Pray for the Souls in Purgatory

 

 Pray for the Souls in Purgatory

Dawn Pisturino

November 1, 2025

Sampaguita

 

Sampaguita

by Dawn Pisturino

The palm grove steams with summer heat.

Sweat glistens on my skin

As I race along the path,

Searching for you.

Banana leaves wave at me,

Urging me on.

The Sampaguita throw blossoms at my feet,

Perfuming my path with holy fragrance.

I stop to pick them up

To string into a garland of sweet innocence.

I will lay it at the feet of the Virgin

On Sunday morning,

Who will smile at the pure whiteness of the petals.

I see you now, standing in a bed of orchids,

Inhaling the heady odor of their scent.

You turn and smile,

Drawing me close.

From your pockets,

You pull shiny white blossoms

Of Sampaguita.

We will pool our gatherings together

To make the finest garland

The Virgin has ever received.

[NOTE: Sampaguita is the national flower of the Philippines]

Mary at the Foot of the Cross

 

From the very beginning, Mary was a voluntary witness to God's majesty and omnipotence. She accepted the angel's announcement that she would become the Mother of Christ, although it meant hardship and disgrace, encouraged Jesus on his journey to adulthood, stood by him through his sufferings, and gave him her unwavering love and strength while standing at the foot of the cross, watching him die.

Mary believed in God's goodness despite the evil around her. She did not question the angel's message that Jesus would do great things. She knew in her heart that something momentous was happening despite her personal heartbreak.

Mary believed and had faith. 

One of the things lacking in America right now is FAITH. Every time something happens, people react with doomsday predictions and fear. Protesters take to the streets, denouncing things they don't even understand. They have an agenda with an ultimate goal, and they use shrill voices and violence to try and fulfill that goal.

Sometimes, we have to have faith that things will work out according to God's plan. After Jesus's death, the Apostles were devastated, feeling uncertain about where to turn. God did not fail them. Jesus appeared to point them in the right direction. 

How is your faith? Do you trust in God to do the right thing? 

This Easter, embrace the message of renewal and rebirth. God is in control.

Beatus Pascha!

Dawn Pisturino

Sacred and Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

What does the Virgin Mary represent to you?

For me, she signifies Love: Love for God, Love for her Holy Son, Love for Joseph and the Holy Family, Love for all human beings, and Love for the world as the abode of all humans. Her love is boundless, reaching through the corridors of Time to embrace all souls in Heaven, hell, and purgatory. She only wants the best for everybody. She wants everyone to find, embrace, and be one with God. Her goal is peace, happiness, strength in adversity, and heavenly rewards.

Don't we all want that? 

Let the Mother enfold you and bring you to Christ. Love God with all of your heart and soul.

Love one another.

STOP THE HATE!

Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (EWTN)

"O Mary, Virgin most powerful and Mother of mercy, Queen of Heaven and Refuge of sinners, we consecrate ourselves to thine Immaculate Heart.

"We consecrate to thee our very being and our whole life; all that we have, all that we love, all that we are. To thee we give our bodies, our hearts and our souls; to thee we give our homes, our families, our country. We desire that all that is in us and around us may belong to thee, and may share in the benefits of thy motherly benediction. And that this act of consecration may be truly efficacious and lasting, we renew this day at thy feet the promises of our Baptism and our first Holy Communion.

"We pledge ourselves to profess courageously and at all times the truths of our holy Faith, and to live as befits Catholics who are duly submissive to all the directions of the Pope and the Bishops in communion with him. We pledge ourselves to keep the commandments of God and His Church, in particular to keep holy the Lord's Day. We likewise pledge ourselves to make the consoling practices of the Christian religion, and above all, Holy Communion, an integral part of our lives, in so far as we shall be able so to do.

"Finally, we promise thee, O glorious Mother of God and loving Mother of men, to devote ourselves whole-heartedly to the service of thy blessed cult, in order to hasten and assure, through the sovereignty of thine Immaculate Heart, the coming of the kingdom of the Sacred Heart of thine adorable Son, in our own hearts and in those of all men, in our country and in all the world, as in heaven. so on earth."

