Christ Declared the King of Poland

Christ the Pantocrator, a mosaic found in the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey

In order to mark the end of the Year of Mercy on 20th Nov, 2016, during the Solemnity of Christ the King, a rather remarkable event took place in Poland on 19th Nov, when the Polish government, together with the Church hierarchy officially recognized Christ as the King of Poland (see here for more details). The Jubilee act of the reception of Christ as King and Lord was then repeated the following day throughout every parish in Poland on Nov 20th. This initiative, which was undertaken by the Polish bishops conference, seems to have been intended as a largely prophetic gesture linked to the Divine Mercy devotion, and the initial impetus for this symbolic action can be firmly attributed to certain private revelations given to Servant of God Rosalia Zelkova in the early 20th century.

Rosalia Zelkova was apparently shown a vision wherein Christ had demanded that He should be enthroned as King by the Polish nation in order to spare the country from an impending war. A detailed account of Rosalia's life and visions can be found here, but for the sake of brevity, it should suffice to quote just a select few of the private revelations quoted on this website dedicated to the Servant of God below:

'If Poland wants to save herself, she must proclaim Jesus as her King through the Act of Enthronement. It must be carried out by the whole nation, and in particular by the state and church authorities, who should conduct the ceremony on behalf of the nation.'

In March 1938 Rozalia was instructed by the internal voice: 'A sacrifice must be made for Poland, for the sinful world (...), for the horrendous sins committed by the Polish Nation. God intends to punish them and it is only my Heart where Poland can find salvation.'

Despite numerous efforts, the enthronement was not celebrated in Poland. A few months before the outbreak of the Second World War, Rozalia had another vision revealing the tragedy which Poland would experience and at the same time a promise that if Poland's government celebrated the enthronement, the war would be prevented. 'By the end of February 1939, Rozalia wrote, Our Lord revealed to my soul the following image in time, when I was offering to Him our Country and all the nations of the world. I saw in my soul the Polish-German border all in flames from Silesia to Pomerania. The vision was really terrifying and it seemed to me the fire would burn down the world. After a time, the fire spread over Germany and nothing was left of the present Third Reich. Then I heard a voice in my soul and felt certain that what I heard would truly happen:

"My child, the war shall be horrible and it shall bring about destruction (…). Poland's sins and crime are numerous and grave. God's Justice wishes to punish this nation for the sins of unchastity, homicide and hatred. However, Poland can be saved if I am proclaimed as her King and Lord by means of the enthronement, not only in some of the regions but in the whole country and, most importantly, by the government. The proclamation must be affirmed with rejection of sin and return to God (…). Poland can be saved only by Me."

In July 1938, Rozalia had a prophetic vision and received instruction concerning a distant for her yet for us now quite immediate future. She wrote: 'I was brought to a high mountain on which I saw a sphere similar to the globe yet of a much bigger size. I examined it with great interest. Geographically, it was the globe. I recognized parts of the world and particular countries. All of the sudden, a dignified figure of a man appeared in front of me. I do not know who he was. The person approached me and started a conversation. He said: "This is the globe", and told me to name and define borders of different parts of the world and particular countries. When I answered his questions, the person spoke to me in a grave and solemn voice:

"My child! God shall send a terrible punishment for sins and crime committed by people in the whole world. God's Justice cannot endure those misdeeds. Only those countries shall persevere where Christ will reign. If you want to save the world, the enthronement must be celebrated (…) in all the countries and nations around the globe. It is the only way in which one may be rescued. Countries and nations who do not recognize that need and submit to the reign of the sweet love of Jesus shall disappear from the face of the earth forever. Remember that, my child, they shall perish and shall never exist!!! (…) Remember, child, the matter of such importance must not be overlooked or forgotten. (…) The enthronement must be carried out in Poland."

Rozalia recollected that she offered herself to Jesus out of love to Him, to suffer deeply in the first place for the sake of Poland, and then for Germany, Russia, Spain and the whole world. At that moment the person took her hand and led her to the other side of the globe. He pointed to the United States of America and Australia and said with pain: 'Didn't Christ suffer also for those souls? Aren't they saved with His Most Sacred Blood? You should include them, my child, in particular America.'

He went on convincingly: 'Every effort must be made in order to carry out the enthronement. That is the final that Jesus' love makes for people at the end of days!' 'I asked him with fear whether Poland would endure. The person answered: "Poland shall not perish unless she recognizes Christ as King in every sense of the word, that is unless she accepts God's Law, the law of His love. Otherwise, my child, she shall not persevere." Finally, he said to me: "I say this to you once again, my child, that only those nations shall not perish who will be submitted to Jesus' Heart through the enthronement, who will recognize Him as their King and Lord. A horrible disaster shall come on this world, he said, as you will soon see." 

