This content reveals insights into the soul's journey immediately after death and during its first year, based on the private revelations of Saint Faustina Kowalska, emphasizing the profound impact of one's earthly life on eternal destiny and the unending availability of God's mercy.
Have you ever wondered what happens
to your soul in the first moments
after death? What happens when
your eyes close for the last time in
this world and open to eternity?
Saint Faustina Kowalska, the humble
Polish nun, to whom Jesus revealed the
secrets of his divine mercy, was
taken in spirit to contemplate what
no human eye can see. The journey
of the soul during its first year after
leaving this earthly world. What
she saw, what she heard, what
she experienced will forever change
your understanding of eternal life and,
more importantly, how you live every
minute of your life here on Earth.
Brother, sister in Christ, what you are
about to hear is not a simple
story. These are private revelations
granted to a canonized saint, whose
diary has been approved by the Church and
whose devotion to Divine Mercy
has been promoted by Saint John Paul
Segi. This message is urgent. This
message is for you. Perhaps today you
woke up with
worldly worries, bills to pay,
family problems, disturbing news from the
world, but I implore you to
let go of all that for the next few minutes and
contemplate the only thing that truly
matters: the eternal destiny of your
immortal soul. Saint Faustina wrote, "I saw
how souls leave the body. I saw
the indescribable moment when the soul
comes face to face with God for the
first time. Her visions of the first year
after death are so profound,
so moving, that many of the faithful are
unaware of these passages from her diary,
almost as if they were too sacred
for everyday conversation. Before I
continue, I must warn you, what
you will hear is not to satisfy a
passing curiosity. These revelations
will be entrusted to you for a
divine purpose so that you may awaken
spiritually, so that you may live each day
with the keen awareness of the eternity
that awaits you. As Jesus said to Saint
Faustina, write this down for souls,
for their consolation. Join me now, with
humility and an open heart, as we
unravel what Saint Faustina
contemplated about that mysterious first
year of the soul after death. A
year that, according to her visions, determines
far more than we could ever imagine.
The moment of death, that instant that
we will all face.
Saint Faustina describes it with words
that thrill the soul. I saw how the soul
leaves the body like an
imperceptible light, like a spark that
breaks away, but united to every fiber of the
body until the last moment. In her
diary, she recounts how she witnessed this
sacred moment on several occasions.
Souls don't simply die as we
think, no. The process is much
deeper. Each soul, upon detaching itself from
its body, carries with it its entire
history, every thought, every action,
every intention. In that moment,
Faustina writes, nothing is lost. Everything we have
done, said, and thought
accompanies us. Imagine that for a moment. Hey,
dear brother, dear sister,
absolutely nothing is lost. Every Hail
Mary whispered in the night, every work
of mercy hidden from the eyes of the
world, but also every moment of
hardship, every postponed confession, every
Eucharist received unworthily.
Do you remember that time you helped
someone without anyone knowing? Or
when you offered a prayer for a
stranger in trouble? But
you also remember those times when You could have
helped and didn't? Those
confessions you put off month after
month. All of that accompanies you in that
moment. Saint Faustina describes the
first instant after death
as a deafening silence.
The soul, now free from
bodily limitations, experiences
absolute clarity. It's as if a veil were
lifted. It writes, and the soul sees its entire
life in the light of divine truth. Not
as we judge our actions,
justifying ourselves or minimizing our
faults, but as God sees them in their
perfect truth. And here comes the first
astonishing revelation. According to Saint
Faustina, during that first moment,
each soul experiences an
instant, particular judgment. It's not like an
earthly tribunal with arguments and
defenses. It's a moment of
absolute truth where the soul, before the
perfect light of God, judges itself. "
I saw," Faustina wrote, "how some
souls, seeing themselves as they are, fled from
the presence of God as if they wanted to
hide, but there was nowhere. Others,
on the other hand, threw themselves with
infinite confidence into the ocean of
divine mercy, like
running children." into the arms of her Father. But
here is the extraordinary thing, what should
fill us with hope. Saint Faustina
affirms that even at that moment,
God's mercy continues to operate. I saw
how Jesus offered even then a
last ray of mercy to some
souls. She writes in her diary. It was as if He
suspended the laws of time for an eternal instant
to give one last
chance. Do you understand what this
means, beloved brother, beloved sister
in Christ? Until the last moment,
until the last breath,
God's mercy seeks us. As Psalm
139 says, if I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I descend into the abyss, I shall find you there.
