-In a marriage where the woman suffers a lot at the hands of her husband, or vice versa, is it okay for one to leave the other?
-They can do it, but it's certainly better that they don't. You must offer everything to God. But the line that cannot be crossed is that of physical abuse, because it is God who chooses the martyrs, not us.
-From a spiritual dimension, what benefit can those who marry in the church or a couple who don't even get married get?
-Both the blessing of God that is received when they get married, as well as the marriage vows, the wedding Mass and the support of all the family members... all these are such powerful protective graces that the lack of one will notably weaken the strength and unity of the couples. With God's and the Church's blessing, the relationship develops in a much more solid way and, consequently, happier than if there were no such thing.
Things also take place that are similar to what I see when the blessed souls in purgatory visit me, and which we could call bilocation. Or an angel takes on the appearance of one of the spouses to give a message to the other. He or she will see or hear the other and thus receive words of protection or help. This happens often and should be seen as a wonderful gift from God to a holy couple. It certainly does not happen when you live together in sin. In such cases the spiritual protection they have is much less. I would advise those people to turn away from sin as soon as possible and return to the protection of God.
It is also common for a deceased spouse to come to accompany the one who is still living at the time of death. What a great happiness this will be for both of them! True, generous and blessed love never, ever dies. However, this happens only when God has blessed that marriage and is always close to them in prayer and in their acts of generous love.
-What have the souls in Purgatory said about divorce?
-They have said that it is one of the greatest sins against God. It's something that hurts everyone and, of course, especially the innocent. It is nothing less than a spiritual, emotional and mental murder committed against the greatest gift God has given us: the ability to participate in the creation of life and its fruits, our children. No child of a divorced family will grow up as fully as God had planned. In this century, millions of times more than before, Satan breaks into families and into women's wombs, corrupting and destroying in pieces the sacred ties that keep families in God's plan, corrupting and destroying in pieces the children God has given them. To make reparation for these two sins is what the souls in purgatory announce will soon come and will cause a great commotion.
And in countries like the United States, where more than 50 percent of marriages break down, God will soon do something to make this change quickly. He will side with the humble, the innocent, those who pray and love, and punish the rest for their endless offenses against love. Companies, organizations, lawyers, churches, doctors and psychologists who lie, confuse, conspire, get rich and thus distort the truth in order to continue the most terrible of wars will soon experience God's wrath as never before! God have mercy on those who know what they are doing! And we have a duty to inform those who do not know what they are doing.
-Have the blessed souls in purgatory said anything to you about marriage annulment proceedings?
-Yes, I've been told that the Church is granting too many annulments. These are issues that need to be examined in depth. I am afraid it is true, to some extent, that those with good connections and with money have greater access to annulments, and this can hardly be God's will. Of course there are cases where there is coercion, or there are emotional limitations or other situations that really invalidate the marriage from its inception, but these are serious issues that must be dealt with with much love but also rigorously.
-Mary, what else could the blessed souls in purgatory communicate to their families?
-You can ask a member of your family to do something good that she, during her life, did not do or did not do. And if they follow her directions, their family members will help her continue her journey to Heaven. They can warn them to avoid this or that. They protect their families, guide them, and convey love and security to them in many different ways.
-Is there anything that the blessed souls in Purgatory will never mention to their families?
-They will not say or do anything negative, or anything which is a criticism or a value judgment. It will always be something positive, something helpful, something protective, and therefore something remedial.
-Are there families who are visited by their deceased relatives condemned in hell, but without the family being attacked or harassed by them?
-Yes, there are. But these souls don't ask anything for them because they are out of all help and all grace. In such cases they only remind their relatives of their own condition and of the existence of hell.
-Have the blessed souls in Purgatory said anything to you about the women's movement?
-No, not in those terms, except that no woman should be around the altar. In today's society it is good that they compete with men on equal terms. Let them have their own careers but as long as the family is not ignored and relegated. Here, too, both women and men commit many serious sins today. When children or a husband or wife are neglected, one must suffer a lot for it later. This is definitely one of the most serious and divisive sins.
-Have the blessed souls in Purgatory said anything to you about what is usually done with grandparents in Western societies? I mean not having them at home and taking them to nursing homes where they are often treated as a number, or worse, where in some places they are drugged into unconsciousness and soon die.
