Michael, by Guido Reni, 1636.
The following material is a greatly expanded version of an earlier post on the Prophecy of Pope Leo XIII, which may help shed some light on the value of adhering to the traditional amillennialist view of the Apocalypse. For those who are already familiar with the older article, it will still be worth reading this newly revised version - especially for the most recent findings outlined in the latter portion of this post:
The St. Michael Prayer, which was said after Low Mass until the liturgical changes in 1965, was
instituted by Pope Leo XIII after he received a prophetic vision. The most widely known element of this vision is that the Holy Father overheard a debate between Our Lord and Satan, during which the Devil was granted more power and authority for a period of 75 to 100 years. According to the most widespread accounts, the events behind the prophecy of Pope Leo XIII run as following:
On October 13, 1884, after Pope Leo XIII had finished celebrating Mass in the Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the prayer to St. Michael, with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere. When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices - two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:
The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasting to Our Lord: "I can destroy your Church"
The gentle voice of Our Lord: "You can? Then go ahead and do so."
Satan: "To do so, I need more time and more power."
Our Lord: "How much time? How much power?
Satan: "75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service."
Our Lord: "You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will."
Current research suggests that the earliest version of this story to appear in print was in 1933, in a German Sunday newspaper. The way in which this prophecy first surfaced suggests that it originally circulated in oral form amongst the Vatican staff and hierarchy who were with the pope during this encounter. As such, it is impossible to trace back to an original documented source. After its initial publication in 1933, a German writer, Fr. Bers, attempted to find the origins of this prophecy for a 1934 article titled "Die Gebete nach der hl. Messe" (Theol-Prakt. Quartalschrift 87, 162-163). During his investigation, Fr. Bers failed to find any concrete source, leaving him to conclude that the prophecy was a later invention that was "spreading like a virus". However, 13 years after Fr. Bers had initially failed to find the original source of this prophecy, an eyewitness to the events behind the institution of the St. Michael Prayer eventually came forward. Writing in 1947, Fr. Domenico Pechenino, a priest who worked at the Vatican during the time of Leo XIII, provides a first-hand account of these events:
“Finally, as though coming to his senses, he lightly but firmly tapped his hand and rose to his feet. He headed for his private office. His retinue followed anxiously and solicitously, whispering: ‘Holy Father, are you not feeling well? Do you need anything?’ He answered: ‘Nothing, nothing.’ About half an hour later, he called for the Secretary of the Congregation of Rites and, handing him a sheet of paper, requested that it be printed and sent to all the ordinaries around the world. What was that paper? It was the prayer that we recite with the people at the end of every Mass. It is the plea to Mary and the passionate request to the Prince of the heavenly host, (St. Michael: Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle) beseeching God to send Satan back to hell."
(Fr. Domenico Pechenino, quoted in the 1955 Roman journal Ephemerides Liturgicae V. LXIX, pp 54–60)
Although he leaves out any mention of Pope Leo hearing a conversation between God and the Devil, and the prophecy of the 100 years of Satan's greater power, the fact that it was written 14 years after the original version of this prophecy first appeared in print would suggest that Fr Pechenino presumes that readers are already aware of the contents of the prophecy, and is merely writing to confirm what he saw that day. Fr. Bers had noted in 1934 that this prophecy was already in wide circulation, and was "spreading like a virus", so it was certainly well-known by the time Fr. Pechenino was providing his eyewitness testimony, and we can be sure that he was aware of it. It seems that the real reason Fr. Pechenino leaves out any mention of the 100 years element of this vision is due to the simple fact that he did not actually hear or see the vision himself, but was rather relating how he witnessed Pope Leo experiencing this event. Given that Fr. Pechenino is recalling these events solely as an observer, he could not have possibly known the content of the vision at this time, since by his own admission, the Holy Father did not reveal to him exactly what he saw or heard. He only knew that the Pope had composed the St. Michael Prayer immediately after this episode, which runs as following:
The St. Michael Prayer
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
The fact that Fr. Pechenino's account confirms the later 1933 version, can be used to establish that the prophecy of the 100 years of Satan's greater power is in fact genuine. If we compare both texts above, we can see that Fr Pechenino's testimony concurs almost exactly with the original version of the story behind the prophecy. The only difference is that Fr. Pechenino was not told exactly what Pope Leo experienced during this vision, which suggests that the Holy Father confided what he saw to someone else - the retinue who Fr. Pechenino saw following the pope afterwards and was questioning him. Being a member of his personal entourage, the retinue would have been a close confidant of the pope, and the details of the vision were probably given to him. This would make the retinue the most likely source of this prophecy, and how it was circulated in the Vatican.
But when should this 100 year period be calculated from? Most interpreters think that the hundred years referred to the 20th century, and some later versions of this prophecy explicitly state this view. While the original version doesn't mention a specific starting point, there are only two real options - either the year the vision was first received, which according to the first account was 1884, or the turn of the century. It seems the latter position is the most likely, since in what he himself described as the "greatest act of my pontificate", Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11th 1899, as requested by Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (see here). Since this was obviously a date of utmost importance to the pontiff, and it commenced at a symbolically significant turning point (the end of the century), it would be logical to assume that the dawn of the 20th century was the beginning of the 100 years allotted to Satan.
In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
(Rev 1:16-18)
The fact that Christ is holding an arrangement of stars in his hand, and then immediately afterwards informs us "I have the keys of Death and Hades", suggests that the keys to the abyss are to be directly identified with these seven stars. It also suggests that this arrangement of stars is in some way a remarkable and unique event involving the wandering planets, rather than being a fixed constellation comprised of seven stars. If the seven stars held in the hand of Jesus are interpreted as an alignment of the seven classical planets, then it would follow that the opening and closing of the abyss would be marked by the appearance of such phenomena:
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
(Rev 20:1-3)
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
(Rev 20:7-8)
The amillennial approach towards the interpretation of the millennium, first forwarded by St. Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century, has been almost universally accepted by Catholic theologians as the standard for interpreting this prophecy for over 1600 years. In chapter XX of his monumental work City of God, St. Augustine equated the "millennium" with the age of the Church. For St. Augustine, the beginning of the "millennium" or age of the Church is thus traced back to ministry of Christ, when Jesus bound the power of Satan through his sacrifice on the Cross. As St. Augustine points out, this is alluded to by Christ Himself in the Gospels:
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself says,
No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man— meaning by the strong man the devil, because he had power to take captive the human race; and meaning by his goods which he was to take, those who had been held by the devil in various sins and iniquities, but were to become believers in Himself. It was then for the binding of this strong one that the apostle saw in the Apocalypse
an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he laid hold,he says,
on the dragon, that old serpent, which is called the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,— that is, bridled and restrained his power so that he could not seduce and gain possession of those who were to be freed. (St. Augustine of Hippo, City of God, XX:7)
For the past 1,600 years, Roman Catholic teaching on the millennium has developed around St. Augustine's amillennial view of the Apocalypse - a long history of interpretation which would eventually shape magisterial teaching on eschatology and the development of the Catechism. According to the amillennialist position, the millennium is not a literal thousand year period, but rather it represents a very long period of time during which the power of Satan is restricted, in order to allow the spread of the Gospel. The strong man is Satan, whilst the phrase the "strong man's house" refers to the Devil as the lord of this world:
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
(2 Cor 4:3-4)
In Matt 12:29, Christ tells us that in order for Him to plunder the worldly realm of Satan and open the eyes of unbelievers to the Gospel, He would first have to "bind the strong man". Although evil still exists during this period, and Satan can still interfere with human affairs, his power would be limited in order to facilitate the growth of the Gospel. As the Catechism teaches, even though Satan was definitively defeated by Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross, the reign of Christ's kingdom on earth in the Church will always be subject to the attacks of evil powers until the creation of the new heaven and the new earth after the Last Judgement:
Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God."
(CCC 671)
The Book of Revelation tells us that this "millennium" or age of the Church will come to a close towards the end of the world, when Satan would once again be set loose for "a little while" to deceive the inhabitants of the earth, and gather the nations together for war. During this age of apostasy, Satan would once again have the power to blind the minds of unbelievers from the light of the Gospel, and would be able to inhibit its growth. And given that this is exactly the situation we are faced with today in the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Great Apostasy, we can only be left to conclude that the "millennium", or age of the Church has already came to end, and that the forces of Satan have already been unbound. The Apocalypse tells us that once the forces of hell have been unleashed at the end of the "thousand years", they will gather the nations together for war, and surround the Heavenly Jerusalem, which represents the Church:
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city...
(Rev 20:7-9)
As St. Augustine elaborates:
The words,
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints and the beloved city,do not mean that they have come, or shall come, to one place, as if the camp of the saints and the beloved city should be in some one place; for this camp is nothing else than the Church of Christ extending over the whole world. And consequently wherever the Church shall be—and it shall be in all nations, as is signified by
the breadth of the earth,— there also shall be the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and there it shall be encompassed by the savage persecution of all its enemies...
(City of God, XX:11)
The end of the "thousand years" in Rev 20 is the age spoken of by Christ in his eschatological discourse on Mount Olivet, when wars would increase in intensity and there would be a mass departure from the Faith - the age of the Great Apostasy, when the light of the Gospel would once again be veiled to the minds of unbelievers:
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
(Matt 24:6-12)
During this "little while" at the end of the "thousand years", Satan would be granted a period of greater power, much like in the Book of Job. Indeed the prophetic vision of Pope Leo XIII directly bases itself on the story of Job in the Old Testament. Here, Satan is granted greater power over Job, God's faithful servant, in order to test his level of faith. While Satan believes that he will be able to make Job turn his back on God by heaping atrocities upon him, the Heavenly Father is certain that Job will remain faithful in patient suffering. Job then has to endure a series of trials inflicted upon him at the hand of Satan, in order to prove his faithfulness to God. But in the vision of Leo XIII, the Church itself takes the place of Job.
During this new "trial of Job", Satan uses the increase in lawlessness (in the horrors of war and genocide) in an attempt to destroy peoples' faith in God, making the love of many grow cold. And in the light of the general apostasy which followed the horrors of the two World Wars and the genocides of the 20th century, it seems that this tactic has paid off spectacularly. Which isn't at all surprising, given the fact that the exposition of the philosophical problem of evil is one of the primary weapons of modern atheism. Once the "thousand years" were over, the forces of evil really did surround the City of God, and the Church is still being besieged by the modern secular values espoused in the principles of Freemasonry.
So if the "millennium" or age of the Church really did end at the turn of the 20th century, as is suggested by the prophecy of Pope Leo XIII, and indeed the actual unfolding of world events, we are left with the inescapable conclusion that the unbinding of Satan described in the Apocalypse is directly related to the two world wars. Turning back to the Book of Revelation, we find an earlier parallel reference to Satan being unbound from his prison in Rev 20, which is to be directly equated with the opening of the abyss in Rev 9. These two passages undoubtedly refer to the exact same event, only this time we are given the additional detail that the opening of the abyss at the end of the millennium or "age of the Church", would be marked not only by the "keys of the abyss" (which we have already established as an alignment of the seven classical planets) but also by a star falling to earth and the appearance of locust-like "demons":
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
(Rev 9:1-3)
In my book, I show how this prophecy of the appearance of demonic flying armour-clad locusts actually concerns the invention of military aircraft at the turn of the 20th century - right at the beginning of the 100 years of Satan's greater power. And that this was timed to exactly coincide with a "star" falling to earth - the Tunguska event of 1908 - when a large meteorite or asteroid exploded above the wilderness of Siberia (see the post Tunguska, Pope Leo XIII and the Opening of the Abyss, for further details on this subject). So just as the "little while" given to Satan mentioned in Rev 9 and 20 is marked by the appearance of the apocalyptic locusts and a star falling to earth, the beginning of the 100 years of Satan's greater power foretold by Pope Leo XIII coincided with the invention of military aircraft and the Tunguska event. In order to find out more information on what happens during the "little while" given to Satan, we must turn back to Rev 20, where we are told that after the Devil is released from his prison, he "will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea" (vv7-8). Once again, this corresponds almost exactly with the reality of the situation at the beginning of the 20th century - at the start of Satan's 100 years of greater power. The nations at the four corners of the earth truly were gathered together for battle, in the two greatest wars the world has ever known.
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
(Rev 16:12-16)
In the book, I argue that the three "woes" described in chapters 9-11 of the Book of Revelation correspond to three world wars, and that each of these "woes" are also represented by the three unclean spirits like frogs that issue from the mouths of the Dragon, False Prophet and the Beast. The first two woes refer to the two world wars, while the third woe represents the last great war - the battle of Armageddon. We are told above in Rev 16 that a noteworthy event precedes the coming of the unclean spirits of the Dragon, Beast and False Prophet to gather the nations for war - the drying up of the river Euphrates in Mesopotamia. It is interesting then to note that construction on the Hindiya Barrage on the river Euphrates lasted between the years 1911-1913 - just immediately before the outbreak of WWI in 1914. The Hindiya Barrage was the first modern dam erected on the Euphrates. During its construction, a new river bed was excavated and then inundated after its completion, while the old river bed was blocked with dams. So the Euphrates was indeed "dried up" just before the three demonic spirits began to assemble the armies of the whole world for battle. Which helps us to further establish that this parallel passage concerning the gathering of the nations for war is exactly the same event described as occurring at the end of the "thousand years":
"And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea." (Rev 20:7-8).
Also if we are to take the "75 years" element of this prophecy as an indication of a different date other than the end of the century, as an alternative span for determining the dates connected to Satan's "little while", then it is noteworthy that calculating 75 years from 1914 brings us to the year 1989 - the year of the fall of Communism. The fruits of the "spark from Poland" which St. Faustina predicted would pave the way for the Second Coming of Christ. In the earlier post The Three Days of Darkness and the Angelic Pope, we have already noted that this year was highly significant to the Third Secret of Fatima, especially given the connection with the dates which can be calculated from the 153 fish of the Second Pentecost (153 times 13 - the number of Jesus and the 12 apostles - gives 1989).
We can find even more evidence that the prophecy of Pope Leo XIII is directly concerned with the unbinding of Satan at the end of the "millennium", in that the vision was actually composed of two separate parts - one auditory, and one visionary. While the auditory element of this vision is legendary (Pope Leo hearing the conversation between God and the Devil), what is not so well known is that according to first-hand reports, the Holy Father simulateanously experienced a visionary element in this prophecy - where he seen a huge number of demonic spirits converging upon Rome. A vision which matches the events described at the end of the millennium in the Apocalypse perfectly:
"And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city"
(Rev 20:9)
Although it is virtually unheard of, the visionary element of this prophecy was recorded for posterity by Cardinal Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano. The aforementioned article in Ephemerides Liturgicae V. LXIX (which contained the testimony of Fr. Pechenino), also notes that Card. Corneliano gave an explanation for the exact wording of the St. Michael Prayer in his Pastoral Letters for Lent - stating that:
"the sentence 'The evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls' has a historical explanation that was many times repeated by his private secretary, Monsignor Rinaldo Angeli. Leo XIII truly saw, in a vision, demonic spirits who were congregating on the Eternal City (Rome). The prayer that he asked all the Church to recite was the fruit of that experience. He would recite that prayer with strong, powerful voice: we heard it many a time in the Vatican Basilica. Leo XIII also personally wrote an exorcism that is included in the Roman Ritual. He recommended that bishops and priests read these exorcisms often in their dioceses and parishes. He himself would recite them often throughout the day."
This would suggest that the original source of the prophecy of the 100 years of greater power was actually the Pope's private secretary - Mgr. Rinaldo Angeli, and that this is the same retinue mentioned by Fr. Pechenino - the one who followed the pope immediately after he received his vision. Given that Mgr. Angeli had been the Holy Father's private secretary since shortly after his election in 1878, this would make him the most likely candidate for the source of this prophecy.
On 18 May 1890, a different, much longer prayer to St. Michael was approved for use by Pope Leo XIII, which may help to shed some further light on the thoughts of the Holy Father after years of reflection on this vision. This is the same exorcism prayer in the Roman Ritual mentioned by Card. Corneliano:
O glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, defend us in battle, and in the struggle which is ours against the principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against spirits of evil in high places (Eph 6:12). Come to the aid of men, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil (Wis 2:23-24, 1 Cor 6:20).
Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of man has taken courage, Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.
In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.
Arise then, O invincible prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and bring them the victory.
The Church venerates thee as protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious powers of this world and of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude.
(Rituale Romanum, 6th ed. post typicam, (Ratisbon: Pustet 1898), 163ff).
Note that towards the end of the prayer, we find the rather telling statement: "do thou again make him captive in the abyss", which can only suggest that the prayer of Pope Leo XIII concerns the unleashing of Satan after he had already been captive in the abyss - i.e. after the "thousand years" were over. The era which Rev 20 tells us that a hoarde of demons would be unleashed from hell to encircle the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Holy City of Rome - a scenario which corresponds exactly with the vision experienced by Pope Leo XIII. In this respect, it is noteworthy then that Pope Leo XIII issued Humanum Genus (his encyclical against Freemasonry) in the exact year he was reported to have first received his famous vision - in April 1884. And the primary theme of this encyclical is based on St. Augustine's City of God:
The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator and the Giver of heavenly gifts, "through the envy of the devil," separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other of those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. The one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ; and those who desire from their heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation, must of necessity serve God and His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and with an entire will. The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of God, and many aims also against God.
2. This twofold kingdom St. Augustine keenly discerned and described after the manner of two cities, contrary in their laws because striving for contrary objects; and with a subtle brevity he expressed the efficient cause of each in these words: "Two loves formed two cities: the love of self, reaching even to contempt of God, an earthly city; and the love of God, reaching to contempt of self, a heavenly one."(1) At every period of time each has been in conflict with the other, with a variety and multiplicity of weapons and of warfare, although not always with equal ardour and assault. At this period, however, the partisans of evil seems to be combining together, and to be struggling with united vehemence, led on or assisted by that strongly organized and widespread association called the Freemasons. No longer making any secret of their purposes, they are now boldly rising up against God Himself. They are planning the destruction of holy Church publicly and openly, and this with the set purpose of utterly despoiling the nations of Christendom, if it were possible, of the blessings obtained for us through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
(Pope Leo XIII, Humanum Genus, 1884. See here for the full text)
(Pope Leo XIII, Humanum Genus, 1884. See here for the full text)
177 comments:
While the time period is of the 20th century, there is also the time period of 1917 (year of Fatima) to 2017. Pope Benedict referred to the completion of the Fatima secret on the 100th anniversary of Fatima (2017). This may be when Mary's victory is complete, and perhaps started with the May 13th consecration due in a couple of weeks. Which may be why there is a significant increase of war in the air, as the demons of hell know that their time is coming to an end. We will have to wait and see. Good analysis Emmett.