 'Suddenly, a terrible bang could be heard. The globe cracked. Enormous fire broke out and disgusting lava flew out as if from a volcano, completely destroying all countries which had not recognized Christ. I saw destroyed Germany and other Western European countries. I turned with terror to the person for help and he said: "Do not fear, child," and he put his hands on my shoulders. I asked him: "Is this the end of the world, and the fire and lava, are these hell?" He replied: "This is not the end of the world or hell, but a horrible war which shall complete the destruction." The Polish borders were left inviolate, Poland persevered. The unknown person also said to me: "Countries under Christ's reign and subjected to the power of His Sacred Heart shall become extremely powerful and there shall be one Fold and one Shepherd."

 'Upon these words everything disappeared. On the following day, after the Holy Communion, I asked Lord Jesus about the meaning of that vision. I was instructed: "Child, this is what shall happen if people do not return to God. The moment of enthronement must not be delayed in Poland."

The fact that the Church hierarchy in Poland has responded in such a remarkable fashion to these private revelations indicates a high level of approval. They echo the visions of St. Faustina herself, who just before the outbreak of the Second World War foreseen that there would be "a war, a terrible, terrible war", and of course the Second Secret of Fatima:

You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays.

This act of enthronement finds its historical antecedent in the enthronement of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Poland on April 1st, 1656. After it had been invaded by Sweden and Russia, Poland had enthroned the Blessed Virgin during an elaborate ceremony conducted by the Polish king  John II (Jan) Casimir. This action was made in response to the Polish victory made the previous year during the siege of Jasna Góra Monastery, which housed the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. The victory of Jasna Góra, which repelled a Swedish assault upon the monastery in 1655, was directly attributed to the intercession of Our Lady won through the miraculous icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, and marked a key turning point in the war against Sweden.

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa at Jasna Góra Monastery

The victory at Jasna Góra prompted John II Casimir to crown the Black Madonna of Częstochowa Queen of Poland, which was made in response to private revelations given to Servant of God Giulio Mancinelli, a Jesuit missionary who was born on the ominous date of Oct 13th 1537.

On Aug 14th, 1608 Fr. Mancinelli reportedly experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary whilst living in Naples, who asked him: "Why do you not call me Queen of the Polish? I greatly love this kingdom and I am going to do great things for it, because a peculiar love for me burn within its sons."
This was followed by two other apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Fr. Mancinelli in 1610 and 1617, where she also referred to herself as "Queen of the Polish".

Each of the above private revelations concerning the coronation of Jesus and Mary as sovereigns of Poland recall the famous words recorded in St. Faustina's diary:

As I was praying for Poland, I heard the words: I bear a special love for Poland, and if she will be obedient to My will, I will exalt her in might and holiness. From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming.”
(The Diary of St. Faustina, 1732)

After the enthronement of the Blessed Virgin as the Queen of Poland in 1656, this nation would go on to play a pivotal role in the defence of Christian Europe against the threat of Islam during the Battle of Vienna, which took place on 12th Sept, 1683. The Ottoman Turks had been laying siege to the imperial city of the Holy Roman empire for two months, and it was verging on the brink of collapse when the Polish King John III Sobieski came to its rescue on the ominous date of Sept 11th, and at 4.00 am on the morning of 12th Sept, the Battle of Vienna began. Before John Sobieski set out to rescue Vienna spearheading the Holy League, he had stopped to pray at the shrine of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa at Jasna Góra, and during a Mass held on the eve of the battle, which was presided over by Blessed Marco d'Aviano, he once again entrusted himself to the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, whose image he carried in a gorget.

King John III Sobieski of Poland, bearing a gorget of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa

The resounding victory of John Sobieski at the Battle of Vienna was one of the greatest turning points in European history, and not only saw a permanent end to the Islamic expansion into Europe, but also enabled the Holy Roman Emperor to reclaim Hungary, and over the course of the next centuries, the threat of Ottoman Turkey gradually began to wane until its eventual collapse in 1918. Writing to Pope Innocent XI in the aftermath of the battle, Sobieski acknowledged that the victory belonged to God alone, stating "Veni, vidi, Deus vicit" ("I came, I saw, God conquered"). The importance of the victory at the Battle of Vienna is held in direct comparison with that of Lepanto, which saw an end to the naval threat of Ottoman Turkey on 7th October, 1571. And like its naval counterpart, which is commemorated by the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on 7th October, the Battle of Vienna was also marked by the institution of a feast day - The Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is celebrated on 12th Sept.

