Interesting. I have seen many Protestants debate whether regeneration precedes faith or if the inverse order is the true one, but in the case of NDEs, it seems that both happen almost simultaneously.
I had a massive Cardiac Arrest on Halloween 2017. I was playing hockey trying to get in to shape... It was incredible... I still think about it, like daily (just because so much has come out of it for me). I am a Cradle Born Roman Catholic, like as in went to School, alter served (received a Cardinal Carter award for it even!)... and quite like a Priest said WOULD happen (as so many did in those days)... My Church life got less and less important, as I chased an education, and subsequently a career... I ALWAYS maintained my Catholic upbringing, but definitely went the way of Jacob... Who searched high and low for his Faith... I went in to the WORLD to look for HIM (this was a mistake lol... one of MANY, MANY mistakes I have made within a lifetime). I maintained a few 'cardinal' rules for my search... To never step in to a different denominational church searching for the truth, as I believed that the Church had it... (I just honestly DID NOT understand it, nor how to look). So information, I searched, and was in to... straying from the Church over time... Wife came (well, common-law) at 28. Kids very, shortly later. I was caught up... lol. Working hard, raising kids, keeping honest to my spouse, and promising to marry her as soon as I relatively could (which had never came to that point). Got a great job, then... few years in... BOOM! That Cardiac Arrest Happened on Halloween night. Now I played hockey my whole life, so I knew something weird was happening, I just didn't realize my heart stopped. I collapsed on the ice, and they got the defib machine (after a while)... ZAP! I sat up, said why was there so many people around me? Weren't we playing hockey? Lets Go! (My heart was fried... I then went back to the ice, and passed again. I was not revived until the Hospital Doctor had saved me... Quite a few minutes anyways lol... Instantly, I went through a 'vortex' ... It was an emotional ride. It was literally feeling the loss of me on others around me, that cared for me. There were some REALLY painful ones, but once I had gotten out of the vortex... I kind of forgot EVERYTHING that came before... and I was on a doorstep, in my Grandparent's small fishing town a few thousand KM's away. The thing was, I wasn't sure how I had gotten there (seriously... it was as if I forgot the immediate past, like the hockey, the Defib et al). It was honestly a place I had defined to others as 'the most peaceful place on Earth that I have been'... Inside the door... was my spouse, and she was in a deep conversation with a couple I had never seen or met before. I kind of called out to her (It took a couple of name calls to get her attention). She kind of came over, and I was asking her the what gives questions lol... like ('who are these people??? why are we HERE???? How do you even KNOW anyone from HERE??? and not even mention that to me???) No answer made sense lol... I was just there. I went outside, and recall thinking I would like to take a walk over to the graveyard, or see my grandparents house (but for some reason I couldnt). I was there waiting for the unknown couple to get married... My spouse had met them on the internet. TBH it was a pretty frustrating place, because it was like they were having a party, and I was even invited... but I was definitely like 'new boyfriend' or 'third wheel' kind of territory... and the guy getting married, had a look of mild annoyance around me (lol). Food was scheduled literally like as soon as my belly growled, and it always seemingly was this weird takeout, in a white box, with a red bow on it... Honestly was a peculiar memory, because I would eat the dish, enjoy most of it, but one part I seriously did not like very much, and everyone thought it was funny (I wasn't in on this joke, my spouse even was)... Anyhow, I got impatient, and asked my spouse when the wedding was, she said like soon. I told her I had a lot to go back home for... the kids (who seemingly werent there), the job... They had a way to make me relax (with a flick of their wrists it seemed like any time I got tense... I would feel the tension shoot out of my toes, and I would be calm and at peace again. I recall looking out the window of the house while it rained, and I could see like the rain was not clean... I went closer to observe, and realized that there was ashes in the water drops streaming down the windows. The Wedding day came, and POOF... I was inside an old church, that I was familiar to (it was the Church my Grandparents funerals were at, and later (as in after this... my fathers) ... I was realizing how JAM PACKED this church was... for this wedding... after the wedding, we could perhaps focus on going home... AFTER the wedding... It dawned on me... I hadn't been inside of a Church in a while. I looked around. It was still simple, and beautiful... I looked at the alter. There was no Crucifix. I was floored (to be honest)... I began to look around, my spouse beside me, I was looking and looking then asked in a whisper... 