A Journey to Hell, Heaven & Purgatory

After a near-fatal motorcycle crash 30 years ago, priest said guardian angel showed him the afterlife.

Father Jose Maniyangat story was featured in the homily of the Mass at EWTN celebrated by Father Joseph Mary. It is excellent & life-changing!

Testimony of Fr. Maniyangat, Motorcycle Priest revived from death

A priest who saw heaven, hell, and purgatory

The following is not a story coming out of the rumor mill. The priest whose testimony is given below is the pastor of a Catholic Church in Florida. The testimony is on the website of the parish.

Here is his personal testimony:

I was born on July 16, 1949 in Kerala, India to my parents, Joseph and Theresa Maniyangat. I am the eldest of seven children: Jose, Mary, Theresa, Lissama, Zachariah, Valsa and Tom.. At the age of fourteen, I entered St. Mary's Minor Seminary in Thiruvalla to begin my studies for the priesthood. Four years later, I went to St. Joseph's Pontifical Major Seminary in Alwaye, Kerala to continue my priestly formation. After completing the seven years of philosophy and theology, I was ordained a priest on January 1, 1975 to serve as a missionary in the Diocese of Thiruvalla.

On Sunday April 14, 1985, the Feast of the Divine Mercy, I was going to celebrate Mass at a mission church in the north part of Kerala, and I had a fatal accident.

I was riding a motorcycle when I was hit head-on by a jeep driven by a man who was intoxicated after a Hindu festival. I was rushed to a hospital about 35 miles away.

On the way, my soul came out from my body and I experienced death. Immediately, I met my Guardian Angel. I saw my body and the people who were carrying me to the hospital. I heard them crying and praying for me. At this time my angel told me: "I am going to take you to Heaven, the Lord wants to meet you and talk with you." He also said that, on the way, he wanted to show me hell and purgatory.

Hell

First, the angel escorted me to hell. It was an awful sight! I saw Satan and the devils, an unquenchable fire of about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, worms crawling, people screaming and fighting, others being tortured by demons. The angel told me that all these sufferings were due to unrepented mortal sins. Then, I understood that there are seven degrees of suffering or levels according to the number and kinds of mortal sins committed in their earthly lives. The souls looked very ugly, cruel and horrific. It was a fearful experience. I saw people whom I knew, but I am not allowed to reveal their identities. The sins that convicted them were mainly abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, hatefulness, unforgiveness and sacrilege. The angel told me that if they had repented, they would have avoided hell and gone instead to purgatory. I also understood that some people who repent from these sins might be purified on earth through their sufferings. This way they can avoid purgatory and go straight to heaven. I was surprised when I saw in hell even priests and Bishops, some of whom I never expected to see. Many of them were there because they had misled the people with false teaching and bad example.

Purgatory

After the visit to hell, my Guardian Angel escorted me to purgatory. Here too, there are seven degrees of suffering and unquenchable fire. But it is far less intense than hell and there was neither quarreling nor fighting. The main suffering of these souls is their separation from God. Some of those who are in purgatory committed numerous mortal sins, but they were reconciled with God before their death. Even though these souls are suffering, they enjoy peace and the knowledge that one day they will see God face to face. I had a chance to communicate with the souls in purgatory. They asked me to pray for them and to tell the people to pray for them as well, so they can go to heaven quickly. When we pray for these souls, we will receive their gratitude through their prayers, and once they enter heaven, their prayers become even more meritorious. It is difficult for me to describe how beautiful my Guardian Angel is. He is radiant and bright. He is my constant companion and helps me in all my ministries, especially my healing ministry. I experience his presence everywhere I go and I am grateful for his protection in my daily life.

Heaven

Next, my angel escorted me to heaven passing through a big dazzling white tunnel. I never experienced this much peace and joy in my life. Then immediately heaven opened up and I heard the most delightful music, which I never heard before. The angels were singing and praising God. I saw all the saints, especially the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, and many dedicated holy Bishops and priests who were shining like stars. And when I appeared before the Lord, Jesus told me: "I want you to go back to the world. In your second life, you will be an instrument of peace and healing to My people. You will walk in a foreign land and you will speak in a foreign tongue. Everything is possible for you with My grace.."