What about the statement from the BVM at Fatima when she said that after the consecration of Russia, there would be a period of peace? How long will this last?
I have it on excellent authority that the second 'Michael' prayer should not be uttered by any other than a trained exorcist. A word of warning.
I have not even read that part of your excellent post myself.
"Which may be why there is a significant increase of war in the air, as the demons of hell know that their time is coming to an end."
I think the spiritual battle has really increased, at least in western nations. So many people are suffering mental illness which I believe has to do in large part with demonic attack that eventually impacts brain chemistry. My grandma is nearing 90 and says many of her elderly friends are suffering from depression and insomnia, they never previously had this. Likewise I know people who slept soundly who can no longer sleep properly.
Most tellingly recently I spoke to a remarkable nun who is aged 97 - she is extremely mentally sharp and has been working close with people her entire life, she received her habit in 1936! She commented that in recent times she finds it perplexing that so many are suffering mental problems and insomnia and "back in the day" it was nowhere near this level, essentially something has gone awry. Consider also back in the 40's, 50's there was WW2 and its aftermath, the Cold War etc yet people feel more angst now. These maladies may also be related to people feeling an angst about what lies ahead, even if they aren't religious, alarm bells are ringing their intuitive faculties.
Brilliant post Emmett. It absolutely makes sense about Satan being let loose in this period of the twentieth century. Jamey, on your comment about depression etc, I remember Fr Gabriel Amorth said aside from clinical depression, there is a form of demonic possession that gives these same symptoms.
Just to be clear, Pope Benedict didnt say the Triumph would occur by 2017, but the prayer was to hasten the triumph. He carefully clarifies this issue in "Light of the World" pg 161 if my memory serves me correctly. Going back to the issue that Emmett has explained, there is a book called Sign of Contradiction by Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (future Pope John Paul II) which were the compilation of the Lenten retreat meditations he gave to Paul VI in 1976. In there he explains how our era is suited to the final confrontation saying the temptation of Satan in ch 3 of Genesis "you will be like God" has now found the historical era in which it finds fullest expression. It is well worth reading the entire book. It is not a well known text for some reason but a stunning account of the gravity of our times. He also quotes the passage of St Paul about the coming of the Antichrist-basically showing how all this apostasy leads to it.
Thanks Anon!
benjoyce - I believe that the "era of peace" promised by Our Lady of Fatima corresponds to the Second Pentecost, and the conversion of the Jews etc. which must take place before the Second Coming of Christ. I don't think this period will last very long at all, given the fact that the very people who bring about the conversion of the Jews, and re-establish Christian unity - the Two Witnesses, will be put to death by the Antichrist. This corresponds exactly with the prophecies of the Angelic Pope and Great Monarch, whose ministry is placed directly before the coming of the Antichrist. So, going from this, I would say that there will only be a few decades between this time of conversion before the coming of the Antichrist/Second Coming/end of the world. This would correspond with the Church approved prophecies of La Salette, which stated that the period of peace after the reflourishing of Christianity would not last a long time before the coming of the Antichrist.
Thanks Richard!
I haven't heard that before... Thanks for the heads up! I won't be reading that prayer out loud then... I would imagine for it to have its full effect, it would have to be spoken in Latin.
Jamey - as you say in response to anon above, there definitely seems to be an increase in demonic activity in recent times. Stephen mentions in his book about Fr. Amorth commenting on the surge in diabolical activity in recent times. I think a lot of the spiritual imbalance and mental illnesses today is due to the proliferation of narcotics.
Stephen - Thanks for bringing that book of JPII to my attention! I'll have to get that one. I believe that Satan has chosen this exact point in history so that he can truly tempt us to become "like gods".
The prophecies of St. Hildegard in Scivias also seem to indicate that the Antichrist is conceived as a result of the Great Apostasy.
Perhaps this "conception" comes about from the synthetic biology and/or transhuman technology, which is now possible in our times. Actually, it may have once been available during the times of the Niphilim, until the Lord caused the great Flood to recorrect the genetic code. Because the life created was artificial, no soul is infused; hence the Anti-Christ (a man shell that Satan can enter; whereas, he cannot enter a normal soul other than possession, due to the guarantee of free will from the Father). This would fit St. Hildegard's prophecy. So, if the anti-Christ is born now (perhaps already born), we will see him in a few decades. We will see.
what do you think of a typology of the life of Christ with the history of the church?
Emmett, just an observation from your latest entry:
the date that you give for the second St Michael prayer precedes by 30 years the birthday of the "spark from Poland"
Karen
I think it to be strange that Satan's power would last for 100 years (and in fact, I would argue that his power has been building slowly for at least 500 years if not longer, before coming to full noxious flowering in our times) and Our Lady's "triumph" would last only 40 years or so before Satan takes over again.
As far as the Pope Leo XIII prophecy, you make some good points. The prophecy does fit well with the amillenialist view. On the other hand, I don't believe that the prophecy poses any difficulty for Fr. Iannuzzi's view either.
It has been interesting to read your posts and Mark Mallett's lately. At any rate, it probably won't be too long before we find out.
Thanks for pointing that out Karen!
It seems that the birth of Bl. John Paul II may be in some way the answer to the St. Michael Prayer...
Thanks Dave! I agree with you on Satan's power growing since the Reformation. In fact, as you say, I would date the increase of this power before even that, back to the Great Schism in 1054. So in a way, we really do have a literal thousand years of Church unity, before Satan gets his foot back in the door according to the axiom "Divide and Conquer". However the Gospel was still able to be spread, right up until the 20th century.
The real triumph can only be won through the final Passover of the Church, foreseen in the Third Secret of Fatima. The best analogy I can think of is that if the Church must endure this final Passover at the hands of the Antichrist, then the Second Pentecost will be like the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, just before its crucifixion. The ultimate triumph of Christianity can only be won on the cross and in the Resurrection.
I think this might go some way to answer your question anon, about the typology of the life of Christ with the history of the Church.
Emmett,
We are in full accord on the issue of the beginning of Satan's increased power with the Great Schism. As you said, "divide and conquer." Harmony and unity are of God. As time has gone on, it has been something of a "snowball effect" of evil starting with that first rupture.
Interesting point you make...perhaps Mary's Triumph is a sort of a Palm Sunday. We shall see. God bless!
At any rate, unless the Lord really means to make Pope Francis a special pope, the supernatural events along the lines of the Red Sea parting, raising of the dead, etc that you expect in the reign of the angelic pope has not come about yet, which what you will need to convert nations. It may not in our lifetimes, but generations away. You give interesting interpretations, but anything can be made to be fit too. Ultimately, the RCC will know when the anti-Christ is here, and proclaim it, so we know who our enemy is. The Holy Spirit surely would not withhold this information from His Bride. Since the RCC has not said a word on this, we can feel confident that our generation will not see these things. Fun to speculate though.
Thanks, Emmett, for this great post and the research about the vision of Pope Leo. A couple thoughts.
1)It makes so much sense about the 20th century being under Satan, especially in light of the two world wars. They were truly the pinnacle of evil, ending with an atomic bomb. That truly altered the course of human history in an unprecedented way.
2) There is always hope. Blessed James Alberione (our Founder) had a profound spiritual experience on the night between the 19th and 20th centuries. During 4 hours of Eucharistic adoration, he realized his mission from God was to use the media to fight the evil in the world. He also wrote that the thought of the people of the new century was uppermost in his mind, how could they receive the Gospel message? So at the same time Satan was coming into his greater power, God was also raising up people to meet the challenge. Not only Alberione but many others.
3) With respect to the previous commenter, I don't know why it would be dangerous to pray the longer prayer to St. Michael, since it is addressed to Michael and not to the devils directly. I think it could be dangerous to try and say an exorcism prayer addressed directly to the devils though. That could get a person into the occasion of combating a force of evil too great for us to deal with.
Since Fatima seems very crucial to all this too, I added 75 years to 1917 and it comes to 1992. I'm not sure if that's significant, but in 1992 Pope John Paul issued the Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum (Guarding the Deposit of Faith) to inaugurate the new Catholic Catechism. It seems a fitting way to mark the beginning of the end of the great apostasy with a new statement of faith.
Good points Sr. Lorraine. I agree that as long as you don't confront evil directly like an exorcist, any prayer is pleasing to God. Hope is crucial for our times, and that ultimately Jesus and Mary will be victorious in the end. We just don't know the hour or day of the end. Even Jesus doesn't know it - apparently even now that He is in Heaven. There is knowledge being withheld from Him by the Father. I admit that theological aspect, while biblical, is over my head since Jesus is God, but the Father can still withhold information from him.
Emmett,
I feel that there are a few problems with your analysis here.
First, I would be very careful about putting too much stock into this alleged "prophecy" of Pope Leo XIII. For, as you even admit, there is no first person confirmation that this "vision" even occurred. And, even if it did occur, is not a church-approved private revelation anyway.
Secondly, I believe that your interpretation of Matthew 12:29 is flawed. You have the context wrong. When Christ talks about "binding" Satan he is not talking about the binding that occurs during the Millennium. He is replying to the Pharisees who accused Him of driving out devils by the power of Beelzebub. In talking about the "binding" of the strong man, Christ was asking how it was He could drive out Satan from the bodies of the possessed unless He was stronger than Satan and had first unarmed him.
Third, you continue to proffer the mistaken notion that amillenialism is somehow the Traditional or Definitive interpretation of the Millennium. This is not the case. It may be the popular interpretation (since the time of Augustine) but it is by no means THE Traditional interpretation - a point that Cardinal Ratzinger made in a 1990 interview with Rev. Penasa.
Fourth, let's say that Pope Leo's vision is true. Let's say Satan was granted greater power to deceive. Why should this automatically be interpreted as being synonymous with the loosening of Satan after the 1000 years? It could just as easily be interpreted as the assault that takes place by the False Prophet just PRIOR to the Millennium.
Fourth, you use the language in the exorcism prayer in the Roman Ritual mentioned by Cardinal Corneliano, specifically the phrase "do thou again make him captive in the Abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations", as evidence that the Millennium has already commenced. But Satan is not going back to the Abyss following the final defeat that occurs during the assault of Gog-Magog after the Millennium. Satan will be going to the Lake of Fire where the False Prophet and the armies of the Beast already reside. Two different places: the Lake of Fire and the Abyss.
Finally, you use the wars and genocide of the 20th century to argue that the 100 years of the Pope Leo's vision is synonymous with the loosening of Satan following the Millennium. But this is a myopic viewpoint - as myopic as those you argue that the Era of Peace commenced with the fall of the Soviet Union. The fact is that EVERY century since the time of Christ has been one of demonic war and genocide. The twentieth century had the benefit of increased populations and technology, but the quality of evil was no different than that of the preceding centuries. The "chaining" and "sealing" of Satan in the Abyss that occurs during the Millennium clearly describes a period of time when Satan will be prevented from deceiving the nations. Clearly, this has not happened, as anyone who is familiar with world history since the time of Christ's death and resurrection could attest.
"At any rate, unless the Lord really means to make Pope Francis a special pope, the supernatural events along the lines of the Red Sea parting, raising of the dead, etc that you expect in the reign of the angelic pope has not come about yet, which what you will need to convert nations. It may not in our lifetimes, but generations away."
Given the gravity of Akita I find it hard to see it being generations from now at most 100 hundred years from the apparition itself (so around 2-3 generations from now) but likely earlier given some of the signs we are currently observing.
Emmett assuming the 100 years began in 1900 wouldn't that mean we should be experiencing a decline of evil by now - or do you think the 100 years is approximate? Or do you think the 100 years refers to Satan accusing us in the heavenly court ala Job before being thrown out of there circa 1998? Apologies if I have missed something.
Miltonic Rhetoric,
The congregation for the Doctrine of Faith has already attested that an era of peace in history is a"doctrinal error" .This was signed by Cardinal Ratzinger, who also stated in 1977 that its a "schizoid expectation" to expect a millennial reign in the future. When writing my book I also asked two Cardinal Professors of theology what was the official position on Rev. They both absolutely ruled out an future millenium. Ratzinger's 1990 statement we dont know the context at all, and from his quotes before and after 1990, he displays a complete rejection on the theory. In his Midnight Mass homily of 2010 he prayed Lord, make your promise come fully true. Break the rods of the oppressors. Burn the tramping boots. Let the time of the garments rolled in blood come to an end. Fulfill the prophecy that “of peace there will be no end” (Is. 9:7). We thank you for your goodness, but we also ask you to show forth your power. Establish the dominion of your truth and your love in the world—the “kingdom of righteousness, love and peace"
Notice he asked for the peace with no end-NOT an temporal era that will have an end. The following year he said almost the same thing " In this time of ours, in this world of ours, cause the oppressors’ rods, the cloaks rolled in blood and the footgear of battle to be burned, so that your peace may triumph in this world of ours"
This is not a Pope prophecying or expecting in any way a millennium to come.
"The twentieth century had the benefit of increased populations and technology, but the quality of evil was no different than that of the preceding centuries."
I would argue the quality of evil is different - in many nations we now have close to 1 in 2 women ending the lives of their own children defying the most basic maternal instinct such is the disorientation of our times. The figure may be even greater than 1 in 2 however we do not know the number of children aborted by the morning after pill, Heaven alone does. Likewise many abortions are performed without there being records of them. Family life is largely destroyed. Likewise the sex scandals in the Church in the past century - surely it hasn't always been on such a proportional scale.
The technologies enabling all this metaphysically as well as physically ranging from the tv to the medical knowledge and associated devices have come from Satan's unbounding as will the ultimate - the mark of the beast. The "angel of the flaming sword" shows up at Fatima, the tree of life is being attacked, Akita an extension of Fatima mentions a looming chastisement by fire and scripture mentions the world will be consumed by fire - I believe all these things go together in conjunction with the quality of evil.
Rachmaninov,
Which quotes from the CDF and Ratzinger are you referring to?
Please cite them here.
The 1990 statement of Ratzinger (who was then Prefect of the CDF) was not taken out of context. If fact, the question posed to him had to do precisely with the possibility of a future "millenary reign".
Notification on Vassula Ryden from 1995, which contrary to what is sometimes claimed retains all its canonic force (as restated by Cardinal Levada in 2007). Its simple-an era of peace within history is ruled out.
Rachmaninov,
The key phrase in that Notification was "in Millenarian style..."
An Era of Peace "in Millenarian style" would be incorrect.
But I am not advocating an Era of Peace "in Millenarian style".
Millenarianism is a heresy. The Millennium is Revealed Truth, per Sacred Scripture.
The Church has not yet ruled on the proper interpretation of the Millennium.
And Era of Peace was never condemned per se. It was only condemned in connection with the heresy of Millenarianism which contains SPECIFIC traits that were condemned. The Era of Peace was not one of those traits.
The Mother of God foretold a period of peace in the Church APPROVED messages of Fatima. I'll take her at her word.
Milton Rhetoric,
As a matter of interest, do you believe in Fr Gobbi's revelations?
Miltonic,
In response to your first point, I have cited several sources which point to the authenticity of the prophecy of Pope Leo XIII. Also, this prophecy isn't in any way essential to this interpretation - it is based mostly on the Gospels, the Book of Revelation, and actual historical events. The prophecy of Pope Leo XIII is merely an different witness from private revelation which is by no means essential to this interpretation. Also if we are to limit ourselves exclusively to Church approved private revelations for establishing the duration of the era of peace, as you yourself suggest, this can only be found in the secrets of La Salette - which specifically states that it will not last a long time before the coming of the Antichrist. In addition, all the prophecies of the Angelic Pope (who establishes Christian unity, the conversion of the Jews etc.) place this pontificate directly before the coming of the Antichrist. And the Book of Revelation explicitly states that the ministry of the Two Witnesses who usher in the Second Pentecost, will be martyred under the Antichrist. So according to the Church approved private revelations and Scripture itself, the "era of peace"/Second Pentecost doesn't last a very long time at all before the coming of the Antichrist.
As to your second point Miltonic, since the time of St. Augustine, all Catholic theology has been based on interpreting the binding of the strong man in Matt 12 with the binding of Satan in Rev 20. This interpretation has been accepted by every single orthodox Catholic theologian, the vast majority of the Orthodox Church, the majority of Reformed theologians, as well as the majority of secular academics. This interpretation, taken by 99.999% of Catholic theologians since the time of St. Augustine, shaped the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God." That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him: Maranatha! "Our Lord, come!"
(CCC 671)
As to your third point, the Catechism of the Catholic Church condemns all forms of millenarianism - including modified or mitigated forms. Fr. Iannuzzi mistakenly limits the definition of the word "millenarian" as pertaining solely to a thousand year reign of Christ on the earth IN THE FLESH. This is most definitely not the case, and gives the word millenarianism specifics that it does not have. The word millenarianism is a broad term covering any idea where a utopia can be established on earth for a "thousand years" (or longer). Nazism was a secular form of millenarianism, as is Communism. Every single academic historian would describe Joachim de Fiore as a millenarian, and he proposed a future dispensation of the world purely in the Spirit, much like Fr. Iannuzzi. And Joachim was condemned for this by several popes.
The heresy of Christ reigning for a thousand years in the flesh is rather one type of the many, many different forms of Chiliasm or millennialism (either post or pre). Millennialism or Chiliasm are simply Christian forms (or mitigated forms) of Millenarianism - all of which are condemned by the Catechism:
"The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. the Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism."
Fr. Iannuzzi is alone in defining the word millenarianism as specifically relating only to Christ reigning in the flesh. Millenarianism is an umbrella term which includes all types of millennial theories positing a future realm of bliss on the earth, whether Christian, a spiritual reign of Christ or any other figure, pagan, or otherwise, or indeed secular.
Every single living theologian understands the word millenarian in this way except Fr. Iannuzzi - who is simply attempting to redefine its true meaning to fit his own agenda.
