P U R G A T O R Y

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n September 2, 1918 the doorbell of the sacristy rang at the

Clarissa Convent of Saint Leonardo,Montefalco (Perugia), Italy. Sister MaryTheresa of Jesus, Mother Superior andsacristan went to the door and heard avoice say:

“I have to leave these offeringshere.” and the pulley wheel was turnedand there were ten Italian lire.

The mother superior asked if thealms were for Triduum, prayers or Masses.

“No obligation.” was the response.“If I may ask, who are you?” asked theMother Superior. “You need not know.”In the next five days and then onOctober 31st, November 29th, December9th, and January 1st and 29th, 1919 thesame thing happened. On March 14th ateight in the evening the door bell rangtwice and the Mother Superior went toanswer it and she found ten lire in thepulley wheel, but no one answered. Theexterior door of the church was locked andonly the nuns had the keys. The janitorwas called and they did an inspection ofthe church. No one was found.

On April 11 another ten lire wasleft and you could hear the voice of theperson asking for prayers for a deceasedperson. On May 2 around half past ninein the evening the doorbell rang. TheMother Superior and three other nunswent to the door. They found twenty lire

in the pulley wheel and two cards placedin the shape of a cross. They did notknow who put them there. The churchwas closed. Other visits followed on May25th, June 4th, and 21st. On July 7th

around two in the afternoon, at nap time,the doorbell rang twice, but the MotherSuperior did not answer thinking it wasjust children. A voice outside the bedroomsaid to her: “They rang the sacristy bell”.She went to answer and heard the usualvoice say: “I am leaving ten lire here for prayers.” The Mother Superior thenasked: “For God‘s sake, who is there?” “Icannot tell.” was the response.

She asked the other nuns if they hadcalled, but it was not any of them.

The episode happened again onJuly 18th, and this time the MotherSuperior said: “Praise be to Jesus andMary.” The voice responded, “Amen.” Othervisits occurred in August, September andOctober in the same fashion. On the visitof October 3rd, the Mother Superiorwent out to the door at the sound of thebell, she refused the twenty lire offeringand said that the confessor was nothappy and wanted to know who wasthere because she feared it was a trick of the devil. The voice responded: “No, Iam a soul from purgatory. I have been inpurgatory for forty years for squanderingthe goods of the ecclesiastics”.

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Sister Mary Theresa of Jesus, Clarissa Nun Part 1