to make visits even at night. So Mother Teres could hear someone knocking at her door from time to time at night. And then when she went downstairs to the parlor, she found the 10 Lira note. So, um, uh, everything ended on November 9th, 1919, when at night, at around 4:15 a.m., Mother Teres, uh, heard the usual bell ringing. She went to the parlor to answer and she said, as always, "Praise to Jesus and Mary." And the voice finally, with happiness and, um, she could hear him being very relieved. He said, um, "Can I always be praised? Thank you so much. Thank you and the community. Now I'm free from all suffering." So Mother understood that finally, he was free from purgatory. And, um, they had a small dialogue. Basically, uh, she asked to this soul that she wanted to go to purgatory where he had been because she said, "So I can be confident and sure that after that, she could go to heaven." Um, but the voice just said, "Please, you just make God's will." And after that, Mother had a mystic vision. So, basically, she was not in the monastery anymore. She was like in alone, filled with, um, colors and lights, and she could see like, um, a small, um, ball, like a ray of sunlight going up to the sky and being absorbed by a greater source of light. And this was, uh, the last visit that took place. And while, uh, this, uh, this purgatory soul went to the sky, to the heaven, um, he blessed the, the mother, he blessed the monastery, he blessed, uh, all the sisters, and he promised that he would always protect us, basically.
That's beautiful. Yeah.
I think one of the things that maybe people in the church do understand is a relationship that you can have with saints, getting to know them and falling in love with them and having them pray for you. Maybe less so with the souls in purgatory.
Yeah.
So, it's interesting that he would then give that, that blessing, but also that promise that "I will always protect you."
So, then it gives you this sense of drawing close to them, this friendship that you can establish with them.
Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. What were some of the, um, the fruits of that after that all finished with the church? Uh, were there like investigations or things like that? What happened at the monastery after that all finished?
Yeah. Okay. So, after the visits ended, basically, the nuns, um, wanted, of course, that these events were officially recognized by the Vatican and the church. So, one problem that they had was that they spent all the money that they received during the time because they were very poor. So they, they used the money, but they managed to, um, recover one, uh, because one of the priests that was around them at the time, uh, was clever enough to take one and bring it to Rome, where there is a sanctuary dedicated to the souls of purgatory. So, basically, after, um, after the events, he went to this, um, to this sanctuary and took the original one and left a similar one, and this is the one that we have here. So this has been examined by experts and it is real money. Uh, so it is exactly like it was back at the time. Uh, it can be spent. Um, but of course, the origin is unknown because, uh, it, yeah, it, it is mysterious because it was, it is something that we can see. It is material. It is an object like anything else, but clearly has, uh, a different origin. Uh, so, in, um, so there was a process that became after it, and the, the apparitions, the visits were officially recognized by the church. So these events have been, have been transcribed officially and recorded, uh, in the church, in the local church records. Um, yeah. So, yeah. So, so the, the process was up to the recognition of the events. Yeah.
Wow.
What's been the effect then, uh, here in the community? How did that impact their devotion to the souls in purgatory from what you know?
Yeah. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. [Music] Okay. Yes. So, basically, um, these, uh, these events gave an identity to the monastery. So, as I said at the beginning, the nuns were really committed, uh, to devote special prayers to the purgatory souls because they made the act, the heroic act in 1915. After these visits from the, the purgatory soul, um, they, they started to feel even more that they, um, that their work, their prayers had to have this, this direction. Um, yes. So, um, we, we also have, uh, nowadays, every third Monday of the month, we have a special prayer moment that we take in the afternoon in the church where we say, uh, specific prayers for the purgatory souls. So we have this every month, um, to, to give it even more importance. And then, clearly, um, we also have different pilgrimages and visits throughout the year of people that have come to know the story of the monastery and come here to ask questions and to know the, the story. And clearly, it is our responsibility and our duty to share the knowledge of the events and also of the importance of praying for the purgatory souls because if we don't, if we do not pray for them, then they are stuck there. So they cannot go to heaven. So this clearly, um, created a greater knowledge, as you said before, about these, uh, these aspects of our religion, of our faith.
Tell us about when I visited the chapel there. There's a small chapel now where all of it happened. Maybe tell us a little bit about that and what's there.
Yeah. Yes. That is the chapel of the purgatory souls. There is the tomb of Mother Teres Mary, and there is also the original wheel that was used by the purgatory soul. Uh, to.
Is she the one who who had the.
Exactly. She's the one who had the visits. And then there is an altar which is special because, um, in theory, if a mass is celebrated there for a purgatory soul, it should be enough for, um, for the soul to go to heaven. It is called a privileged altar. So we say in theory because we do not know, of course, God's plans. Uh, but it has a special permission by the Vatican, uh, to free purgatory souls. Okay. So to free souls from purgatory. Uh, so, so yeah. So, and there's also, uh, the, the painting that clearly, um, reflects that.
Beautiful.
Yeah. Maybe share a little bit about, uh, because it's always a beautiful thing to promote vocations, especially, I think, to the religious life for women, because they provide the prayer for the church, which is like St. Therese, it's the heartbeat of the church.
Yeah.
How did some of this maybe affect your own vocation in coming here?
Yeah. Okay. Um, so, um, so I came, uh, for the first time to this monastery because I was directed here by my spiritual director, who was a friar from, um, the, um, Basilica of Santa Maria de'i. And, uh, basically, he directed me here because he knew, uh, the story of the monastery. He had been the spiritual director of one of the other sisters here. He had been the confessor of the nuns for many years, and he was very sure of the fact that this is a, is a place where there is a special spirituality. So here there is, um, uh, it's a very special place to live, to the vocation, and to be in contact with God. Uh, but even before his direction, um, I was very touched by the work of the purgatory souls because I know that if we pray for them, they can also pray for us. So there is this personal relationship that can be established because they cannot pray for themselves, but they can pray for us. So clearly, if, um, anybody, um, takes the time and makes the commitment to pray for them, they can be sure of their protection and of their help in their day-to-day life. And I experimented that even before joining the monastery, and after coming here, this became clearly stronger, because, yes, I was clearly explained for the first time the story when I, when I came here, I was very surprised and touched. But then, after I entered and as I started my life here, I couldn't really feel that there is, like, a special presence. It's like when you go to other sanctuaries or places where there have been saints, clearly they are not the common places. Like when you go to another simple church or you go, you are on the street, it's different, it's different. Um, so clearly, the, the place, the, the church, the place plays a role, plays a role, uh, in our, in our vocation because we are protected and we are better enabled to go ahead in our mission of praying for the church and for the people who are outside. We are in a better position. We are helped, um, by the, the sanctity of the place, basically. Yeah.
Thank you, sister, so much for your vocation, for your prayer for the church, and also for this opportunity to do this interview because I think it's an incredible story and and I really wanted to have an opportunity, you know, as you, you know, we tried to do it before, but the audio wasn't as good. And so it's so wonderful to be able to come here to where God allowed something, I think, to remind us of this beautiful devotion and, and to help us love them and pray for them so that they could be in heaven and intercede for us more powerfully.
Yeah. Yeah.
Would you do us the honor of maybe praying with us? You could do it in Italian for the souls in purgatory so that as we pray for them, then they pray for us.
Yeah. Okay. Amen. Amen. [Music] Amen. [Music] Amen. Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Thank you everyone for joining us. Please have a beautiful day and I'll see you in the next one.