However, Faustina also warns,
not all souls took advantage of that
last ray of mercy. Some,
out of pride or despair,
rejected it. This should make us
reflect deeply. We cannot
count on that last moment. We
cannot live as we wish, thinking
that in the end there will be time to repent.
repent.
After this first encounter with
divine truth, Saint Faustina describes
what happens during the first hours
after death. And here This is where
her revelations become even more extraordinary.
extraordinary.
Souls, she writes, experience a
period of adaptation to
spiritual reality. Like someone who has lived
their entire life in darkness and
is suddenly exposed to the bright light
of the sun, the soul needs time to
accustom itself to spiritual reality.
During these first hours, according to
Faustina, the soul begins to grasp
the immensity of what has happened, the
definitive separation from the
material world, from loved ones, from
all possibilities of changing its
eternal destiny through new
decisions. Think about it this very
moment. As you hear these
words, you still have the ability to
change the course of your eternity. You can
get up from where you are, seek a
confessor, kneel, and allow the
blood of Christ to wash away your sins. You
can decide to begin a life of
deeper prayer, of more
sincere charity, of more authentic devotion. But
once the soul leaves the body,
that ability ceases forever. The
cards are cast, the book is
written, the path is set. This
truth seen by Saint Faustina should
shake us to the marrow. Every
hour, every minute we live is a
precious opportunity, an
undeserved gift of divine mercy.
According to the visions of Saint Faustina,
after these first hours, the soul
begins a journey that will last
approximately a year, depending on
its spiritual state. And this is where we
must pay special attention.
Faustina describes three possible paths
for the soul during this first year.
For souls in a state of grace who
have completed their purification on
earth, the saints. The transition is
immediate. I saw souls entering
directly into the glory of God like
stars merging into the
infinite light. These are the souls who have
lived the gospel so fully, who
have loved so perfectly, that they are
ready for perfect union with God.
How many of us can
honestly say that we are ready for
that perfect union? How many of us
have purified our hearts of every
disordered attachment, every
imperfect love, every unforgiveness or
resentment? The second path, the most
common according to Saint Faustina, is that of
purgatory. Most souls, she
writes, even those who They die in a
state of grace, they need
purification. And what she saw about
this process during the first year is
truly revealing. The first year
after death, she tells us, is the
most intense for the souls in
purgatory. During this period, the
soul experiences what Faustina
describes as active purification.
Contrary to what many imagine,
purgatory is not simply a place of
passive suffering. According to
Saint Faustina's visions, during the first
year, the soul actively participates in its
own purification. I saw how souls
worked hard to detach themselves
from their earthly attachments. She writes, it was
as if they had to tear out one by
one all the fibers that tied them
inordinately to creatures. Every
time we become excessively attached to
something or someone above God,
we create ties that will have to be
painfully severed after
death. Every time we seek solace
in creatures, rather than in the
Creator, we form chains that will bind us
in purgatory. Think of your own
attachments, dear one. Brother, dear
sister. What occupies first place in
your heart? Your possessions, your
reputation, your comforts? Or is
Christ truly the center of your
existence? Saint Faustina describes how
during this first year the souls in
purgatory experience an
infinite longing for God. It is like a thirst that
cannot be quenched, a hunger
that cannot be satisfied. The
beatific vision, the direct contemplation of
God, who is the source of all happiness
in heaven, is so close and yet
so far away for these souls. According to Saint
Faustina, this first year is also
marked by what she calls the
purification of memory. The soul
relives every moment of its earthly life,
but no longer from its limited
and selfish perspective, but from God's perspective
. I saw souls weeping. She writes,
understanding how they had squandered
so many graces, so many opportunities to
love. Moments that on earth
we consider insignificant—a
kind word unspoken, a prayer not
offered, a sacrifice rejected for
convenience—are revealed in all their
eternal significance. But there is something else, There is
something extraordinarily consoling in
what Saint Faustina saw about this
first year in purgatory. The souls
are not alone, she states. Angels
continually visit them, bringing them the
consolation of the prayers offered for
them on earth. Every Mass offered
for a deceased person, every rosary prayed,
every alms given in their name, every
sacrifice offered for their
eternal rest, reaches them like drops of
dew in a burning desert, according to
the saint's words. Do you understand now,
beloved brother, beloved sister in Christ,
the importance of praying for the deceased? Do
you understand why the Church encourages us to
offer suffrages, indulgences, and
sacrifices for the souls in
purgatory, especially during their
first year after death? Saint
Faustina writes that a single Mass
offered for a soul during this first
year can greatly shorten its time
of purification.