After these words, the Blessed Mother told me: "Do whatever He tells you. I will help you in your ministries." Words can not express the beauty of heaven.. There we find so much peace and happiness, which exceed a million times our imagination. Our Lord is far more beautiful than any image can convey. His face is radiant and luminous and more beautiful than a thousand rising suns. The pictures we see in the world are only a shadow of His magnificence.. The Blessed Mother was next to Jesus; She was so beautiful and radiant. None of the images we see in this world can compare with Her real beauty. Heaven is our real home; we are all created to reach heaven and enjoy God forever.

Then, I came back to the world with my angel. While my body was at the hospital, the doctor completed all examinations and I was pronounced dead. The cause of death was bleeding. My family was notified, and since they were far away, the hospital staff decided to move my dead body to the morgue. Because the hospital did not have air conditioners, they were concerned that the body would decompose quickly. As they were moving my dead body to the morgue, my soul came back to the body. I felt an excruciating pain because of so many wounds and broken bones. I began to scream, and then the people became frightened and ran away screaming. One of them approached the doctor and said: "The dead body is screaming." The doctor came to examine the body and found that I was alive. So he said: "Father is alive, it is a miracle! Take him back to the hospital."

Now, back at the hospital, they gave me blood transfusions and I was taken to surgery to repair the broken bones. They worked on my lower jaw, ribs, pelvic bone, wrists, and right leg. After two months, I was released from the hospital, but my orthopedic doctor said that I would never walk again. I then said to him: "The Lord who gave me my life back and sent me back to the world will heal me."

Once at home, we were all praying for a miracle. Still after a month, and with the casts removed, I was not able to move. But one day while praying I felt an extraordinary pain in my pelvic area. After a short while the pain disappeared completely and I heard a voice saying: "You are healed. Get up and walk." I felt the peace and healing power on my body. I immediately got up and walked. I praised and thanked God for the miracle. I reached my doctor with the news of my healing, and he was amazed. He said: "Your God is the true God. I must follow your God." The doctor was Hindu, and he asked me to teach him about our Church. After studying the Faith, I baptized him and he became Catholic.

Following the message from my Guardian Angel, I came to the United States on November 10, 1986 as a missionary priest.... Since June 1999, I have been pastor of St. Mary's Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Macclenny, Florida.

Fr. Jose Maniyangat

Original Source: EWTN

A Journey to Heaven, Hell, Purgatory

By Jim Graves

After a near-fatal motorcycle crash 30 years ago, priest said guardian angel showed him the afterlife

Father Jose Maniyangat is a priest in good standing in the Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida. He is an associate pastor at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Orange Park, a suburb of Jacksonville. He is the diocesan spiritual director for the Legion of Mary. And, with the blessing of Bishop Felipe Estévez, he leads a Eucharistic and charismatic healing ministry in which he leads healing missions in parishes in the United States and throughout the world.

But that isn’t all.

Father Maniyangat also says he died in a traffic accident in 1985, was taken by his guardian angel to visit heaven, hell and purgatory and came back to life to continue his ministry as a priest.

‘Out of my body’

Father Maniyangat was born in Kerala, India, in 1949, the oldest of seven children. His father was a farmer, and Malayalam was their native tongue. The family faithfully practiced the Catholic faith that St. Thomas the Apostle introduced to the country about 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

At age 7, on the day young Jose (the Indian pronunciation sounds like Joe’s) had his first Communion, he heard an interior voice inviting him to become a priest.

He entered the junior seminary at age 14 and was ordained a priest on New Year’s Day in 1975. Because the diocese could not afford a car for Father Maniyangat, his bishop gave him a motorcycle for his use. But on April 14, 1985, when the priest was traveling to a parish mission to celebrate Mass, he was struck head-on by a drunk driver.

He experienced great freedom being liberated from the constant needs of the body.

“I didn’t miss my body one bit,” he said. “I didn’t feel tired or get hungry or thirsty.”

He met his guardian angel upon his death, a figure that was “bright, beautiful and radiant. It was so magnificent I can’t begin to describe it.”