-Not specifically, but do we need any clarification about sins as big as the ones that count? They are huge sins! How often it is the grandparents who teach the children to pray, and in how many families are the grandparents who bring the various generations together, because they are there to share the wisdom acquired through so many years of experience! Kicking them out of the house can only be the work of Satan.
-Mary, do you think it is a sin for a mother not to breastfeed her child, or not to embrace him?
-If she is physically able to breastfeed and prefers not to do so for some selfish reason, it is. And when children are not embraced, they are emotionally paralyzed as they grow up; therefore, of course it is also a sin.
-What is better, to be poor with many children or rich with only one or two children?
-We must not interfere in God's plans regarding children; and He will always send many to those who fall within His plans. I know many more fully happy people among the poor than among the rich, and I know many cases of both types. Besides, the rich are more burdened with the effects of the sins of their ancestors. More wealthy people than poor people come to me for help because of this. And this is not because the poor have no chance to come, for they do too.
-But almost all governments around the world, as the Cairo population meetings showed, are talking about the dreaded threat of overpopulation. What do you say about this?
-They are all nonsense and mistakes, the fruit of selfishness and mounted entirely by the same banks! Of the six billion inhabitants of the Earth at present, approximately one third are dying of hunger, but that is due only to the greed of a few. There are statistics that prove that the world could feed fifty billion people or more if energy and food were fairly distributed. The greed of the West is something that God dislikes very much, and I am sure He will do something about it.
Whose children consume ninety times more than the children of India, and who are those who care so much about overpopulation? The answer to these two questions is the same: the West and its banks. Greed and an unfounded fear of poverty cause many people to create such huge falsehoods and to spread them and act on them.
-At what age should a mother be able to leave her child for a long period of time to someone outside the family?
-This depends, of course, on the exact circumstances of each family, but as a rule it is a sin to do so before the age of four. Wounds received before that age are the most difficult to heal because they lie deep in the subconscious.
-Have souls said anything about physical punishment of children?
-Yes, they have, and this is what the German magazine Der Spiegel attacked me about a couple of years ago. They said I was in favour of hitting children. That's a lie. The blessed souls in purgatory have said that a slap may be necessary with very stubborn and disobedient children. A little slap is not harmful and the child will quickly forget it, but what he will remember for a long time, because it is stored in his subconscious, is the consequence of being stubborn. Of course, this should be done in moderation, but if one doesn't do it and waits until the child is older it will be too late, and parents will suffer because of their children.
However, when an older child has in his subconscious the memory of the slap he was given when he was only two, three or four years old, a single glance from the father will be enough to make him act correctly. Many parents today have already learned the fruits of their excessive tolerance. Physical violence in the home is a great sin against the love that should reign in the family, but carefully applied physical discipline is a necessity allowed by God at the right ages and times.
-Does the same sin committed against a child weigh much more heavily than it would against an adult?
-Yes, it certainly does. Sins against children, if not quickly and properly repaired, will be repeated by the child as acceptable and normal. This is because the model that parents assume is something very powerful and deeply rooted in children. A divorce or an act of violence in the home, or witnessing something dishonest, or infidelity, or insults and slander, no matter what, can easily cause identical reactions among their offspring. Being a parent is much more important than modern society believes. These responsibilities are easily delegated to those who call themselves professionals, but who do not possess the God-given bonds as their parents do; and these professionals make mistakes just as all human beings do.
-Do mentally handicapped children spend any time in purgatory?
-Yes, they do, but of course their purgatory is lighter than that of healthy children. It all depends on what that child could understand.
-What are the most serious sins that children can commit, for example, between
the six and the twelve years?
-Disobedience and lack of education towards their parents are the two most serious.
-Many parents say that Christian families are too authoritarian with their children. -What do you say to this comment?
-Parents should never be authoritarian, because that way they lose authority, affection and support for their children. There are many authoritarian parents with their children and they are not Christians, so that comment is not really valid. Parents who are Christians should not be authoritarian but have authority above all. And the rules that are considered necessary in the home should be put in place very early on, when the children are young. Later, parents should teach the truths about God to their children with much love, and they should know them first. Being always negative, saying "don't do this", "don't do that", is no way to be a Christian. Parents should constantly emphasize the positive, what needs to be done, and back it up immediately with evidence that they can understand. They must be told that good will come from such actions. Parents should imitate the mercy that God has toward them and always show that same mercy and goodness to their children.