This Valentine's Day, embrace ALL of your brothers and sisters.

Dawn Pisturino

Have a Blessed Christmas

 

The Nativity, 1440, Fra Angelico

Have a Blessed Christmas!

Dawn Pisturino

Prayer of Thanksgiving to Mary

 

(Madonna on Floral Wreath by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder, circa 1619)

Prayer of Thanksgiving to Mary

By St. Augustine of Hippo

O Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily give you the just dues of praise and thanksgiving, you who by the wondrous assent of your will rescued a fallen world? What songs of praise can our weak human nature recite in your honor, since it is by your intervention alone that it has found the way to restoration?

Accept, then, such poor thanks as we have to offer here, though they be unequal to your merit; and, receiving our vows, obtain by your prayers the remission of our offenses. Carry our prayers within the sanctuary of the heavenly audience and bring forth the gift of our reconciliation.

Take our offering, grant us our requests, obtain pardon for what we fear, for you are the sole hope of sinners. Holy Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the fainthearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God.

Be ever ready to assist us when we pray and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it your continual care to pray for the people of God, you who, blessed by God, merited to bear the Redeemer of the world who lives and reigns, world without end. Amen.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Dawn Pisturino

Our Lady of the Rosary - October 7th

 

PRAY THE ROSARY!

O Virgin Mary, grant that the recitation of thy Rosary may be for me each day, in the midst of my manifold duties, a bond of unity in my actions, a tribute of filial piety, a sweet refreshment, an encouragement to walk joyfully along the path of duty. Grant, above all, O Virgin Mary, that the study of thy fifteen mysteries may form in my soul, little by little, a luminous atmosphere, pure, strengthening, and fragrant, which may penetrate my understanding, my will, my heart, my memory, my imagination, my whole being. So shall I acquire the habit of praying while I work, without the aid of formal prayers, by interior acts of admiration and of supplication, or by aspirations of love. I ask this of thee, O Queen of the holy Rosary, through Saint Dominic, thy son of predilection, the renowned preacher of thy mysteries, and the faithful imitator of thy virtues. Amen.

Have a blessed day!

Dawn Pisturino

The Fifteen Promises of Mary

 

Do you pray the rosary? Here are the 15 promises made by Mary for those who do:

1. signal graces

2. special protection and graces

3. an armor against Hell, vice, sin, and heresies

4. virtue and good works, mercy, and heavenly sanctification

5. the soul will never perish

6. God's favor and eternal life

7. sacraments of the Church 

8. the merits of the saints

9. delivery from Purgatory

10. the highest degree of glory in Heaven

11. blessings and prayers granted

12. aid in time of need

13. heavenly intercession

14. unity in the brotherhood and sisterhood of Christ

15. predestination

from America Needs Fatima

"Give me an army saying the rosary and I will conquer the world." - Pope Pius IX 

Dawn Pisturino

"She who Nourishes with Milk"

 

This painting is part of a larger mural located in the semidome of the Coptic Red Monastery in Sohag, Egypt. Painted around the 6th century CE, it depicts the Blessed Virgin breast-feeding the child Jesus. The Holy Mother was very human, despite her great faith and humility. She performed all the functions that any mother would for her child: feeding, bathing, clothing, educating, protecting, guiding, and nurturing. Life was hard. But her faith in God kept her strong and resilient.

Can we do any less? 

This Mother's Day, we honor our mothers and the deep bond that exists between mother and child. 

Dawn Pisturino

April 29, 2024

Copyright 2024 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Happy New Year

 

A Prayer for the New Year from the Carmelite Fathers

Blessed Mother, as the new year arrives, I ask for your blessing. With you, I can look ahead with courage and faith.

Grant me the strength to handle any challenges I may face and patience as you guide me through.

I ask that you bring me peace, happiness, and hope. And I ask that you embrace me with your love and grace.

Please protect me and my family, dear Mother, so that we can share our blessings with others in need.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pray for us.

