Photo credit: www.childrenofmedjugorje.com

My Personal Pilgrimage

By Susan Tassone

   How did I get involved with the holy souls in Purgatory?

   I want to share why I got involved and tell a little bit about how God is working in my life to help you understand what I experienced.

   On August 11, 1983, the feast of my patron, St. Susanna, I was hit head on and injured by a cab, which left my left leg damaged. My doctor told me that my leg was permanently damaged, and that I would have constant bouts of painful swelling and tenderness of the leg for the rest of my life.

   The date was even more significant. Fifty years earlier, on that very same day, my great aunt, known as “Little Mary,” who was ten years old at the time, was also injured in a car accident. She died. I survived. A priest told me that my life was spared and that I had a mission. He said that sometimes a sacrifice is made in the family for a greater cause. It shook me up.

   I have had a special bond with the Blessed Mother since I was a child. My mother was very active in the parish, and we were very young when she planted the seed for the love of Our Lady in our hearts. (I remember, for example, we had the Pilgrim Virgin statue in our home.)

   In 1993, with the permission of my doctor, I decided to go on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, to pay a visit, experience closeness with Our Lady, and to return home. Our Blessed Mother had other plans. During an apparition on Good Friday night, 1993, I saw an image of Our Lady within a cobalt blue color. I knew it was Her.  They say the white flashes are angels that appear before Her. My knees shook. I “knelt” to steady them. I was in amazement and awe.

   My rosary links turned to gold and my leg, my permanently damaged leg, was healed on Mt. Krizevac (Cross Mountain).  My doctor said it was a miracle and I was blessed.  However, he waited three years before he would document the healing. He wanted to be sure it was real. Three years later, I flew back to Medjugorje to deliver the letter. It is one of the documented medical cases of registered healings in Medjugorje.  Fr. Slavko Barbaric interviewed me for “Mir Magazine,” the local magazine of Medjugorje.

   When I returned home, I realized OurLady had other surprises for me. Someone gave me a booklet called Read Me or Rue It. It was about the plight of the holy souls in Purgatory. I was fascinated with the stories about the holy souls and how they intercede for  those who relieve their sufferings. These souls were in desperate need of our Masses.

   The booklet said the holy souls would repay you 10,000 times. I liked the idea. I needed all the friends I could get! It was like quid pro quo: You help me, and I will help you. I wanted all my family and friends to reach God. I identified with the holy souls. I don’t like being cooped up. I am a free spirit. I like my freedom. Why not help release them so they can reach Heaven? Free them!

   I took it upon myself to become a missionary for our holy heroes. In my journey, I began to understand how critical the doctrine of Purgatory is to our faith, how Purgatory is a very positive and consoling part of that faith.

   I began collecting Mass stipends for the holy souls in Purgatory. People of every faith gave donations. I soon realized that they were hungry for God. I collected $763 and brought the donation to my pastor. To my surprise, he was unable to accept the donation because he was the only priest in the parish and his Mass-intentions book was filled. For the first time, it personally struck home how we need to pray for vocations to the priesthood. The priest sent me to the Catholic Missions Office – or, as it’s officially called, the Propagation of the Faith. Every diocese has one. Its purpose is to support our missionary priests all over the world through our prayers and donations.

   I visited the Missions Director and learned again how desperately our Catholic missionary priests needed Mass stipends. Many times those gifts are their sole income because the people of the countries where they serve are too poor to donate financially.

   Since 1993, I have waged a crusade for the holy souls in Purgatory collecting Mass stipends – anything I could do for our missionaries and suffering friends in need. I tried to promote this through television, radio, Internet print media, public speaking, and writing. To date, more than two million dollars has been raised for Mass stipends for our missionary priests because of readers like you. I like to see it as two million souls released from Purgatory.

   My journey has deepened my faith tremendously, allowing me to better see the goodness and mercy of God, and to join with my fellow supplicants in celebrating the beauty of our faith. My heartfelt thanks to Our Lady, my life, my sweetness, and all my hope.

Editor’s note: Susan lives in Chicago. She has authored a number of books about praying for the holy souls in Purgatory and inviting us to answer Our Lady call of over half dozen times in her early messages to pray for the holy souls giving them "the joy of the holy Mass..."  Visit www.spiritualtreasury.com for Masses, and Gregorian Masses.

