62. The dream and the flocks
--
On Sunday, June 16, the day of the Holy Trinity, the feast in which Don Bosco had celebrated his first Mass (16 years earlier), he told his students the following dream: On May 29, at night, I dreamed that I was on an immense plain full of large sheep, grazing in very green and beautiful pastures. I looked for the shepherd of such a large flock and I asked him:
--
– Whose flock is this that has so many sheep? He took me through such a spacious valley, he said: " You'll know whose flock this is! And I saw that part of the flock had abundant waters, very green grasslands and trees that provided refreshing shadows and there grazed many very beautiful sheep. But beyond, there were deserts without pastures, no waters, no shadows, and there were also numerous sheep, but skinny, ugly and malnourished.
--
We went further and saw other meadows without grass, without water, without shades of trees, and there were many lambs, but so skinny and malnourished that they could hardly stand. And these poor little animals were covered in sores and suffered a lot. And a strange thing, each had a pair of horns, as if they were already old animals. Their horns ended in an E [note: in English it would be an S]. And each sick lamb had the number 3 marked on different parts of his body: The guide explained to me: – The sheep that graze in places full of water, green grasslands and freshness, are the people who hear the Word of God, and attend Holy Mass and receive the Sacraments. They have a beautiful and robust soul.
Those who are in arid places without water, without grasslands, without shades of trees, are those who do not hear the Word of God or frequent the Holy Sacraments. They live by feeding themselves only on what is worldly, and that is sterile and leads them to spiritual weakness.
The sick lambs that are in arid places are so many young people who need to be educated and instructed* in religion.
Those who wear a horn finished in an E letter, meaning Scandal, are those who have given or received bad examples that lead to sin. Those who have a number 3 marked in different places in their bodies represent those who live in sin, to whom 3 punishments await them: remorse for having sinned, the punishments that come to all who sin, and the prizes that because of their sin are lost to Heaven. (Psalm 75 says, "To those who commit evil, the Lord will make them drink a glass of bitterness.")
--
The guide immediately took me to a beautiful meadow, full of flowers, aromatic plants, and beautiful forests and streams of crystal clear waters. There I found a huge number of young people, all cheerful and happy, dedicated to collecting the most beautiful flowers. The guide said to me, "These are those who live in God's grace, without grave sin in the soul”.
--
I can assure you that I have never seen people as beautiful and elegant as those young. It would be impossible to describe their great beauty.
Soon the guide took me to another garden much more beautiful and aromatic than the previous one, and there was another group of young people, in smaller numbers, but of a beauty and elegance enormously larger than those of the previous group. And he who guided me said to me, "These are the ones who have not lost the Holy Virtue of Purity.
I was surprised to see people with such extraordinary beauty. And each one wore in his head a crown of beautiful flowers and each flower had colors so vivid and varied that they enchanted the view of the one who observed them. In each flower there were more than a thousand colors and in each crown more than a thousand different flowers.
--
Every young man who had retained purity wore a white robe that descended to his feet, and the robe was full of flowers of unparalleled beauty. From the face of the young people, and their garments, and flowers came glare, lights of the most varied colors that made the beauty of the person admirably highlighted. There is no human image capable of giving an idea of the breathtaking beauty of all those who preserved holy purity. If anyone saw even one-tenth of the beauty of a soul that is untouched, he would prefer a thousand martyrdoms and death itself, so as not to stain his soul with a mortal sin.
--
I then said to the guide: – But only few retain the beauty of the soul without sin. And the others, what to do with them? He said to me, "May the beautiful costume of God's grace be again obtained with penance, with repentance, with the reception of the Sacraments, and with a virtuous life.
--
I asked him for one last counsel, and he said, "Tell everyone that if they knew how beautiful and nice a soul in God's grace is and a person who preserves the Holy Virtue of Purity, they would be willing to make any sacrifice so as not to commit a grave sin and in order to preserve purity or chastity. Tell them to be encouraged to fight enthusiastically to preserve or recover this beautiful virtue that surpasses many other virtues in beauty and radiance.
--
And when I hear this... I woke up.
--
Young people: Are there any who still retain the Holy Virtue of Purity? Are there many who have the soul without serious sin? I congratulate you. If you saw how beautiful your soul is, you would prefer any sacrifice and even death itself so as not to lose God's grace or purity. It is a pitty that some who externally look good I saw them in the dream with big, very ugly horns on their heads...
--
[instruct: to systematically communicate ideas, knowledge and doctrine]
---------------------
63. Purgatory, 1867
--
Part I: Message from a deceased person.
On June 25, 1867, he spoke to the community as follows: "I dreamed that I was traveling to a city and passing through unknown villages and that I wished to know what the state of a soul will be like in the next life. Suddenly I heard the voice of an unknown person saying to me: - Come with me and you will be able to see and know what you desire.
I obeyed immediately and followed that person who traveled at the speed of thought and without touching the ground. And I traveled in the same way. We arrived at a palace of magnificent construction that was as if suspended above the air and had doors and windows at a great height.
The personage said to me: - Do as I did and you will be able to climb up there.
Immediately he raised his hands high into the sky and began to climb into the air. I also raised my arms and felt myself lifted into the air like a cloud. And I arrived in front of the door of the great palace.
The guide said to me: "Enter the palace and see what is there. At the back you will find someone to explain it to you.
--
I climbed the stairs and found myself in a beautiful room decorated very luxuriously. I went through rooms and corridors with the speed of light and each time I saw more and more elegance and beautiful decorations.
I continued to travel as if through the air without touching the ground and suddenly I arrived at an immense hall adorned and beautiful [perhaps it said beautiful tapestries] above all pondering and there at the back I saw a Bishop, a very good friend of mine, who had died a short time ago. He seemed not to be suffering at all, and he looked very healthy, very cheerful and very kind. I asked him: - Monsignor, are you alive or dead? - For the world I am dead. But here I am alive.
- And you are saved, Monsignor? - Yes, look how strong and healthy I am. I am in a place of salvation.
- And are you in paradise? Or are you in purgatory? - I am in a place of salvation. But I haven't managed to see God yet.
I need a lot of prayers for me.
- Monsignor, will I be saved? - Have hope and faith that you can be saved.
- And what message do you send to the young people and my disciples? - That they be obedient, that they behave well, that they take great care of the virtue of purity and that they go to confession frequently and receive communion with fervor and devotion.
- And what other advice does he want to send them? - That they remove from the eyes of their souls that fog which prevents them from seeing well, and which consists in the fact that because they think like the world, they do not dedicate themselves to thinking about the supernatural.
--
- And what should they do to get rid of this fog or cloud? - Let them think that the world is all set on the evil one, as St. John said. Let them not be deceived by the appearances of what is worldly and materialistic. Many imagine that the pleasures, riches, vanities and enjoyments of the world can make them happy, and they devote themselves unrestrainedly to all that, but the Holy Book says: "All is vanity of vanities and affliction of spirit". Let them accustom themselves to see the worldly and material, not according to its appearance but according to its reality. For the judgments of God are different from those of the world, and what people appreciate as wisdom and of much material value, may be foolishness and of little value to God.
--
- And what is the darkest cloud in the eyes of the soul? What darkens and fills the soul with gloom is impurity, just as the virtue of purity makes the soul very white and shining. The vice of impurity is like a black cloud that prevents people from seeing the dangerous precipice into which they will fall if they engage in sin. Tell everyone to strive to preserve the virtue of purity at all costs. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" (Mt. 5).
- And what remedies do you advise for people to preserve purity? - Retreat: recollection; that they withdraw from the occasions of sin. That they comply exactly with the Regulations. Let them never be idle without doing anything. And that they dedicate good time to prayer.
- And what other remedies do you recommend? - To pray. Give importance to prayer. Retreat, recollection: to withdraw from every occasion of sin. Never be idle or waste time. These remedies are very profitable.
.
Second part: With the desire to repeat to my disciples these very important pieces of advice from the bishop, I hurried to the house, but then I stopped and began to think: - Why not spend more time with Monsignor? Could he tell me many more important recommendations? And I hurried back to where he was. But during the short time I had been absent, important changes had taken place. The bishop was as pale as wax. He looked like a corpse. Tears were flowing from his eyes. He was in agony. I approached him in anguish and said: "Monsignor, how can I help you? - Pray for me and let me go where the Almighty hand of God is leading me.
--
- And don't you have any other messages to send? - Let them pray for me. And to the bishop who replaced me tell him this and this (and he gave me some messages to take to him) and to such individuals take these messages to them in secret (and he gave me some messages for them). To your students tell them that I always loved them very much and prayed for them. Let them now pray for me.
The Prelate's appearance showed great suffering, which increased more and more. To look at him was to feel compassion in one's soul; he was suffering so much. It was a truly anguishing agony. Then he exclaimed: "Leave me, I am going where the Lord is calling me.
And so, as he seemed to be in agony, an invisible force carried him away to the innermost rooms of the building, and he disappeared from my sight.
As I contemplated such a painful scene, I was moved and... I woke up.
In this dream I learned many things about Purgatory and the afterlife, things I had never understood well, and which I now understood so clearly that I will never forget them.
Explanations: Father Lemoyne says that Don Bosco asked the bishop how long he had left to live on earth and that Monsignor handed him a small piece of paper where there were several numbers 8 as if strung together in a squiggle. For the moment he did not understand much, but when the year 1888 arrived, the Saint realized that that would be the year of his death (several numbers 8 hanging from a squiggle, a number 1 upside down) and in that year he died.
--
Some may wonder how a very virtuous bishop could have so many anxieties in the afterlife. It is because the Holy Book says that "God finds blemishes even in his own angels". And in Psalm 88 the Lord says: "Although I will not withdraw my favor from my followers, I will nevertheless severely punish them for their disobedience to my commandments and I will make them suffer for their carelessness in fulfilling my commands".
Don Bosco later narrated that he went to the replacement bishop to communicate to him the messages sent to him by the dead bishop, which were very important for the good order of the diocese. And to the other individuals he also brought each one the message of the deceased. To the students he repeated on several occasions the three pieces of advice of the Prelate from the afterlife: "To avoid sin: first of all RETIREMENT; to keep away from the occasions of sinning. Then, PRAYER, much prayer. And finally: AVOID LEISURE: never be idle or wasting time.