The holy souls have repeatedly told her that the greatest help for them that they can obtain from those here on earth is the offering of holy Mass. Next to the Mass, the holy Rosary and the Stations of the Cross are very beneficial to them. Any sacrifice we make--even the smallest ones-- offered specifically for them have a great value in the eyes of God, and greatly lessen their sufferings and time in purgatory. The poor souls have told her that even the smallest prayer or sacrifice is like giving a cool glass of water to a parched sojourner traveling in the driest desert.
They normally appear to her in their normal clothes, that is, the ones that they most often wore during their lifetime, and they often have the appearance of one earnestly begging and desiring help. Sometimes they appear somewhat distraught but this presumably is to elicit compassion on the part of Maria. They normally appear to her looking as they did in the prime of their life, however children and teenagers always appear as they did right before their deaths. And while there are indeed some children in purgatory, their Purgatory is normally not very long or painful, since during their lifetimes they often could not have committed any grave sin since they did not attain much understanding or discernment, and are therefore not accountable to the extent that an adult is.
The holy souls have also told her that there are many, many degrees in purgatory, and that the lower parts of purgatory are the most difficult and the most purifying, and this is where those with grave (severe) sins go--that is, grave sins that have not been forgiven in the sacrament of Confession. As each soul makes reparation for his/her sins that they have committed against God and there fellow man, they are slowly purified and therefore they slowly make progress to the higher levels of purgatory. The souls that appear to Maria are almost always souls that are residing in the higher levels of purgatory. Essentially, the more repentant and sorrowful one is for the sins committed against God and neighbor during ones lifetime, the quicker one progresses from the lower to the higher degrees of purgatory.
The greatest complaint from the souls in Purgatory:
Abandonment by their loved ones. According to Maria, the greatest “complaint” of the souls in Purgatory is how they are almost completely forgotten by their family and loved ones--that rightly complain that they receive no spiritual help from those they themselves helped so much during life! How few prayers are ever offered up for them--even at their funerals! Yet prayer is precisely what they need the most! All the beautiful memorials, celebrations, tattoo’s etc. done and given in their honor, while they may be good intentioned, in reality do nothing for them and in no way help to relieve them of their suffering/purification.
-Maria Simma