'Where's the Cross?' She smiled, and sort of said in a round-about reply... which I abruptly cut her off and said ... 'no... YOU aren't getting it! Where is the Crucifix? This is a building to him, and what he had done for us... Where is the Crucifix?' That's when things kind of changed very quickly. The Church emptied. There were 2 beings, who were there, trying to comfort me... and I was panicking lol... That's when they had told me... I had died. When they said this, I recalled the 'tunnel' I recalled it being painful... in certain aspects. I recalled a styled future if I had in fact died, and how they responded. I got Scared. Big Time. I saw those nice Angels... who were then on the front door of the church (at the back of it from inside)... The door swung open, and an immense light shone through. It was so bright, and beautiful... I instantly knew who/what it was. It consoled me, though I refused to accept it (dying). We went through a life review (in good and bad moments, he was very forgiving and understanding throughout). and when it had closed... It was time to go through the door. I couldn't. I had my young family, and my father's heart... That literally could not keep me from crossing through the door. I had looked down, and saw a red stained robe, with darkened spots on it. God was telling me to go through, he wanted me to go through. To be with him. I felt like my robe would not/could not go through. I wasn't worthy... I saw those 2 angels, who then were consoling me and to not worry, I had achieved Salvation. I was saved... I was going to go to Purgatory. I had wept, uncontrollably.... I had felt the burning fire, that erases sin, on what I felt was my soul... Looking back, it's that fire that Jesus,God,and the Holy Spirit made that saved me. I was ashamed when I awoke in the hospital bed 2 weeks later (from a vegetative state coma) with the word 'Purgatory' on my lips, and looking around the room for my Grandfather, who was dead for 30 years at that point.... I was then on my next journey... God had set me on a new path, which is much more closer to the truth than I had ever been before, and with more clarity to see than I ever had before. I needed to figure out my NDE... It literally took about a year, before I began realizing it had more to do with religion than science (the answers I was looking for). I discovered the Truth at that point... Now I can't unsee him lol... The issue with this... is I see it much differently than most people around me now... It's hard to motivate me for much in affairs of the flesh.. Just taking care of my loved ones, going to Church (with all of it's peculiarity, it's still his house, and I have to pay my respects), getting things right sacramentally, and enjoying the mysteries he provides for us to look in to. I have tried to go to NDE sites, and like many here have said, a lot of people get very new age-y about their beliefs to what their own experience is, and it's truth revealed according to themselves. I hear them out, but I think it took me an immense amount of time recollecting, and figuring out a lot to get things figured out as to what it was that I had experienced... In short, I had died, landed in what I consider to be 'Limbo' until it was judgement, in front of a great white light (that I truly think Jesus was inside of)... We did a Life review, I found I wasn't sufficient, and wept (lol)... I was still saved by Purgatory, then awoke... Purgatory, is an amazing thing. So many faiths want to take it away and say it wasnt there (and in my FIRST go around... I honestly did NOT know much about it, like at all... I would certainly not have remembered anything about it). But within it, has the miraculous effect of Jesus on the Cross for us... Before Jesus... NO HUMAN made it through that door. No one soul would have sufficed. They would ALL have been in that 'Limbo' that I was first in... waiting. Purgatory is the Salvation that we have for even the hopeless. It's the cleansing Grace that allows the unclean to get clean and see God. Denial of Purgatory to me now... Is literally denying the Salvation Jesus had created for us. Anyhow, I apologize for the long post, but I do enjoy talking about it... As it did bring me back to him... But I tell my kids, they're so lucky to still have the Faith of a Child, where I am more like Doubting Thomas (whos' Gospel Story was the Homily at Church today go figure! )