Fourth - the only mention of the unbinding of Satan in Scripture is in Rev 9 and 20 - and both these refer to the same event. There are not two unbindings of Satan, nor two antichrists separated by a thousand years. Also Satan is only cast into the lake of fire at the Last Judgment. The abyss is the prison, or Sheol, where lost souls are kept until the General Resurrection before the Last Judgment. The mention of the Beast and False Prophet being cast into the lake of fire also refers to the Last Judgment, and recapitulates the earlier material on this subject. They are actually all only thrown into the lake of fire at the Last Judgment.
Fifth - the quality of evil in the 20th century is of a completely different level to anything that has ever gone before it. The teachings of all the popes of the 20th century concur on this. Without the belief in God due to the proliferation of evolutionism, everything was reduced to a material level, giving rise to the eugenics movement which would result in not only the genocides of the Holocaust and abortion, but also the rise of Fascism and Communism. There was simply nothing on the scale of the industrialised slaughter of the 20th century ever before in the whole of human history.
As for your words:
"The "chaining" and "sealing" of Satan in the Abyss that occurs during the Millennium clearly describes a period of time when Satan will be prevented from deceiving the nations. Clearly, this has not happened, as anyone who is familiar with world history since the time of Christ's death and resurrection could attest."
The Catechism teaches that even though Satan's power was bound by Christ, evil will always exist up until the end of the world, quoting the following passages of Scripture:
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
(Rom 8:18-23)
"Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."
(1 Cor 15:24-28)
Jamey - Evil is always going to exist up to the final destruction of Satan at the end of the world. At the end of the "little while", Satan's power returns to its level before 1900 - which is still a considerable amount of power. It seems that the greatest extent of this power lasted between 1914-1989 - a period of 75 years. But symbolically speaking, it encompassed the whole century, and gave rise to the apostasy which St. Hildegard predicted would cause the birth of the Antichrist. The existence of evil will last right up until the destruction of the world by fire.
And just to chime in on Emmett's post on millenarianism, Pope Benedict in 2007 on the plane to Brazil stated liberation theology as a facile form of millenarianism. The simple fact is that liberation theology only promoted a socio/political solution for the poor-as opposed to the Kingdom of the Divine Well idea of Fr Iannuzzi et al, so for Benedict to condemn LB as a form of millenarianism without a shadow of a doubt means the temporal Kingdom theory is.
Emmett, you just stated that the angelic pope will unify the churches, convert the Jews (and I assume the Muslims as well), etc. This will be incredibly impossible for Pope Francis to do with his advanced age, and lack of supernatural power. Unless God plans to re-trigger that evident power like He did in the old days again....but how likely to happen? The Angelic Pope must still be in the future then.
Emmett et al,
Father Iannuzzi's interpretation of the Millennium has in no way been condemned as heretical nor has such a charge been demonstrated here. The simple fact remains that the Church has not yet ruled on the final interpretation of the Millennium and as long as one does not espouse the SPECIFIC components of Millenarianism, one is free to offer an opinion on the Millennium. The early Church Fathers wrote on the matter. St. Augustine wrote on the matter. Others have written on the matter. To pretend that St. Augustine's voice is somehow THE final, definitive, authoritative voice when the Church has not yet ruled on the matter, is a gross error that continues to be propagated here.
Rachmaninov, you ask if I believe in Father Gobbi's revelations. I am not familiar with them but if they are Church-approved private revelation then, yes, I would believe in them. The alleged prophecy of Pope Leo XIII is not only not verified (to my knowledge Pope Leo XIII never wrote anything on this alleged vision) but it is not yet approved. Therefore, I do not pay much attention to it in much the same way that I do not put stock in other unapproved private revelations (Medjugorje, Garabandal, etc.) when there are much more important APPROVED private revelations (Fatima, Our Lady of All Nations, ect.).
Emmett, regarding the "binding" of Satan that you cited in Matthew 12, I believe that you have the context wrong. Even the Haydock commentary (which is sympathetic to the amillenialist view) in my Douay-Rheims states that the context of the binding in Matthew 12:29 is related to the rite of exorcism and Christ's refutation of the Pharisees who accused him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. The reference her is not to the binding that occurs during the Millennium - which remains an open question.
Also, Emmett, I stand by my statement that the quality of evil as been the same in every century since the time of Christ. If you don't believe me, read the accounts of some of the saints who were tortured. For instance, St. Edmund Campion who was drawn and quartered. Or Saint Lawrence, who was roasted alive. Or any other number of Martyrs who were slowly tortured. Go read some of the accounts of the tortures and atrocities committed against the Vendee peasants during the Reign of Terror. The list can go on and on for EVERY century since the time of Christ. The quality of evil was no different in the 20th century. The quantity of carnage was the only difference, due to the advanced weaponry, tactics and populations.
And, again, even IF Pope Leo XIII's vision is real and is someday approved, it doesn't automatically equate to the "loosening" that occurs at the end of the Millennium. It might just as easily equate to the assault on the Church that is unleashed by the False Prophet and his armies. The False Prophet is the leader of the Beast (which represents Materialism). What do we see all around us today? Answer: Apostasy, the fruit of Materialism. The Church is being surrounded by it from all quarters right now (and even from within) but Revelation 19 clearly describes the defeat of the False Prophet (who I think you incorrectly identified as Hitler in a previous posting) and his armies. I look forward to the False Prophet's defeat.
Mlton Rethoric,
there is no way one can actually verify your "famous qupte" from the 1990 except a bok written by a priest - NOBODY ever corroborated the quote and it can not be found anywhere else. There is also no initial question and we all know how well the quotes cut&paste can be manipulated.
But there are abundance of quotes form Pope Benedect XVI both form the time when he was the head of the CDF and as Pope - which attest the contrary - and ALL of them could be found easily even on the web to check for anybody interested.
So, please, can you stop building you millennarian "proof" on a quote which is unprovable? Same goes for the ridiculous statement that amillennarian view is "just the most popular" one. It is not the most popular, it is a DOCTRINAL view, which is confirmed by articles of the CCC.
Anonymous,
The 1990 quote is taken from Rev. Iannuzzi's book. He includes the proper citation:
Rev. Martino Penasa spoke to Msgr. S. Garofalo (Consultant to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints) on the scriptural foundation of an historic and universal era of peace, as opposed to millenarianism. Msgr. suggested that the matter be posed directly to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Rev. Martino posed the question: “È imminente una nuova era di vita cristiana?” (“Is a new era of Christian life imminent?”). The Prefect at that time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger replied, “La questione è ancora aperta alla libera discussione, giacchè la Santa Sede non si è ancora pronunciata in modo definitivo”:
The question is still open to free discussion, as the Holy See has not made any definitive pronouncement in this regard. —Il Segno del Soprannauturale, Udine, Italia, n. 30, p. 10, Ott. 1990
So, in other words Anonymous, this quote has been documented.
Anonymous,
Which quotes from Cardinal Ratzinger "attest to the contrary"?
Which quotes from the Catechism establish amillenarianism as "the doctrinal view"?
Thanks for pointing out that Card. Ratzinger identified liberation theology as a type of millenarianism Stephen - which shows that it is being used in the broadest sense of the word to include secular and political ideologies rather than the very specific definition that Fr. Iannuzzi alone attaches to this word. Fr. Iannuzzi mistakenly equates millenarianism with Chiliasm/millennialism, and builds his theories around the false presupposition that millenarianism is solely concerned with whether Christ will come in the flesh to establish a thousand year reign of peace on earth. The idea of Christ coming to reign on earth is the heresy of Chiliasm/millennialism (premillennialism to be specific) - which is a type of millenarianism. But the word millenarianism this is most definitely not to be confused with the limited sense that Chiliasm has - i.e. Christ coming to reign in the flesh. Postmillennialism - the form of millennialism that Fr. Iannuzzi proposes, is also a form of millenarianism - a kind of millennialism which proposes that humanity can create a Christian utopia on earth through a progressive ascendancy - which is also specifically condemned by the Catechism. In condemning all forms of millenarianism, the Catechism is condemning the idea that humanity can create a utopia here on earth without the presence of God. It states that the only way that we can enter such a paradise is through the final Passover of the Church at the hands of the Antichrist, before its resurrection at the Last Judgment and the creation of the new heaven and new earth. This final Passover of the Church is one of the predominant themes in the vision of the Third Secret of Fatima.
In condemning all forms of millenarianism, the Catechism condemns both premillennialism and postmillennialism - which are simply two specifically Christian forms of millenarianism. There are only three positions on the millennium that anyone can adhere to - premillennialism, postmillennialism or amillennialism. Given that the Catechism condemns all forms of millenarianism (which immediately rules out premillennialism and postmillennialism), this leaves amillennialism as the one and only option.
Stephen - it is also worth noting that the form of millenarianism that the Catechism specifically condemns as the worst of all is "secular messianism". So we know for definite that it is not limiting its condemnation to a very specific Christian form of millenarianism which proposes that Christ will come in the flesh to rule a thousand years. Secular messianism is a political ideology - a gross form of nationalism which proposes that the state can create a utopian society. This includes both political extremes of National Socialism and Communism.
So its condemnation includes even secular and political forms of millenarianism - not just the Christian forms of premillennialism/chiliasm and postmillennialism.
Emmett, yes I agree completely, and isnt it the irony that those who warn of the imminent coming of the Antichrist before a millenium are the very ones the CCC refers to: "The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment"
If is wasnt so serious, it would be quite funny.
Miltonic, in regards for your claim that I have the context wrong for the binding of Satan, by linking it to the binding of the strong man in Matt 12:29. Catholics have held that the binding of Satan occurred in the ministry and Death of Christ since St. Augustine. The whole Catechism is written from an amillennial perspective, which holds that Satan's ultimate defeat was won by the ministry of Christ and his Death on the Cross.
Not only does the notion of a future invisible Eucharistic reign of Christ for a "thousand years" deny that Jesus has been reigning invisibly in the Eucharist since He first instituted the Last Supper nearly two thousand years ago, but it also denies that Christ's sacrifice on the Cross achieved the single greatest victory over Satan, and that the effects of this victory began in His ministry and Passover. Here is what the Catechism has further to say about the defeat of Satan on the Cross, and Christ being given the keys of Death and Hades as a result:
"Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." Jesus, "the Author of life", BY DYING DESTROYED "him who has the power of death, that is, THE DEVIL, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage." HENCEFORTH the risen Christ holds "THE KEYS OF DEATH AND HADES", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."
(CCC 635)
"Such a battle and such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission and in the ultimate struggle of his agony. In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony."
(CCC 2849)
Victory over the "prince of this world" was won once for all at the Hour when Jesus freely gave himself up to death to give us his life. This is the judgment of this world, and the prince of this world is "cast out." "He pursued the woman" but had no hold on her: the new Eve, "full of grace" of the Holy Spirit, is preserved from sin and the corruption of death (the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, Mary, ever virgin). "Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring." Therefore the Spirit and the Church pray: "Come, Lord Jesus," since his coming will deliver us from the Evil One.
When we ask to be delivered from the Evil One, we pray as well to be freed from all evils, present, past, and future, of which he is the author or instigator. In this final petition, the Church brings before the Father all the distress of the world. Along with deliverance from the evils that overwhelm humanity, she implores the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance in expectation of Christ's return By praying in this way, she anticipates in humility of faith the gathering together of everyone and everything in him who has "the keys of Death and Hades," who "is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
(CCC 2853-2854)
Emmett,
Nowhere has Rev. Iannuzzi proposed (in your words) "create a Christian utopia on earth through a progressive ascendancy". That is false. Have you read his book?
Second, the Church has not defined amillenialism as THE interpretation of the Millennium and you have yet to document that claim.
Anon - Sometimes the com-box does irritating things when you try to post stuff. I have your posts in my email - so I'll try to post them for you instead.
Fr. Iannuzzi proposes that there will be a historic triumph of the Church, leading to a "thousand year" era of peace during which Satan will be bound. The name of one of his books says it all: "The Triumph of God's Kingdom in the Millennium". This triumph of the Church in history is in direct contradiction of the Catechism:
"The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven. God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world."
The "progressive ascendancy" the Catechism refers to here is specifically arguing against the postmillennialist position, which holds that there will be a triumph of the Church on earth before the Coming of Christ in glory - exactly the position Fr. Iannuzzi adheres to.
I've already pointed out to you numerous times that the Catechism condemns all types of millenarianism. This leaves amillennialism as the only option. The Catechism is the document which defines amillennialism as the Catholic Church's position on the millennium. A position which it has held for the past 1,600 years.
Ok, put it like this Miltonic - given that the Catechism has condemned all types of millenarianism - even modified or mitigated forms - what room does this leave for other positions on the millennium?
"Which quotes from the Catechism establish amillenarianism as "the doctrinal view"?"
THESE are the articles of the CCC which deal with Kingdom of God, Last Judgement and "era of peace" - NOWHERE, and I underline, NOWHERE is there any mentioning about the EARTHLY "era of peace" and the Kingdom of God through the Church and Sacraments id clearly stated to have been started right after the Ascencion - which IS an amillenial position in it's core.
673 Since the Ascension Christ's coming in glory has been imminent,565 even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority."566. This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed".567
674 The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus.568 St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old."569 St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"570 The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles",571 will enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ", in which "God may be all in all".572
The Church's ultimate trial
675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.573 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth574 will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. the supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.575
676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. the Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,576 especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.577
677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.578 The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven.579 God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.580
IN BRIEF
680 Christ the Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the things of this world are not yet subjected to him. the triumph of Christ's kingdom will not come about without one last assault by the powers of evil.
681 On Judgement Day at the end of the world, Christ will come in glory to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil which, like the wheat and the tares, have grown up together in the course of history.
682 When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works, and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace.
II. "Thy Kingdom Come"
2816 In the New Testament, the word basileia can be translated by "kingship" (abstract noun), "kingdom" (concrete noun) or "reign" (action noun). the Kingdom of God lies ahead of us. It is brought near in the Word incarnate, it is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and it has come in Christ's death and Resurrection. the Kingdom of God has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst. the kingdom will come in glory when Christ hands it over to his Father:
It may even be . . . that the Kingdom of God means Christ himself, whom we daily desire to come, and whose coming we wish to be manifested quickly to us. For as he is our resurrection, since in him we rise, so he can also be understood as the Kingdom of God, for in him we shall reign.86
2817 This petition is "Marana tha," the cry of the Spirit and the Bride: "Come, Lord Jesus."
Even if it had not been prescribed to pray for the coming of the kingdom, we would willingly have brought forth this speech, eager to embrace our hope. In indignation the souls of the martyrs under the altar cry out to the Lord: "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?" For their retribution is ordained for the end of the world. Indeed as soon as possible, Lord, may your kingdom come!87
2818 In the Lord's Prayer, "thy kingdom come" refers primarily to the final coming of the reign of God through Christ's return.88 But, far from distracting the Church from her mission in this present world, this desire commits her to it all the more strongly. Since Pentecost, the coming of that Reign is the work of the Spirit of the Lord who "complete(s) his work on earth and brings us the fullness of grace."89
2819 "The kingdom of God (is) righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."90 The end-time in which we live is the age of the outpouring of the Spirit. Ever since Pentecost, a decisive battle has been joined between "the flesh" and the Spirit.91
Only a pure soul can boldly say: "Thy kingdom come." One who has heard Paul say, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies," and has purified himself in action, thought and word will say to God: "Thy kingdom come!"92
2820 By a discernment according to the Spirit, Christians have to distinguish between the growth of the Reign of God and the progress of the culture and society in which they are involved. This distinction is not a separation. Man's vocation to eternal life does not suppress, but actually reinforces, his duty to put into action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace.93
678 Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching.581 Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light.582 Then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God's grace as nothing be condemned.583 Our attitude to our neighbour will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love.584 On the Last Day Jesus will say: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."585
679 Christ is Lord of eternal life. Full right to pass definitive judgement on the works and hearts of men belongs to him as redeemer of the world. He "acquired" this right by his cross. the Father has given "all judgement to the Son".586 Yet the Son did not come to judge, but to save and to give the life he has in himself.587 By rejecting grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of love.588
V. The Last Judgment
1038 The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust,"621 will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment."622 Then Christ will come "in his glory, and all the angels with him .... Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.... and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."623
1039 In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare.624 The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life:
All that the wicked do is recorded, and they do not know. When "our God comes, he does not keep silence.". . . he will turn towards those at his left hand: . . . "I placed my poor little ones on earth for you. I as their head was seated in heaven at the right hand of my Father - but on earth my members were suffering, my members on earth were in need. If you gave anything to my members, what you gave would reach their Head. Would that you had known that my little ones were in need when I placed them on earth for you and appointed them your stewards to bring your good works into my treasury. But you have placed nothing in their hands; therefore you have found nothing in my presence."625
1040 The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvellous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. the Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God's love is stronger than death.626
1041 The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them "the acceptable time, . . . the day of salvation."627 It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to the justice of the Kingdom of God. It proclaims the "blessed hope" of the Lord's return, when he will come "to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all who have believed."628
VI. Hope of the New Heaven and the New Earth
1042 At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. the universe itself will be renewed:
The Church . . . will receive her perfection only in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the renewal of all things. At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely related to man and which attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ.629
1043 Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, "new heavens and a new earth."630 It will be the definitive realization of God's plan to bring under a single head "all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth."631
1044 In this new universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among men.632 "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."633
1045 For man, this consummation will be the final realization of the unity of the human race, which God willed from creation and of which the pilgrim Church has been "in the nature of sacrament."634 Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, "the holy city" of God, "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."635 She will not be wounded any longer by sin, stains, self-love, that destroy or wound the earthly community.636 The beatific vision, in which God opens himself in an inexhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual communion.
1046 For the cosmos, Revelation affirms the profound common destiny of the material world and man:
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God . . . in hope because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay.... We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.637
1047 The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, "so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just," sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ.638
1048 "We know neither the moment of the consummation of the earth and of man, nor the way in which the universe will be transformed. the form of this world, distorted by sin, is passing away, and we are taught that God is preparing a new dwelling and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, in which happiness will fill and surpass all the desires of peace arising in the hearts of men."639
1049 "Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human society."640
1050 "When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enterprise . . . according to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them once again, cleansed this time from the stain of sin, illuminated and transfigured, when Christ presents to his Father an eternal and universal kingdom."641 God will then be "all in all" in eternal life:642
True and subsistent life consists in this: the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, pouring out his heavenly gifts on all things without exception. Thanks to his mercy, we too, men that we are, have received the inalienable promise of eternal life.643
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IN BRIEF
1051 Every man receives his eternal recompense in his immortal soul from the moment of his death in a particular judgment by Christ, the judge of the living and the dead.
