During her third apparition at Fatima, in July, 1917, Our Lady said to Lucia, “I shall come to ask... that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.” No more was said on this subject throughout the remainder of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima in 1917, but on December 10th, 1925,  Our Lady again appeared to Lucia at Pentevedra, Spain, where Lucia had been sent to the Dorothean Sisters in order to learn to read and write. It was then that Our Lady clarified and completed her request for the Five First Saturdays and gave her great promise.

The Infant Jesus was also present in that apparition at Pentevedra, and He said to Lucia: “Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation.”

Our Lady then said: “See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist, at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.”

The elements of this devotion, therefore, consist in the following four points, all of which must be offered in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. One should make this intention before carrying out Our Lady’s requests. A renewal of the actual intention at the time is best; however, if such an intention is made now, it will fulfill the requirements if, for instance, the actual intention is forgotten at the time of Confession.

It consists in (1) going to Confession, (2) receiving Communion, (3) reciting five decades of the Rosary and (4) meditating for fifteen minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first Saturday of the month, for five consecutive months, (5) and all this should be done with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the offenses committed against her.

THE MONTH OF THE POOR SUFFERING HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY IS PAST
But the Souls Still Suffer in the Flames of Purgatory!
Don't just be a "One-Month-Wonder"! Keep them in your prayers all year round!


The Poor Souls are patiently, but painfully, waiting... hoping... praying...
What will your response be? Will you walk by? Or will to take time to help?
There are a VARIETY of pages available to help you light a fire under yourself. Offer the reading of them for the Poor Souls!

Prayers for the Poor Souls in Purgatory (click here)
The Unpublished Manual of Purgatory (click here to read)
Why Burn in Purgatory (click here)
Read Me, Or Rue It (click here)
Saints on Purgatory (click here)
Purgatory Payment Plan Calculator (click here)
You Gotta Problem? There's a Holy Soul-ution! (click here)

ALSO CHECK OUT OUR MANY PURGATORY POSTERS & PURGATORY COLORING PAGES ON THE DOWNLOADS PAGE (click here)

OCTOBER IS THE MONTH OF THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO (October 7th)
Check out the Seven-Part Study on Lepanto. Follow the events by reading one part each day.
(click here for Part One)     (click here for Part Two)   (click here for Part Three)  
(click here for Part Four)   (click here for Part Five)   (click here for Part Six)

The following section from the The Glories of Mary,  by St. Alphonsus Liguori, is most appropriate for this Christmas season, when we celebrate the coming of Christ, not with the Justice of a Divine Judge, but with a chance of obtaining Mercy by cooperating with Him as our Divine Redeemer. As we have said before, Christmas is all about sin and a solution to sin. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. Jesus is the hoped-for Messias. Therefore, this Christmas season is also a time of hope; and Mary is one who gives birth to our Hope, therefore she is the Mother of Hope and the Hope of all.    (click here to read the entire section)

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis we read that God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night (Gen. 1, 16).  Cardinal Hugo says that "Christ is the greater light to rule the just, and Mary the lesser to rule the sinners"; meaning that the sun is a figure of Jesus Christ, whose light is enjoyed by the just who live in the clear day of divine grace; and that the moon is a figure of Mary, by whose means those who are in the night of sin are enlightened.  Since Mary is this auspicious luminary, and is so for the benefit of poor sinners, should any one have been so unfortunate as to fall into the night of sin, what is he to do?  Innocent III replies, "Whoever is in the night of sin, let him cast his eyes on the moon, let him implore Mary" (In Assumpt. s. 2).  Since he has lost the light of the sun of justice by losing the grace of God, let him turn to the moon, and beseech Mary; and she will certainly give him light to see the misery of his state, and strength to leave it without delay.  St. Methodius says "that by the prayers of Mary almost innumerable sinners are converted" (Paciucch. in Ps. lxxxvi. exc, 17).

