Darkness

[ToJesusMyHeart]

I've never heard that before, FP. I don't believe it's actual Church teaching that souls from Purgatory can come back to Earth. I'll ask a scholar. 

 

Pious legend?

[jeffboom]

People can have experiences with demons and angels, but not with dead humans. If they are experiencing what they think are humans, it is not. Like I said, demons can take the form of humans. They're playing "dress up," so to speak. 

 

But lots of times, people are just liars. 

 

Like all those TV shows about the haunted houses? Most of those are fake. 

 

Satan is the Father of lies, and demons like him know how to trick humans. If you and others are experiencing supernatural beings, they are not humans, I promise. 

 

Yes, those shows are completely fake. But it is still strange that it is common for humans to encounter humanoid ghosts. 

[PhuturePriest]

I've never heard that before, FP. I don't believe it's actual Church teaching that souls from Purgatory can come back to Earth. I'll ask a scholar. 

 

Pious legend?

 

It's what I was taught. And it's apparently what Saint Padre Pio has seen himself.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

I asked a scholar. We'll see if it is Church teaching.

[ithinkjesusiscool]

Deceased humans cannot come back to Earth. They are either in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven. 

 

I urge you to discuss these things with your parish priest. 

http://stbedementoroh.org/dnn/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Velx9gfL_SM%3D&tabid=86

[ithinkjesusiscool]

you peple only limit darkness to ghosts/demons. What about the the darkness of psyche! That oughtta be a great nightmare!

[ToJesusMyHeart]

http://stbedementoroh.org/dnn/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Velx9gfL_SM%3D&tabid=86

I've never seen any Church teaching which says that souls can spend their Purgatory on Earth. That document is simply opinion. 

[jeffboom]

Deceased humans cannot come back to Earth. They are either in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven. 

 

I urge you to discuss these things with your parish priest. 

 

Unfortunately, I think my parish is a terrible community. The only think my parish cares about is money and appearing righteous. I need to find a new one. 

 

There is another much more genuine parish close to my house, and I will check that one out. 

[Lilllabettt]

when I was in the convent Sisters would sometimes hear a knock at their cell door, get up and open it and no one be there. Happened to me a couple times. We always said it was a Holy Soul wanting us to pray for them.

[EmilyAnn]

My mom used to work in what was once a Franciscan friary, and people often saw a nun who, according to local legend, was walled up in one of the rooms for breaking her vows. People staying in the room would often see her - even guests who had not been told of the legend. I saw her briefly once. Whether what I saw was really the poor nun or not, there was definitely something strange about that room.

[Nihil Obstat]

Deceased humans cannot come back to Earth. They are either in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven.

Based on my own research, I do not necessarily want to conclude that this is the case. Certainly it is normally the case, but I do think that extraordinary intervention by God might allow, in some cases, what we consider to be hauntings. For instance, I do not think there is a doctrinal reason to reject the possibility that a soul in purgatory might be permitted to interact with 'our' world for some purpose. Or, perhaps as their purgation.

The aspect that, as far as I can tell, is settled within Catholic teaching is that judgement occurs immediately at the time of death, so I do reject the idea of a wandering soul who has yet to receive its judgement.

I have written a bit on this subject before, and I can retrieve some of that if you like.

[jeffboom]

when I was in the convent Sisters would sometimes hear a knock at their cell door, get up and open it and no one be there. Happened to me a couple times. We always said it was a Holy Soul wanting us to pray for them.

 

Your room in the convent was called a "cell"? 

[Lilllabettt]

thats what they're called. obviously people hear cell and think "prison cell." But we told them it comes from the Latin caeli meaning "heaven." Our own special place of solitude and private communion with God.

[ithinkjesusiscool]

about souls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNSzxmjG_hM

 

[ToJesusMyHeart]

when I was in the convent Sisters would sometimes hear a knock at their cell door, get up and open it and no one be there. Happened to me a couple times. We always said it was a Holy Soul wanting us to pray for them.

I'll have to ask the Sisters about this if I get to visit them in August as I hope. I'd love to hear more about it. 

My mom used to work in what was once a Franciscan friary, and people often saw a nun who, according to local legend, was walled up in one of the rooms for breaking her vows. People staying in the room would often see her - even guests who had not been told of the legend. I saw her briefly once. Whether what I saw was really the poor nun or not, there was definitely something strange about that room.

Walled up...meaning, she was trapped in the wall and died there? 

 

I was on a "haunted" ship one time, in Corpus Christi, the USS Lexington, which is described as "One of the most haunted ships in the United States." 

 

The last day of my conference on the ship, we were all gathered at the entrance, and it was before the ship opened (it is a museum daily) to the public. I think it was 7am and the museum opened at 8am for public interest. So our group was the only group currently on the ship, because we slept there overnight for our conference. So we were all gathered in our group, the ship locked up, and I saw a woman in a beautiful Hawaiian dress standing in one of the bays, looking out over the water. She was not with our group, as we all knew one another and she was not a crew mate or worker on the ship. I asked my friends if they recognized her, and everyone agreed that she is not with our group. Again, the ship was locked from public access at this time. 

 

We had been told that the Lexington is "the most haunted ship," but as y'all can see, I'm not one to accept the validity of "hauntings" without much proof. This woman was perplexing enough, because how did she get into the ship? It was locked! I needed an answer, so I walked up to her and was about to tap her on the shoulder to ask her who she was, but before my hand reached her shoulder, she turned around and looked at me, her eyes full of sorrow. I was extremely taken aback, and after recollecting myself, said, "Hi. I'm Katie. You're not in our group. How did you get in here?" But she just kept staring at me, super creepy-like. Her eyes were shockingly blue, and she just kept staring at me, relentlessly. After a few moments of awkwardness, I said, "Okay, well, have a nice time....staring at the ocean, then..." She turned her gaze back to the sea and so I turned and walked away. It took me about 5 seconds to walk back to them.

 

When I got back to my friends, I said, "That woman over there seems worried, and I can't figure out how she got into the ship!" And they all looked over my shoulder to where I was pointing and said, "What woman?" And I turned back around and she was gone. There's no way she could have walked away that quickly, as the part of the ship we were on was huge and the nearest exit was at least a 5 minute walk. She just disappeared! It was the strangest encounter I've ever had. So anyway, if anything, it made me less hostile to the idea of hauntings. But I clearly still grapple with it because I was always taught humans just go to Heaven, Purg, or Hell. Perhaps I was taught wrong. 

Based on my own research, I do not necessarily want to conclude that this is the case. Certainly it is normally the case, but I do think that extraordinary intervention by God might allow, in some cases, what we consider to be hauntings. For instance, I do not think there is a doctrinal reason to reject the possibility that a soul in purgatory might be permitted to interact with 'our' world for some purpose. Or, perhaps as their purgation.

The aspect that, as far as I can tell, is settled within Catholic teaching is that judgement occurs immediately at the time of death, so I do reject the idea of a wandering soul who has yet to receive its judgement.

I have written a bit on this subject before, and I can retrieve some of that if you like.

This is so interesting to me because I've never heard this possibility from a credible source. (Not to flatter you, but I do have a lot of respect for your opinions.) Thanks for sharing, everyone! I'm open to learning more.