Virgo Potens

2 of 2 5th Day ~ The Reason of Purgatory 2. Most men have never had a sorrow for sin corresponding to its true character. It has not been in anywise equivalent to the malice of sin, or the insult offered by it to Almighty God. They have paid but a very small portion of the debt due, and though Our Lord's merits are of infinite value, yet they have not availed themselves of them as they might. The remainder of this debt must be paid before the justice of God is satisfied. 3. Most men up to the end of their lives are still attached to some fault or imperfection displeasing to God. They know it is not a serious sin and therefore they think too lightly of it, and do not make the efforts they might to overcome it. When death comes, they see it in its true light, and are pierced with sorrow and dismay and hatred of themselves, and a desire to make satisfaction to God by suffering the penalty of their sin. Ask yourself whether you have reason to fear on any of these accounts. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 5th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 5th Day ~ The Reason of Purgatory 1. The doctrine of purgatory is, like all the teaching of the Church, perfectly reasonable. There are many good men and women loving God above all things, who have often made good acts of contrition for their past sins, who are nevertheless still very imperfect. It would be strange if they who commit many daily faults, of which some are deliberate and are done with a full knowledge that they displease God, should at once take their place in the company of the saints. It would jar upon our ideas of what is required by the holiness and majesty of God. (continued)

2 of 2 4th Day ~ The Difficulty of Purgatory 2. They moreover long after God with the most intense longing; they have no attachment to any sort of sin; they do not cling to any creature with a love which interferes with their love of God. Why is not the door of heaven opened to them? Why are they kept waiting so long? They have done all they can. They have united themselves to Him by a perfect act of sorrow and love. Yet God, in His hatred of their past sins, keeps them in a place of banishment. How God must hate sin! 3. All their sufferings will not add anything to their future glory. However patient they may be, they will gain nothing by their willing endurance. Why then does not God, the All-merciful God, take them at once to heaven? We can understand that those who hate God are necessarily separated from Him, but why those who love Him, if they gain nothing by it? How God must hate sin if He thus punishes it in the case of those who have nothing in them save the purity of perfect love! Seek to realize more the utter hatefulness of sin. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 4th ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 4th Day ~ The Difficulty of Purgatory 1. These souls waiting for heaven are one and all holy. No spot of sin, no attachment to sin, no imperfection dwells within them. They love God with all the force of their regenerate nature, and God loves them with the fondest affection. They are to be His friends and companions for ever. The throne in heaven is ready for each of them, and nothing can deprive them of it. The saints and angels are longing for their company, yet they cannot enter heaven. How strange it seems! What holds them back in their spotless purity from the bosom of their God? (continued)

2 of 2 3d Day ~ The Holiness of the Souls in Purgatory 2. This act of perfect contrition also implies a detestation of all venial sin, and of anything that interferes with the pure love of God. But it does not remove the debt that still has to be paid. It is rather the very intensity of the act of contrition that will make the soul long to do penance, and cause it to rejoice in being buried in purgatory till the justice of God is satisfied. How differently I shall then view my sins! How I shall loathe and detest the folly that led me to prefer to the will of God what was hateful in itself, and more hateful still by reason of the divine prohibition. 3. These holy souls will, however, gain no merit by their act of contrition and love. They will indeed receive the assistance of actual grace in proportion to the degree of sanctifying grace in which they died, but their co-operation with it will not add to their glory in heaven, or shorten their purgatory. After death, no redemption; no power to shake off the temporal punishment of a single sin. Pray that you may lose no opportunity of merit while on earth. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Death of the Righteous Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 3rd ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 3d Day ~ The Holiness of the Souls in Purgatory 1. Every soul in Purgatory, before coming thither, appears before the judgment-seat of Christ, and there recognizes its state before God, and (as many theologians tell us) makes an act of perfect contrition and fervent love, by which all the guilt of sin still attaching to it is removed. It is, as far as its own intrinsic condition is concerned, ready to appear in the immediate presence of God, and to enjoy the Beatific Vision forever. O happy souls that die in a state of grace, and are united to God by bonds that no power in earth or hell can sever! (continued)

O Holy Guardian Angels, pray for the Poor Holy Souls in Purgatory. Novena to One’s Guardian Angel for the Holy Souls in Purgatory Begins today at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

2d Day ~ The Saints waiting for Heaven 2. These saints waiting for heaven cry out to us to help them. They have a claim on us by reason of the intensity of their suffering. No words can tell all that they suffer, and their very love for God increases their pain. Every compassionate heart will desire to do something to relieve them, and to shorten the time of their banishment. Yet how little I do for them! 3. They are, moreover, unable to help themselves. We always feel a more tender sympathy for those who cannot move a finger to relieve their own sufferings. Their helplessness appeals to our generosity. If we saw one whom we knew to be a saint enduring some affliction in which he could do nothing in his own behalf, we should be eager to assist him. The holy souls are utterly helpless; their own prayers avail them nothing. To us they look for aid, to us for an abridgment of their time of punishment. Do I respond to their appeal as I ought? Endeavor to increase in sympathy for the souls in purgatory. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 2nd ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 2d Day ~ The Saints waiting for Heaven 1. Requiescant in pace. On All Souls' Day we offer this prayer for those who are not only saints, but saints on the very threshold of paradise, waiting to be admitted to the immediate presence of God. It is always a privilege to do a service to the friends of God; it is so above all when those who need our help will in a short time behold His face in heaven, and will gratefully remember to all eternity each little prayer offered on their behalf. (continued)