I saw how some souls were freed
after a single Eucharist offered
with true love and faith for them, she
states in her diary. But there is a Third
path, the most terrible, which Saint
Faustina also contemplated for
souls who die in mortal sin, in
conscious and final rejection of
God's mercy. The first year
after death marks the beginning
of eternity. Far from God. The saint
wrote very little about these visions,
as if they were too painful to
recount, but the little she says should
make us tremble. I saw their despair and
understood that the greatest suffering of
hell is not the commonly
imagined pains, but the eternal awareness
of having rejected infinite love.
Brother, sister who listen to me, do not
postpone your conversion. Do not say,
"Tomorrow I will begin to live as Christ
asks me." Tomorrow is not guaranteed
for any of us. As
Jesus said to Saint Faustina, "Today I invite you to
my mercy,
tomorrow I will manifest my justice."
But let us return to what Saint Faustina
saw over the souls in purgatory
during this first year. There is a
particularly moving detail in her
visions. The souls, she writes, are
especially aware of the
prayers they offered for them by those they
loved on earth. Imagine
for a moment that your mother, your father,
your son, or your husband has recently departed
for eternity. According to Saint Faustina,
when you pray for them, especially
during that first year, they know it. They
feel the effect of your prayers like
a refreshing and
even more extraordinary balm. Saint Faustina
states that during this first year these
souls can receive special permission
to visit us spiritually, not as
the ghosts of
popular superstitions, she clarifies, but as
spiritual presences that God allows for
our good and theirs. Have you
ever felt an inexplicable presence,
a sudden comfort when remembering a
deceased loved one, an inspiration
to pray or do a good deed that
seems to come from them? Saint Faustina
suggests that these experiences may
be real spiritual encounters
permitted by God during that first
year. But there is something more, something that Saint
Faustina emphasizes with special emphasis
about this first year. Souls, she
writes, experience
indescribable comfort when they see that their
loved ones on earth are living in such a
way that brings them closer to God.
Think about it deeply.
Your conversion, your life of faith, your
fidelity to Christ, not only determines your
own eternal destiny, but also
brings comfort to your departed loved ones
. Your holiness is a gift
to them. Toward the end of this
first year after death, according to
St. Faustina, something
significant happens for the souls in
purgatory. It is as if they complete an
important phase of their purification. She
writes, "After the first year, the
process continues, but in a
different way. The saint does not specify
exactly what this change consists of,
but suggests that it is related to
greater acceptance and abandonment to
divine will. Souls, he writes,
after this first year enter a
state of greater peace, although the
purification continues. What should we
do then, beloved brothers and
sisters in Christ, in the face of these
profound and
moving revelations? First, live each day,
each hour, each minute with the
acute awareness of the eternity that awaits us.
As Saint Faustina said, if souls
could see what awaits them, many would
faint from fear, but even more from
love at the mercy that God
offers them at every moment. Second,
we must be reconciled to God without delay.