His angel told him that he was going to meet God, but that first he wanted to show him hell and purgatory.

Heaven and Hell

Hell, he said, was a sea of “unquenchable fire,” with demons “like monsters” and lost souls that were “dirty, filthy and ugly.”

He was able to see the souls, and they saw him, but they could not communicate with one another. His angel related that they were lost due to a variety of serious sins of which they had not repented. To his astonishment, he was allowed to see the souls of some people he had once known.

“They had seemed very holy on Earth, but it was hypocrisy. It was sad; I felt sorry for them,” he said.

Numbered among the lost souls were priests and bishops who were not faithful to their calling as shepherds.

He also noted a great deal of hatred and in-fighting that occurred between the eternally condemned.

In purgatory, Father Maniyangat had the opportunity to speak to the suffering souls. There was no fighting or quarrelling between souls as in hell, but they were sad, “stained” and anxious to go to heaven. They begged for his prayers.

In his ministry today, Father Maniyangat often stresses the need to pray for souls in purgatory.

“It is an act of fraternal charity. They are part of our family, the Mystical Body of Christ,” he said.

What goes around comes around, he added. “Once they are in heaven, they will be saints,” he said. “And they can pray for us and their prayers are powerful.”

Heaven “shined like the sun” and included millions of souls praising God. He met Christ, the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph.

“Our Lord told me that in my second life he had a great mission for me, and that I would work in a foreign land and speak a foreign tongue,” Father Maniyangat said.

Alive again

Back on Earth, the priest had been pronounced dead and was being taken to the morgue.

When his soul returned to his body, he felt intense pain due to his extensive injuries. He had many broken bones, had lost much blood and screamed out in pain. The attendants were terrified.

One rushed and told the doctor, “The dead body is screaming.”

Father Maniyangat was given a blood transfusion and underwent extensive surgeries. After two months in the hospital, he was sent home in a body cast. His doctor told him he’d never walk again.

Father Maniyangat prayed to be healed and received what he described as a “miraculous cure.” His astonished Hindu doctor couldn’t believe he was able to walk again, and he subsequently converted to Catholicism.

Father Maniyangat came to the United States in 1986 and became part of the Diocese of St. Augustine in 1992. His life-after-death experience has given him a different perspective than many people — and a great desire to bring people to God.

“Death can come to us at any time,” he said. “If you were to die today, where would you go?”

Believing

On his website, this statement appears in bold above the story of his out-of-body experience:

“Neither the Diocese of St. Augustine, nor any other Catholic Church authorities have investigated, approved or in any way endorsed the factual or theological contents of the Father Jose Story.”

Some believe the story of his visit to the hereafter; others don’t.

“I told my guardian angel, ‘No one’s going to believe I saw all these things,’” Father Maniyangat said. “My angel replied, ‘Don’t worry about it. Many people refused to believe Jesus.’”

Linda Chattaway of Orange Park is a believer. She worked with Father Maniyangat as a parish secretary and now maintains his website.

“It’s a private revelation, so it’s up to you if you want to believe it or not,” she said. “I do, because I’ve seen the fruits of his ministry, both miraculous healings and, more importantly, many people coming to the Faith.”

Chattaway said Father Maniyangat was faithful to Church authorities and not only “talks the talk, but walks the walk.”

“Father tells people to pray, fast and go to confession,” she said. “He does all these things himself.”

Jennifer Carbajal of Middleburg, Florida, first began attending Father Maniyangat’s monthly healing Masses a decade ago. She, too, has witnessed conversions and healings as well as a revival of her faith.

“Before I was living my life for myself,” Carbajal told OSV. “Now, I want to live every day for Jesus.”

The humble, down-to-earth priest “gives all the glory to Jesus,” she added, “and wants to do all he can to bring people to heaven.”

Jim Graves writes from California.

Original Source: Our Sunday Visitor

Church Teaching

There is no Church doctrine on private revelations (such as Father Maniyangat’s), meaning Catholics are free to believe or dismiss them. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches (No. 67):

Throughout the ages, there have been so-called “private” revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept “revelations” that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such “revelations.