Every once in a while, something happens that can’t be explained. In some cases we receive a message concerning a dearly departed one. Here are a few of them that I know about:

One day when I visited Sister Mary Agera, an eighty-something Sister in our Health Care, she told me this story. As a little girl in Germany, she was awakened one night by her mother. There seemed to be someone outside their house calling, “Lisel,” over and over. This was a nickname that only family members used. The mother and daughter looked through all the doors and windows, but no one was there. The following day a telegram arrived informing the mother that her brother in another town had died. It said that as he lay dying, he repeated her name.

One day as I was selling my books at a local church, a very excited woman approached me. She said that her sister had recently passed away. They had made out that as a sign that the sister was all right, the woman would see a purple butterfly. In her hand she held a copy of my book Time to Say Goodby. There on the cover was a purple butterfly!

Another Sister whose mother had died asked St. Therese, the Little Flower, for a sign that her mother was all right. That evening someone slipped a holy card under Sister’s door. It pictured St. Therese holding a bouquet of roses. Remember that this saint promised that when she was in heaven she would let a shower of “roses” fall upon earth.

During a retreat I like to pass around a Valentine candy box containing Scripture verses. People draw one out at random as a personal message for them. Once after this activity, a woman came up and told me that the verse she had pulled out held the expression that her deceased husband had used for her.

An editor friend of mine who was a widow shared that after her husband died, one night she felt him kiss her face. She was absolutely sure it was him.

Some people believe that finding a penny or two or some other coin was a communication from a deceased loved one. Others think that a red cardinal is a sign from them.

Such experiences are consoling. They reassure us that there is an afterlife.

• Have you ever experienced a supernatural occurrence like these?