When the souls appear, what do they ask for?
Defined dogma Private revelation
Defined dogma What the Church holds
That the souls are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, “but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar”, is defined by Trent.
Private revelation What the saints and mystics report
Almost always something small and specific: one Mass and three short prayers, thirty Masses, a pilgrimage, an Office left unsaid, a debt paid, a will fulfilled, a pardon spoken. No soul in these books asks money for itself, teaches new doctrine, or asks to be contacted again.
Accounts that bear on this
- FAU-02St Faustina: §21: Sister Henry asks for one Mass and three ejaculatory prayers; on the third day she returns: "May God repay you"
- MED-76Vincent Ferrer: St Vincent Ferrer's sister, in flames at his Mass, asks about thirty Masses; centuries are reduced to thirty days …
- EMO-84Leonarde Collin: Leonarde Collin (Dole, 1629), dead seventeen years, nurses her niece Hugette Roy for fourteen days as a girl in …
- EMO-63Jesuit lives and annals: Fr d'Espinoza SJ: a dead penitent leads him to a bridge, to a bag of money and a list of creditors; freed once the …
- SIM-01Maria Simma: 1940: a stranger paces at the foot of her bed; the second night, asked "What do you need?", he asks for three Masses …