One of the titles which is the most encouraging to poor sinners, and under which the Church teaches us to invoke Mary in the Litany of Loretto, is that of "Refuge of Sinners."  In Judea in ancient times there were cities of refuge, in which criminals who fled there for protection were exempt from the punishments which they had deserved.  Nowadays these cities are not so numerous; there is but one, and that is Mary, of whom the Psalmist says Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God (Ps. lxxxvi. 3).  But this city differs from the ancient ones in this respect—that in the latter all kinds of criminals did not find refuge, nor was the protection extended to every class of crime; but under the mantle of Mary all sinners, without exception, find refuge for every sin that they may have committed, provided only that they go there to seek for this protection.  "I am the city of refuge," says St. John Damascene, in the name of our Queen, "to all who fly to me" (In Dorm. B. V. or. 2).  ... (click here to read the entire section)

St. Ephrem, addressing this Blessed Virgin, says, "Thou art the only advocate of sinners, and of all who are unprotected."  And then he salutes her in the following words: "Hail, refuge and hospital of sinners!" (De Laud. Dei gen.)—true refuge, in which alone they can hope for reception and liberty.  St. Basil of Seleucia remarks, "that if God granted to some who were only his servants such power, that not only their touch but even their shadows healed the sick, who were placed for this purpose in the public streets, how much greater power must we suppose that he has granted to her who was not only his handmaid but his Mother?"  We may indeed say that our Lord has given us Mary as a public infirmary, in which all who are sick, poor, and destitute can be received.  But now I ask, in hospitals erected expressly for the poor, who have the greatest claim to admission?  Certainly the most infirm, and those who are in the greatest need. And for this reason should any one find himself devoid of merit and overwhelmed with spiritual infirmities, that is to say, sin, he can thus address Mary: O Lady, thou art the refuge of the sick poor: reject me not; for as I am the poorest and the most infirm of all, I have the greatest right to be welcomed by thee.  (click here to read the entire section)

Let us then cry out with St. Thomas of Vallanova, "O Mary, we poor sinners know no other refuge than thee, for thou art our only hope, and on thee we rely for our salvation" (De Nat. V. M. conc. 3).  Thou art our only advocate with Jesus Christ; to thee we all turn ourselves.

In the revelations of St. Bridget, Mary is called the "Star preceding the sun" (Rev. Extr. c. 50) ....  The glorious St. Bonaventure, in order to revive the confidence of sinners in the protection of Mary, places before them the picture of a tempestuous sea, into which sinners have already fallen from the ship of divine grace; they are already dashed about on every side by remorse of conscience and by fear of the judgments of God; they are without light or guide, and are on the point of losing the last breath of hope and falling into despair; then it is that our Lord, pointing out Mary to them, who is commonly called the "Star of the Sea," raises his voice and says, "O poor lost sinners, despair not; raise up your eyes, and cast them on this beautiful star; breathe again with confidence, for it will save you from this tempest, and will guide you into the port of salvation" (Psal. B. V. ps. 18).  St. Bernard says the same thing: "If thou wouldst not be lost in the tempest, cast thine eyes on the star, and invoke Mary" (De Laud. V. M. hom. 2). 

The devout Blosius declares that "she is the only refuge of those who have offended God, the asylum of all who are oppressed by temptation, calamity, or persecution.  This Mother is all mercy, benignity, and sweetness, not only to the just, but also to despairing sinners; so that no sooner does she perceive them coming to her, and seeking her health from their hearts, than she ....  (click here to read the entire section)

Lucy (Lucia), one of the three seers to whom Our Lady appeared at Fatima, revealed in a 1957 interview with Father Fuentes, that we are living in the end times of the world, and that God has already given the world TWO LAST REMEDIES for the world to both use and profit from, and that THERE WOULD BE NO OTHER REMEDIES GIVEN BY GOD. Sister Lucia disclosed that a final decisive battle was about to be entered into between Our Lady and Satan. She said" "Father, the Most Holy Virgin did not tell me [explicitly] that we are in the last times of the world, but she made me understand this [implicitly] for three reasons. 

The first reason is because she told me that the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat. Hence, from now on, we must choose sides. Either we are for God, or we are for the devil; there is no other possibility. 

The second reason is because she said, to my cousins as well as to myself, that God is giving two last remedies to the world. They are the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the last two remedies, which signify that there will be no others. 

The third reason is because, in the plans of Divine Providence, God always, before He is about to chastise the world, exhausts all other remedies."

