Grandmother's deathbed experience question

[boomerang]

Thanks to all for your replies. I wasn’t sure how to process this event with my grandmother up until now and had kept it to myself for a number of years but never forgot it.

However, I had occasionally thought of it and wondered about it.

I felt I could confide in my new friends at CAF because in my heart I felt that I could share it and you wouldn’t ridicule me for it. I was right. Thank you so much!

Did you feel that you could not share this with your Assemblies of God friends? Are they hostile to this type of manifestation?

 

[Tommy999]

Did you feel that you could not share this with your Assemblies of God friends? Are they hostile to this type of manifestation?

Good question. I don’t think they would be hostile necessarily but I truly don’t know. I just sensed that I could share it here and not be ridiculed based on the people I’ve gotten to know on CAF.

I would be more concerned my AOG brethren might think it was not scriptural or might possibly treat it similar to seeing or experiencing ghosts at a seance or something, which it definitely wasn’t.

However, my mother (who is now passed awayf) deeply believed this event occurred as a fact and she was one of the most trustworthy persons I knew so I believed her.

I somehow feel free to raise many subjects here that I don’t feel comfortable raising anywhere else, and yet I don’t know why. I just do.

However, it is possible that I may not be giving my AOG congregation enough credit. Your question is a good one and has me doing a little soul searching.

.

 

[Tommy999]

St. Paul said we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses…

I have had several deaths in my family and all share the same experience. My grandpa would say the name of my great grandma, great grandpa…my aunt who died of cancer.

My grandma had the same…she would say the name of grandpa…and would say they are in white and she could see them.

Just last year, my aunt said she could see them, and would invite to come over…she would see them in white.

We have taken this to mean that they are near death when they see dead relatives…and sure enough, it would not be long after that they would pass on from their earthly life.

Thanks for sharing that, Pablope. Sounds kind of similar.

 

[SaintFrancis333]

I don’t see why not! Yes. The Church believes in the communion of saints, which basically means that those who pass on to heaven before us are still connected to us and intimately involved with our lives.

Your grandfather appearing to your grandmother and helping her into heaven fits very well with that belief.

True but it would be off to purgatory first. That’s where the vast majority of humanity, Catholics included, will go. Anyone who makes it to Heaven will be Catholic by the time they get there I pray we may all rejoice in the Beatific vision. If we want to taste Heaven while we are still alive, then head off to Mass and receive Christ in the Eucharist! (It requires being Catholic first of course).

 

[pianistclare]

True but it would be off to purgatory first. That’s where the vast majority of humanity, Catholics included, will go. Anyone who makes it to Heaven will be Catholic by the time they get there I pray we may all rejoice in the Beatific vision. If we want to taste Heaven while we are still alive, then head off to Mass and receive Christ in the Eucharist! (It requires being Catholic first of course).

Unless they had just been anointed, made final confession and rec’d the viaticum.
Which, in the case of very devout Catholics is often the case.

 

[boomerang]

Good question. I don’t think they would be hostile necessarily but I truly don’t know. I just sensed that I could share it here and not be ridiculed based on the people I’ve gotten to know on CAF.

I would be more concerned my AOG brethren might think it was not scriptural or might possibly treat it similar to seeing or experiencing ghosts at a seance or something, which it definitely wasn’t.

However, my mother (who is now passed awayf) deeply believed this event occurred as a fact and she was one of the most trustworthy persons I knew so I believed her.

I somehow feel free to raise many subjects here that I don’t feel comfortable raising anywhere else, and yet I don’t know why. I just do.

However, it is possible that I may not be giving my AOG congregation enough credit. Your question is a good one and has me doing a little soul searching.

.

That’s the trouble with relying solely on scripture without any tradition. God interacts with us in many ways that the scriptures don’t even touch upon. I don’t know if AOG is sola scriptura, but with these kinds of churches, anything mystical that isn’t explicitly in the Bible is automatically of “the devil”, so their spiritual world view is very small in my opinion.

 

[mdgspencer]

Sorry, I doubt this one. I presume he was just giving a esson and speaking poetically. Not to hijack this thread.

One more thing…i would like to share a sermon from our priest not long ago:

He said that when we are on our way…before the gates of heaven…those that may greet us are those we hated the most in our life on earth and those we have not forgiven…it is then our chance to forgive them and to love them…or go somewhere else…

 

[Bob_Crowley]

Thanks to all for your replies. I wasn’t sure how to process this event with my grandmother up until now and had kept it to myself for a number of years but never forgot it.