1052 "We believe that the souls of all who die in Christ's grace . . . are the People of God beyond death. On the day of resurrection, death will be definitively conquered, when these souls will be reunited with their bodies" (Paul VI, CPG # 28).
1053 "We believe that the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in Paradise forms the Church of heaven, where in eternal blessedness they see God as he is and where they are also, to various degrees, associated with the holy angels in the divine governance exercised by Christ in glory, by interceding for us and helping our weakness by their fraternal concern" (Paul VI, CPG # 29).
1054 Those who die in God's grace and friendship imperfectly purified, although they are assured of their eternal salvation, undergo a purification after death, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of God.
1055 By virtue of the "communion of saints," the Church commends the dead to God's mercy and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, on their behalf.
1056 Following the example of Christ, the Church warns the faithful of the "sad and lamentable reality of eternal death" (GCD 69), also called "hell."
1057 Hell's principal punishment consists of eternal separation from God in whom alone man can have the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.
1058 The Church prays that no one should be lost: "Lord, let me never be parted from you." If it is true that no one can save himself, it is also true that God "desires all men to be saved" (⇒ 1 Tim 2:4), and that for him "all things are possible" (⇒ Mt 19:26).
1059 "The holy Roman Church firmly believes and confesses that on the Day of Judgment all men will appear in their own bodies before Christ's tribunal to render an account of their own deeds" (Council of Lyons II [1274]: DS 859; cf. DS 1549).
1060 At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. Then the just will reign with Christ for ever, glorified in body and soul, and the material universe itself will be transformed. God will then be "all in all" (⇒ 1 Cor 15:28), in eternal life.
Those articles were for MILTONIC RHETHORIC - and not even ONE mentions any earthly era of peace BEFORE the Last Judgement - which means there is no Millennium before the Second coming to happen, the so called Millennium we are living now, and started almost 2000 years ago
"So, in other words Anonymous, this quote has been documented."
No, it HAS NOT. It is hearsay at best - somebody heard and told somebody who put those words in the book - there is NO DOCUMENT to independently check the words without relaying on other people's words.
Emmett, I would just like to add this little article into the mix if I may. It was written 40 years ago by a priest, Fr Eusebio De Pesquera in a magazine 'Needles' - a wonderful name for such - and Father ends with these words: "In all sincerity, friends, I am sharing with you my impression, so manifest, of St Michael in the mystery of Garabandal, gives us much food for thought."
http://www.garabandal.us/the-presence-and-manifest-action-of-saint-michael-at-garabandal-2/
Karen
Anonymous,
Not one article you cited from the Catechism mentions that the era of peace cannot happen. And not one article from the Catechism that you cited stated or implied that amillenialism is THE DEFINITIVE interpretation of the Millennium. I am not sure why you used those citations from the Catechism, but they do not support your argument. You fail to realize that the allegorical interpretation of the Millennium (amillenialism) may in fact be correct on one level. But passages of Sacred Scripture often have multiple layers of meaning (allegorical, literal, etc.). All I am saying is that the Church has not yet defined the FINAL, DEFINITIVE interpretation of the Millennium. You are presuming that which the Church has not yet to defined.
In fact, the Mother of God has told us that a period of peace WILL happen. She said so in the Church APPROVED apparition at Fatima. She doesn't bluff.
As to the citation offered by Rev. Iannuzzi in his book, you are correct that it is hard to verify since it was taken from an Italian interview in 1990. But it could easily be verified. Write to Rev. Iannuzzi and get back to us with the results.
Miltonic,
EVERY& article cited has NO MENTIONING of any millennium era of peace - and that is totally enough to rule it out - one does not talk about something unexistent to regulate it, one talks only about existing matters.
Mother of God didn't tell US anything. The seers did - and that is a totally different issue.
Era of peace will happen AFTER the Last Judgement - and that is how it is written in the CCC and taught by the Magisterium.
Church does not have to define any millennium NOW - it has done it 1600 years ago by condemnig any idea of temporal Kingdom.
The idea is ruled out - it is a heresy, so stay away from it :-)
"As to the citation offered by Rev. Iannuzzi in his book, you are correct that it is hard to verify since it was taken from an Italian interview in 1990. But it could easily be verified. Write to Rev. Iannuzzi and get back to us with the results."
A hearsay is a hearsay. The words of one ( or even two) men without a clear published source without a context of the question - ARE NOT THE RELIABLE source for anything.
And even if the were - Pope Benedict XVI and CDF ruled on millenniaris in all forms AFTER the 1990 - so just by this definition of time frame your unrelaiable quote is debunked.
The quotes which prove that CDF and Pope ruled this heresy out were presented above so I am not going to repeat them ( becasue of the limitations of the blog posting)
Anonymous,
You accuse Rev. Iannuzzi of hearsay and then you engage in it yourself by claiming that the era of peace is a heresy without providing any evidence or citations to back up that assertion.
Please provide me one citation demonstrating that the era of peace is heresy or that amillenialism is the definitive interpretation of the Millennium.
Fatima is a Church approved apparition, whether you like it or not. The messages from the Mother of God there promising a period of peace are Church approved.
Now, I will provide you some citations that prove that the era of peace is possible.
In the book "The Teaching of the Catholic Church: A Summary of Catholic Doctrine (1952)" edited by Can. George D. Smith and bearomg the Church's required seals (Nihil Obstat Can. Mahoney, S.T.D.; Imprimatur E. Morrogh Bernard) we find the statement that it is not contray to Catholic teaching to believe or profess:
"a hope in some might triumph of Christ here on earth before the final consummation of all things. Such an occurrence is not excluded, is not impossible, it is not all certain that there will not be a prolonged period of triumphant Christianity before the end. ...If before that final end there is to be a period, more or less prolonged, of triumphant sanctity, such a result will be brought about, not by the apparition of the Person of Christ in Majesty but by the operation of those powers of sanctification which are now at work, the Holy Ghost and the Sacraments of the Church....The Chiliasts of all times...and there are many to be found even to date, seem to despair, not only of the world, but even of that dispensation of grace which was inaugurated at Pentecost; they expect from the visible presence of Christ a complete conversion of the world, as if such a happy result could not be otherwise brought about."
And in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 715, we find this statement:
"The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the promise, with the accents of 'love and fidelity.' St. Peter will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost. According to these promises, at the "end time" the Lord's Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace."
And, we also have this statement of Pope Leo XIII made in 1899 during the Consecration to the Sacred Heart:
"It will at length be possible that our many wounds be healed and all justice spring forth again with the hope of restored authority; that the splendors of peace be renewed, and the swords and arms drop from the hand and when all men shall acknowledge the empire of Christ and willingly obey His word, and every tongue shall confess that the Lord Jesus is in the Glory of the Father."
Peace everyone. All this back and forth really means nothing because Pope Francis is not the Angelic Pope/ Shepherd...at least, not yet because there has been no outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a supernatural way. There is no way Pope Francis can convert the Jews, Muslims, unify the Churches in his advanced age; however, humble he is. It is obvious that God the Father has not chosen to augment his papacy. I am afraid the honeymoon is over. God Bless everyone.
Well, for one thing, I think it is completely ruled out to say that the "era of peace" will occur AFTER the last judgment. Why? Because after the last judgment, that will not be an "era" at all. An ERA presupposes two things, 1) that there is time, and 2) that the era will eventually end.
You can either believe, as Emmett does, that the Era of Peace will be a short interlude, or that it will be a longer period of time, but it can't be the eternity that takes place after the last judgment.
Agreed about the peace bit anon! Obviously the only thing that can suffice to convince Miltonic will be an outright and specific condemnation of Fr. Iannuzzi's work by the CDF. But given that the CDF operates on a glacial mode, I'm just trying to point out that this position is already extremely precarious in the relation to the teachings of the Catechism, and runs counter to the continuous development of 1,600 years of Catholic theology. It's just a matter of time before it is condemned outright.
I agree that it's not a done deal that Pope Francis is the Angelic Pope, and the age thing is a problem; but there are a lot of prophecies pointing to the significance of this papacy in particular. So we'll have to wait and see on that score.
To Miltonic Rhetoric
All your talking points have been already debunked 2 days ago by Emmet. I f you conveniently didn't see them, I'll repeat:
Blogger Emmett O'Regan said...
As to your second point Miltonic, since the time of St. Augustine, all Catholic theology has been based on interpreting the binding of the strong man in Matt 12 with the binding of Satan in Rev 20. This interpretation has been accepted by every single orthodox Catholic theologian, the vast majority of the Orthodox Church, the majority of Reformed theologians, as well as the majority of secular academics. This interpretation, taken by 99.999% of Catholic theologians since the time of St. Augustine, shaped the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God." That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him: Maranatha! "Our Lord, come!"
(CCC 671)
7 May 2013 10:32
Repeat for Miltonic Rhetoric
Emmett O'Regan said...
As to your second point Miltonic, since the time of St. Augustine, all Catholic theology has been based on interpreting the binding of the strong man in Matt 12 with the binding of Satan in Rev 20. This interpretation has been accepted by every single orthodox Catholic theologian, the vast majority of the Orthodox Church, the majority of Reformed theologians, as well as the majority of secular academics. This interpretation, taken by 99.999% of Catholic theologians since the time of St. Augustine, shaped the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God." That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him: Maranatha! "Our Lord, come!"
(CCC 671)
7 May 2013 10:32
"Fatima is a Church approved apparition, whether you like it or not. The messages from the Mother of God there promising a period of peace are Church approved."
Those are not the Messages directly from the Mother of God.
Those are the messages as the seers REMEMBER them being said and as the seers understood what was said. Not to even mention that revealed AFTER more than 20 years kept in secrecy - which also adds interpretative possibility of the children, now grown up.
As additional note even approved apparitions are NOT equivalent to the CCC and teachings of the Magisterium - one can believe them or not without being heretical or heterodox.
On the contrary, believing in condemned by Catholic Church doctrine of millennariasm, direct, or mitigated ( as in Fr. Ianuzzi variation) is a heresy
For Miltonic Rhetoric continued points which he obviusly missed:
Emmett O'Regan said...
As to your third point, the Catechism of the Catholic Church condemns all forms of millenarianism - including modified or mitigated forms. Fr. Iannuzzi mistakenly limits the definition of the word "millenarian" as pertaining solely to a thousand year reign of Christ on the earth IN THE FLESH. This is most definitely not the case, and gives the word millenarianism specifics that it does not have. The word millenarianism is a broad term covering any idea where a utopia can be established on earth for a "thousand years" (or longer). Nazism was a secular form of millenarianism, as is Communism. Every single academic historian would describe Joachim de Fiore as a millenarian, and he proposed a future dispensation of the world purely in the Spirit, much like Fr. Iannuzzi. And Joachim was condemned for this by several popes.
The heresy of Christ reigning for a thousand years in the flesh is rather one type of the many, many different forms of Chiliasm or millennialism (either post or pre). Millennialism or Chiliasm are simply Christian forms (or mitigated forms) of Millenarianism - all of which are condemned by the Catechism:
"The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. the Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism."
Fr. Iannuzzi is alone in defining the word millenarianism as specifically relating only to Christ reigning in the flesh. Millenarianism is an umbrella term which includes all types of millennial theories positing a future realm of bliss on the earth, whether Christian, a spiritual reign of Christ or any other figure, pagan, or otherwise, or indeed secular.
Every single living theologian understands the word millenarian in this way except Fr. Iannuzzi - who is simply attempting to redefine its true meaning to fit his own agenda.
7 May 2013 10:56
Not one article you cited from the Catechism mentions that the era of peace cannot happen. And not one article from the Catechism that you cited stated or implied that amillennialism is THE DEFINITIVE interpretation of the Millennium.
It is not INTERPRETATION - it is the core description of the amillennialism - all those CCC articles - IS AMILLENNIALISM by it's definition. It is it's description in details.
The CCC does not have to name it - since it condemned any type of milleennialism long time ago ( 1600 years ago) CCC does not bother to call a heresy by name, since it does not exist.
the description of the life on earth, the End Times and how is it related to the Catholic Church in CCC is amillennial to it's every letter
"Peace everyone. All this back and forth really means nothing because Pope Francis is not the Angelic Pope/ Shepherd...at least, not yet because there has been no outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a supernatural way. There is no way Pope Francis can convert the Jews, Muslims, unify the Churches in his advanced age; however, humble he is. It is obvious that God the Father has not chosen to augment his papacy. I am afraid the honeymoon is over. God Bless everyone."
As Emmett said a few graces come with the office and likely from the upcoming consecration on Monday. Someone at Rorate in a discussion summed up Francis' pontificate thus far well:
RipK said...'He keeps avoiding the word "Pope"....Houston! Do we have a problem?'
If he acts and speaks like a Pope but doesn't call himself Pope, do we have a problem? (Matthew 21:29-31)
"It's still too early to tell. Some aspects to his papacy are solid and better than the last few Popes (e.g. actually referring to the Devil, emphasizing the importance of private devotions, clear preaching understandable to high school students), some he seems to be holding the line, while in others there are a few red flags. But he's been Pope for scarcely a month and it takes time to grow into the Papacy. I'll expect we won't really know the true Pope Francis until a year from now. Either way, he's still the Pope.
"Peace everyone. All this back and forth"
Have you seen the militant atheists/radicals online, they are the greatest proponents of the back and forward. They know us Christians have our hands tied when it comes to being nasty and retorting - they are true cowards in every sense. Emmett have you ever debated an atheist in real life?
Emmett said: "Jamey - Evil is always going to exist up to the final destruction of Satan at the end of the world. At the end of the "little while", Satan's power returns to its level before 1900 - which is still a considerable amount of power. It seems that the greatest extent of this power lasted between 1914-1989 - a period of 75 years. But symbolically speaking, it encompassed the whole century, and gave rise to the apostasy which St. Hildegard predicted would cause the birth of the Antichrist. The existence of evil will last right up until the destruction of the world by fire."
If Satan was thrown from the "heavens" and fell like lightning to the Earth around 1998 then we are again dealing with another unique circumstance as he is truly with us now stirring the pot and prowling "around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
If anyone thinks that an era or period of peace is heretical, please turn to the following words spoken during the Mass:
"Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth..."
"Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ."
" Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live for ever and ever."
"Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: grant us peace."
"May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation,we pray, O Lord,
advance the peace and salvation of all the world..."
"Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ..."
"To you, therefore, most merciful Father, we make humble prayer and petition through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord: that you accept and bless these gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices, which we offer you firstly for your holy catholic Church. Be pleased to grant her peace, to guard, unite and govern her throughout the whole world..."
Has the Catholic Church ever known peace? I remember a priest saying the normative state of the Church is one of chaos and turbulence.
Miltonic I think those verses refer to peace in our own hearts and families whilst there will always be turbulence from the outside world. Sometimes during Mass or afterward we get a sense of Heaven and what is to come to sustain in this "valley of tears" that is what I think they are in reference to - spiritual peace and not necessarily physical peace. Look at some of the great martyrs and saints - in the most trying circumstances they had a peace that couldn't be taken away. St Maximilian Kolbe comes to mind when I read statements from other POW's regarding his spiritual state.
With all your arguments I think the strongest would be the statements from the very early Fathers as they learnt from the feet of the apostles themselves who learnt from our Lord although I think the problems your position poses outweighs the pros.
Yes Jamey, he is still the pope. That is not the issue. What is the issue, was the euphoric expectation that we were getting a miracle wonder-worker, someone so spectatular he was going to "conquer" the world with the Great Monarch. After all, wasn't that the interpretation of the angelic shepherd? As for giving him a year to get up to speed, unfortunately, Pope Francis is not a young man. I cannot see him doing all these things, even when the consecration is done on Monday. This is where the pragmatism of Pope Emeritus Benedict takes over in the sense that these incredible feats cannot be expected to be accomplished. However, he admitted that he was not the right man with that kind of faith. He complained that it seemed that God was asleep....we will have to wait and see. I would love for the Lord to reestablish His Power like in the old days, but He has His reasons for not showing His face.
"He complained that it seemed that God was asleep.." I think we can all relate to that state of being.
I think the year will give us an idea of what to expect was meant by that poster. Who knows this consecration may speed things up for Francis' pontificate lets hope so. I have found it odd lately about Francis on a couple of occasions talking about the necessity of following the Lord through his Church which is in contrast to his time as Archbishop, perhaps we are seeing those papal graces at work? In several apparitions our Lady said she will triumph when all seems lost.
"I would love for the Lord to reestablish His Power like in the old days,"
Another 30 years of this apostasy would be very ouch. I feel mostly for those who were young post Vatican II and have persevered in the Church for the past 50 years - white martyrs if ever they existed.
I would like to see a Pope doing public exorcisms, prayers in Latin that make people regrow limbs and abortion clinics crumble and fall, debate the militant atheists who end up tongue tied unable to speak and writhing on the ground; and for the Lord to throw in a few guest appearances of his guardian angel that fit under the "visio sensibilis" category. Maybe I have watched too many Hollywood films :-)
Jamey,
The Roman Missal calls explicitly for Peace in this world now. Not just some merely intellectualized, spiritualized peace, but real Peace - the Peace of Christ. Not peace as the world gives (which equates to political security and stability or the absence of conflict) but the Peace of Christ (which often involves conflict - with oneself and the Devil).
"Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9)
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
"For the wisdom of the flesh is death: but the wisdom of the spirit is life and peace." (Romans 8:6)
"And the fruit of justice is sown in peace, to them that make peace." (James 3:18)
"From whence are wars and contentions among you? Are they not hence from your concupiscences, which war in your members? You covet, and have not; you kill, and envy, and cannot obtain; you contend and war, and you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not: because you ask amiss; that you may consume it on your concupiscences. Adulterers, know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture saith in vain: To envy doth the spirit covet, which dwelleth in you? But he giveth greater grace. Wherefore he saith: God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Be subject, therefore, to God, but resist the devil, and he will fly from you. Approach to God, and he will approach to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into sorrow. Be humble in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:1-10)
"Not just some merely intellectualized, spiritualized peace, but real Peace - the Peace of Christ."
