+J.M.J.+
"Strange
Things Happen on the Night of Christmas"
Monsignor Charles M. Mangan
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.
Father Llorente wrote a
reflection entitled "Strange Things Happen on the Night of
Christmas," that discussed the important of revering the Most
Holy Eucharist. This insightful piece, which was published in
the February 1998 newsletter of the Catholic Society of
Evangelists, is relevant for our Third Christian Millennium.
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
irreverence 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? They 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.
Although the Church does
not command that we need to believe the account as related by
Father Llorente, it is, nonetheless, a salutary reminder of
the reverence to be paid the Most Holy Eucharist.
We realize that we can
never adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament as we ought. But we
must try! He deserves our humble efforts and will reward us
for our attempts.
O Sacrament most holy! O
Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every
moment Thine!"
[Note: some believe it is
Christmas when most souls are released from purgatory]
[see
also: books on purgatory (including devotion, prayers)]
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