Amen

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dawn Pisturino

December 30, 2023

Merry Christmas

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dawn Pisturino

Thanksgiving Prayer

 

(Photo by Gianna B on Unsplash)

Thanksgiving Prayer

Holy Mother,

Please help us today to remember

All the blessings bestowed on us by the Father Almighty.

Please help us draw closer to your son, Jesus Christ,

And remember all his sufferings on the cross.

Please intercede for us 

In granting our prayers

And fulfilling our needs.

Please shower your love upon the people of Israel

And safeguard them from harm.

Please protect our fortress, the Catholic Church,

From obscene changes

And strengthen the resolve of all devout Catholics

To protect her from the devil's influence.

Please give us the strength and will

To stand up to all evil in the world.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Dawn Pisturino

November 23, 2023

Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

I STAND WITH ISRAEL!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Virgin Mary Tattoos

 

Arm Tattoo by Tattoo Me Now

http://www.tattoomenow.com

Some Catholics express their faith by getting tattoos of the Virgin Mary on their bodies. As the Mother of Jesus, she plays a special role in Jesus' life and the Catholic faith. People look to her for faith, hope, love, and comfort. She is the symbol of virginal purity, unconditional motherly acceptance, and miraculous events in places like Fatima and Lourdes. She embraces the whole world and all people with her positive energy and affection. She is OUR MOTHER who cares for our needs and gives us strength to keep going in a difficult world.

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!

Blessed art thou amongst women,

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

Now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

PRAY THE ROSARY!

Dawn Pisturino

October 28, 2023

Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Painting by Francesco Botticini

St. John Damascene fully supported the idea of the Assumption of Mary, body and soul, into Heaven because he believed that her "pure and sinless body" should not be consigned to the earth. Although the idea is not supported by the Bible, it is a reasonable assumption that Mary would be taken into Heaven in a way similar to that of her Son, Jesus Christ, who was transfigured and taken into Heaven. On August 15th, we honor and celebrate Mary's death and journey home to God the Father.

Prayer for the Assumption of Mary

1. Catholic Online
 
2. Prayers

Father in heaven,
all creation rightly gives you praise,
for all life and all holiness come from you.
In the plan of your wisdom
she who bore the Christ in her womb
was raised body and soul in glory to be with him in heaven.
May we follow her example in reflecting your holiness
and join in her hymn of endless love and praise.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

~

Dawn Pisturino

August 15, 2023

Mary's Spring

 

Photo from Bible Walks

According to Christian tradition, John the Baptist was born in the small village of Ein Kerem, located south of Jerusalem. When the Virgin Mary was pregnant with Jesus, she traveled to the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth. At that time, Elizabeth was already six months pregnant. As Mary greeted her cousin, John "leaped" in Elizabeth's womb (Luke 1:39-41).

South of Ein Kerem, a spring known as Mary's Spring flows out of the ground. Here, tradition says, Mary stopped to drink before going up the hill to Elizabeth's home.

This holy site is located on  Ein Kerem Street, Ein Kerem 9087200, Israel.

Dawn Pisturino

May 12, 2023

Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Pray for Mary's Intercession and Healing

 

Are you or a loved one suffering from physical or mental illness? Are you debilitated by pain? Are your symptoms interfering with your life?

Pray to the Blessed Holy Mother to intercede for you and your loved ones in healing your afflictions! Remember Fatima. Remember Lourdes. Remember that the Holy Mother wants to help you. She is here for you. Send her your love and faith and pray for her intercession and blessings.

A Prayer to Our Lady for Healing

Mary Immaculate, you have given yourself to us as Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. You have asked us to pray with confidence, and we will receive great graces. We know your compassion because you saw your Son suffer and die for us. In your union with his suffering, you became the mother of us all.

Mary, my Mother, teach me to understand my suffering as you do and to endure it in union with the suffering of Jesus. In your motherly love, calm my fears and increase my trust in God's loving care.

According to God's plan, obtain for me the healing I need. Intercede with your Son that I may have the strength I need to work for God's glory and the salvation of the world. Amen.

Mary, Health of the Sick, pray for me.

