The Night of Christmas

The Night of Christmas...

"You must not seek novelty in My Son's House. Many abominations sadden My heart. There is great lack of respect during the Holy Service, My children.” – Our Lady of the Roses, November 20, 1975

Father Segundo Llorente (1906-1989) was a Spanish Jesuit priest who was assigned to the missions in Alaska. For forty years he labored strenuously to bring the Holy Gospel to the natives of that place.

by Fr. Segundo Llorente, S.J.

A priest told me what happened to him once in his first parish. After the Midnight Mass on Christmas Day he personally locked the church. With the keys in his pocket he went to his room and had a good sleep. At 7:30 in the morning he got up and went back to the church intending to have one hour of prayer all to himself. He opened the side door leading to the sacristy, turned on a light and then turned on the lights for the church. As he opened the sacristy door and walked into the church, he literally froze. Strange people clad in the poorest of clothes occupied most of the pews and all were in total silence. No one so much as wiggled and nobody cared to look at him. A small group was standing by the Nativity Scene contemplating the manger in total silence.

The priest recovered quickly and in a loud voice asked them how they got in. Nobody answered. He walked closer to them and asked again. "Who let you in?" A woman answered totally unconcerned: "Strange things happen on the night of Christmas." And back to total silence The priest went to check the main door and found it locked just as he had left it. He was now determined to get the facts and turned his face to the pews; but they were empty. The people had vanished.

He kept this puzzle to himself for some time. Unable to hold it in any longer, he told me just what I have told you. Could I help with any plausible explanation? Let me hurry to say that the priest in question is a model of sanity and is as well educated academically as most of the priests I know, if not better.

My explanation was and still is as follows. Those were dead people who were doing their purgatory, or part of it, in the church. It is safe to assume that we atone for our sins where we committed them. Those people were immersed in total silence. Why? Consider the irreverences committed before the Blessed Sacrament; how many people act out in church: chatting, giggling, and looking around. After Mass some people gather in small groups around the pews and turn the church into a market place with no regard for Christ's Real Presence in the tabernacle. Why did they vanish? The did not vanish. They simply became invisible; but they remained tied to their pews unable to utter one single word to atone for their disrespectful chatter while living.

The Blessed Sacrament is no laughing matter. There is a price tag to all we do or say. In the end it is God Who gets the last laugh--so to speak. Those people had to give the Blessed Sacrament the adoration and respect that Christ deserves. For how long? Only God can answer that. Why did the priest see them? So he could pray for them and for all other Poor Souls detained in other churches. Why other priests do not see these people? Well, perhaps they already know in theory that souls can be detained in churches as well as anywhere else, so they do not need a miracle.

Why were they clad in such poor clothes? To atone for their vanity while living. People often use clothes not so much to cover their nakedness but as a status symbol to impress others. But God is not impressed by, say, mink coats. Also people walk into church with hardly any clothes. In the summer months it is not unusual for people--mostly women--to go to receive Holy Communion in the most indecent clothing. The pastor may or may not put up with it; but God will have His day in court about this. Rags could be an appropriate punishment for these excesses.

"There is a purgatory, a place of purging, My child--suffering great as in the abyss, but with the knowledge of a reprieve in time to come. It is a bleak longing of the spirit to look upon the Father. Know, My child, this longing of the heart in the fires is of great magnitude encompassing the being of the waiting soul." - Our Lady of the Roses, March 29, 1975

Directives from Heaven...http://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

D2 - The Holy Eucharist PDF
D29 - Purgatory PDF
D87 - Divinity of Jesus Christ PDF
D146 - Honor the Eucharist, Part 1 PDF
D147 - Honor the Eucharist, Part 2 PDF
D252 - Reverence PDF

Articles…

Pope Benedict: "Birth of Jesus is not a fable, it is a story that really happened"
http://www.tldm.org/Christmas/PopeBirthOfJesusNotFable.htm

Pope Benedict: 'false prophets' are the ones fighting Christmas
http://www.tldm.org/Christmas/PopeFalseProphetsFightingChristmas.htm

Vatican newspaper cites "war on Christmas"; says people today want Christmas to be no more that "a simple festivity of easy pleasure"
http://www.tldm.org/Christmas/VaticanCitesWarOnChristmas.htm

Is there a war on Christmas? You betcha!, Jim Wildmon, December 19, 2006
http://www.tldm.org/Christmas/WarOnChristmasWildmon.htm

95% of shoppers happy with 'Merry Christmas'; 46% ticked by 'Happy Holidays'
http://www.tldm.org/News9/shoppersMerryChristmas.htm

The real meaning of the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
http://www.tldm.org/Christmas/12days.htm

The History of Christmas
http://www.tldm.org/Christmas/Christmas_history.htm

Meditations for the first Sunday of Advent
http://www.tldm.org/christmas/advent1.htm

Meditations for the second Sunday of Advent
http://www.tldm.org/christmas/advent2.htm

Meditations for the third Sunday of Advent
http://www.tldm.org/christmas/advent3.htm

Meditations for the fourth Sunday of Advent
http://www.tldm.org/christmas/advent4.htm

The Story of the Virgin Birth
http://www.tldm.org/christmas/virginbirth.htm

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"My children, My little humble children, I appeal to you as your Mother, go forward on foot, knock on the doors; bring the light to your brothers and sisters. For those who have been given great grace, much is expected of them." - Our Lady of the Roses May 26, 1976

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