Sometimes I wonder if there really is a purgatory. For the most part, I believe that people who suffer on Earth through illness and pain, are experiencing purgatory.
But, what confused me when I was younger was during Mass being told to pray for the souls in purtagory. What about people that die and have no family on Earth? Are we helping them in general prayer?
Throughout my mother's terminal illness she said she wasn't afraid to die. And I truly believe that. She told me she was afraid of the unknown.
Yet, when my mother was on her deathbed, she said "pray for me." It upset me because she suffered so much and may have been questioning if she would go to Heaven.
Today, on the eleventh anniversary of her death, I have vowed not to talk so openly about death ever again. Instead, I will look to the future and live life to the fullest as she would want me to.
Yes, I will continue to mention death to some extent in this blog because I often refer to St. Francis of Assisi saying "And that it is in dying that we our born to eternal life."
St. Nicholas of Tolentino is the patron saint of souls in purgatory and is often called the Patron of Holy Souls.
He was born in Sant'Angelo in Pontano, Marche, Italy c.1246. St. Nicholas of Tolentino was a mystic and a vegetarian.
During his life, he received visions of souls in purgatory. He died on Sept. 10, 1306 and when he was canonized on June 5, 1446, 300 miracles had already occurred in his name.
St. Nicholas of Tolentino is also responsible for three posthumous resurrections. His feast day is Sept. 10.
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