Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
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St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi and her visions
of Purgatory
It is the Sixteenth Century. We are again at a time of struggle and crisis in the world and in the Church. A priest will cause many innocent lambs, not aware of his disobedience and betrayal to the Church, to stray. As always, when the Church is under attack and things look hopeless, God raises up a powerful Saint to save His Church. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi was one of those Saints. She was born in Florence, Italy, into a very prominent and most influential family; both sides of her parents' families were close friends of the ruling Medici family. They would be responsible for contributing, down through the history of Florence, many highly acclaimed statesmen, but none whose mark would be so profoundly and everlastingly felt on the Church and the world, as a Carmelite Nun from their ranks who would far surpass their fleeting fame. She was baptized Catherine after St. Catherine of Siena. From her earliest years, she showed an affinity for the religious life. When her father was appointed Governor of Cortona, Catherine was placed in a convent school there and learned to love the prayerful and holy life, she saw so authentically lived out each day. When she made her decision to enter the Carmelite Order, at first her family objected; they had plans to marry her off to another leading family, uniting the two families into one major entity, a dynasty more powerful than either had been before. But when her family saw that none of the suitors who asked for her hand in marriage, could dissuade her from her intended plans to become a "Bride of Christ," Catherine was finally allowed to enter the Convent of St. Mary on the Feast of the Assumption. On January 30, 1583, she received her habit and Catherine received the name Sister Mary Magdalen. At the vesting ceremony, the priest placed a crucifix in her hands, with the words: "God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ." As he pronounced these words, her face became radiant, the overwhelming desire to suffer for Christ filling her heart and mind. This yearning never left her, nor did the pain that accompanied it. When her physical pain became evident to one of the other sisters, she asked Sister Mary Magdalen how she could bear so much suffering without crying out. Pointing to the crucifix, she exclaimed: "See what the infinite love of God suffered for my salvation. That same love sees my weakness and gives me courage. Those who call to mind the sufferings of Christ and who offer up their own to God through His Passion find their pains sweet and pleasant." After this, the sisters helped her to the infirmary, and Sister Mary Magdalen went into an ecstasy lasting an hour. But with the ecstasy came the agony. She not only suffered physically, but she experienced great spiritual dryness. The devil attacked her, every way imaginable. Although she fasted on bread and water alone (except on holidays and Sundays), she had to fight the sometimes almost overpowering craving she would have for food, and it took all the strength she could summon, to resist devouring everything in sight. No sooner did she conquer this temptation, the enemy hit her with impure thoughts that drained her as she battled to wipe them from her mind. She turned to the Blessed Mother and Our Lord Jesus. One battle fought and won, the enemy of God never sleeps; he is ready with another attack more brutal than the last. Sister Mary Magdalen found herself in a state of intense darkness, where she saw herself as a terrible sinner, without hope, beyond help, alone and forsaken. She was to go through this desolation for five long years. When her time in the desert was at an end, it was as if God had released her from exile and she went into ecstasy. When she came to, after an hour's time, she turned to the prioress and the novice-mistress and said: "Rejoice with me, for my winter is at an end! Help me to thank and glorify my good Creator." Finally, this trial over, another one began. Sister Mary Magdalen felt empty, forsaken; she couldn't feel anything. Didn't He love her anymore? But through all the pleading with no response, she remained true to her Spouse, often giving Him 100% and receiving nothing, no emotions, no comfort, not even the smallest awareness of His Presence. But because of her faithfulness and unconditional love for Him, Our Lord began pouring out His Graces upon her. From that time on, she was endowed with many Heavenly gifts. She was able to foretell the future. She told Alexander de Medici that he would be Pope but that he would have a short reign. His papacy lasted twenty-six days! Sometimes a gift and other times a cross, Mary Magdalen was granted the Grace to read men's hearts. Many witnesses attested she bi-located, appearing to different people in different places at the very same moment. The Lord made her an instrument of healing and many were healed through her prayers and intercessions. Her ecstasies came more and more frequently. There were those times, when she was experiencing heavenly rapture, when her body would become taut and remain stiff, almost lifeless like rigor mortis had set in. Then there were those other times when the sisters were completely unaware anything was happening. How could they know, she was communicating with Jesus and possibly one of His Heavenly Court; as Sister Mary Magdalen went about her daily duties. There were occasions when they could tell she was sharing in the Passion of Our Lord Jesus, the agony plainly revealed on her face and body. She looked like one of the women of Jerusalem who followed Jesus and wept. At other times, Sister Mary Magdalen could have been Veronica boldly going past the centurions and wiping her Lord's bleeding Face. Then there were those times when she evidenced excruciating pain, her face and eyes filled with horror and unbearable grief. Was she standing beneath the Cross beside Mother Mary as her Son took His Last Breath; was she crying out for Mary, who dared not weaken that those around her would be strong? Was she like her namesake, Mary Magdalen who had wiped His Feet with her tears and now was prostrate at those same Precious Feet? Whatever part she may have been reenacting in the Passion, it was obvious she was there with her Lord and His Pain. And then there were those times, when they thought they would lose her; only the weight of her body kept her from soaring up to Heaven. She looked as if she did not want to come back. She later shared with the sisters (under obedience to her Superior) that she was ecstatically