However, I had occasionally thought of it and wondered about it.

I felt I could confide in my new friends at CAF because in my heart I felt that I could share it and you wouldn’t ridicule me for it. I was right. Thank you so much!

There are of course two sides. I’ve often written on this site that the night my own father died, he appeared in my bedroom, we argued and conversed, and at the end he gave one almighty scream and disappeared. I think he’s in hell. Incidentally I was an atheist at the time.

However the person who actually came to tell me he’d died (four days later as it took four days for his body to be found) was my uncle, my mother’s brother.

As it turned out, he died himself later that same year (along with my mother’s boyfriend - triple whammy for her that year - ex-husband, boyfriend, and only brother). He had cancer of the liver at the time, but nobody knew.

I remember going to visit my uncle in hospital when he was dying. He recognised me, but was pretty much out of it due to palliative care. But at one point he pointed to the junction of ceiling and wall, and said, “Grandma’s other there!”. As I said I was an atheist, and I thought he was hallucinating. But he seemed to know what I was thinking, and said, “She is, you know!”

And I think she may well have been. I go to a Catholic psychiatrist, and he once said to me that he thought God often sent someone to “usher us through”. You know, some one I’ve known well, and who has died previously, will appear and say “Come on Bob! It’s time to go!”. Of course that will depend on how the newly deceased has behaved in this life. If they’ve been a paragon of evil, the welcoming committee may not quite be so enthralling. Hence my father’s scream.

My old (Presbyterian) pastor once told me about an elderly lady he went to visit in hospital when he was still a very young pastor. She lay dying, ravaged by disease. Then he said, she suddenly sat up, reached out and said “I’m coming Jesus!”. Then she fell back dead. He said she looked just like a young girl. He commented, “It was a real eye-opener for a young pastor”.

Years later, well after his own death, I found the following reference to the very same event on the internet, in the form of an e-book. It appears her hame was Isabella Hetherington, and my old pastor’s name was Rev. Robert Missenden.

Since the pastor was born himself in 1924, he’d have only been about 22 when he witnessed her death. He was indeed a “young pastor” at the time.

webjournals.ac.edu.au/journals/EB/baptised-among-crocodiles/chapter-five-1946-1949-the-dormitory/

On August 31st 1946, Isabella Hetherington passed away in Mossman hospital at the age of 75 years. Ethel Vale was with her when she died. Ps. Easton was in Brisbane on Mission business and a Brisbane Presbyterian minister, who was a Methodist minister in the north, the Rev. Robert Missenden conducted her funeral.

“She was a beautiful woman with snowy white hair down to her waist. I was supposed to pray for her, but she prayed for me. I was with her when she died. I had read about what happened in books, but this happened before my eyes. She sat up in bed and said, ‘Lord Jesus. I am coming.’ Then she lay back and was gone.” (Hunt, 1978).

The e-book relates the incident in more subdued language than he did when he was telling me, but there it is. I did not expect to find the same incident on the net probably a good 20 years after he told me and a few others about it.

I don’t think you need to worry about the incident involving your grandmother, but just take it at face value.

 

[Tommy999]

Thank you for sharing that, Bob, especially the account about the pastor and the elderly lady in the hospital seeing Jesus.

On the other hand, it was very sad to hear about the other event with your father. I’d like to think your last interaction with him might’ve been different had you been a Christian then.

Sounds like you’ve come a long way on your spiritual journey over the years. I pray that the Lord would continue to lead and guide you the rest of your life and into the next when your time eventually comes.

 

[boomerang]

This is a great website for those interested in supernatural/paranormal dying bedside ghost encounters: allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/whats-your-best-108202.html

There’s over 200 pages of stories of the paranormal from nurses, CNA’s and other caregivers.

 

[randomusername]

One of my teachers in primary school once told us that someone in the town had an NDE(Near Death Experience) where she saw her dead uncle(I think it was uncle, I can’t remember very well) who was waiting for her. This kind of stuff is very common. Some scientist says the mind just shows us what we want to see, but I like to think that that’s what really happens.

 

[Miserissima]

Bob Crowley’s post reminded me of two incidents.

The first is that the night before my grandfather died, each grandchild had a “goodbye” dream from him. At a recent family reunion, each of us can still vividly remember our dreams.

The night my father passed, similar thing: in my dream, I begged him not to go to no avail. I called home and he had passed.

 

[msammiem]

I believe your story is very real as I had a similar experience when my brother passed away.

He was mentally retarded and just before he died he said “mom have you come to get me?”

He clearly saw our mother and I believe she came to help him to heaven. I believe they are both there along with my dad.

What a wonderful thought that our loved ones meet us to help us find our way to heaven. Praise be to God. :heaven: :harp:

 

[Tommy999]

Thanks for your replies, msammiem, Miserissima, randomusername, boomerang, and everyone else who commented. I appreciate your points of view and stories very much, as well as the links to read more.

 

[boomerang]

I believe your story is very real as I had a similar experience when my brother passed away.

He was mentally retarded and just before he died he said “mom have you come to get me?”

He clearly saw our mother and I believe she came to help him to heaven. I believe they are both there along with my dad.

What a wonderful thought that our loved ones meet us to help us find our way to heaven. Praise be to God. :heaven: :harp:

 

[amsjj]

A very interesting thread!

Regarding dream visits:
My uncle was taking a nap before coming over to visit our house; my father was in hospice and had been unconscious for several days by then. Well, he dreamed that he was at our house and my father came over and talked to him, looking healthy and cheerful. Then the phone rang and woke my uncle up and he thought, “something’s happened”. It was my aunt calling him, telling him that my father had passed away a few minutes previously.

My friend’s father also came to her in a dream before he died. Since she was unable to visit him (he was on the other side of the world) and she was his favourite child, I think he came to say goodbye; he came with one of his deceased sisters (my friend’s aunt). She also told me that when her brother died, he appeared to her in her room and smiled at her.

+++++

As wonderful and consoling as these experiences are for me, I never forget the fact that prayers and Masses should be said for loved ones, not assuming my family and friends are already in Heaven. I prefer rather to err on the side of caution and offer up many prayers for their relief in case they are in Purgatory.

Several years back, Fr. Finigan posted an entry on his blog, “Reasons why we should pray for the Holy Souls” –
the-hermeneutic-of-continuity…-for-holy.html

amsjj

+++
Jesus, God and man,
imprisoned by love in Thy most holy Sacrament,
have mercy upon us.

• Blessed John Henry Newman, December 22, 1851

Tú y yo sabemos por la fe que oculto en las especies sacramentales está Cristo,
ese Cristo con su Cuerpo, con su Sangre, con su Alma, y con su Divinidad,
prisonero de amor.

• San Josemaría Escrivá, 1 junio 1974

God loves to be resisted in His displeasure, and to be restrained by the humble from inflicting punishment… One saint will often save a nation; so true is it that humble souls are the hinges on which God moves the world.

• Abp. W. B. Ullathorne, The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues, 1882.

 

[pianistclare]

A very interesting thread!

Regarding dream visits:
My uncle was taking a nap before coming over to visit our house; my father was in hospice and had been unconscious for several days by then. Well, he dreamed that he was at our house and my father came over and talked to him, looking healthy and cheerful. Then the phone rang and woke my uncle up and he thought, “something’s happened”. It was my aunt calling him, telling him that my father had passed away a few minutes previously.

My friend’s father also came to her in a dream before he died. Since she was unable to visit him (he was on the other side of the world) and she was his favourite child, I think he came to say goodbye; he came with one of his deceased sisters (my friend’s aunt). She also told me that when her brother died, he appeared to her in her room and smiled at her.

+++++

As wonderful and consoling as these experiences are for me, I never forget the fact that prayers and Masses should be said for loved ones, not assuming my family and friends are already in Heaven. I prefer rather to err on the side of caution and offer up many prayers for their relief in case they are in Purgatory.

Several years back, Fr. Finigan posted an entry on his blog, “Reasons why we should pray for the Holy Souls” –
the-hermeneutic-of-continuity…-for-holy.html

amsjj

+++
Jesus, God and man,
imprisoned by love in Thy most holy Sacrament,
have mercy upon us.

• Blessed John Henry Newman, December 22, 1851

Tú y yo sabemos por la fe que oculto en las especies sacramentales está Cristo,
ese Cristo con su Cuerpo, con su Sangre, con su Alma, y con su Divinidad,
prisonero de amor.

• San Josemaría Escrivá, 1 junio 1974

God loves to be resisted in His displeasure, and to be restrained by the humble from inflicting punishment… One saint will often save a nation; so true is it that humble souls are the hinges on which God moves the world.

• Abp. W. B. Ullathorne, The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues, 1882.

Exactly.
But remember too…
that Masses said for the LIVING are the most efficacious.
God bless you!

 

[freshwind]

I do not fully understand how and why these things happen, but I do believe there are many spiritual aspects that we do not fully understand, and may not until after this life.

I have 2 situations that have no “normal” explanation.

We have 4 children…after our 2nd was born the doctor told my wife that she could not get pregnant again…life went on and about 2 years later her grandmother was in the hospital passing away, she was drifting in and out.
One night my wife’s 2 aunts were visiting her and she had a lucid evening and looked at the 2 of them and said “tell P&&&& to take care of the twins”. They said, mom, she does not have twins and she repeated it. She passed on Dec 8. Near the end of January we found my wife to be pregnant…and yes, we had twins…with 11 children, 25 grandchildren and over 50 great grandchildren why did she pick my wife to mention twins weeks before she was pregnant? The only twins on my wife’s side of the family.

The other incident happened to me…my father was in the hospital and we knew it was only a matter of time…I was with him, my family, my mother and my brother were at home resting. he was resting after having tried to eat a bit…the nurses told me to call mother to come back to the hospital, it wouldn’t be long. I called her and asked her to come back. I called my wife and said I was coming to pick her and the kids up. Then my dad got this look of wonder on his face, and a funny smile, one that looked like a happiness that one could not explain as he looked up in wonder. I left to get the family but my brother called me while I was driving and said they were there and he had passed. My only thought was that he must have seen God’s angels that had come to escort him. After this, each Mass I attended I would offer it up for him. He passed in September and it was Christmas week when at the time of the consecration I felt a presence in the Church - while not visible it seemed like I could “see” angels all around the altar, and they rose up as if transporting something. I like to believe they were bringing my dad from purgatory to heaven for Christmas…I have never had this sense during Mass since, but it was surreal and real at the same time.

So, do I believe things happen, yes…and it is extremely humbling to think how wonderful the spirit world is and the miracles that can occur, yet I know I fail him often, and hope and pray the angels will be nearby when my time comes.

 

[Tommy999]

I do not fully understand how and why these things happen, but I do believe there are many spiritual aspects that we do not fully understand, and may not until after this life.

I have 2 situations that have no “normal” explanation.

We have 4 children…after our 2nd was born the doctor told my wife that she could not get pregnant again…life went on and about 2 years later her grandmother was in the hospital passing away, she was drifting in and out.
One night my wife’s 2 aunts were visiting her and she had a lucid evening and looked at the 2 of them and said “tell P&&&& to take care of the twins”. They said, mom, she does not have twins and she repeated it. She passed on Dec 8. Near the end of January we found my wife to be pregnant…and yes, we had twins…with 11 children, 25 grandchildren and over 50 great grandchildren why did she pick my wife to mention twins weeks before she was pregnant? The only twins on my wife’s side of the family.

The other incident happened to me…my father was in the hospital and we knew it was only a matter of time…I was with him, my family, my mother and my brother were at home resting. he was resting after having tried to eat a bit…the nurses told me to call mother to come back to the hospital, it wouldn’t be long. I called her and asked her to come back. I called my wife and said I was coming to pick her and the kids up. Then my dad got this look of wonder on his face, and a funny smile, one that looked like a happiness that one could not explain as he looked up in wonder. I left to get the family but my brother called me while I was driving and said they were there and he had passed. My only thought was that he must have seen God’s angels that had come to escort him. After this, each Mass I attended I would offer it up for him. He passed in September and it was Christmas week when at the time of the consecration I felt a presence in the Church - while not visible it seemed like I could “see” angels all around the altar, and they rose up as if transporting something. I like to believe they were bringing my dad from purgatory to heaven for Christmas…I have never had this sense during Mass since, but it was surreal and real at the same time.

So, do I believe things happen, yes…and it is extremely humbling to think how wonderful the spirit world is and the miracles that can occur, yet I know I fail him often, and hope and pray the angels will be nearby when my time comes.

Thanks for sharing your personal family experience, freshwind. That brought goosebumps to me.

Note: My mom would’ve turned 94 yesterday. I thought of her often yesterday and thanked God for her and her role in my life. I loved her dearly and miss her a lot. She provided me lots of love and guidance growing up and I owe her a large debt of gratitude.