To celebrate All Hallow's Eve and the Month of the Holy Souls, Michael welcomes historian and author Tom McDonald.

It can be hard to think of saints having any opinions on ghostly apparitions or haunting dreams. However, as Tom makes clear, saints from Augustine to Thomas Aquinas shared their thoughts on the possibility of seeing spirits as well as their own experiences. Are they the souls of purgatory, angels, or devils? We'll discuss that as well as the new pop phenomenons surrounding Halloween.<p>

Other things we discuss in today's show:

• St. Gregory the Great's tales of spirits from Purgatory reaching out to the living for prayers.
• A purgatorial vision of the Wild Hunt.
• Why the modern world is fascinated by ghosts and what dangers this curiosity can pose.
• Prayers for the dead and why they are necessary.

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Resources we mentioned:

Check out Weird Catholic to learn more about today's subject. Especially check out these articles:

• "The Wild Hunt and the Purgatorial Procession."
• "St. Augustine’s Ghost Story"

You can also find Tom and Weird Catholic on Facebook and Twitter.

<p>Books we mentioned on the podcast:

• Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
• A Mirror of Shalott by Robert Hugh Benson
• Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M. R. James

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