Frequent confession, dignified communion, and
daily prayer are not options for
the Christian. They are the oxygen our
soul needs to survive the
encounter with eternity. How
long has it been since your last
sincere confession? You are at peace with God
right now. If you were called
to eternity tonight, you would be
prepared. Third, detach ourselves from everything
that is not God. As St.
Faustina teaches, every disordered attachment to
creatures will become a
painful chain after death. We must
learn to use the things of the world without
our hearts clinging to them.
Fourth, intensify our devotion to
the souls in purgatory, especially
those who are in their first year
after death. Offering masses,
rosaries, alms, and sacrifices for
them is one of the highest forms
of Christian charity. Fifth, and perhaps
most importantly, embrace with
boundless confidence the divine mercy that
Jesus revealed to St. Faustina. Though
your sins be like scarlet,
saith the Lord, they shall be as white as
snow. There is no sin, however serious
, that cannot be forgiven if we
approach with humility and trust the
tribunal of mercy, which is the
sacrament of confession. As
Jesus said to Saint Faustina, before coming
as a just judge, I come as a king of
mercy. Dear brother, dear
sister who are listening to me, perhaps these
revelations of Saint Faustina have
touched your heart in a
special way. Perhaps you feel an
inner urge to make changes in your life, to
draw closer to God, to
better prepare yourself for that inevitable encounter with
eternity. Don't ignore that
inspiration. It is the Holy Spirit who
is speaking to your heart. As
the Scripture says, if you hear his voice today, do not
harden your heart. St. Faustina
saw something else about this first year
after death, something she
describes as the mystery of
continuing mercy. According to her
visions, during this period, our
prayers have a special power to
help souls who are completing
their purification.
A single Hail Mary prayed with true
love for a soul during this first
year, she writes, "can bring her closer to
God than many formal prayers
said to be of love after this period. I
implore you for the love of Christ and your
loved ones. Do not let a single
day pass without offering some prayer, some
sacrifice for the souls who have
recently departed. Your love can reach
them and ease their suffering. And
for yourself, seriously consider how you
want your own first year
after death to be. Do you wish to be
among those souls who, having
lived in perfect grace, enter
immediately into glory?
Or would you rather face a
long and painful purification because you did not take advantage of
the time God granted you on
earth." St. Faustina's revelations
about the soul's first year
after death are not mere
spiritual curiosities; they are
loving warnings from a God who
desires our salvation. They are
urgent invitations to conversion. They
are solemn reminders that every
decision we make in this life has
eternal repercussions. As the
saint wrote in her diary, "I saw how Jesus
wept for those who waste the
time of mercy, for those who
continually postpone their conversion,
thinking that there will always be time
later. Will you be one of them?" Or
will you respond right now to
Christ's invitation to a life of
intimacy with him? Perhaps you are asking yourself,
how can I begin? How can I
best prepare for that first year
after my death? St. Faustina
offers us five concrete practices that,
according to what Jesus himself revealed to her, will
help us prepare. First,
frequent and sincere confession.
Souls who confess regularly,
writes Faustina, experience a
much less painful purification
after death. Second,
devotion to Divine Mercy,
especially praying the chaplet that
Jesus taught St. Faustina. This
prayer, said the Lord, disarms
divine justice. Third, acts of
mercy toward one's neighbor. As
Jesus said, blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy. Fourth, a tender
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
She, writes Faustina, comes
especially during the first year
after death to console her
faithful children. Fifth, the
loving acceptance of the sufferings of this
life. Every pain accepted with love on
earth, the Saint affirms, diminishes the purification
purification
after death. Brother, sister
in Christ, Saint Faustina's revelations
about the soul's first year
after death are a
precious gift that God grants us for
our salvation. Do not receive them
passively. Let them penetrate the
depths of your heart and transform your
life. Live each day as if it were your
last. Love as if tomorrow you were to
meet Christ face to face.
Forgive as one who knows they will be judged
according to how they have forgiven. Pray as one who
