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Despite their pain and remorse, the Holy Souls in Purgatory are happy to know of the great feasts of the Church, such as Christmas. They know that their present safety is due to the life of Christ, born on earth to die for our sins. They pray with us at every Mass, in and through Christ their Saviour.

Some of the people who meet sudden death plunge deep into the depths of Purgatory, because they love God but are not fit for Heaven without purification. They go down as surely as a stricken ship goes down; yet they are safe. Everyone who dies is immediately judged, and either goes towards Heaven - even if via Purgatory - or plunges into Hell.

At the Last Judgement, the Angels and Saints who have joined in the praises of Catholics at Mass will gaze upon those Catholics who used to pray with them but who stopped attending. They will look on with pity, as those unhappy souls realise how dreadful has been their carelessness in God's service - or as some souls finally turn away from God, to enter darkness.

The Lord asked me to take care, in my explanations about the Last Judgement painting, especially about the entrance of souls to Purgatory. I must make sure, he said, that I explain it is for purification not punishment.

It is a dreadful surprise, when a true follower of Christ approaches Him after death, only to discover that she had been fervent in prayer, but had neglected to help her neighbours and relations, or that she had been of service to the needy but had failed to praise and thank God for all His gifts. In Purgatory, the soul can be purified.

They are close to God, and safe; yet like the Chinese statues hidden from sight, the Holy Souls wait in a dimly-lit place, enduring their purification, as they think about their past lives, and suffer heartache because they were lukewarm in the Faith, or lacked faith in some of the Church's teachings - or prayed only occasionally, or made little effort to resist temptations, or to become really holy.

Those who died in a state of grace, but not pure enough for Heaven, must remain sheltered from glory, for a while, whereas a person who is full of love for Christ, and has confessed her sins, received Holy Communion, and also gained a plenary indulgence, finds that after death she flies straight into the arms of Jesus, in Heaven. She is greeted, too, by all the Saints - including Christ's Mother Mary - and all the angels.

Those people who disbelieve in the Church's teachings will find out, after death, the truth of every aspect - whether matters of sexual morality or the Primacy of the Pope. What sadness they will feel, seeing how blind and disobedient they have been, ignoring the wishes of their God and Saviour.

Lapsed Catholics do not grow in the knowledge and love of God; and when they die, those who see God and are ashamed of their earlier indifference go to Purgatory, whilst those who hate God and are resolute in their rejection of Him hurl themselves away from Him and therefore into Hell, which is life without His light and peace.

The Lord Showed me one woman being released from Purgatory, and another requiring further purification. Both had been baptised, then had sinned. Each was saved at death through having been anointed in the Sacrament of the Sick. One spent a short time in Purgatory, because she had been badly taught, as a Protestant, about sin. The other, a cradle Catholic, was more blame-worthy, and should have known better.

It is the Holy Spirit Who inspires us to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory; and He wants us to know that they are not only helped by our prayers, towards heaven, but also consoled, in the knowledge that they are not forgotten by the Church.

When we die, and enter God's presence - if we have not immediately hurled ourselves away from the God we hate, into Hell - we shall hear Him say to us, gently: "What have you done with your life, my child?" How happy we shall be if we have loved and served Him and our neighbour; but how sad, if we had been solely in search of pleasure, or preoccupied by trivia.

When we die, perhaps unexpectedly, a person is in one of three states: either standing in the Light of God, ready to enter Heaven, or still at the foot of the stairway to Heaven, so that our Purgatory will consist of necessary purification, or else still trapped, by our free choice, in a grossly selfish way of life: trapped in unrepented sin, unable to enter Heaven, and therefore in Hell for all Eternity.

To meet Christ at death whilst in a state of grace is to be wearing the wedding garment necessary for Heaven, even if it is stained, and must be washed clean in Purgatory. Good people who have never known Christ meet Him at the edge of Heaven; some greet Him gladly, when told He is the Saviour of the world and so receive a white garment. Others refuse to accept Him, and condemn themselves, and cannot therefore enter Heaven.

There are many types of sin, including the sin of many priests who lead people away by their own mistaken interpretation of the teachings of the Church, or the watering-down of sound doctrine. They will see this after death in shame and remorse, and will be purified in Purgatory.

We have witnessed desperate people calling out to their beloved friends and relations who are trapped underground after an earthquake. The Lord would like us to be as fervent in calling out to Him in prayer, interceding for the Holy Souls who are 'trapped underground' in Purgatory, being purified, and prepared for Heaven's glory

When we pray for the Faithful Departed we not only help them to be drawn closer to the light of Heaven - by the grace of Christ - we also bring them the consolation of knowing that they are not forgotten: that their friends and relations on earth hold them in their hearts, and long for them to find joy, on entering Heaven's glory.

Some people who fly up to Heaven when they die can see how narrowly they missed Hell. We need to think about our current behaviour.

Some people are catapulted into Hell, at death, having turned away from God and having refused to repent. Other people, not yet perfect, but sincerely loving God, are swept by a tide of Divine grace towards the safety of Purgatory where they can be purified and prepared for Heaven.

There is only one Heaven: the one that people can hope to enter because of what Christ has done to make a way in, to give us access to the Father. There is no other Heaven. Only through union with Christ can people enter, some straight away, others - if not in mortal sin - after some purification.