   Her newest book, released in September, is called Praying with the Saints for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  I think it is Susan’s best yet. It covers everything you want to know about Purgatory, and the fact that the book has an Imprimatur assures that it does not deviate from Church teachings. Susan uses Scripture, the Catechism, quotes of the saints and the popes to support her writing. The stories of the saints are fascinating. I could hardly put it down. It hit the Catholic Best Sellers list in 15 days!  

“Be the Extended Hands of God”

By June Klins

   Last month, we told you that our proofreader, Ginny Spaeder, was called home after a short but courageous battle with cancer. How appropriate that she would go on the 25th of the month - the day Our Lady gives Her message to the world.  Visionary Mirjana has said that dates are significant. Ginny’s funeral was Tuesday, the 29th, the feast day of Sts. Michael, Raphael and Gabriel. She probably had a devotion to St. Michael, since she named one of her sons Michael. I can just picture the archangels escorting her Home.

   Ginny's funeral was beautiful. “What a send-off!” remarked one of her friends. She had four priests concelebrate the Mass, as well as a deacon to assist. The priest who gave the homily prayed the Hail Mary in his homily, and he said to think about how many times Ginny must have said that prayer over the period of her lifetime. He emphasized the "pray for us sinners, now and AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH.”  He felt that Our Lady would have honored that request, since Ginny was so active in promoting the Rosary. She was in charge of the rosary- makers for our diocese. Her basement was always filled with supplies for making rosaries. Ginny was active in the Rosary Society, the Legion of Mary, and led the Rosary before Mass every week.  

   Father said that if you can say that cancer has anything good about it, it gives you time to prepare yourself for eternal life - as opposed to having a heart attack and dying on the spot, with no time to prepare. Ginny had received the Last Sacraments three times.

   Father said that he chose the Gospel reading for the funeral Mass from John: 6, the Bread of Life Discourse, because it was through the frequent reception of the Eucharist that Ginny received the strength to accept her cancer and imminent death.  Ginny had shared with me, in one of our last conversations, that she now understood why the patients in the nursing home would get so excited when she would bring them Communion. Since she was too weak to attend Mass, she would watch it on EWTN, and patiently wait for someone to bring her spiritual sustenance, the Bread of Life.

   Father talked about how Ginny did not waste her time on earth. He said that his fellow priests would agree that it is hard sometimes when they do a funeral to come up with things that a person has done to make a difference, but for Ginny  it was easy.  She was always giving joyfully of herself to others.  Father said that she did not waste her time here and that if she could say anything to the congregation right now, that she would challenge them to do the same.  

   I, myself, think she would tell us to live the following message, given by Our Lady on February 25, 1997:  "Dear children! Today I invite you in a special way to open yourselves to God the Creator and to become active. I invite you, little children, to see at this time who needs your spiritual or material help. By your example, little children, you will be the extended hands of God, which humanity is seeking. Only in this way will you understand, that you are called to witness and to become joyful carriers of God’s word and of His love. Thank you for having responded to my call."

   How appropriate that the cemetery where Ginny was buried is called, “Mary, Queen of Peace”  -  the same name Our Lady has asked to be called in Medjugorje. Ginny had made two pilgrimages to Medjugorje. “A Miracle for Alice from Medjugorje,” her testimony of one of her pilgrimages, was published in our November, 1995 issue. Ginny told me how thrilled she was when it was published in many other Medjugorje publications after that. She was even more excited when it was published in our first book, Volume I of The Best of “The Spirit of Medjugorje.” 

   A collection was taken for Gregorian Masses for Ginny, even though most of us think she had an “express ride” to Heaven. A very holy priest once told our Medjugorje prayer group to NEVER assume someone has gone straight to Heaven, that it is a great disservice to the person. If you have Masses said for them and they are already there, then they get what St. Thomas Aquinas has called “accidental glory,” which adds to their glory in Heaven. So there is nothing to lose.

   When I said my last good-bye to Ginny at the funeral home, I asked her to continue to help us with the newsletter. I am sure her prayers will help Pat Berrier, who has agreed to be our new proofreader.

   Rest in peace, dear Ginny, and ask Our Lady to watch over us as we continue to spread Her messages.

