Emma
Emma was a beautiful and talented young actress and dancer who died after her dress accidentally caught fire during a stage performance. She endured terrible physical suffering before her death, yet faced it with patience, prayer, and acceptance. Shortly after her passing in 1863, her spirit spontaneously communicated at the Spiritist Society of Paris before anyone had formally evoked her.
The medium’s hand begins writing...
EmmaHere I'm again upon the stage of the world.
EmmaI who believed myself buried forever beneath the veil of my youth and innocence.
EmmaAccording to my Catholic belief, I used to say to myself:
Emma“The fire of Earth will save me from the fire of Hell.”
EmmaAnd although I did not dare hope for the splendors of Paradise...
EmmaDuring the terrible suffering caused by my accident, my soul took refuge in the thought that I was enduring beforehand the sufferings of Purgatory.
EmmaSo I prayed.
EmmaI suffered.
EmmaAnd I wept with patience and acceptance.
EmmaBut who gave my weakness the strength to endure such agony?
EmmaWho leaned over my bed during those endless nights of fever and sleepless torture?
EmmaWho cooled my burning lips?
EmmaIt was you, my Guardian Angel.
EmmaYou whose radiant purity surrounded me with blessing.
EmmaAnd it was also you, dear spirit-friends, who gathered around me whispering words of hope and love into my ears.
EmmaThe flames that consumed my fragile earthly body also burned away every attachment my soul still held toward earthly things.
EmmaSo, when I died, I was already living the true life of the spirit.
EmmaI experienced none of the confusion that usually follows death.
EmmaInstead, I entered immediately, calm and fully aware, into the radiant light surrounding those who maintain faith and hope amid suffering and trial.
EmmaThe thought of my mother...
EmmaMy beloved mother...
EmmaWas the final earthly image to vibrate within my soul.
EmmaHow deeply I wish she would become a Spiritist.
EmmaI fell from the tree of life on Earth like a fruit ripened before its proper season.
EmmaI had scarcely begun to feel the dangerous temptations of vanity that so often ruin those carried away by success, youth, and beauty.
EmmaI bless the flames.
EmmaI bless my suffering.
EmmaI bless the trial that served as my atonement.
EmmaLike the delicate threads floating through autumn air, I now drift light and radiant through the luminous currents surrounding me.
EmmaAnd the jewels crowning my forehead are no longer lifeless diamonds from your earthly world...
EmmaBut the living brilliance of a purified soul.
The following day, at a Spiritist gathering in Havre, Emma spontaneously communicated again.
The medium’s hand begins writing...
EmmaThose who suffer on Earth are rewarded in the next life.
EmmaGod is perfectly just and merciful toward those who suffer in life on Earth.
EmmaThe happiness granted in the spirit world is so pure and complete...
EmmaThat if people truly understood it, no one would fear suffering or death.
EmmaIf only human beings could glimpse the purposes of the Creator.
EmmaThe Earth is a place of trials.
EmmaOften those trials are severe.
EmmaOften its sorrows are extremely painful.
EmmaBut let those who suffer remain patient.
EmmaLet them bow before the will of God when, in His mercy, He allows them to carry a heavy burden.
EmmaWhen, after great suffering, God calls them back to Himself...
EmmaThey will then understand how small earthly pains truly were compared with the reward awaiting them...
EmmaProvided they endured without complaint or bitterness.
EmmaI left the Earth very young.
EmmaGod forgave me.
EmmaAnd He granted me the life reserved for those who respected His divine will.
EmmaAdore God in all things.
EmmaLove Him with all your heart.
EmmaAnd above all, pray to Him with unwavering trust.
EmmaPrayer is your true support during life on Earth.
EmmaIt is your hope.
EmmaAnd your safety.