I wouldn't underestimate the importance of spiritual peace which I think you have there. Spiritual peace is real Peace. Also those few Christian souls that carry the genuine peace of Christ within them are noticed by others - they want this peace and leads to conversion and eventually the greatest of all things to be had - Salvation.
Those biblical verses you quote in your last post - to me they seem to refer to spiritual peace as well as being a peacemaker but not necessarily an era of peace.
Miltonic - The apparition at Akita warned about fire falling from Heaven and being "worse than the deluge". Sr Elena Aiello saw the same as Padre Pio allegedly did. Do you see this as the mini-chastisement before the "era of peace"?
Thought it's worthwhile adding that even if Pope Leo XIII had a vision there should be caution as he was an avid drinker of Vin Mariani, a wine that contained cocaine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mariani_pope.jpg
Drugs can cause hallucinations. A guy I knew was on some type of powerful narc while working at the cashpoint of a gas station - he said he saw Jesus fly in, stop at the bowser and top up the Cross with gas.
There is never going to be a complete cessation of violence this side of the Last Judgment. The Catechism is clear on this:
"Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God."
(CCC 671)
The era of peace predicted by Our Lady at Fatima and La Salette refers to the period of the purification of the Church and the mass conversions which must take place just before the appearance of the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Christ. This very short-lived era of peace is in a way a precursor to the true unending peace that will be established in the new creation. It will be a religious peace (the reunification of the Church, conversion of the Jews etc.), rather than a complete cessation of violence - which will exist as long as the lord of this world does.
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
(Rom 8:18-25)
"If anyone thinks that an era or period of peace is heretical, please turn to the following words spoken during the Mass:"
Those quotes have absolutely nothing to do with the millennialistic view of "era of peace" as it is described in Fr. Ianuzzi or in Mark Mallett's blog postings, for that matter.
Normal human being always prefers peace to violence, so the requests for peace are at the same level as requests for good health, for example.
But the millennialistic view of "era of peace" has totally differnet eschatological view - as a future realm of bliss on the earth and universalism, which is never to be achieved until post Last Judgement
Anonymous,
You are wrong.
The era of peace spoken of by Mark Mallett, Rev. Iannuzzi, and in countless APPROVED Private Revelations, is not some sort of universal utopia.
If you had ever read Rev. Iannuzzi's book, you would know that he rejects millenarianism and its modified forms. He forms his argument on the basis of Scripture and Tradition.
An era of peace could happen tomorrow if the world really wanted it. Such an era of peace would not be free from the the effects of sin and death. Humanity has free will. People choose to live in a culture of death or in a culture of life. Nations can choose to publicly ignore God and worship their idols or they can freely choose to publicly acknowledge and worship their Creator.
The era of peace was never condemned per se. It was condemned in connection with millenariansm and its modified forms - which say that any such era of peace would come through Christ's visible presence in the flesh PRIOR to the Second Coming and that he would reign in the flesh on the earth during this period of peace, PRIOR to the Second Coming. This is indeed heresy, but this is not what Rev. Iannuzzi is proposing, and if you had read his book you would know that.
The book "The Teaching of the Catholic Church: A Summary of Catholic Doctrine (1952)" arranged and edited by Can. George D. Smith and bearing the Church's required seals (Nihil Obstat Can. Mahoney, S.T.D.; Imprimatur E. Morrogh Bernard) states explicitly that it is NOT contrary to Catholic teaching to believe or profess:
"a hope in some mighty triumph of Christ here on earth before the final consummation of all things. Such an occurrence is not excluded, is not impossible, it is not all certain that there will not be a prolonged period of triumphant Christianity before the end...The point of division between the legitimate aspirations of such devout believers and...false millenarism is this: the Chiliasts - as believers in the millennium are called, from the Greek word for a thousand - seem to expect a coming of Christ and a presence of him in glory and majesty on this earth which would not be the consummation of all things but would still be a portion of the history of mankind. This is not consonant Catholic dogma...The coming of Christ in the second Advent...is the consummation of all things, the end of human history. If before that final end there is to be a PERIOD, MORE OR LESS PROLONGED, of TRIUMPHANT SANCTITY, such a result will be brought about, NOT by the apparition of the Person of Christ in Majesty but by the operation of those powers of sanctification WHICH ARE NOW AT WORK, the Holy Ghost and the Sacraments of the Church. The Chiliasts of all times...and there are many to be found even to date, seem to despair, not only of the world, but even of that dispensation of grace which was inaugurated at Pentecost; they expect from the visible presence of Christ a complete conversion of the world, as if such a happy result could not be otherwise brought about."
It can't get much clearer than that, Anonymous.
Emmett,
The portion of the Catechism that you have cited does not indicate that "there will never be a complete cessation of violence this side of the Last Judgement."
Let's say there were ten people on the face of the earth right now and all ten decided to live in a state of grace. There would be no violence between the ten of them. Temptation would still exist. But we have all the tools we need to resist temptation and live in a state of grace.
The fact that so many people to embrace the culture of death is a free choice that has been made. It doesn't have to be that way. And it is patently false to suggest that the Catechism states or implies such a notion.
Miltonic rhetoric,
I've read some of the mallet's blog postings - it is mitigated millennialism in it's clearest form.
Plus with cut & pasted quotes from Popes, out of the context totally.
It is millennialism and as such is clearly condemned by Catholic Church
Plus a LOT of heretic rupture theories.
to Miltonic Rhetoric
This is a condemned by Catholic Church Rapture theology in it's pures form - if you want to pretend you do not see it - it is not my problem, but this below is pure heresy:
http://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-coming-resurrection/
THE FIRST RESURRECTION
Those who have died in Christ during this time of tribulation will experience what John calls the "first resurrection." Those who,
…had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over. This is the first resurrection. (Rev 20:4)
This is indeed a tremendous hope! Though we cannot know for certain the exact nature of this resurrection, Christ’s own Resurrection may give us some insight:
This authentic, real body [of the risen Jesus] possesses the new properties of a glorious body: not limited by space and time but able to be present how and when he wills; for Christ’s humanity can no longer be confined to earth and belongs henceforth only to the Father’s divine realm. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 645
It is possible that the resurrected martyrs will participate in the reigning temporal Kingdom of the surviving remnant Church inasmuch as the risen saints will not be "confined to earth" nor necessarily be ever-present, as Christ only appeared at times during the 40 days before His Ascension.
Christ’s Resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that he had performed before Easter: Jairus’ daughter, the young man of Naim, Lazarus. These actions were miraculous events, but the persons miraculously raised returned by Jesus’ power to ordinary earthly life. At some particular moment they would die again. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 645
Since the risen saints will have experienced the "first" resurrection, they may be in a state such as the Blessed Virgin Mary, able to appear on earth, while also enjoying the beatific vision of Heaven. The purpose of this grace to be bestowed upon the martyrs would be two-fold: to honor them as "priests of God and of Christ" (Rev 20:6), and to help prepare the remnant Church of the new Era, who are confined still to time and space, for the Final return of Jesus in glory:
" I feel mostly for those who were young post Vatican II and have persevered in the Church for the past 50 years - white martyrs if ever they existed."
Jamey...I LOVE this quote. I am 62 years old. I have seen EVERY liturgical abuse known to mankind ( or should I say "personkind"). I once told my late husband ( who was terminally ill at the time) as I came home from an evening vigil mass at the nearby Catholic Church) that if I didn't believe that the Catholic Church was the one true Church I would quit going.
It was a real endurance test.
I grew up in the latin mass and made my communion in the latin mass. I went through all the changes of the novus ordo mass..I was in guitar groups, choirs, charismatic masses, community people's hand-clappin', foot stoppin' masses, healing masses..all sorts of masses throughout my life, and witnessed ( and still do) people going up to communion chewing gum, in short shorts, low cut muscle shirts, the whole nine yards. On top of that is the banal music that I still "endure" when I go to the novus ordo mass. It is still is a white martyrdom when I go. But that's the only way I can go to communion at times.
But, I am now am back to sanity in the latin mass. I just attended the Ascension Thursday mass at St. Stephen's (check it out...Michael Voris spoke there and featured this Church during the first weekend in March on his video) and I am overjoyed at the totally different atmosphere--the transcendence, the reverence, and the beauty of the liturgy that I experience there.
And guess what...they have substative homilies! Subjects like sin, confession, living a Catholic life, prayer, etc. are all subject matter. Not the "we have to tolerate everyone and everything and be nice to people" homilies I've heard for 40 years.
The really sad thing is that most Catholics don't "get it". They're perfectly satisfied with banality. They have Obama stickers on there cars still and proudly post them. I know that the priest from this liberal parish told one parishioner that he would be too scrupulous if he went to confession more than once every 6 months!
To me the era of peace would be good liturgies (at least like the ones on EWTN --do you get that in Europe or Australia?) Great novus ordo masses..reverant, good music, etc. and substative homilies. I long with all my heart to have that kind of peace..peace in the liturgy. I do hope that before I die I can see that in every church.
I pray daily for priests and for the Church. For priest-- their sanctification and to send us good ones. They are too few and far between but we are commanded to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send them. And for the Church..for her Triumph in the sense that all will recogize her as the One, Holy Catholic , Apostolic and True Church. To me that would be the true era of peace.
thanks...rose
"I grew up in the latin mass and made my communion in the latin mass. I went through all the changes of the novus ordo mass..I was in guitar groups, choirs, charismatic masses, community people's hand-clappin', foot stoppin' masses, healing masses..all sorts of masses throughout my life, and witnessed ( and still do) people going up to communion chewing gum, in short shorts, low cut muscle shirts, the whole nine yards. On top of that is the banal music that I still "endure" when I go to the novus ordo mass."
Lol - to borrow from Stephen above it would be funny if it wasn't so serious. I have the benefit of hindsight but to see what the devil has done all under the implicit false promise of a type of liberation - it is at times comic but mostly tragic.
One of the most comic books I have ever read was John Vennari's Close Ups of the Charismatic Movement. In it there was a picture of Cardinal Rigali dressed with full bishops gear trying to bless a crowd whilst there was mayhem and no-one paying attention to him. At another point Vennari accidentally trod on a "spirit filled" woman's foot - from memory she hit him.
We have a older guy at our parish who writes for a traditional Catholic publication and in particular the sacrileges he has witnessed - after Mass one day he said in some crazy country he could see a small congregation where a virgin would offer herself up, and the priest would perform an actual heart sacrifice in the church. We were shocked at what he said, some hesitantly laughed and others thought it a distasteful joke, but the look on his face was no joke he was dead serious, then even more sadly we realised he may have had a point.
Rose, the state of the Australian church is generally bad with very small pockets of sanity. I recently had the joy of experiencing a sung Latin Mass in Melbourne celebrated by Bishop Emeritus of Christchurch Basil Meeking. A friend of mine who has been a wild child during her life attended, said during that Mass something hit her hard that her life had gone off the rails. According to her it was something ancient and very different from what she had ever experienced. Such is the holiness of the old Mass, the Mass that will not die.
I've read Fr. Iannuzzi's books and I know he is an endorser of Fr. Gobbi's Book MMP.
I wish I could ask Fr. Iannuzzi...."given the fact that the BVM states approx 11 times in the MMP book that (in essence) Satan will be bound and thrown into Hell "FROM WHICH HE CAN NO LONGER GET OUT". This means that the present period is "the end" and that Satan will not be loosed in the future. This implies that now he is already "loosed"?'
In Fr. Gobbi's book see
373c,483u,483n,528f,505i,479b, 479q
479s,464l,478k,458h
ALSO: The sun danced at Fatima AND appeared to drastically grow in size as if it were going to "hit" earth. The people screamed.
Why this "enlargement" of the sun? God does not act in vain. Do not say "so what?" Is this a prefigurment of a SUPER NOVA ?
2ND Peter says the earth is destroyed by fire and all is reduced to it's elements.
Also, Fr. Gobbi's book and scripture (Rev) say that in the New Heavens and New Earth there is no SUN but only the light of God.
Does it look like planet earth goes out with a bang? Apparently the "good people" are kept in safety for the New Heavens and New Earth.
Salient points Ben.
"ALSO: The sun danced at Fatima AND appeared to drastically grow in size as if it were going to "hit" earth. The people screamed.
Why this "enlargement" of the sun? God does not act in vain. Do not say "so what?" Is this a prefigurment of a SUPER NOVA ?
2ND Peter says the earth is destroyed by fire and all is reduced to it's elements."
This for me is a major issue with the extended era of peace. It seems this chastisement by fire is coming sooner than later especially in light of Akita, which warned it will be "worse than the deluge". So if we receive this chastisement relatively soon, then there is a long era of peace culminating in the final battle and then the Earth will be destroyed by fire again as posited in 2nd Peter. We know God promised he wouldn't flood the world again, I don't think he will destroy it twice by fire either.
"Apparently the "good people" are kept in safety for the New Heavens and New Earth."
This sounds like the Rapture which has been condemned by the Church, would be nice though.
quick addendum
No where in Fr. Gobbi's book does the BVM say that in the end Satan is loosed for a while, where (above) the book states that he will be bound and "no longer get out"
It doesn't say Satan is loosed for a while Rev does. The BVM doesn't say Satan is loosed for a while, because he is already loosed.
My theory is that the 100 years is the loosening (Pope Leo's vision)and it started when the Sun danced at Fatima Oct 1917, the same week as the Bolshivek Revolution. The BVM states that Athiestic communism is the Red Dragon of the Apocolypse.
Just a quick response to Jamey et al.
We have a very small but stable group of people who are devoted to the latin mass. I don't think the majority of Catholics appreciate it or want anything to do with it, and to be fair, I myself didn't start attending until about 3 or 4 years ago. It takes some time to understand it and appreciate it . Here's a link to what what's happening in our neck of the wooods for anyone interested:
http://clevelandtlmfriends.blogspot.com/
Secondly, I've been reading the arguements back and forth about what the era of peace will be...or not.
I'm not sure what to believe or think anymore. I know our Lady promised a period of peace at Fatima, but I'm not sure what that consists of. There are a number of prophecies that say the Church, after all her sufferings, will rise and become resplendent again after all of her sufferings. Didn't St. Hildegard say that? And many prophecies in Dupont's book, The Coming Chastisement also perdict that?
MY own personal take on this is that attending the novus ordo mass which has been so minimalized and said with much irreverance and in a perfunctory way, with liturgical abuses galor (changing or omitting words, not using proper vestments, omitting solemn gestures, reduced to more of a social gathering that the most sublime worship of the Triune Godhead etc., is the Church SUFFERING. She has been stripped of her grandeur. On top of that are all the sexual scandals and other woes. She's limping along and to remain faithful to Her requires the FAITH of Our Lady, St. John, St. Mary Magdalene and the other women who believed as they saw our Lord suffering and dying during his Passion, that he still was the Messiah.
I love the Church and I see all of Her problems but I believe She is the true Church. We can argue to doomsday what this period of peace is but I do believe that there will be some sort of a renewal of the Church which parallels the Descent of the Holy Spirit after Our Lords Ascension. There was still persecution of the Church during that period of time, but She grew and flourished during that time too. I hope that time comes again for our generation. Remember with Catholics it's usually the mystery of not either/or but rather both.
thanks, rose
Thanks for sharing that Ben! Stephen Walford has put up a very interesting blog post on this exact topic concerning Fr. Gobbi over at his new website:
http://divinemercypopes.com/?p=116
Rose - many of the prophecies which Yves Dupont cites in his book are either spurious, or can't be traced back to a verifiable, legitimate source. Same goes for many of the prophecies in Desmond Birch's vastly superior book - which unfortunately uses Dupont's work as one of his sources. So these need to be taken with a very large pinch of salt. That's why it is best to stick to Church-approved prophecies for determining the length of the "era of peace". The only Church approved prophecy mentioning the duration of the era of peace is that given by Our Lady of La Salette, which foretold that this would take place over a very short period just before the coming of the Antichrist.
One may wonder why the pope Paul VI chose to abrogate the end-of-mass prayer ordered by his predecessor Leo XIII, so strongly this last one had been impressed by his vision of the dangers that were upon to fall on the Church.
Probably Paul VI deemed that all these dangers had been avoided thanks to the Council VATII and that this prayer had become completely outdated.
Then, when this same Paul VI spoke about "the smokes of Satan entering the Temple of God" why didn't he reinstate the prayer immediately?
July 28, 1914 WWI explodes across Europe.
+100 years
July 27, 2014
The events of Garabandal and Medjugorje have not yet been fulfilled.
Why would God ever hand His people over to the Devil like that? The 20th century was an awful time, with awful things being done. There is a difference, to me, between God permitting evil things to happen and God authorizing evil things to happen.
Anonymus,
why do you think the prophecies of Garbandal and Medj HAVE to be fullfilled?
Both describe the events of the endo of the world, but the date is known only to the Father
Feast Day of Saint Michael
Saint Michael, my Hero
stay at my side
reduce satan to zero
the one puffed up with pride
Fight with me, Saint Michael,
guide me in the Spiritual Battle
help me in this reprisal cycle
to silence the viper's rattle
Satan is a murderer and a thief
he steals away God's Creation
he leads man to erroneous belief
he is vicious, a vile abomination
Saint Michael, "Who is as God" !
let your battle-cry be heard
using your sword as a prod
you disperse all of satan's herd
Safely protected under your wings
we will defy his spiritual plunder
we will escape his poisonous stings
YOU,cast him forever,deep down under
Saint Michael Pray For Us
Rita Biesemans, 5-8-2013
Great to see you here again Rita B!
Maybe don't send Satan down under - well at least not Australia anyhow ;-)
Jac - It seems significant that the St. Michael Prayer was stopped in 1965 - it's almost as if it marks this out as the date in the prophecies of the Great Apostasy commenced...
Anon 1 - I have always linked the onset of WWI in 1914 to be an important date in this respect. The Tunguska event occurred in 1908, coinciding with the commissioning of the world's first military aircraft - which I argue is to be equated with the appearance of the "locusts" of Rev 9. These "locusts" can not harm anyone for a period of 5 "months". Following Tyconius' rules of interpretation, a day can be equated with a week, a month or a year in prophecy. So adding 5 years onto 1908 brings us up to 1913 - after which time the "locusts" would be permitted to start killing, with of course did in fact happen with the onslaught of both world wars. In this respect, it is interesting that the recent Russian meteor strike in Feb 2013 took place 100 years after the "locusts" were permitted to start killing. It seems almost as if this marks the end of the "little while" given to Satan, which would logically lead to the restoration of the Church during the Second Pentecost. And this event took place just before the election of Pope Francis. We can always live in hope...