Editor's note: You can read Ginny's story in Volume I http://www.amazon.com/Best-Spirit-Medjugorje-I/dp/1420841033/ref=pd_cp_b_1

Gregorian Masses

   Gregorian Masses are thirty Masses said at any altar for thirty consecutive days for the deliverance of a certain soul from Purgatory. The pious practice of having these Masses celebrated for the deliverance of the souls from Purgatory was not first introduced by Saint Gregory the Great, who was sovereign Pontiff from 590 to 604, but precedes his time. However, they are called Gregorian Masses because St. Gregory contributed to the spread of this pious practice. In his Dialogues, the saint tells us that he caused to be said thirty Masses on thirty consecutive days for the repose of the soul of Justus, a monk who had died in the convent of St. Andrew in Rome. At the end of the thirtieth Mass, the deceased appeared to his brother,Copusoos, who had assisted him as a physician in his last illness, and announced that he had been delivered from the flames of Purgatory.

   In their “Lives of the Saints,” the Bollandists tell us that on the thirtieth day, Saint Gregory himself was assured of the deliverance of the soul of Justus. And an inscription in the church of SS. Andrew and Gregory, which Rome erected on the spot of the dwelling of the holy Pontiff, confirms the fact.

   Saint Gregory, as we read of his life, was also instructed by God Himself, in the efficacy of these thirty Masses, and he recommended the practice on various occasions.

   In the life of St. Vincent Ferrer, we read that he had thirty consecutive Masses celebrated for his deceased sister and saw her delivered from Purgatory.

   Pope Benedict XIII lauded this pious practice of having thirty Masses said for each soul that has departed from this life. 

   In Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and especially England, which was converted by missionaries sent by St. Gregory, it was an established custom previous to the Reformation and the French Revolution, to have thirty consecutive Masses said for each departed soul. In a number of old churches in Europe, altars dedicated to St. Gregory and the Poor Souls are to be found. Many old paintings are still preserved, attesting the same fact. 

   Several religious orders have it specified in their rules and constitutions that thirty Gregorian Masses are to be said for every deceased member. The Carmelites, Dominicans, Nuns of the Visitation, and others follow this practice. A very old edition of the Dominican Missal contains special prayers for the Gregorian Masses. 

   These rules may be gathered from the following questions put to the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences regarding the celebration of Gregorian Masses and the answers given to them. (March 15, 1884; August 24, 1888; January 14, 1889. Also Benedict XIV, inst. 34, No. 22).

 

Q.  Is the confidence of the faithful in the thirty Masses called Gregorian, as speedily efficacious by the Divine Mercy, for the deliverance of a soul from Purgatory, pious, approved and reasonable? 

A.  Yes.

 

Q.  Is it necessary that the Masses called Gregorian be celebrated in memory of Saint Gregory, without, however, making commemoration of the Saint? 

A.  They need not be said in memory of St. Gregory. 

 

Q.  Must the thirty Masses called Gregorian be said by the same priest? 

A.  There is no obligation for them to be said by the same priest. 

 

Q.  Must they be said for one soul alone, without any other intention? 

A.  The Masses should be said exclusively for the soul whose deliverance from the pains of Purgatory is especially solicited from the Divine Mercy. 

 

Q.  Should they be said on thirty consecutive days without interruption? 

A.  Yes, for thirty days without interruption. 

 

Q.  If the Gregorian Masses fall in the course of the Triduum does it constitute an interruption.? 

A.  It does not, provided the celebration of the thirty Masses be resumed on Easter Sunday. 

 

Q.  Must they be said on the same altar? 

A.  No, they may be said on different altars.

 

Q.  Must they be said at a privileged altar? 

A.  It is not necessary. 

 

Q.  Must the Requiem Mass be said, at least when the Rubric permits it? 

A.  Although it would seem proper, it is not an essential condition. The obligation is satisfied by saying the Mass of the day. 

 

Q.  May the Gregorian Masses be offered for the living? 

A.  No, they cannot be said for the living, but exclusively for departed souls.  

                                                                   Used with permission, friends of the Suffering Souls,www.knocknovena.com                                                                                                                 

Editor’s note:  There are a number of organizations that offer Gregorian Masses. The Seraphic Mass Association is one that will start the Masses without delay. You can contact them toll free (in the USA) at 1-877-737-9050. If you have a story to share about getting a sign from Above after having Masses said for a loved one who has passed away, please send to June at jklins1981@verizon.net.  I am in the midst of compiling these stories.  More on this in a future issue.