Anna Belleville
Madame Anna Belleville died at the age of thirty-five after a long and agonizing illness caused by an accident. She was intelligent, energetic, morally upright, devoted to her family, and remarkably courageous through years of terrible suffering. Even while bedridden, she kept her natural cheerfulness and strength of character.
Although she believed in the soul and in life after death, she had not deeply studied spiritual matters. Her thoughts stayed strongly attached to life on Earth, especially because of her deep love for her children, whom she felt still needed her presence and care.
One day, while her husband was away, she suddenly felt death approaching. Her sight dimmed, her mind grew confused, and she realized her final hour had come. But the thought of dying before seeing her husband again deeply distressed her. Gathering all the strength she had left, she said to herself:
Anna Belleville"No... I won't die yet."
Through sheer force of will, she temporarily regained strength and lived three more months, though in constant suffering. When her husband returned that day, she told him:
Anna Belleville"I was dying... but I decided to wait until you came back, because I still have many things to say to you."
The following communication was received the day after her death.
The medium’s hand begins writing...
Anna BellevilleThank you, dear friends, for thinking of me.
Anna BellevilleYou have always been like family to me.
Anna BellevilleRejoice with me, because I am happy.
Anna BellevilleTell my poor husband this.
Anna BellevilleAnd watch over my children.
Anna BellevilleI went to them right after I was released from the body.
AllanYour answers are already very clear.
AllanIt seems that confusion did not last long in your case.
Anna BellevilleYou know how much I suffered.
Anna BellevilleAnd you know that I endured my suffering with acceptance.
Anna BellevilleMy trial is now finished.
Anna BellevilleI can't yet say that I'm completely free from earthly influences...
Anna BellevilleBut I no longer suffer.
Anna BellevilleAnd for me, that relief is immense.
Anna BellevilleThis time, I am truly cured.
Anna BellevilleBut I still need your prayers so that later I can come and work beside you.
AllanWhat caused your long suffering in life on Earth?
Anna BellevilleA terrible past.
AllanCan you tell us about that past?
Anna BellevilleOh... let me forget it a little while longer.
Anna BellevilleI paid a very heavy price for it.
One month later, Anna Belleville communicated again.
The medium’s hand begins writing...
AllanNow that you're more completely free from the body, can you explain the cause of your long death struggle?
AllanDuring those final three months, you seemed suspended between life and death.
Anna BellevilleThank you, dear friends, for remembering me and praying for me.
Anna BellevilleYour prayers have done me immense good.
Anna BellevilleThey greatly helped my release.
Anna BellevilleI still need your support.
Anna BellevilleKeep praying for me.
Anna BellevilleBut you understand what true prayer really is.
Anna BellevilleYour prayers aren't empty words repeated mechanically like so many others.
Anna BellevilleMy suffering was indeed terrible...
Anna BellevilleBut it's been richly rewarded.
Anna BellevilleAnd now I'm often allowed to visit my children, whom I left behind with such sorrow.
Anna BellevilleI prolonged my suffering through my own desperate desire to stay alive.
Anna BellevilleMy intense attachment to my children made me cling to matter like a drowning person clutching for survival.
Anna BellevilleI hardened myself in my determination.
Anna BellevilleI refused to leave the miserable body I still needed to separate from.
Anna BellevilleThat body had become an instrument of dreadful torture for me.
Anna BellevilleThat was the true cause of my long struggle between life and death.
Anna BellevilleMy illness and suffering were an atonement for the past.
Anna BellevilleOne more debt paid and finished.
Anna BellevilleAh, dear friends...
Anna BellevilleIf only I had listened more carefully to your spiritual teachings while on Earth...
Anna BellevilleHow different my condition would be now.
Anna BellevilleWhat comfort I would've had in my final moments.
Anna BellevilleAnd how much easier the separation from the body would've been...
Anna BellevilleIf, instead of resisting, I had confidently surrendered myself to God's will and to the current carrying me away.
Anna BellevilleBut instead of looking toward the future waiting for me...
Anna BellevilleI looked only at the life I was leaving behind on Earth.
Anna BellevilleWhen I return to Earth again, I promise you I'll become a true Spiritist.
Anna BellevilleWhat an immense revelation all this is!
Anna BellevilleI often attend your meetings now to listen to the teachings given there.
Anna BellevilleIf I had truly understood these things while on Earth, my suffering would've been greatly reduced.
Anna BellevilleBut my time for understanding hadn't yet come.
Anna BellevilleI now understand the goodness and justice of God.
Anna BellevilleBut I'm still not advanced enough to stop worrying about earthly matters.
Anna BellevilleMy children especially keep drawing me back toward the Earth.
Anna BellevilleNot to spoil them...
Anna BellevilleBut to watch over them and guide them toward the path shown by Spiritism.
Anna BellevilleYes, my friends...
Anna BellevilleI still have serious anxieties.
Anna BellevilleOne especially...
Anna BellevilleBecause the future of my children depends upon it.
AllanCan you now tell us about the past life you regretted?
Anna BellevilleYes.
Anna BellevilleI'm ready to confess it openly.
Anna BellevilleIn a previous life, I was indifferent to suffering.
Anna BellevilleI saw my mother suffer greatly without feeling compassion for her.
Anna BellevilleI convinced myself her suffering was imaginary.
Anna BellevilleSince she was still able to leave her bed, I assumed she wasn't truly suffering.
Anna BellevilleAnd I even laughed at her misery.
Anna BellevilleYou now see how God corrects such faults.
Six months after her death, Anna Belleville described her spiritual progress and present occupation.
The medium’s hand begins writing...
AllanNow that more time has passed since your death, please describe your present condition and activities in the spirit world.
Anna BellevilleDuring my life on Earth, people generally considered me a good woman.
Anna BellevilleBut I valued my personal comfort too highly.
Anna BellevilleAlthough I was naturally compassionate, I'm not sure I would've accepted truly painful sacrifices to relieve another person's suffering.
Anna BellevilleNow all that has changed.
Anna BellevilleI am still myself...
Anna BellevilleBut my inner self has been transformed.
Anna BellevilleI have progressed.
Anna BellevilleI now understand that in the spirit world, the only true distinction between souls is personal merit.
Anna BellevilleThe charitable poor person stands above the proud rich person who humiliates others while giving charity.
Anna BellevilleI now especially watch over people suffering from family troubles, loss, grief, or financial hardship.
Anna BellevilleMy mission is to comfort and encourage them.
Anna BellevilleAnd I am happy in doing so.
After these communications, Allan Kardec asked an important question: can a human being prolong life through sheer force of will?
The spirit Saint Louis answered that, under certain circumstances, a spirit may temporarily prolong bodily life in order to complete an important duty or final mission. However, such cases are exceptional and brief. They do not overturn the laws of nature, but they do show the temporary influence the soul may still exercise over the body in the final moments of life.
Saint Louis also explained that in some cases, prolonged dying may itself become part of a spirit's lesson or atonement, especially for those too attached to life on Earth or doubtful about spiritual realities.