-We all know the obligations we have within the family, without which society has no chance, but why do we also have an obligation to help those outside our own family?
-The term family is relative. We are all related in some way, no matter what the scientists may say against it. We are all one family and only one family.
About this, a soul in Purgatory told me that he who does not do all that he can for the good of others has no right to life. In our search for God's justice, I believe that things are clearer when we look within the family unit, as we normally define it. Thus, we have the responsibility and the ability to help both our great-grandparents and our great-grandchildren. In the case of the great-grandparents we must pray and continue to do good works, and in the case of the great-great-grandchildren we can and must prepare ourselves to live a life full of peace, fruitful, healthy and full of happiness.
-What answer would you give to those Christian parents who with good intentions say that their children should be allowed to choose the religion they want when they grow up?
-What good father would allow his children to choose between a healthy nutritious food and one that slowly weakens them, and that would end up poisoning and killing them? What father would willingly allow his children to live without love and affection? The parents who say or do this have never, but never, prayed or cared to grow their own goodness. With all this, God is being ignored, which makes him suffer a lot.
-You said there are children in purgatory. -Have they appeared to you too?
-Yes, children have appeared to me as well. There are children of all ages, from four years old.
As you know, children have a finer conscience than most adults. As soon as they know the difference between right and wrong, they take responsibility. It is generally taught that the line is at the age of reason. They are wrong, it is actually the age of conscience.
It is very important, for example, that if a child is very sick and in probable danger of death and asks a priest to go to confession, to respect his request and to carry it out. I know that this is not usually the case and it is a serious mistake on the part of the adults responsible for that child. I knew a four-and-a-half-year-old boy who insisted on confessing to a sin. And he was very clear about the wrong he had done.
-It seems to me that you have a special love and affection for children. I say this because I have heard that you teach small children here in your village.
-Yes, I've had many children around for a long time; I teach them catechism.
-What else have the blessed souls in purgatory said about what should and should not be in schools?
-They have said that sex education should not be taught in schools. It is the parents who should deal with these matters with their children once they start asking questions. It is something that should be left to the discretion and care of parents because children learn true love, the love that remains, only from their parents. Today, too much has been delegated to various public agencies that are not supposed to teach spiritual matters, in which love and sex are important facets. Non-believing teachers must be kept away from the sanctity of the family unit.
In this matter, television does a lot of damage today. It shows love as a simple product to be consumed and discarded. This is a great distortion, therefore a grave sin against true love and against God Himself!
-Have souls who practiced sexual deviance appeared to you?
-Yes, and they must suffer a lot.
-What should parents do to form the conscience of their children? -What should they do?
-The good example is the most important thing. Then, pray a lot for them and with them. Bless them often, that's worth a lot. And then give them a good education. The most important thing is what they get before they go to school. Jesus told us to let the children come to him and not to stop him.
-You say you have had some children in purgatory visit you. Could you tell me about one or two of these cases?
An eleven-year-old girl came to me once and told me that she had put out a candle in a cemetery and had taken some wax to play with. She knew better than to do that, and so she was in purgatory for a time. She asked me to light two blessed candles and to endure whatever was necessary for her release.
Again, a much smaller girl came to me because at Christmas she and her twin sister had each been given a doll with a cart, and her mother had told them to take good care of it. This particular girl had had her doll broken, and so that she wouldn't get caught she secretly switched her doll with her sister's doll that was fine. This is what she had to fix in Purgatory; but, of course, I prayed and helped her on her way. Another case, but here is more of a message than simply that children go to Purgatory too. There were two families who lived right next to each other. One had money, the other was relatively poor. One day, the little girl from the wealthy family told her mother that she wanted to give away all her clothes and all her precious toys to the poor neighbor. Her mother was obviously surprised and asked her why she wanted to do such a thing. Her daughter's answer was that that way she could always go there to play with the other little girl. Her mother replied that the other little girl could also come to her house to play. "No, no," she insisted, "I must, I will." The parents did everything they could to change her mind, but they were not successful. Finally they said, "Okay, go and do it, but don't expect us to buy all your clothes and toys again. "Well, no problem," said the girl, and she gave her neighbor her toys and clothes.