~

Prayer from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

~

Dawn Pisturino

February 17, 2023

The Nativity

 

If Mary had not agreed to become the mother of Jesus, there would be no Christmas today. If Joseph had not agreed to become the stepfather of Jesus, who knows what would have happened? Mary and her son would have been vulnerable and unprotected. But the story of Jesus and his mission here on earth unfolded exactly as God intended. It is the choice of human beings whether they accept it or not. Have you opened your heart to the Christ Child? Have you accepted his humility and peace? It is easy to become discouraged in a fast-paced world that has no regard for spiritual or moral values. But Mary was a virtuous woman who brought the Light of God into the world. Let's remember his teachings as we celebrate with family and friends.

Merry Christmas!

Dawn Pisturino

December 23, 2022

Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Catholics! Pray for the United States - and VOTE!

 

Catholicvote.com has provided this beautiful prayer for the November 8th elections:

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care.

Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land for the glory of your Son. Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection.

Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people. Open our minds to the great worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom.

Free us from the falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion and threaten the sanctity of family life. Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God's law is the foundation on which this nation was founded, and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

O Merciful Mother, give us the courage to reject the culture of death and the strength to build a new Culture of Life.

In the name of Our Lord, Jesus Christ,

AMEN.

Please VOTE on November 8, 2022 for religious freedom and the continued sanctity of human life and our Catholic faith.

Thank you!

Dawn Pisturino

The Secret of the Rosary

 

Long before I converted to Catholicism, I loved the Virgin Mary. Although my mother was Catholic, she was not a practicing one. I never saw her pray or recite the rosary. She only attended mass if I begged her to go with me. She never taught me anything about the Catholic religion. She did let me take her ivory rosary, which she had kept from her youth, and later gave me her old, tattered Catholic prayer book, which I still treasure.

As a teenager, I fell in with a group of fundamentalist Catholics, and that's where I learned about the Virgin Mary and the rosary. They gave me St. Louis de Montfort's book, The Secret of the Rosary, and I was hooked for life. I fell in love with the Virgin Mary. Later on in life, I went through RCIA and officially converted.

During one of the most difficult periods in my life, when God severely tested me, I relied on the Virgin Mary, the rosary, and St. Louis de Montfort's book to keep going. The alternative would have been suicide. And even though I suffered greatly during that time, God pointed me in the right direction and made sure that my life turned around. He blessed me with a beautiful and productive life. I have learned a lot from all of my mistakes. I have learned a lot from all of my suffering. The Virgin Mary never left me. She lifted me up and made me whole. I found redemption and salvation in Christ. I found safety and security in my Catholic faith. And even though it is easy to be discouraged with the world and its current direction, we must all as Catholics stand fast and pray and put our faith in God, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary.

I highly recommend St. Louis de Montfort's book to every Catholic. It is just as relevant today as when he wrote it.

St. Louis de Montfort's Prayer to Mary

  Hail Mary, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father! Hail Mary, admirable Mother of the Son! Hail Mary, faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost! Hail Mary, my dear Mother, my loving mistress, my powerful sovereign! Hail my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul! Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am all thine by justice. But I am not yet sufficiently thine. I now give myself wholly to thee without keeping anything back for myself or others. If thou still seest in me anything which does not belong to thee, I beseech thee to take it and to make thyself the absolute mistress of all that is mine. Destroy in me all that may be displeasing to God, root it up and bring it to nought; place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to thee.

     May the light of thy faith dispel the darkness of my mind; may thy profound humility take the place of my pride; may thy sublime contemplation check the distractions of my wandering imagination; may thy continuous sight of God fill my memory with His presence; may the burning love of thy heart inflame the lukewarmness of mine; may thy virtues take the place of my sins; may thy merits be my only adornment in the sight of God and make up for all that is wanting in me. Finally, dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but thine, to know Jesus and His Divine will; that I may have no other soul but thine, to praise and glorify the Lord; that I may have no other heart but thine, to love God with a love as pure and ardent as thine. I do not ask thee for visions, revelations, sensible devotion or spiritual pleasures. It is thy privilege to see God clearly; it is thy privilege to enjoy Heavenly bliss; it is thy privilege to triumph gloriously in Heaven at the right hand of thy Son and to hold absolute sway over Angels, men and demons; it is thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of God, just as thou wilIest.