I think the big thing about an NDE is that it's truth according to who? That's what I have discerned by listening to other people's experience. I get VERY in to the experiences other people share... But I get the sense many do not quite understand what they're looking at (and it is puzzling to me lol)... Like people have seen the 'Light' they will go so far as to call it 'the divine light'... (Literally it's incredible, speaks a language unfathomable --telekenetic emotion would be the closest explanation)... Some will even experience a Life review... But won't get it (like the whole picture)... Or think that God's forgiveness means a free pass... I just get confused about it... Because it was my soul that didn't let me through. I couldn't match the light, I wasn't worthy. Then the Purgatory answer... Others never got this, they got something else. In short, I could see someone without the discernment absolutely thinking it's a New Age-y thing... But I also disagree with their rationale... I saw what I believed to be God, and he was still VERY much Catholic to me... More than what I even KNEW to be Catholic... But I guess God revealed what he could to those that could handle it? I mean my life was entirely in his hands at that point... The Doctors were about to write me off, saying no brain activity. I could have just 'slipped away' and no one would have been the wiser. I was considered a pretty good guy by those around me... I would have had a hell of a time exiting Purgatory lol... which is a place with the temporary 'negation' of God. The weight of God's Love for us, is literally the motor that keeps us running... Without it, you feel sad, lonely, and helpless. No joy, whatsoever, and you yourself... CANNOT pray yourself out. You are COMPLETELY RELIANT on the Souls in Heaven, Earth, and Mary to select you (it is MARY who Selects... Because God LOVES his Mother!! She is incredible). This is why I have a hard time discerning my deceased other Grandparent couple (who weren't Catholic... I don't think they were TERRIBLE about Mary, however I don't think they believed as my father's side did... Only more so they believed in Jesus only). I make Prayers FOR them, cause it would be ENTIRELY Evident who they MUST pay homage to. It's firm justice on those who wounded her heart... They can't get out, without HER.
Yes, sorry, my fault, I was wrong. Confused with St Paul of the Cross. https://www.virgosacrata.com/catholic-calendar.html God bless!
A large number of people, especially atheists, have various experiences. It is difficult to speak about their credibility because people tend to sensationalize, but for some, I believe there is certainly evidence, as well as the truth of the claims. Here is one such case in which Padre Pio was involved during the Algerian War. "He was shot dead but raised to life by St Pio shares his vision of Heaven. Patrick Theillier, the doctor in charge of the Department of Medical Confirmations of the Lourdes Sanctuary from 1998 to 2009, publishes in Experiences close to death (Palabra) a letter written by the French priest Jean Derobert where he talks about his near-death experience after the shooting he suffered during the Algerian war in 1958 and the miracle that happened afterward through the intercession of Padre Pio. It is the accredited testimony that the priest provided in view of Padre Pio’s canonization and is reproduced in its entirety below. Ode to God’s mercy You have asked me for a written summary of the evident protection of which I was the object in August 1958, during the Algerian war. At that time I was part of the army health services. I had noticed that, at important moments in my life, Padre Pio, who had taken me as his spiritual son since 1955, would send me a letter in which he promised me his prayers and support. He did this before my examination at the Gregorian University in Rome, and he did it again at the time when I had to join the fighters in Algeria. One night, a commando of the FLN (Algerian National Liberation Front) attacked our village and I was quickly arrested. I was taken to a gate with five other soldiers and there we were shot. I remember that I did not think of my father or my mother, even though I was an only child, but only experienced great joy because “I was about to see what was on the other side”. That same morning I had received a letter from Padre Pio with two handwritten lines that read: “Life is a struggle, but it leads to the light”. I immediately experienced disembodiment. I saw my body beside me, lying, covered in blood, among my murdered comrades. And I began a curious ascent through a kind of tunnel. From the cloud that surrounded me, familiar and unfamiliar faces emerged. At first those faces