Two days later, the girl ran out the door without looking and was killed by a car. Her parents, who were suffering terribly, came to me to ask why that had happened. I agreed to ask the blessed souls in Purgatory about it, and soon the answer came to me; it was as follows: "The suffering of their daughter's death has guaranteed them that one of their children will not end up definitively lost. So the girl's death was an advance reparation for something that God had seen would happen. God is a God who loves us very much, and now both children, and not just one of them, will soon be with Him.
-As for the little girl who stole the wax from the cemetery, I noticed that she asked you to light two good candles, and you did so.
-With regard to the girl who stole the wax from the cemetery, I noticed that she asked you to light two blessed candles for the one she had blown out. Is this an example of what is meant by extra repair?
-Yes, exactly.
-Anteriorly, she said that children are closer to God and this is because of their innocence. Does it also happen that children receive special graces for their good behaviour, provoked by the example of their parents?
-Yes, and very often. I know of children who wanted to go to Mass every day and of children who liked to hear stories from the Bible by choice. They are special graces. Some might be considered extreme at first, but parents should never interfere in such things and should allow the union between God and their children to grow, as it is part of God's plan for them. I have heard of children who wanted to kneel on the gravel-filled ground and pray for long periods of time. Parents will have to suffer a lot if they try or succeed in stopping this behavior of their children. God speaks to children more clearly because their souls are, as you say, cleaner, clearer, and more innocent than ours.
-Please tell me about some experience from your childhood that made you especially happy or that influenced you a lot.
-Willingly. One of the happiest moments was when I was fifteen. That was in 1930, more or less.
One of my brothers and I were working on a farm in Bavaria. When we applied for the job, the farmer promised us that we could always go to Mass on Sunday; but soon I understood that this promise was only valid for my brother, not for me. Most Sunday mornings the farmer's wife was mysteriously ill and insisted that I stay home and take care of her instead of allowing me to go to church with my brother. The feast of Pentecost was approaching and once again I wondered what the farmer's wife was going to do. On Saturday afternoon she was perfectly healthy, and so I assumed that the next day she would be able to attend Mass, I had great expectations. But at nine o'clock on Sunday she got sick again with a mysterious headache or something like that, and she told me clearly that I had to stay with her once more because I couldn't leave her alone when she was sick! I was devastated! Around one o'clock in the afternoon the headache went away and she told me I could go. I ran out and went to a building under construction, where in the back there was a bench with a majestic view. There I wept in despair at not having been able to go once more to the holy mass that I loved so much; and that very feast! Suddenly, a cloud of white doves surrounded me and slowly settled around me on the grass. They were everywhere! On the grass, on my skirt, all around me. Everywhere!
-You said a cloud, Maria, how many were there? -Fifty? A hundred?
-Oh! At least a hundred! -When I saw such beauty I didn't count them, but they were really everywhere! And they stayed at least an hour! My tears turned to tears of joy and I was enveloped in such happiness that all my anguish disappeared. Then they were gone. I told
my brother but no one else. Over the next few weeks, my brother asked neighboring farmers if there were any white doves or pigeons in that area, and the answer was always the same: there were no doves or pigeons.
I don't think any other experience from my childhood touched me as deeply as this one. It was pure beauty!
-Wow! I see that it did indeed leave a deep mark on you; but let me continue. Is it true that many of the official appearances have been to children?
-Yes, it is. Children are very open to the existence of God and his whole kingdom. Their innocence, natural humility, dependence, sensitivity and trust allow them to experience things in a very different and more refined way than adults. We must protect that purity and allow them to be children for as long as possible. When the present world introduces them too early into this rude, arrogant and arrogant society, they lose much of their beauty and never regain it. I know many children who have in fact seen angels and I do not doubt them for a minute. God gives so much to the little ones among us! That is precisely why our Mother, in Medjugorje, begins all her messages with a "Dear children". She wants us to be small at heart so that God can give us more graces and gifts.
Maria Simma & Nicky Eltz