Anon 2 - I think evil exists in the absence of God. The horrors of the 20th century were a natural by-product of the materialistic world-view of atheism. It wasn't so much God delivering us up to evil, but rather that humanity handed itself over to the Devil by embracing atheism. There seems to be a deeper metaphysical layer to this prophecy which is beyond the prosaic.
This is the stuff that drives me me to crazy to the point of just not trying to figure it out. It's like one big riddle. I have to hand it to you. I used to read these things and ask myself questions trying to figure it out and now I'm simply done with it. I figure if God wanted me to know, I'd know
Emmet,
You are right. These things are in God's agenda which nobody knows.
In my opinion, the great apostasy began 2 years before, by the end of the council, when tens of thousands priests, nuns, monks defrocked in its wake.
By the beginning sixties, God gave the post conciliar Popes the choice either to unveil the 3rd Secret of Fatima and comply to the order of our Lady to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, or to follow their modernist agenda in befriending with the atheist communists, "dialoguing " (blah-blah-blah with no clear aim in mind) with our christian brothers, the jews and the muslims and relativising everything including Hell, Purgatory and sin.
Everybody could witness the rotten outcomes while the popes kept clinging to VATII as the best way to solve the disaster it sowed...
Thanks God, probably following a divine inspiration, Benedict XVI resigned and Francis was elected. I am confident that our Blessed Mother is now at the helm as co-pilot since TODAY the portuguese bishops just consecrated his pontificate to our Lady of Fatima.
Neither Satan nor the last worn out, outdated modernists in the Vatican will be able stop anything of what is ahead, in particular the Consecration of Russia, the conversion of our orthodox brothers and the time of peace we need desperately.
I just went half an hour in adoration before Jesus in the Tabernacle to join my prayers to those of the portuguese, but I am sad that this considerable event was not even mentioned today in the Vatican's website news.va
Appendix 6 & 7 to my book Jacob Shall Be a Fire addresses the difficulty in pinning down the concrete details of prophecies, such as time frames. Since prophecies come from the same source as scripture, the Holy Spirit, they may be rich enough to speak to more than one time frame, embedding slightly different messages for each. Discerning the message for one's own time then requires historical study, political and spiritual awareness, and prayer for God's help in discernment. At a minimum the message may be speaking to the time of the prophet specifically and also have an eschatological sense applicable to the end times. While there may be one most correct or primary interpretation there may also be other useful interpretations. See End Times Novel
(Jacob Shall Be a Fire) in MS Word
I will be the first to say, I do not know what is coming, but I believe before it gets better, it gets worst. I would ask anyone on here to comment about what I believe to be a conditional prophecy, The three days of darkness. If I have read that correctly, and if it were to happen, all God's enemies are destroyed and we have an era of peace. I'd like to know what some of the people commenting on here think. Your comments are appreciated
Anonymous said:
"Why would God ever hand His people over to the Devil like that? The 20th century was an awful time, with awful things being done. There is a difference, to me, between God permitting evil things to happen and God authorizing evil things to happen."
Good point, Anonymous.
There is something about this alleged vision of Pope Leo XIII that just doesn't feel right, nevermind the fact that there is no evidence that Pope Leo XIII ever had this vision. Pope Leo XIII never wrote anything about this alleged vision. If he had this vision, and it was the catalyst for the Prayer to St. Michael, then he surely would have written about it. Pop Leo XIII is credited with great efforts in the areas of scientific and historical analysis. He opened the Vatican Archives and personally fostered a twenty-volume comprehensive scientific study of the Papacy by Ludwig von Pastor, an Austrian historian. Surely, he would have recorded his alleged vision.
This is the problem with putting stock into unapproved, undocumented alleged private revelation: it serves as a distraction and a diversion to the messages coming from approved private revelation and is one of the Devil's favorite games to play.
Just imagine the disappointment and dissent that would occur if either Medjugorje or Garabandal (two other unapproved private revelations) were to be eventually condemned.
This is why it is best to stick with approved private revelations and ignore the others until such time as they are approved.
I think the final unleashing of the Devil for 100 years began in 1965, the year the Church ceased to pray the St. Michael Prayer, composed by Pope Leo XIII, after Masses. The hand that restrained Satan was the Church, and since the 1960's the Church has fallen in disarray and many apostates infiltrated the Church causing her great harm. The Church has no longer been able to restrain Satan, as I have witnessed in my 63years on earth.
The Angelic Shepherd/Pope is Father Slatko Sudac.
He is the only human to bear the seal mentioned in The Apocalypse.
You can watch him preach on YouTube.
THE CHURCH IN GETHSEMANE
-------------------------
The Ship of Peter is torn apart
Martyred in its Holy Teaching
It sinks and sinks, no work of art
The bottom though never reaching
Dissidents are screaming loud
Leaving behind an awful niff
Pretending to be proudly stout
Gearing the Ship into a cliff
Jesus shows His wounded Heart
Smitten with a deadly dart
Peter the Rock in desolation
Deploring severe desecration
Wake up, you Christian Brother
Show now your truthful face
With Mary our Heavenly Mother
We'll reach that Peaceful Place
In allegiance to the Holy Father
United in prayer and fasting
No victory will claim, but rather
Satan's defeat be everlasting.
Rita Biesemans, 01-02-2011
Jamie,
Maybe don't send Satan down under - well at least not Australia anyhow ;-)
When I read the poem to my son after it was written he said :" I presume that you know that down under is Australia" I said : yah yah I thought of it but it rhymes well. :o) :o)
For readers of your blog that may find interest in signs connected to St. Michael the Archangel with current events, please visit the following link: http://www.christian-miracles.com/signsofstmichael.htm
"In my opinion, the great apostasy began 2 years before, by the end of the council, when tens of thousands priests, nuns, monks defrocked in its wake.
By the beginning sixties, God gave the post conciliar Popes the choice either to unveil the 3rd Secret of Fatima and comply to the order of our Lady to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, or to follow their modernist agenda in befriending with the atheist communists, "dialoguing " (blah-blah-blah with no clear aim in mind) with our christian brothers, the jews and the muslims and relativising everything including Hell, Purgatory and sin.
Everybody could witness the rotten outcomes while the popes kept clinging to VATII as the best way to solve the disaster it sowed..."
Hammer. Nail.Head.
Furthermore I think all this was a chastisement on the whole, perhaps if the faithful had been more faithful those popes wouldn't have been as disoriented and they would have been more honest with Fatima instead of digging a deep hole for them and us.
I do think there are some scary extreme elements of the SSPX but Lefebvre himself was a prophet. A short tragic audio piece in the late 70's the holy bishop trying to make sense of all the chaos, wondering whether Paul VI had been drugged, was a prisoner or in fact a Mason:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzvNrX-FTyk
Also can see Francis not caring about politics etc and paving the way for Oscar Romero's canonisation and hopefully Pius XII gets a proper look in.
Jamey, I still remember vividly the changes during the Mass that were imposed upon us in the late 1950's. I was still in a nun-run boarding school when the nun superior started imposing changes in the daily Mass. Peace and quiet was gone, Latin started being skipped the local language was used and all of the sudden we started interacting with the priest. We the people were participants of the "event", I remember that this produced a very bitter taste in my soul. The awesome silence was gone. Do you understand what I mean by all this?? I'm still longing for the silence of deep adoration during Mass especially during and after the Consecration and after Communion. I'm suffering with the Lord for so much desecration. May the Lord hasten His coming and the purification. Rita Biesemans
Hey I'm new to this site and am not too familiar with the background of the author, though I have occasionally read some articles on this web page.
I believe that an Era of Peace is coming to the world and is associated with the Prophecy of Pope Leo, Fatima, and the Divine Mercy messages. I do also believe the 100 years began in 1917 and is associated closely with the start of Planned Parenthood in the same year that the angel first appeared at Fatima (I think...I'm going on memory). If these events are related to Pope Leo's prophecy than the 100 years and the Triumph would occur in 2017. I once saw a video of a Catholic theologian from Steubenville talking about the end times and the Era of Peace. To summarize, he said there would be manmade calamities, a period of peace, then the rise of the AC and God-sent calamities to counter the rebellion. The period of peace would last 25 years based on Scripture verses he used (I don't recall what they are). So (to speculate then) 2017 + 25 years is 2042. If the AntiChrist comes on the scene to emulate Christ at that time, he would be 30 years old. So 2042 - 30 = 2012, the year the Mayans and other cultures predicted the return of their god which is believed to be Satan.
OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE :
“In the year 1864, Lucifer together with a large number of demons will be unloosed from hell; they will put an end to faith little by little, even in those dedicated to God. They will blind them in such a way, that, unless they are blessed with a special grace, these people will take on the spirit of these angels of hell; several religious institutions will lose all faith and will lose many souls.
The messages of Our Lady of La Salette are very important to be read and spread. !!!!!
Rita Biesemans
God has protected humanity from the worst of Satans evil. However when mans rejection of God reachs a penultimate state God withdraws his protection to allow man to experience the alternitive to obedience to His Holy Will. The Jews commemorate and remember noteable times when God withdrew his protection from humanity. The festival is called the 9th of Av, Tisha b'Av. The First Temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av (423 BCE). Five centuries later (in 69 CE), as the Romans drew closer to the Second Temple, ready to torch it, the Jews were shocked to realize that their Second Temple was destroyed the same day as the first.
Indeed the First World War started on the 9th of Av, Tisha b'Av. God signalled to the Pope that he was to withdraw his protection and Satan was to be allowed 100 years to distroy The Holy Catholic Church. Would it not seem possible that the 28th of July 1914 the date the First World War started and the 9th of Av, Tisha b'Av was the date the 100 years began. Danny in Ireland
I completely agree with Meltonic Rhetoric's explanations. Fr. Ianuzzi's book explains it all so clearly and well. Also, Mark Mallett, who has also been criticized here, is an amazing person with incredible insights obviously being led by the Holy Spirit in his writings. I 'just happened' to go to his website today and this topic 'just happens' to be what his latest blog is discussing (what a 'coincidence'):
http://www.markmallett.com/blog/your-questions-on-the-era/
Timeline: Satan has been here 100 years and evil prevails because Fatima request was not heeded. If Russia had been consecrated (not the world)as directed, communism would not have been able to take over the world as it has, including in the USA. Antichrist will make appearance soon after illumination because people will be warned at that time to not take chip and to follow Our Lord, not antichrist, for 3 1/2 years. Satan & cohorts will be chained and an era of peace will be given as Our Lady of Fatima (approved)promised, during which time people who are left on earth will be in God's Will (Thy will be done on earth as it in Heaven) - we don't know the exact time. As in all periods of history, some people will again turn away. Then satan will again be unleashed and the final coming, 'parousia' will involve the final return of Jesus, the world will come to an end as we know it, where there will be a new heaven and new earth, which is a heavenly kingdom for eternity.
The Holy Spirit is shining His Light upon all errors these days and they are being exposed. We will soon know all Truth.
"The awesome silence was gone. Do you understand what I mean by all this?? I'm still longing for the silence of deep adoration during Mass especially during and after the Consecration and after Communion. I'm suffering with the Lord for so much desecration. May the Lord hasten His coming and the purification. Rita Biesemans"
Rita, I think I understand what you mean - on Monday night at TLM we had a different priest from normal and while he said Mass slowly he was very quiet. You could literally feel a rich, heavenly silence and I reflected on this afterward. I normally prefer sung Mass but understood that evening why some trads prefer the "Low Mass". Funny you should ask that question.
"I think the final unleashing of the Devil for 100 years began in 1965, the year the Church ceased to pray the St. Michael Prayer, composed by Pope Leo XIII, after Masses. The hand that restrained Satan was the Church, and since the 1960's the Church has fallen in disarray and many apostates infiltrated the Church causing her great harm. The Church has no longer been able to restrain Satan, as I have witnessed in my 63years on earth."
If the 100 years of Pope Leo XIII is true this would be the explanation I would adhere to - so effectively once the St Michael prayer was abandoned Satan began his most severe testing of the Church. The spiritual carnage since the mid 60's would surely be unparalleled in history and by a fair margin. Legalisation of abortion, the pill, spread of pornography, first nudity on a feature film, first graphically violent films, the changes to the Mass and so on.
Pope Leo XIII and Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski warned of false brethren
Rita Biesemans, in a comment left at my last post dealing with masonic infiltration of the Catholic Church, had this to say: "When I was in 2nd year High School Latin-Greek Humanities in a nun-run boarding school in the 1950's, we had the 'Spekpater' (the "Bacon Priest") preaching during one of our yearly retreat weeks. One day he told us : 'For know that there are priests being trained and formed at the KRIM (Russia) to infiltrate the Church, to spread false teachings in order to corrupt and ruin the Church.' This made such an impact and impression on my soul that I will never forget it."
This is a comment I wrote on the la Salette website of Paul Anthony Melanson June 12 2012
"Bernadette said...
I completely agree with Meltonic Rhetoric's explanations. Fr. Ianuzzi's book explains it all so clearly and well. Also, Mark Mallett,"
Except BOTH are guilty of mitigated millennarian views and are configuring the quotes from Popes and St. Augustine to fit their view ( lying, if saying without PC) - one does not need to paly with the quotes if one's view is true.
we can speculate as much as we want but none of us know the date of His coming. Please read the poem till the end.
C O E X I S T E N C E
"COEXIST" the latest command
of the "New World Order" band
live and let live
no need to forgive
for there ain't no sin
each living their own spin
Coexistence a cold and loveless word
in a cold and loveless earth
for they have declared God dead
and worship themselves instead
mankind in his selfish pride
orchestrates the worldwide divide
but LOVE will return as LOVE
He begs us to throw in the glove
to run away from the dragon
to escape the devil's paddy wagon
to turn to the Eternal Light
be our heart broken but contrite
He will cleanse us thoroughly
from all sin and iniquity
we will live as brothers and sisters
no need to send us any twisters
no more armies, no more wars
no more enemies at our doors.
be watchful, children, be on guard
keep Me constant in your heart
My return date you don't know
but Myself suddenly I will show
in a new and peaceful Jerusalem
a new birth in a new Bethlehem
Rita Biesemans November 18 2012
BTW did Jesus not teach us how to pray ? "Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN !!!!!!
So as soon as His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven there will be PEACE and no more wars, ot fights between brothers and sisters. It will be on earth as it is in Heaven.
But we need to pray for it more than what is done now.
MAY THE PURIFICATION COME RATHER SOONER THAN LATER.
Rita, to live in this kind of world is a very very heavy cross to bear !!!
WHO WILL CRY FOR YOU, AMERICA ?
I, will cry you a river
And much much more
My dear dear America,
Once so beautiful !
You sold your soul
To a bunch of mercenaries
Which entered your sheep-fold
As wolves and goats
You sold your skin
To the highest bidder
You resemble a harlot
The new BABYLON
Eating and drinking
With the rich of this world
Prostituting yourself
For money and power
And became a den
Of thieves and murderers
You forgot all about
The One Who blessed
You so abundantly
Biting the Hand of the Blesser
Embarrassed to mention His Name !
Did He not teach you
To be wise as a serpent
And harmless as a dove
Why then do you behave
As a silly goose ??
He invited you to His dinner Table
He so diligently prepared
But, you made light of it
And went your worldly, haughty ways
One to his farm,
Another to his business.
But as the Father of Fathers
He waits for your return
The return of His prodigal daughter
WAKE UP, AMERICA !!!
Humble your pride
And follow the Way, the Life and the Truth !!!
Or, I SHALL cry you a river
A river of bloody tears
And much much more !!!
Rita Biesemans 02/17/2003
WHY HEAVEN IS CRYING
Our Lord and His Holy Mother
are weeping bloody tears
as their children don't bother
to live in perdition gears
the tears splatter on rocky hearts
on a demeanor of "who cares"
as long as we don't feel the smarts
we'll take care of our own affairs
walking farther and farther away
spitting and mocking God in His Face
denying He made us out of the clay
worshipping gods of the human race
we think ourselves so enlightened
we don't need no Heavenly God
no more need to be so frightened
we join gladly the evil one's squad
while Heaven is crying
the devils laugh
the unrepentant dying
join the devils' staff
The day will come
that HE will say :
"enough, enough
no more rebuff "
Then the earthlings
will cry to no avail
Joe 6 packs nor Kings
will escape eternal wail.
Rita Biesemans April 26 2013 Feast Day of Our lady of Good Counsel
"BTW did Jesus not teach us how to pray ? "Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN !!!!!!
So as soon as His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven there will be PEACE and no more wars, ot fights between brothers and sisters. It will be on earth as it is in Heaven."
I suggest you do not put in Our Lord's Prayer things that are clearly NOT THERE. ThY will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven has noting to do with millennarian hopes, traditional or mitigated, nor does it anything to do with the "era of peace."
"But we need to pray for it more than what is done now.
MAY THE PURIFICATION COME RATHER SOONER THAN LATER."
If you mean the Last Judgement I don't know if one should pray for that and if that will have any effect on the timing, since it is clearly not us to decide or know when it will happen
anon 11
At ANON you don't understand it : yes we were created to do God's will here on earth and yes there would be peace if we fulfilled God's will, and no the purification has nothing to do with the end of the world but with the end of the corrupted Godless world.
May the Holy Spirit enlighten you , I feel a strong aggressive undertone in your writings. Take it easy ANON
Riki
I once saw a video of a Catholic theologian from Steubenville talking about the end times and the Era of Peace. To summarize, he said there would be manmade calamities, a period of peace, then the rise of the AC and God-sent calamities to counter the rebellion. The period of peace would last 25 years based on Scripture verses he used (I don't recall what they are). So (to speculate then) 2017 + 25 years is 2042. If the Antichrist comes on the scene to emulate Christ at that time, he would be 30 years old. So 2042 - 30 = 2012, the year the Mayans and other cultures predicted the return of their god which is believed to be Satan.
I’m curious what’s wrong with this idea from a millenarian point of view. We have an era of peace (relatively speaking, I suppose) that exists within history. It would fulfill the ideas of Fatima, and still avoid the ideas of either a physical or Eucharistic reign of Christ on earth.
Does this sounds like Mark Miravale, perhaps?