Sadly, the world, even the Catholic world, is—for the most part—indifferent to that message. Sister Lucy lamented: "The Blessed Virgin is very sad, for no one pays attention to Her Message."  We live as though it were mere fiction!  We have the "Titanic" mentality--"O, it can't happen to us! The Ark of the Church won't sink!"  But we forget the traumatic and horrific details that Our Lady has revealed regarding the imminent fate of the world .....  (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE)

How great then should be our confidence in this Queen, knowing how powerful she is with God, and at the same time how rich and full of mercy; so much so that there is no one on earth who does not share in the mercies and favors of Mary! This the Blessed Virgin herself revealed to St. Bridget: "I am," she said to her, "the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Mercy; I am the joy of the just, and the gate of entrance for sinners to God; neither is there living on earth a sinner who is so accursed that he is deprived of my compassion; for everyone, if he receives nothing else through my intercession, receives the grace of being less tempted by evil spirits than he otherwise would be. No one, therefore" she added, "who is not entirely accursed" (by which is meant the final and irrevocable malediction pronounced against the damned), "is so entirely cast
off by God that he may not return and enjoy his mercy if he invokes my aid. I am called by all the Mother of Mercy, and truly the mercy of God towards men has made me so merciful towards them." And then she concluded by saying: "Therefore he shall be miserable, and forever miserable in another life, who in this life, being able, does not have recourse to me, who am so compassionate to all, and so earnestly desire to aid sinners."  .......  (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE)

Mary is Health of the Sick by the many providential or miraculous cures, which have been obtained through her intercession in Christian sanctuaries, up to our own days. So many have these cures been, that, it may be said, that Mary is a fathomless ocean of miraculous healing. But it is to help the infirmity of the soul that she cures the body. Her most important cures are those of the four spiritual wounds which we have suffered, as a result of Original Sin and our personal sins—the wounds of concupiscence, of weakness, of ignorance, and of malice. She heals concupiscence—a wound of our sensibility-by diminishing the ardor of our passions and by breaking our sinful habits. 

Mary is Refuge of Sinners precisely because she is so holy. Detesting sin, which does so much harm to souls, she wel­comes sinners and wishes to bring them to repentance. She frees them from the bonds of sinful habits by the power of her intercession; she obtains their reconciliation with God by the merits of her Son, and reminds the sinner, too, of the same merits. Once converted to penance, she protects them from Satan, against everything which could lead to fresh falls. She helps them to learn of the sweetness of penance. She has converted them in countless numbers, especially in places of pilgrimage—at Lourdes where she issued the invitation "Pray and do penance."  There are many condemned criminals who owe to her their conversion at the last moment of their lives. 

Mary was Comforter of the Afflicted even during her life­time on earth: she consoled Jesus by her presence on Calvary; she consoled the Apostles in the difficulties they encountered in the conversion of the pagan world, and obtained for them a spirit of strength and holy joy in their sufferings. Though she saw the dangers which threatened the infant Church, she did not waver; her face was ever calm, for her soul was tranquil and confident. Sadness never took possession of her heart. She remained joyous in affliction, that she did not complain of poverty or privations, that insults had no power to alter her meekness. Her example alone was enough to hearten many a despairing soul.

Mary is Help of Christians. Help is an effect of love, and Mary has now consummated fullness of love. She loves the souls redeemed by Jesus' blood. She helps them in their difficulties and assists them in the practice of the virtues. The thought of Mary, Help of Christians, inspired St. Bernard in the well-known passage from his second homily on the Missus est: "If the tempest of temptation rages, if the torrent of tribulation carries you away, look at the star, look at Mary. If the waves of pride and ambition, of slander and jealousy, buffet you and almost engulf you, look at the star, look at Mary. If anger or avarice or passion tosses the frail bark of your soul and threatens to wreck it, look once more at Mary. Let her memory be ever in your heart and her name always on your lips.... But remember that to obtain the benefit of her prayer you must walk in her footsteps."  ....…  (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE)

Not by chance, nor in vain, do the servants of Mary call her Mother, and it would seem that they cannot invoke her by any other name, and are never weary of calling her Mother; Mother, indeed, for she is truly our Mother, not according to the flesh, but the spiritual Mother of our souls and of our salvation. Sin, when it deprived our souls of divine grace, also deprived them of life. Hence, when they were dead in misery and sin, Jesus our Redeemer came with an excess of mercy and love to restore to us, by His death upon the cross, that lost life, as He has Himself declared : “I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.”  (...)  O, happy those who live under the protection of a Mother so loving and so powerful! The prophet David, although Mary was not yet born, besought of God salvation, by dedicating himself to Mary as her son, and thus prayed; “Save the son of thy handmaid.” (...) "Whose handmaid?” asks St. Augustine, “she who says: Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” And who, says Cardinal Bellarmine, who would dare to snatch these children from the bosom of Mary, where they have taken refuge from their enemies? What fury of Hell or of passion can conquer them, if they place their trust in the protection of this great Mother?  ......   (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE)