After a week of hearing ghostly noises, a man is visited in his home by the spirit of his mother, dead for three decades. She reproaches him for his dissolute life and begs him to have Masses said in her name. Then she lays her hand on his sleeve, leaving an indelible burn mark, and departs...
A Lutheran minister, no believer in Purgatory, is the puzzled recipient of repeated visitations from "demons" who come to him seeking prayer, consolation, and refuge in his little German church. But pity for the poor spirits overcomes the man's skepticism, and he marvels at what kind of departed souls could belong to Christ and yet suffer still...
Hungry Souls recounts these stories and many other trustworthy and Church-verified accounts of earthly visitations from the dead in Purgatory. Accompanying these accounts are images from the "Museum of Purgatory" in Rome, which contains relics of encounters with the Holy Souls, including evidence of handprints burned into clothing or books and burn marks that cannot be explained by natural means or duplicated by artificial ones. In this intriguing book, bestselling author Joan Carroll Cruz presents 76 mini-biographies highlighting saintly Catholics who faced intense, long-term suffering and disability with sweetness, peace, and love for Jesus Christ.
These stories show the triumph of God's grace where the world finds only ugliness and approaching death. They describe some lives so recent that the saint's family members are still living today, with many causes for canonization being currently active in Rome.
Included here are Blessed Zelie Martin, the mother of St. Therese of Lisieux, who died of breast cancer; 14-year-old Blessed Isidore Bakanja, the Scapular martyr from Africa; the famous leper priest, Saint Damien of Molokai; Venerable Matthew Talbot, the alcoholic; Saint Germaine Cousin, rejected because of a birth defect; and little Nennolina Meo, who died from cancer of the bone, lungs, and brain.
Also included are persons who suffered from paralysis, amputation, deformities, breathing problems, mental illnesses, kidney ailments, intestinal disorders, and more, as well as from medical treatment itself.
This riveting account of the many apparitions of souls in Purgatory will demonstrate the importance of praying for the dead and repentance here on earth. You will read and re-read the stories of the realities of Purgatory and the souls who suffer there.
This book is meant for every Catholic; by reading Hungry Souls, you too will encounter the real stories of souls in need of your prayers and be encouraged to avoid even venial sins at all costs.
