The Call of Nature

 

Once my Dad was in his sixties, he had to get up in the night to answer the call of nature. This inconvenient awakening bore fruit though as he often entered into prayer before returning to sleep. 

He prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet for anyone who was dying at that hour or for the holy souls in purgatory. This nocturnal pilgrimage continued until it was his turn to pass from this life to the next. I wonder how many souls his prayers assisted on their journey to God and how much prayer there was for him at that moment as a consequence. 

It seems that the baton has now been passed to me. I am not normally a (3‘0 Clock in the) morning person and so am in a semi-coma as I stagger into the gloom, stubbing a toe on everything (mercifully there are no lego land mines along the route). Lately though I have paused to pray and accompany my fellow travellers, those dying or suffering the fires of purgatory. It is a noble undertaking and at a time when the heart and house are quiet.

Behind the veil, it will be well received as these words given to St Gertrude from Jesus illustrate "… If a beneficent king leaves his guilty friend in prison for justice's sake, he awaits with longing for one of his nobles to plead for the prisoner and to offer something for his release. Then the king joyfully sets him free. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer."

Who would think that a full bladder can be a means of such grace; but it can.

The power of intercessory prayer.. a story from Poland (from St. Faustinas diary)

In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw an Angel, the executor of divine wrath. He was clothed in a dazzling robe, his face gloriously bright, a cloud beneath his feet. From the cloud, bolts of thunder and flashes of lightning were springing into his hands; and from his hand they were going forth, and only then were they striking the earth. When I saw this sign of divine wrath which was about to strike the earth, and in particular a certain place, which for good reasons I cannot name, I began to implore the Angel to hold off for a few moments, and the world would do penance.

But my plea was a mere nothing in the face of the divine anger. Just then I saw the Most Holy Trinity. The greatness of Its majesty pierced me deeply, and I did not dare to repeat my entreaties. At that very moment I felt in my soul the power of Jesus' grace, which dwells in my soul. When I became conscious of this grace, I was instantly snatched up before the Throne of God. Oh, how great is our Lord and God and how incomprehensible His holiness! I will make no attempt to describe this greatness, because before long we shall all see Him as He is. I found myself pleading with God for the world with words heard interiorly

As I was praying in this manner, I saw the Angel's helplessness: he could not carry out the just punishment that was rightly due for sins. Never before had I prayed with such inner power as I did then.

Also..."Through fasting and prayer one can stop wars, one can suspend the laws of nature." Our Lady of Medjugorje (7/21/82)