Such is, O Heavenly Mary, the "best part," which the Lord has given thee and which shall never be taken away from thee, and this thought fills my heart with joy. As for my part here below, I wish for no other than that which was thine: to believe sincerely without spiritual pleasures; to suffer joyfully without human consolation; to die continually to myself without respite; and to work zealously and unselfishly for thee until death as the humblest of thy servants. The only grace I beg thee to obtain for me is that every day and every moment of my life I may say: "Amen, so be it, to all that thou didst do while on earth. Amen, so be it, to all that thou art now doing in Heaven. Amen, so be it, to all that thou art doing in my soul, so that thou alone mayest fully glorify Jesus in me for time and eternity." Amen.

~

Dawn Pisturino

September 6, 2022

Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Mary was a Strong Woman

 

There have been many stories on the news lately about mothers who have lost children to violent crime, illness, suicide, and accidents. Whenever I listen to these mothers, I wonder: how would I handle a similar situation? Could I hold up under all the grief and guilt? Could I survive the death of my child? I'm not sure that I could. After my brother died of cancer, my mother was so consumed with grief, she died four years later. She simply could not live with it.

Our Mother, the Blessed Virgin, was very human, in spite of all the blessings showered down on her by God. She experienced a wonderful miracle - bearing God's Son - and fully accepted all responsibilities and consequences that came with it. From the very beginning of her agreement with God, she was beset with hardship, ostracization, criticism, worry, sorrow, and deep emotional pain. She experienced stress, physical pain, the loss of her husband, and old age - just like the rest of us.

She also experienced some of the most horrific experiences that anyone can experience. As a Jewess, Mary lived under Roman oppression and rule. She saw first-hand how the Jewish people suffered. She was given in marriage to a man that was chosen for her by her family, according to Jewish custom. When Mary agreed to bear the Son of God, she was jeopardizing everything in her life, including her family and her husband. She was risking her very life, as she could have been stoned as an adulteress.

But Mary's faith in God was greater than her fear of retribution and death. She trusted in God to take care of her and her child. Joseph proved to be a tender, loving, and loyal husband. He was the perfect stepfather for Mary's child. Nonetheless, Simeon warned Mary that "a sword of sorrow will pierce your soul" when Jesus was presented in the Temple, and the Holy Family was forced to flee to Egypt to escape King Herod's death threat.

As a mother, Mary felt all the worry and anxiety that mothers feel when their children fall ill, get injured, or become lost. Imagine her anxiety when Jesus embarked on his great ministry. He traveled long distances, and so many things could have gone wrong! Now, put yourself in Mary's shoes during Jesus' arrest and trial. How she must have suffered at the falling of each lash across his back! How she must have wept over every cut, bruise, and drop of blood!

What was Mary thinking as she watched her only son carry the cross through the streets of Jerusalem? Was she praying for a miracle to save him - or was she trusting in God's plan? How much heartache and mental anguish did she feel in those moments? We can only imagine.

When Jesus was nailed to the cross, did she feel every strike of the hammer? Did she cry out in pain? The reality of his death must have struck her then. There was no going back.

I don't know if I could watch my child suffer in such pain and agony without striking out at the guards and the people who cheered on his death. I don't know if I could experience such pain and anguish without falling completely apart. I don't know if I could watch my only child die in such a horrific manner without dying myself. 

Yet, Mary stood at the foot of the cross with courage and strength. She trusted in God's essential goodness and love. And when Jesus' body was taken down, she caressed him like a loving mother and buried him in the tomb with the promise that God would take care of him.

What joy Mary must have felt on the day of her son's resurrection!

Not only did God keep his promise to Mary, but He kept His promise to the whole world. Mary was renewed with new strength and courage - and so must we be. We must trust that no matter what happens, God's plan is in place, and He will take care of us and our loved ones. And we will be reunited in a better place.

Dawn Pisturino

July 16, 2022

Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.