And I don’t think much of the Mayan predictions.
Mark
Riki,
It looks like it is YOU who doesn't understand.
And before scolding someone about supposed undertones you may want to look in the mirror about your own undertones of superiority wisdom.
and no, ther is not going to be a separate purification or separate peace except the End of Times.
peace.
anon11
OK ANON you'r apparently the Prophet.
I don't care what you say or think of me, Jesus is the One Who will judge me anyway.
Hopefully we'll meet in Heaven. Come and see me then.
Riki :o)
"Hopefully we'll meet in Heaven. Come and see me then.
Riki"
WOW, Riki, the pride you exhibit is not very compatible with heaven, I am afraid...
anon11
Speaking as *the* devil's advocate .........
Certainly he'd take the maximum time (following 10/13/1917) allotted to him: 100 years; .....
..... just as God will surely grant the longest prophesied period of Mercy following the Warning (before the Miracle at Garabandal): 1 year.
If we place the Miracle on 4/11/2019, that means the Warning circa 4/12/2018 (6 months after 10/13/2017).
- Mike Coppi, mjcoppi[at]cs.com
Responding to Mark above who asked "what’s wrong with this idea from a millenarian point of view" to my post, I personally think that the explanation from that theologian is a rational and acceptable explanation for the period of peace. It is sometimes said that man is at war with God in his heart, meaning he is in rebellion. It is entirely possible that a manmade calamity can have the affect of bringing man to his knees so-to-speak and for a short while orient his heart to peace with God and with heaven. We saw this after 9/11 when Americans filled the churches.
I am not an expert on the subject of millennialism but I always understood the heresy to be the belief that Jesus would reign physically on earth or that human beings could bring about a kingdom of peace politically through their own efforts lasting 'a thousand years' as Communism promised. I do not believe it is heresy to believe that some dire events could bring us to our senses in the short run and cause us to return - en masse - to God.
Anonymous says: "Except BOTH are guilty of mitigated millennarian views and are configuring the quotes from Popes and St. Augustine to fit their view ( lying, if saying without PC) - one does not need to paly with the quotes if one's view is true."
Well, now you have crossed the line, Anonymous. It is one thing to disagree with Mark Mallett's and Rev. Iannuzzi's interpretation. It is quite another to falsely accuse them of being lying heretics.
You have lost all credibility here, Anonymous. It is bad enough that you are putting stock into this unapproved, undocumented, alleged vision of Pope Leo. It is even worse for you to falsely accuse someone of being a heretic simply because you disagree with their interpretation of an open question. You certainly have not come close to demonstrating that Mark Mallett or Rev. Iannuzzi are wrong, let alone heretics.
I have proven that Mark mallett in his blog is lying - by twisting the quotes of Pius XI and St.Augustine - you conviniently pretended you did not see the thread.
A person who has to twist the quote and cut off the context in order to fit his/her view is dishonest and if pon ehas to be dishonest to prove their point, that point can not be from the good.
anon11
http://www.newtorah.org/Review%20The%20Splendor%20of%20Creation.html
2 Miltonic Rhethoric
you may want to read this book ( by Fr.Ianuzzi)review,written in much more theologiaclly explanatory way than just verbal ping-pong in a blog format
Given what some of the "seers" at Medjugorje have purported to have said regarding an upcoming "era of peace" it seems little doubt Fr Iannuzzi is basing his beliefs and interpreting Church doctrine from that, as are a number of modern churchmen and interpreters of the times we are in. Another example of Medjugorje misleading the faithful?
It looks like all seers in the last century copy&paste Fatima, to some degree, at least.
Therefore all the visions/locutions/apparitions should always taken with much reserve and there actually is a long list of questions to go through in order to proper discern.
Most of those fall apart just going through few first ones - therefore I stay away from the visionaries and prophecies. It is fascinating at first, certainly, but it changes upon critical evaluation.
anon11
"It looks like all seers in the last century copy&paste Fatima, to some degree, at least."
It has been said the false often ape the genuine apparitions. However below Marco Corvaglia presents the case that Medjugorje at least in earlier messages resembles the false - that of Palmar de Troya. At Palmar, Clemente Dominguez claimed to be receiving heavenly visitations and the village became a place where many flocked to with huge impressive rosary crusades, Tridentine Masses being said. Eventually Clemente claimed Jesus made him pope, named himself Gregory XVII and "excommunicated" John Paul II lol.
http://www.marcocorvaglia.com/medjugorje-en/the-true-source-of-the-medjugorje-messages-is-clemente-dom%C3%ADnguez-schismatic-and-excommunicated-here-.html
http://www.marcocorvaglia.com/medjugorje-en/the-true-source-of-the-medjugorje-messages-is-clemente-dom%C3%ADnguez-schismatic-and-excommunicated-here--1.html
More from Wiki about the Palmarian "Catholic" Church, its a good laugh:
"The Palmarian Church says that it has 60 bishops, 70 nuns and 2,000 followers. Since 1983 the Palmarian Church has drastically reformed its rites and its liturgy, which previously had been styled in the Tridentine form. The Palmarian liturgy was reduced to almost solely the Eucharistic words of consecration.
The See of El Palmar de Troya has also declared the Real Presence of the Virgin Mary in the sacred host and the bodily assumption into heaven of St. Joseph to be dogmas of the Catholic faith. By 2000, they had their own version of the Bible, revised by Domínguez on claimed prophetic authority. For these and other reasons, other traditionalist Catholics consider the Palmarian Church to be heretics.
The Archidonian Palmarian group (Archidona, Malaga, Spain) formed in 2000 was due to the expulsion of 16 cardinals and five nuns. They were expelled by Domínguez for diverse reasons. The predominant reason for the expulsions was due to Domínguez's belief that there was "a church within a church" planning to overthrow or assassinate him."
It would be interesting to know if somebody did a comparative research on the issue of those visions/locutions/apparitions - in times. It is known that those have been claimed throughout the whole XX century and there were thousands of them, 99.99% false, of course.
I do not think the Church has time and people to address all of them but the most egregious she certainly does.
Now, what I personally thing about some of the private revelations - I do consider individual people might have the Divine visions. I do, however, consider that the true ones are meant only for that particular person, maybe for the close family, but not for the spreading around - that is where it gets chased by the devil - through the human pride and desire of popularity or other reasons very far from essential goodness.
anon11
"It would be interesting to know if somebody did a comparative research on the issue of those visions/locutions/apparitions - in times. It is known that those have been claimed throughout the whole XX century and there were thousands of them, 99.99% false, of course.
I do not think the Church has time and people to address all of them but the most egregious she certainly does."
Fr Benedict Groeschel when speaking on private revelation from memory he indicated 1 in 20 that the Church investigates are approved.
"Now, what I personally thing about some of the private revelations - I do consider individual people might have the Divine visions. I do, however, consider that the true ones are meant only for that particular person, maybe for the close family, but not for the spreading around - that is where it gets chased by the devil - through the human pride and desire of popularity or other reasons very far from essential goodness."
This makes sense, I have read before children die, parents are often given a vision or dream of such to prepare them. A most excellent lady I once worked with after her son died was suicidal - she said one evening she taken out of her body to see him where he was and it was of great comfort to her. It is hard to see these things all being diabolical but as you mention is for the family and from God's great mercy.
"This makes sense, I have read before children die, parents are often given a vision or dream of such to prepare them. "
Jamey, do you have a link where you've read this? This is absolutely true, I would like to read more on the issue.
Thank you
anon11
"Finally, Dr. Morse studied the entire range of death related visions. He studied parents who had infants die of SIDS, and found that 25% of parents had a vivid premonition of the event which they often documented in a journal or diary, or by telling their doctor. He also has studied cases of shared dying visions and after-death communications."
http://near-death.com/experiences/experts06.html
I would suggest caution with the above site, it fails to discern spirits behind various nde prophetical visions and seems to think they are all genuine.
Thank you, Jamey
I'm glad everybody has an understanding different from everybody else. To translate, you folks are engaging in speculation.
Unless Satan managed to get an extension into the 21st Century, then the math just doesn't add up, does it?
Certainly, Europe will harbor 80 million Muslim cult followers by the end of this century. The EU - which is a masonic creation (just like the U.S.) will suffer greatly, before Christians annihilate this cult force once and for all.
Anyways, when God is ready, and when life in Europe (the U.S. doesn't count in prophecy) is unbearable, HE will intervene. The power of the LEFT is already too great to defeat by human means.
One thing is for sure, this battle king will be of Normand descent, certainly not named Henry, and MOST DEFINITELY will be a practicing Roman Catholic who obeys the teachers of the Church and receives the body and blood on a frequent basis.
That's my speculation for today.
"Unless Satan managed to get an extension into the 21st Century, then the math just doesn't add up, does it?"
I would agree as I think Satan's power is now greater than ever. That comment someone made about the removal of the St Michael prayer in the 1960's and that opening up a crack for satan to enter for 100 years of testing is striking. Leo XIII implemented the prayer to protect the faithful it was removed by guess who, Paul VI, and then the bomb hit the Church with a mass exodus of priests, nuns and laity.
From what I understand Emmett believes because of the power satan had from the beginning of the 20th century even though we are no longer in that 100 years what he put in place has enabled what we are currently witnessing. Also for Emmett the 100 years connects up with other strands of eschatological thought.
E Michael Jones being interviewed in the Roman Forum below with Michael Voris compares the apostasy to an earthquake and when we look back the epicentre was in the 60's. Sorry not sure which part but the entire interview is enlightening, E Michael was directly in the battlefield and during the 80s kept trying to warn the bishops of what was going on in parishes and colleges but they didn't listen at all - you can see his frustration boiling over in the interview, poor bloke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W52gAyNAU4Y
Incidentally he was sacked in the late 70's for attacking abortion at St Mary's Catholic College and that's what triggered his investigative work.
"you folks are engaging in speculation."
Yes to an extent but I dont mind as long within boundaries - we have this day and age of unbelievable evil, likewise we have all these prophecies to make sense of - why Fatima, how does it connect to Akita, what about Zeitoun why did Mary come down on the church dome in a town of Egypt with baby Jesus? What about Don Bosco's visions, St Hildegard, the apparitions of Knock, likewise Pius XII's warnings. We are all simply trying to make sense of this and they seem a bit random without being put in a cohesive framework that doesn't contradict the magisterium although as you see above there is controversy over aspects of what this constitutes. God bless Emmett, he has helped make sense of much and in fact what was confusing before now seems blinding obvious and major mystical events marry up.
"The power of the LEFT is already too great to defeat by human means."
Spot on concurred, they are infuriating and ultimately make themselves and their sexual urges false gods, but will eventually be subject to God's wrath and justice if they don't repent. What makes my blood boil is the lack of voice "Christianity with reason" is given in the media and how things are twisted - every major sinning celebrity who dies is instantly "canonised", every woman who dies that is hailed as a champion of "female rights" upon further investigation was really pushing infanticide. Saying all that these leftists and especially those who sponsor them need our prayers.
Also would be interested in others opinions on this if time permits - I laughed when I first read about Dr Judy Wood's thesis about the WTC buildings being destroyed with a Tesla like weapon that basically turns buildings to dust.
However after watching for an hour she makes some very strong points, in particular the huge beam at the 49 minute mark turning into a pile of dust had me picking my jaw of the ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bITl3lmbWb8
If the elite have weapons like this at disposal it is a terrifying thought and evil takes on a whole new dimension.
Thanks Jamey!
I'm convinced that the events of 9/11 are the "blood, fire and columns of smoke" mentioned in Joel 2:30, concerning the "signs in heaven". Card. Bertone seems to have thought so also. I don't know what to make of the conspiracy theories myself, but Fr. Paul Kramer certainly gives credence to them.
I know where you are coming from anon. Evil-wise, things don't seem to have changed much at the millennium (at the end of the 100 years of greater power). So the prophecy can be called into question in this respect. But we know that evil will always exist right up to the end of the world. The end of the 100 years of greater power just signals the return of evil to its normal state however. Back to the way things were before 1900 - when evil still abounded (but not to the same extent). It's really about the increase of war and Satan once again having the ability to prevent the spread of the Gospel, allowing the Great Apostasy to take hold. The end of the period of greater means that the Gospel would once again be able expounded during the Second Pentecost.
Also what I propose is that at the end of the 100 years, the prayer to St. Michael was answered, and Satan was cast from heaven to earth:
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
(Rev 12:7-9)
Satan's defeat in heaven and him being cast to earth doesn't mean that evil won't exist anymore. It just takes a different direction, and allows the Second Pentecost to happen before the appearance of the Antichrist. In fact, we find that Satan being cast to earth makes him even more enraged at humanity, and that while this event has good repercussions for heaven, it spells out a great woe to come on earth - for Satan is cast down to it, and transfers his power to the Antichrist:
"Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
(Rev 12:12)
"And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority."
(Rev 13:1-2)
The implications of Satan being cast from heaven to earth at the end of the 100 years of greater power at the turn of the millennium makes sense out of the rest of the prophecies pointing to this exact time period - including those of La Salette and St. John Bosco's prophecy of the March of 200 Days.
Fascinating discussion
Jamie. Isn't that the same Dr. Morse who waterboarded his own kid? (not discounting his research, I agree that the web site is trouble).
Thanks,
Tom
Hi Tom,
It is indeed. Like you said I dont think it completely discounts his research but unfortunately people will take his stuff less serious. I believe what he says about parents having a vision about their child about to die is correct.
Unfortunately as Michael Sabom noted many in the nde field like Raymond Moody got involved in spiritism (not sure if that is the case with Morse) so they end up going of the rails being led by the doctrine of devils. That website is a good example of what happens when someone doesnt have the reason and magisterium to guide them almost every nde is seen to be true however they think the problem is the filter of the seers mind whilst us Catholics will see it being the case of completely different spirits operating.
For a diabolical or outright fraudulent nde see that of Mellen-Thomas Benedict who sneered at the vision of Christians worshipping their God in "their heaven".
Dear Emmett
I have no doubt that our generation is on the verge of the Great Tribulation unfolding ... however, I ignore its eschatological meaning: Parusia? - or just the beginning of a 'millennium' of what soever. Tine will certainly tell.
I would just like to call your attention to a message given to Father Gobbi where Our Lady stated that the binding of Satan would be brought about by the 'chain of the Rosary'. I have no doubt whatsoever on the honesty and trueness of Father Gobbi's messages. This binding of Satan didn't occur yet.. may be we have 'two bindings' of Satan and in that way things would become more understandable.
The other point would be to call your attention to a priest and theologian from Argentina that also defended a millenium-like view - that would make two in 'modern times' - Father Castellani... ever heard of him?
http://syllabus-errorum.blogspot.com.br/2013/05/padre-castellani-la-parusia-y-el-fin-de.html
In Argentina there are a few books published on this issue an now our Pope came from there. Coincidence?
Emmett O'Regan said:
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
(Rev 12:7-9)
Satan's defeat in heaven and him being cast to earth doesn't mean that evil won't exist anymore. It just takes a different direction, and allows the Second Pentecost to happen before the appearance of the Antichrist
--------------
Well, as I see it Satan was cast to earth before Adam and Eve even were created - so there is no time in human history when evil is not going to exist - it IS here and it will be until the Last Judgement and following final defeat of evil.
I hold strictly amillennial position and am very skeptical about any visions/locutions/prophecies - especially those which circulate around chastisements/warnings/millennial reigns and other rupture-protestant theories. I consider them EVIL because they take us way away from the Gospels and the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We all forget easily that all of those could easily be ( at best) just speculations and views of the visionary, if not even worse.
Our Lord NEVER talked about any intermediate reigns/comings or chastisements - His eshatological description was very straightforward.
As to Revelation - a lot of theologians actually think that it was mostly referring to the early Church and it's persecution, not the very end times.
anon11
Satan being cast from heaven to earth in Rev 12 is a source of confusion for many people. On one level of interpretation, it is indeed based on Satan's primordial fall from grace, caused by pride. But the Book of Revelation uses the narrative of the primordial fall from grace as a template to describe an important eschatological event. Even though he had fallen from grace at some point in the distant past, Scripture tells us that Satan had been standing before the throne of God accusing humanity throughout the course of human history. The Book of Job, for example, describes Satan as toing and froing between the divine throne room and earth, in order to test people and bring their sins before God. As the accuser, Satan would cast our personal faults before God, hoping to win our destruction.
This reality is affirmed in the Book of Revelation itself:
"And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God."
(Rev 12:10)
Satan stands directly before the throne of God to accuse the Christian brethren. So while Satan had fallen from grace in the distant past, he hadn't yet been cast out of heaven. He would only be cast out of heaven down to the earth at the end-time, after which he transfers his power and authority to the Antichrist. Satan being cast to earth effectively leads to his "incarnation" in the Antichrist. This isn't a true incarnation, but a parody of the unique Christ event.
There is a tendency among modern scholars to adhere to full preterism, but this is one of the influences of the likes of Albert Schweitzer, and Rudolf Bultmann's process of demythologisation. The same movement tends to deny the possibility of the miraculous, and depicts Christ as a failed prophet who mistakenly thought that the end of the world would occur during His own life-time. While the Book of Revelation does indeed have a layer of interpretation which is directly related to the events of its own time, it is first and foremost an eschatological text. The events of the age of Christ and the Apostolic Church reflect events which occur at the end-time:
"What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done... there is nothing new under the sun."
(Ecc 1:9)
Part One.
Check out this link.
The End of the Present World and Mysteries of the Future Life - Father Charles Arminjon
http://www.catholic-soe.org/catholicbooks.html
Fr. Arminjon's book was written in the late 1880s, long before Our Lady of Fatima promised a final age of peace before the end of the world. After doing and extensive study of Scripture and writings of the Patristic Fathers, this is what he wrote:
"These texts are explicit and precise. It is clear from their testimony that there will come a time when all heresies and schisms will be overcome, and when the true religion will be known and practiced in all places illuminated by the sun."
Speaking of Our Lady of Fatima, Sr. Lucia once revealed that the Third Secret was contained in chapters 8-13 of the Book of Revelation.