engaged in conversation with her Spouse Jesus, at other times with Mother Mary, and then those joyful times with Jesus' Heavenly Army of Angels. Was she seeing Our Lord, the Lord of Easter Sunday, He Who had risen? Was He standing at the gates of Heaven and she wanted in? All they knew, she was not with them, and they did not know if it was the kindest thing to do to pray she not leave them. The closer St. Mary Magdalen got to her Divine Lover, the more she grieved, as He did over Jerusalem, shedding tears over the stony hearts of heretics, the deaf ears of unbelievers and the blind eyes of pagans. She prayed relentlessly for their conversion. The more she embraced the Cross, the more she begged for forgiveness of sinners, as her Spouse had during His last moments on the Cross. Jesus told Mary Magdalen that what pleases His Eternal Father most, moving His Heart to pity, is the offering of His Son's Blood. As Jesus softened His Father's Heart and opened the curtain that separated us from eternal life, with His Blood on the Cross, now He is once again pleading with the Father through such as Mary Magdalen. She offered Our Lord's Blood fifty times a day. In ecstasy, she saw many sinners repent and convert to the Lord, as well as a multitude of souls being released from Purgatory. Jesus added, if this offering which commemorates His Passion can soften His Father's Heart, how much more the actual renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross during the Sacrifice of the Mass where we are present at the Passion of Jesus! Attend Mass daily if you can. The deliverance of a Poor Soul from Purgatory The Lord raised her to the heights of Mount Tabor. She had been as close as one can be on earth to the Beatific Vision; now she was to walk the Way of the Cross to Calvary with her Lord. It was time for Him to share with her those Poor Souls in Purgatory whom He dearly loves. One day,
while praying before the Blessed
Sacrament, St. Mary Magdalen saw the
tortured soul of one of the sisters, who
had passed on recently. She saw her
rising painfully from the earth,
encircled by leaping flames wrapping
themselves around her body. The only
thing that kept them from scorching the
sister's body was a sparkling white robe
covering her, shielding her from the
blazing fire. She had been faithful to
the Rule. She had led a pious life.
Then why was she coming to Sister Mary
Magdalen like this? This sister
explained that she had grudgingly spent
time before the Blessed Sacrament while
she was alive. And now, she was being
denied her Spouse's Beatific Vision.
She went
St. Mary Magdalen glimpses the various levels of Purgatory One day, while praying in the garden of the Convent with the other religious, she became enraptured in ecstasy and saw before her the pits of Purgatory opening. She later shared that she heard a voice, beckoning her to follow and witness the pain, the Poor Souls in Purgatory had to endure. The voice explained this was so that when she prayed for them, she would pray relentlessly and compassionately. The sisters heard her say: "Yes, I will go." She began to pace in circles round and round the spacious garden, for two hours, hesitating at times, as if in great pain. She later confided that these were times when she contemplated the suffering of the Poor Souls before her in Purgatory. Her back bent, as if carrying the sorrow of the world, her tiredness increased and her strength seemed to be ebbing away. As she saw the intense agony of the Poor Souls, the blood drained from her face; she rung her hands helplessly, tears streaming from her eyes. She wept: "Mercy, my God, mercy! Descend, O Precious Blood, and deliver these souls from their prison. Poor souls! you suffer so cruelly, and yet you are content and cheerful. The dungeons of martyrs in comparison with these were gardens of delight. Nevertheless there are those still deeper. How happy should I esteem myself were I not obliged to go down into them." She descended deeper into the pits of Purgatory. She thought she had suffered all she could until she came upon Religious in a level filled with greater terror and suffering! What could they have done to deserve this act of Justice! She never shared the cause of their punishment or the type of sufferings they had to endure, but the sisters could hear her sighing deeply and weeping helplessly, with each step. Souls making retribution for sinning out of ignorance Then God, in His mercy had the voice lead her into a more merciful level of Purgatory. It was the place reserved for simple souls and those of children who had sinned more out of ignorance than out of malice and forethought. Their suffering appeared to be less painful than that of the other Poor Souls she had viewed before. Mary Magdalen saw their Guardian Angels beside them strengthening and sustaining them with their presence. Although Purgatory is a place of hope and anticipation of all the Poor Souls, these were the closest to realizing the end of their journey and of being with the Holy Trinity, Mary and our entire Heavenly Family of Angels and Saints in Heaven. The Pain of Souls who were guilty of hypocrisy on earth Anxious to leave, but obedient to the voice who was her guide in Purgatory, Sister Mary Magdalen continued a few more steps to a place more painful than any she had encountered in Purgatory. What could these souls have done to deserve this intense purging? She was told, these were those who were guilty of hypocrisy. Oh how much damage is done by those who pretend to be and do good, who gain the confidence of innocent lambs, only to lead them astray and oftentimes into Hell. Our Lord spoke plainly to such as these when He said: "Whoever causes one of these little ones, who believe in Me, to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone come around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." The dungeon of those who had lacked charity toward others Going a little further, she came upon a large group of souls who looked as if they had been pinned under a huge cement pillar. She was told that these were the souls of those who had shown little patience and charity toward those less fortunate and of those who willfully resorted to disobedience toward their superiors and instilled acts of disobedience in others. As she went deeper into this dungeon and looked at the suffering of these Poor Souls, her face became more and more filled with pity and dismay for these souls who had lost all their earthly smugness and self-assuredness. They looked so helpless. They remind us of the rich man who asked for a drop of water from Lazarus. For more information about Mary Magdalene de Pazzi click here
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