Praised be Jesus Christ, blessed be the Virgin Mary, our Mother.
Saint Joseph pray for us. Amen.
Saint Teresa of Avila also called Saint Teresa of Jesus was born on March 28th, 1515 in Spain.
The life of Saint Teresa of Jesus is a life full of light, joy and love.
Saint Teresa of Avila prayed continually for the souls in purgatory.
And many of them appeared to her when they went to heaven, to thank her for her prayers.
She says: Every Friday, take discipline for the blessed souls in purgatory.
It is interesting to note that her entrance into her convent was on the day of the Souls,
November 2nd, to have them as advocates.
The niece of Saint Teresa of Avila says: With the souls in purgatory she had particular
charity and offered them many prayers and pious works.
She said that what she was doing for the souls in purgatory was so small in order to help
them.
She offered almost all of her works and prayers for the souls, as well as for the souls who
suffered in this world, also for the growth of the Church and the conversion of heretics.
Her niece, Sister Beatriz of Jesús, declared: While in the city of Ávila, in an oratory
of the house, I entered and found Saint Teresa in prayer.
She asked her what she was doing and she replied that she prayed the Prayer of the Dead and
the devil was bothering her for the good she did for the souls in purgatory.
The devil had visibly placed himself close to her with a very ugly and abominable figure
and the demon had threatened her and said that, although the souls had slipped out of
the devil’s ties, that he would try to return those souls to them, referring to the demons.
And Saint Teresa of Avila poured holy water on the devil and she walked from one side
to another, changing the places of things, until the devil disappeared and this witness
knows this from having heard it many times from Saint Teresa of Avila's mother.
Catalina de Velasco, declared: At nightfall Saint Teresa of Avila would pray the nine
lessons of the deceased alone and, when she finished praying them, she saw the Holy Mother
the Virgin Mary pass in front of her taking the soul she was praying for from purgatory,
and Saint Teresa saw how the soul was going to heaven.
Many Souls frequently appeared to Saint Teresa, some deceased also appeared to her to ask
for help from purgatory or to communicate their arrival in heaven.
Saint Teresa tells us herself: They told me that one of our provincials was dead.
He was a person of many virtues.
When I found out that he was dead, I feared for his salvation, he had been a prelate for
twenty years, something that I fear very much because it seems to me a very dangerous thing
to be in charge of souls.
And with great fatigue I went to an oratory.
I told Jesus all the good that he had done in my life, that it was very small, but asking
that our Lord Jesus Christ would supplement what that soul needed to get out of purgatory.
As I was asking the Lord for this as best as I could, I saw that this soul was coming
out of the depths of the earth on my right side, and ascended to heaven with great joy.
The soul was already very old, but when I saw him, he looked less than thirty years
old and his face was with a glow.
I was consoled, I could never have been more sorry for his death.
The consolation that my soul had was so great.
I did not neglect to entrust the souls to God and to do it myself, except in that day
I could not do it with that will if I had not seen this.
When our Lord Jesus showed it to me and I want to entrust the souls to His Majesty,
it seems to me, without power, that it is like giving alms to the rich man.
Later I learned, he died far away from here, the death that the Lord gave him, which was
of such great edification that it left everyone terrified of the knowledge, tears and humility
with which he died.
A nun had died at home a little more than a day ago, a very good servant of God.
While I was saying a lesson for the dead, which was said to her in the choir, I was
on my feet to help her say the verse; halfway through the lesson I saw her soul was coming
out of her and she was going to heaven.
This was not a vision.
Another nun died in my house, referring to the convent, who was between 18 and 20 years
old.
She had always been sick and a very good servant of God, a friend of the choir and very virtuous.
I, thought she will not enter purgatory not because there were many diseases that she
had suffered, but because she had more than enough merits from it.
During the Hours before they buried her, she had been dead for four hours, I understood
that she left the same place and went to heaven.
Another friar of our Order, a very good friar, was very ill and, while I was at Mass, I saw
how he was dead and went up to heaven without entering purgatory.
He died at the time I saw him.
I was shocked that he had not entered purgatory.
I understood that because he was a friar, that he had kept his profession well, that
all the penances of the Order had benefitted him to avoid entering purgatory.
I don't understand why I understood this.
I don't want to say more of these things; because, as I said, there is no reason, although
our Lord Jesus Christ has given me mercy to see.
The Lord made me see the degrees these souls have of glory, representing themselves to
me in the places they are placed.
The difference between them is great.
Sister Ana of Jesús Lobera testifies: Of people for whom Saint Teresa prayed in particular
wishing them health and life, I knew for sure that they appeared to her showing her the
glory they were going to enjoy.
One of these that I know to be true was the Supreme Pontiff Pope Saint Pius V, for whom
Saint Teresa had a lot of emotion and when she spoke to me about him she said: "We lost
a great saint and we have to do much in the Church."
Quiteria Dávila tells a personal case: At the convent of Saint Joseph a nun who was
in the Incarnation with this witness and had died, Saint Teresa consoled me, telling me
not to have any sorrow, because, while Saint Teresa was taking communion, she had seen
the nun go up to heaven, shining like crystal.
In the burial of the religious Leonor de Cepeda, when the sisters carried the body in the coffin,
Saint Teresa of Avila saw that the angels helped carry it and said: “So that it can
be seen how much God honors the bodies where good souls were”.
Another interesting case is of Mr. Bernardino de Mendoza, who gave Saint Teresa of Avila
a house with a garden to build the convent in Valladolid.
And he saw a soul coming out of purgatory on the day the first mass was celebrated in
that convent.
Mother María Bautista testifies: This witness was met by a religious from the Order of Carmelites,
whose name was fray Matías, who Saint Teresa of Avila saw ascend to heaven without entering
purgatory and understood that the graces he received from the Order of Carmelites were
helpful, because he had kept the Rule well.
In addition, this witness was met by a lay person, whose name was Juana Brochero, who
gave to Saint Teresa of Avila a crucifix for that monastery in Ávila and, when this lay
person died, Saint Teresa of Avila saw her soul leave purgatory with that crucifix in
her hand.
Praised be Jesus Christ, blessed be the Virgin Mary, our Mother.
Saint Joseph pray for us. Amen.