If you haven't already read "Trial, Tribulation and Triumph" by Desmond A. Birch and Rev. Bernard Herman Kramer's "Book of Destiny" I highly recommend you do. Mr. Birch did an extensive study of all the prophecies given to the saints that have received full approval from the Church. He has a chapter that lists some private revelations about the coming age of peace. Fr. Kramer spent 30 years studying the greatest scriptural commentaries written on eschatological exegetes before he wrote his book. He explains line by line the meaning of the entire Book of Revelation. Scripture confirms there will be an age of peace granted to mankind before the advent of Antichrist before the second coming of the Messiah. One thing that must be kept in mind is that Book of Revelation is not written in chronological order. Fr. Kramer was of the opinion (as of 1955) a full 57 years ago that we were then on the cusp of the second woe foretold in Revelation.
The world at present is on the verge of the minor chastisement, a chastisement unparalleled in the entire history of the world up to present. It is estimated that as many as two thirds to three fourths of mankind will perish during the chastisement. The chastisement has two parts, the first is man-made. Because man has refused to obey God's laws and precepts, He has withdrawn many graces. He will allow man to suffer from all the consequences of his own folly. This includes wars, famines,etc. During the second phase, God will directly intervene to put an end to all the carnage. Some believe God's intervention will manifest itself in the "Three Days of Darkness". All this because mankind refused to heed Our Lady's warning to better ourselves by true repentance and conversion and by offering up many sacrifices and penances for our sins. The whole sorry event could have been completely avoided if we had just listened and obeyed. God in His ineffable goodness and mercy and has been so outraged by our sins, we will now experience His just wrath. JPII said that the minor chastisement can no longer be averted but that some of the punishments can still be somewhat mitigated by our prayers and penances. Unfortunately the chastisement itself is inevitable.
Part Two
The Church will undergo the worst persecution she has ever known, it will be worse than all previous persecutions put together. Many of the faithful will be martyred. Several prophecies indicate that the Holy Father (the Third Secret of Fatima of the vision of the Bishop in White and St. John Bosco's vision of the two columns being just two) will we among the martyrs as well as many priests and religious. According to some prophecies the minor chastisement will last about four years. The Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph in the end and a period of peace will be granted to mankind. The duration of this peace depends entirely upon mankind and how well he cooperates with God's grace. During this golden age of peace, the final victory of the One True Church, the Gospel will be preached to every person living on the planet. [BtW, the fact that the Gospel still hasn't been proclaimed to all the ends of the earth is how we can know that the end is not imminent. There are still many places in the world particularly in Asia and Africa were people have never heard of Jesus. The age of the Gentiles is not yet complete.] That doesn't mean that all will embrace the truth. The weeds and tares will co-exist in this world until the time of the final harvest which will take place during the final persecution of the Church (aka the major chastisement) under Antichrist at the close of world history. During the age of peace God will shower mankind abundantly with many gifts and graces. The earth will be the more fertile than it has ever been before. Man will be blessed both materially and spiritually to an extent never before witnessed. For some reason mankind can't handle extended periods of peace and prosperity. He tends to forget that all blessings are from God and even starts to delude himself into believing that he is the source of them. As a result of this, little by little man will again start to grow lax in his duties and obligations owed to God. His love for God and his fellow creatures will eventually become extinguished (the elect excepted). Because man will have been so richly blessed, those who refuse to believe will be without excuse. That is why Jesus said that when He returns will he find any faith? This is why the present times we are living in cannot be the "Great Apostasy". Sure we are witnessing an apostasy from the faith but is is not the "Great Apostasy" foretold by St. Paul in 2 Thess. 2:3. The great apostasy doesn't begin to happen until towards end of the age of peace and will last the entire duration of Antichrists reign, the time when the love of many will grow cold.
From a pure logical standpoint I would like the millennial apologists( all of those who believe in the intermediate tribulations and following "era of peace") - why would those who already survived the chastisement and now experience "era of peace" sin again and even worse just to fall off the grace again? If men are being punished so gravely that they eventually convert - there is no way, being left about 1/3 of the current population they will revert to even more grave sin again.
It is simply against any logic and any pattern of behavior.
On a contrary, if one assumes that the wave of sin is just growing in it's potency throughout time and will eventually break the patience of God and we will encounter all the tribulations and punishment, including the persecution of the Church and Antichrist before the Last Judgement - it is absolutely logical and fits the line of events told us by Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
He never talked about any intermediate punishments and intermediate eras of peace.
anon11
I believe that the hundred years of Satan's reign began with the success of the Russian revolution which coincided with the last apparition at Fatima. If so, Satan loses his temporary extra powers in October 2016 (the completion of exactly 100 years). (It also occurs to me that maybe 'drones' are more like locusts than military aircraft).
Military drones do indeed recall the "locusts" of Rev 9. But we are told that the appearance of these locusts occurs at the opening of the abyss by the angel holding the keys of Death and Hades - which is at the start of the "little while" given to Satan. And the start of the "little while" in Rev 20 is the same as the 100 years of greater power in Pope Leo's vision. So the "locusts" appear at the very beginning of the "little while" or the 100 years. Given the fact that military aircraft first appeared at the beginning of the 20th century (which is identified by Pope Leo's vision as the beginning of the period of Satan's greater power), this would further suggest that the "locusts" were the aircraft of the world wars.
Emmett, this is on another topic but I'm posting it here. It's a link to an article that said the force from that meteor that fell in Russia last Feb was so great that the shock wave traveled around the world twice. This ties into your view about the significance of that event.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10148084/Russian-meteor-shock-wave-went-round-the-world-twice.html
Thanks for pointing that out Sr. Lorraine! This recent meteor strike and the Tunguska event appear to be related, and the fact that they have both occurred in Russia draws our attention to this country (which is the focus of the secrets of Fatima). If Tunguska marked the opening of the abyss, then Chelyabinsk would signify the abyss closing again at the end of the period of greater power, when Satan is cast from heaven to earth (cf. Isa 14:12-15) in order to allow the Second Pentecost to take place. This would then tie into the significance of the election of Pope Francis, if he truly is the "Worthy Shepherd" who will restore the Church.
This post sounds to me to be the most spot on and most logical explanation of just how far along we are in the unfolding of these end time events told to us in scripture by Our Lord. It makes it very clear we are rapidly nearing the climax of all this. At this point we all need to pray hard that we are all able to finish the race in Our Heavenly father good grace and love. God Bless you all.
November 7, 1917, the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution, and October 13, 2017, the Centennial of the Miracle of the Sun are exactly 36,500 days, 100 hundred years apart. Therefore, I believe that we are coming to the end of the one hundred years.
To All,
Fr. Joseph Iannuzi is an exorcist priest in good standing in the Roman Catholic Church.
People fail to realize that Pope Leo XIII's "Prayer Against Satan & His Apostate Angel" can be recited by the Catholic Faithful as a private simple exorcism.
Priests go to Rome become learn the basic rubrics of exorcism. They return and teach; but it is received by most in total disbelief.
We are taught to say they are simply ignorant; but I think it is far worse. Pope Paul VI said in his homily at Mass on the solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul, June 29, 1972: "Though some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the Church."
The best evidence of the veracity of Pope Leo XIII's vision is the 20th Century until the present.
People call themselves Catholic traditionalist argue over things like the Latin Mass vs the New Mass. Pope St. Pius X said: ""Do not allow yourselves to be deceived by the cunning statements of those who persistently claim to wish to be with the Church, to love the Church, to fight so that people do not leave Her...But judge them by their works. If they despise the shepherds of the Church and even the Pope, if they attempt all means of evading their authority in order to elude their directives and judgments..., then about which Church do these men mean to speak? Certainly not about that established on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20)." [Pope St. Pius X: Allocution of May 10, 1909]"
Pope Francis said recently something to the effect "instead of giving the Bread of Life," in reference to the Gospels and the truth, "they give them poison."
Inform yourselves. Know what private, public, simple, solemn mean in reference to prayer.
Thomas
Good article, thanks. The 100 years is a VERY important prophecy. But there are at least TWO scenarios you have not (it seems) considered: 1) 1864 to 1964. This period covers exactly from when Satan was loosed according to Melanie, La Salette... until the completion of Vatican II council which undermined so many of the foundations of all that has been Catholicism. 2) 1914/17 to 2014/17. The period of WW1 began a major demise of the Church and moral condition of humanity... Leading up to our own times: 2014 to 2017: the time when The Church will finally Apostasise to the FULL and break up, as well as WW3, focussed against Europe and USA by Russia and China (gulp...). Therefore I say, BOTH of these two timelines offer a much more compelling and convincing context for the fulfilment of this prophecy. I offer this for profound thought in humility for the truth, not for any one-up-manship. GBY.
ps -(cont) the case for 1917 to 2017 as the final 100 years: It is an interesting fact that the miracle of the sun at Fatima occurred in October 1917, EXACTLY 33 YEARS to the day after Pope Leo had had his vision of Jesus and Satan...could that be just a coincidence?? Also: the first appearance of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima occurred in May 1917. Exactly 33 years after Pope Leo released his encyclical which was entirely about and against FREEMASONRY. Therefore, 1884 was a big year in the spiritual battles of Pope Leo XIII. And the events of Fatima followed on from them exactly 33 years later. And given that the miracle of the sun prefigured the literal last days "end of times" eclipse of the sun and God´s final judgement of men...is it not equally possible that God also has a general timeline that 2017 will be the literal time of the "Great Chastisement" and thus also the end of 100 years in which Satan will have done his best to corrupt and destroy the Catholic church and the whole world? For this to be true: between now and then there needs to occur: 1) WW3 (evidently this is occurring and anything can happen at any time as the world siruation teeters on the edge of conflict and potential chaos). 2) Drastic world economic crisis, famines and currency collapse...all quite possible. 3)The full-scale Apostasy of Rome. This is already in progress as pope Francis leads the church further and further into liberal compromises. October´s Extraordinary Synod is set to surprise us all, according to Francis´own words. 4) The violent sacking of Rome by Russia and other communist or anarchist hordes...and the ruthless martyrdom of the "holy father"/"bishop in white", who can only be Pope "Emeritus" Benedict XVI...who is STILL technically ALSO the real Pope (we now have TWO Popes, as foreseen by Catherine Emmerich and told to Mari-Loli at Garabandal). All of this must occur during the next three years for this to come about. We shall have to wait and see... But one thing is certain, the POSSIBILITY for it all to occur within this timeframe is very realistic. 2014 would represent the year in which the seeds of world war 3 must come to fruition, just as 1914 was for ww1. World war is also the perfect environment of chaos in which the devil can then unleash his other dirty plans, to ruin humanity and to destroy the church from within. Out of THIS mess he intends to begin building a "New World Order" with a new world religion of man to unite it...but God has other plans. I believe that everything is now set for the end-times wargame to begin; and Pope Francis, far from being the great restorer of the church will turn out to be the great destroyer as he leads her into increasing Apostasy and agreement with sin. It is THIS which will bring down the final judgement of God both on the Church of Rome and on the world. If that seems extreme to you, watch and wait... We already Ukraine, Israel-Iran, Korea and China-USA tensions brewing with No diplomatic solution in sight. Even if Francis´s recent efforts peace do seem to be leading to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, there is still the much greater problem of the conflict between Iran and Israel to solve...which will NOT be solved by planting trees and wishing for peace! Once any one of these ingrained conflicts begins to explode, the whole edifice of the present world order (false peace) can quickly degenerate into WW3...with Communist Russia and China coming against the USA and NATO countries, which themselves are likely to descend into various kinds of civil war as different people´s movements fight it out for who is in control. I say all of this not to inspire panic, but only to raise awareness that the FULLNESS of Catholic prophecy could well be about to fulfil itself in these very days. So pray and try to get your house in order before the great and terrible day of the Lord.
pps - huh, I see that a few of these folks already have had more or less the same idea about it... What do you think Emmet?
Hi BroRob,
You make some valid points, and Fatima does seem to be intimately connected to this. If you believe that Pope Francis is not the true pope, you need to be careful about falling into schism though.
My take on the 100 years of Satan's greater power is that this is the "little while of Satan" spoken of in the Apocalypse. As to the timing of when this period of the unbinding of Satan at the end time (or the "opening of the abyss") actually begins, the Apocalypse states that it would be marked by both a star falling to earth and the appearance of apocalyptic "locusts":
"And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth."
(Rev 9:1-3)
And if we look at the turn of the 20th century, we find the appearance not only a huge star falling to earth in the Tunguska event in 1908, but also the appearance of military aircraft just before WWI - which I argue in my book was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the apocalyptic locusts. So WWI marks the beginning of the fruits of Satan's greater power. I would agree that both 2014 and 2017 are also potentially important dates in relation to this. I There appears to be several layers to this prophecy.
The apocalyptic "locusts" are said to be indifferentism and other errors from the XVIII century by the teaching of the Church (Encyclical "Mirari vos" from Pope Gregory XVI). The millenium lasted until the "little time of Satan", the "last week" of the AT prophet Daniel (divided in two halfs of 3, 5 "years"). This times began in 1917 or later (1922 fall of last austrian emperor Charles I of Austria). We are coming to the Parousia, that is composed by a Judgement of the living, an Era of peace (Christ King of the nations) ant the Judgement of the dead.
There are exactly 36500 days between November 6, 1917 (the commencement of the Russian Revolution) and October 13, 1917. I believe this is the 100 years Satan was granted.
where does that nation gOD RAISED FROM ishmael,as told to Abraham? Not only with a Muslim Europe soon coming it would seem,but The president of the U.S. with approval of congress,helping iran,and a Spanish reconstitution;it would seem next century might lead to the acceptance,more than a takeover from without.
I don't think any of us are really qualified to attempt to work out when the end of the world will come, especially in light of Our Lord's admonition that "not even the angels in heaven know when the end will come".
The Apocalypse is a very obscure and descriptive Scriptural Book that not even the greatest Church scholars have been able to fathom with any great accuracy. Indeed, even Chapters 8-13, cited by Sister Lucy as pertaining to the content of the Third Secret of Fatima, are very difficult to understand.
We may certainly judge by the "signs of the times" that great evil has arisen in our era, possibly a prelude to the reign of Antichrist. However, we cannot be certain of this, especially in light of Our Lady's promised triumph and the subsequent "period of peace" she guarantees to the world when the Pope and the bishops unite in a public and solemn consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, which has yet to happen. So if we are to look forward to anything in the near future, it must be the happy time of a period of true Christian peace, not the end of the world.
While I would certainly parallel the present supernatural Passion of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ(since Vatican II), with the historical physical Passion of Christ, right down to the fearful hiding of Peter and most of the Apostles in the Upper Room, not to mention the apostasy of many former followers, scandalised by the disfigured body and countenance of Jesus Crucified, I would caution that such a trial is more likely the prelude to a resurrection of the Catholic Faith in its original Traditional glory, a new era of the reign of Christ our King and Mary our Queen over the nations, than the extinction of the nations phophesied for the time of Armaggedon.
In fine, the present suffering is primarily spiritual. The Church has been infiltrated by evil and the Faith has been compromised, to the extent that division and confusion reign everywhere within the Church. Pope Paul VI said as much when he lamented that "through some fissure in the walls, the smoke of Satan has entered the Church and set her on a path of auto-destruction". This "smoke of Satan" is the liberalism that took control in the Church during and after Vatican II, undermining everything from the Holy Mass to the Sacraments, through doctrine and now, thanks to the recent Synod in Rome, the moral teaching. This is where the devil must be particularly identified and fought today, as Our Lady of Fatima indicated when she gave the year of 1960 as that when the chastisement would begin, the very year preparations began for Vatican II. And does not the text of the Third Secret begin with the words: "In Portugal the dogmas of the Faith will be preserved, etc., indicating that elsewhere they would come under serious assault?
At any rate, a wise priest once said that we should not spend time trying to work out when the end of the world will come, for it is certain that it will come for each of us at death and we should prepare for that event by sanctifying our souls with the Mass, the Sacraments and a devtion to Our Lady's Rosary. The saints also have a little advice for us, which is that, in the event that prelates start altering the Faith in dubious or destructive ways, we must repsectfully refuse to obey, cleaving instead to antiquity, to the security of that which has been handed down for nearly two thousand years without alteration. In other words, stick with the ancient Mass in Latin, the Traditional administration of the Sacraments and all the teachings of the Popes against false ecumenism and inter-religious initiatives. I don't see how any of us can fail by doing this. Let the rest change as they will, we shall have the certainty of the Catholic Faith of the saints and martyrs.
Earlier in this thread, someone made the point that only fully trained exorcists are authorized to use this full prayer; Emmett, you said you had never heard this. I have heard this same instruction, that the full prayer is reserved for the use of exorcists, and only with the permission of their bishops.
As for worrying about World War Three and all the rest...a very wise writer over at Catholic Exchange once said that we should do everything as if it all depends on us, but remember that the end result is in God's hands alone.
JMC
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Just pray. Not discuss.
"These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions (Lam 3:15).
In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered." Look at what comes out of Rome, look at their apostasy. "In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety," don't you see what they have done? What is the Abomination which causes desolation? Why are the Churches empty? What are the true fruits of Vatican two? The Apostasy which starts at the top? Why not release the full Third secret? Look how they have corrupted the most perfect and beautiful thing ever created the Holy Mass and the Catholic Church! Look at how the world has fallen apart since Vatican 2. Why was the Holy Mass which was supposed to be said FOREVER AND ALL TIME according to Pope Saint Pius V's Papal Bull "Quo Primum" changed? Could it be changed legally? Look what has happened to the seminaries and the Churches. They aren't surrounding Rome/ the Vatican, they have taken over it Rome is the "Holy Place itself" and they have "Raised the thrown of their abominable impiety" there obscuring "the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world", which means they are inside!
John C I believe this also applies to sacred places who's property has been sold due to lack of usage among other reasons. The amount of churches that have been closed in North America, Europe, and war torn areas (Iraq, Syria, etc) is astounding. Who knows who will get their hands on that property and what they'll do with it.
the 1000 years of peace [relative peace since the church always had to fight her enemies], was the period between the 5th century, when the roman persecutions stopped and allowed the church to breath and expand around the world...until late 15th century, in the Renaissance, when the jews re-started having influence over people, specially due to their wealth.
So the end times referred by Our Lady many times, started in late 15th century, during the Copernicus revolution, Renaissance and consequence Reformation!!
God give us a brain for us to use, and this is so simple to understand!!
I realize this is kind of late, BUT... I recently read a theory that proposed the 100+ year reign began on November 18, 1920. This is the date the Soviet Union became the first nation since Rome to legalize abortion. Any insights?
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