2 of 2 1st Day ~ The Saints in Heaven 2. This countless multitude stand before the throne of God, and in sight of the Lamb. These are the two fountains of their joy. They are never weary of admiring the justice of God, His wisdom, power, majesty. They also drink in, as they behold the Sacred Humanity of the Lamb, an inexhaustible draught of love and gratitude. He is their King, their Saviour, their Lord, their Love. To gaze on His perfect beauty is in itself paradise. No wonder then that they rest in peace. 3. How can the saints endure the sight of the divine glory? Are they not sinners all? Yes, all — save God's holy Mother. Or rather they were sinners all, but now they have washed their robes, and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. This is the secret of true peace; sin forgiven, and a conscience pure and clean. We need not fear our past sins if we have by heartfelt contrition washed them away in Jesus' Blood, but even here we may rest in peace. Pray that you may rest in peace in the love of God. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 1st ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 1st Day ~ The Saints in Heaven 1. I saw a great multitude which no man could number, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palms in their hands. (Apoc. vii. 9.) Requiescant in pace. There is no need to offer this prayer for the saints in heaven, except by way of congratulation, of joy at the thought of their happiness. Their period of suffering is past; they rest in eternal peace, in the perfect possession of Him for whom they were created, and apart from whom man is ever restless and dissatisfied. To have peace with God—this is the joy of heaven, and this alone can give us joy on earth. (continued)

Month of the The Holy Souls in Purgatory ~ November 1st ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ 1st Day ~ The Saints in Heaven 1. I saw a great multitude which no man could number, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palms in their hands. (Apoc. vii. 9.) Requiescant in pace. There is no need to offer this prayer for the saints in heaven, except by way of congratulation, of joy at the thought of their happiness. Their period of suffering is past; they rest in eternal peace, in the perfect possession of Him for whom they were created, and apart from whom man is ever restless and dissatisfied. To have peace with God—this is the joy of heaven, and this alone can give us joy on earth. (continued)

November ~ Month of The Holy Souls in Purgatory ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯ November 1, 2025 Dear Friends, Thank you so much for following Virgo Potens, and all of our sister channels, on Telegram, and thank you for your patience with typographical and other errors, as well as late postings! Most errors corrected within a day or so; if you find something that you would like to save, but find that it has an error, do check back. A special thank you to those who have forwarded posts to their own channels. May God reward you! This month, we will be studying and meditating upon Purgatory and how to become a saint. • At Virgo Potens this year, our readings will be taken from The Devout Year (1893) by Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J. • At One, Holy, Catholic and Catholic Universe, using two different sets of readings, we will be explore An Easy Way to Become a Saint by Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P (1949), with ecclesiastical approbation, June 13, 1949. • Other channels will continue much as they have been. Please continue to visit for new posts each day! May God bless you and richly reward and encourage you in your study of the immemorial truths taught by the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

November 1, 2025 FIRST SATURDAY of NOVEMBER 💙 “See my daughter, how my heart is encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and announce that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who on the First Saturdays of five consecutive months, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite part of My Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on its mysteries with the intention of offering me reparation.” ~ Words of Our Lady to Sr. Marie (Lucia dos Santos) on December 10, 1925 If possible, make First Saturday devotions today, in reparation for offenses against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as requested by Our Lady herself in 1925, and confirmed by Our Lord in 1927.

Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us. HYMN Rose of the cross, thou mystic flower ! I lift my heart to thee; In every melancholy hour, O Mary remember me ! A wanderer here through many a wild, Where few their way can see — Bloom with thy fragrance on thy child, O Mary remember me ! ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

2 of 2 The Month of the Holy Rosary October 30th 31st DAY Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us. Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary CONCLUSION The month of October ends today, and with it we close the beautiful devotion of the Holy Rosary. The Joys, the Sorrows, the Glories of Mary have been proposed to us for our meditation and prayer and slight indeed has been the profit reaped from these suggestions if we have not increased our love for Mary, and resolved earnestly to strive to imitate her unselfish generosity. Prayer, labor and sacrifice were so constantly practiced by her that they became part of her nature. They were habits so thoroughly fixed in her life and conduct that we cannot think of her without their association. After the Grace of God, and with that grace's aid, it was these habits that made her what she is to-day, the most perfect of all God's creatures. Prayer, labor and sacrifice, in imitation of Mary, will sweeten our lives, and render them pleasing to her, and to her Divine Son, Jesus. ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

1 of 2 31st DAY Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us. Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary

HYMN O Mother blest whom God bestows On sinners and on just, What joy what hope thou givest those Who in thy mercy trust! Chorus Most holy Mary ! at thy feet Thy children bend a suppliant knee; Dear Mother of my God, Do thou remember me. Remember, Mary, Virgin fair, It never yet was told That he who humbly sought thy care Departed unconsoled. ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

2 of 2 The Month of the Holy Rosary October 30th 30th DAY And they were continually in the Temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. Luke 24:53 A SUMMARY As we rapidly gaze back over the scenes and events suggested by these Glorious Mysteries we cannot fail to be impressed with the utter unselfishness of Mary our Mother! Surely we should expect that with the release of her Divine Son from His suffering and death, she too would at once share in His glory. At the foot of the cross she had been given to us, in the person of St. John, as our Mother, and that she might prove to us her maternal care for us, she willingly consents to remain for fifteen long years after the Ascension of her Son, here upon earth, to care for the Infant Church with the same solicitude that she cared for the Child Jesus, in the days of His infancy at Bethlehem. What a sacrifice that was—the sacrifice of separation, the sacrifice of labor! But Mary made it for love of us, her adopted children! What shall we do for her? ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

1 of 2 30th DAY And they were continually in the Temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. Luke 24:53