were shadows; they were undesirable persons, unvirtuous sinners. As I ascended, the faces I encountered became less and less luminous. I was amazed at the fact that I could walk. Told myself that I was out of time and therefore I was resurrected. I was surprised to be able to see everything around me without having to move my head. I was surprised to feel the pain of the wounds produced by the bullets of the rifles. And I understood that they had penetrated my body so quickly that I could not feel them. Suddenly, my thoughts turned to my parents. Immediately I found myself at home, in Annecy, in my parents’ room, and I looked at them as they slept. I tried to talk to them, but without success. I went around the apartment and noticed that a piece of furniture had been moved. A few days later I wrote to my mother and asked her why that piece of furniture had been moved. She replied by letter: “How do you know? I thought of Pope Pius XII, whom I knew well (I studied in Rome) and suddenly I found myself in his room. He had just gone to bed. We talked, exchanging thoughts, for he was a very spiritual man. I continued my ascent until I found myself in the middle of a wonderful landscape, enveloped in a sweet, bluish light. However, there was no sun, “for the Lord will give them light,” as it says in Revelation. I saw thousands of people, all in their thirties, but I met some whom I had known when they were alive. One had died when she was eighty years old and looked thirty, another had died when she was two years old and they were all the same age. I left that “paradise” full of extraordinary and unknown flowers on earth. And I ascended even higher. There I lost my human nature and became a “drop of light”. I saw many other “drops of light” and I knew that one was St. Peter, another Paul, another John, or an apostle, or a saint. Then I saw Mary, marvelously beautiful in her mantle of light, who received me with an unspeakable smile. Behind her was Jesus, marvelously beautiful, and behind him, a zone of light that I knew was the Father, and in which I immersed myself. There I felt the total satisfaction of all my desires. I knew perfect bliss. And suddenly I found myself on the ground, with my face in the dust, among the blood-covered bodies of my comrades. I noticed that the door before which I stood was riddled with bullets. The bullets that had pierced my body, that my clothes were pierced and covered with blood. That my chest and back were stained with blood that was practically dry and slightly viscous. But I was intact. I went to the commander looking like that, and he came up to me and shouted, “Miracle! Undoubtedly, this experience marked me greatly. Later, when, freed from the army, I went to visit Padre Pio, he spotted me from afar in the hall of St. Francis. He gestured for me to come closer and offered me, as always, a small token of his affection. Then he said to me these simple words: “Oh, what you have put me through, but what you saw was so beautiful! And that was the end of his explanation. Now you can understand why I am not afraid of death… Because I know what is on the other side. (Jean Derobert was the spiritual son of Padre Pio. He passed away in 2013 and wrote a book on the life of this saint entitled Padre Pío, transparente de Dios. Padre Pio was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II as St. Pio of Pietrelcina)
Sondra Abraham's experiences have always been the most credible witness as an ordinary lady-next-door, a non-theologian, who speaks with simplicity, from the heart, of her experience. Her original DVD which I had 10 years ago is now on youtube at better at https://sign.org/videos/sondra-abrahams-visit-heaven-hell-purgatory-13239 and one of her talks at
When I was eight I was learning to cycle my bike and took off on the bike and out the gate onto the country road, as I crossed I was hit by a car, I remember it quite well, colour of car and the driver, it was a hit and run. A neighbour drove by later in his tractor and found me on the side of the road. He picked my up and brought me to my mother, I was unconscious. They put me in the back of the car and rushed me to hospital as they were not prepared to wait for an ambulance. My next memory was of inside the car on the way to hospital and looking down on myself and my mother, she confirmed after that she was in the back with me. Then I remember looking down on myself in the children's unit in the hospital. I came around over the next day or so. I was there for a few weeks. Not sure its a NDE but it was certainly out of body. When I was 15 I lost my faith, I remember the exact moment actually. But when others were becoming atheists, I could never agree to that, I had a firm believe that there was a body, a spirit and a soul.