This feast was extended to the universal Church calendar by Pope Innocent XI in 1684 in order to commemorate the Battle of Vienna, and continued to be practiced until the liturgical reforms made in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. The Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary was struck from the General Roman Calendar by controversial reformer Annibale Bugnini in 1969, but was reinstituted by Pope St. John Paul II in 2002, in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center, when the date of this feast day gained renewed significance. We can be almost certain that the Holy Father made this symbolic action in direct response to the events of 9/11, when the West once again faced a great confrontation with the Islamic world. He beatified Marco d'Aviano shortly after in 2003 - the Capuchin friar who was instrumental in organising and energizing the Holy League against the Ottoman Turks during the Battle of Vienna. There is also some evidence which suggests that Sr. Lucia had made a connection between these events in the immediate aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attack, which she appears to have communicated directly to St. John Paul and Cardinal Tarcisco Bertone.

In my book Unveiling the Apocalypse: The Final Passover of the Church, I go into some detail to show how Cardinal Bertone's musing that the events of 9/11 may be connected to the appearance of the Signs of Heaven described in the Bible (made upon his return from presiding over the seer's funeral Mass), was in fact rooted in some information conveyed to him by the seer of Fatima herself. Information which was most likely originally communicated to the pope immediately after the destruction of the Twin Towers. At the time, there were rumours circulated by Inside the Vatican that Sr. Lucia had sent a letter to Pope St. John Paul II immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Citing anonymous sources from within the Carmelite order, traditionalist newspaper The Remnant published yet another rumour that Sr. Lucia had received a new apparition of the Virgin Mary on October 7th, 2001 - the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary - which rather aptly, also reflects the struggle between the Arab and Christian worlds, since this feast commemorates the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, when vastly outnumbered Catholic forces triumphed over the Ottoman fleet.  

The alleged new revelation was supposedly to ask for prayers to prevent an impending "blood bath", and seems to be partially based on the fact that the Carmel of Coimbra did indeed hold to a 24 hour period of prayer on 7th October, 2001. At least one Carmelite convent had confirmed that it had received a letter from the Association of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, dated to 13th September, 2001 (just two days after 9/11), calling on the Carmelite order to unite with Sr. Lucia in praying for peace in the world on 7th October - the Feast of the Holy Rosary. 

Given the close association between the Feast of the Holy Rosary with the Feast Day of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin, which both commemorate great Marian victories, it is interesting to note that the recognition of Christ as the King of Poland by the Church and government authorities on Nov 20th, 2016 was preceded the previous month by yet another lightning strike on the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica on Oct 7th, 2016 - the Feast of the Holy Rosary.

It is also worth taking into consideration that one of his last actions before dying on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday on 2nd April, 2005, Pope St. John Paul II offered up a new crown to be presented to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, accompanied by a crown for the Infant Jesus, in a possible allusion to the future enthronement of Christ as King of Poland urged by Rosalia Zelkova. As the Vatican website states: "The crowns of gold of the Virgin and Child were offered and blessed by St. John Paul II on 1 April 2005, shortly before his death." (see here). The reason these crowns were offered to the Madonna and Child on 1st April was in order to mark the anniversary of the enthronement of the Blessed Virgin as Queen of Poland by King John II Casimir on 1st April 1656.

The fact that the enthronement of Christ as King of Poland took place at the close of the Year of Mercy on Nov 20th is also significant in the fact that it coincided with the "conception phase" of the so-called "Rev 12" sign that began on this exact date, and culminates 9 and a half months later on Sept 23rd, 2017 (see here for more details). Are these two events related? If so, it would tie in with the conclusions drawn on my previous post The Sign of Jonah and the Binding of Satan, which mulled over the possible significance of a solar eclipse that will take place over America on Aug 21st, 2017, the Feast of Our Lady of Knock (which announced the opening of the seals of Revelation), and the exact date that a solar eclipse crossed the site of ancient Nineveh at the beginning of World War One on Aug 21st, 2017. Given these parallels with the "sign of Jonah" mentioned by Christ in the Gospels, I had mused over the possibility of some sort of chastisement that may take place unless an act of repentance is made, and that it may indicate that America is the "new Nineveh" involved in this sign. Could this be a call to repentance?

Given that St. John Paul II had seemingly drawn a connection between the events behind the institution of the Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin and the terrorist attacks on 9/11, it is interesting that the private revelations given to Rosalia Zelkova concerning the enthronement of Christ as King of Poland similarly have a particular focus drawn on America:

Rozalia recollected that she offered herself to Jesus out of love to Him, to suffer deeply in the first place for the sake of Poland, and then for Germany, Russia, Spain and the whole world. At that moment the person took her hand and led her to the other side of the globe. He pointed to the United States of America and Australia and said with pain: 'Didn't Christ suffer also for those souls? Aren't they saved with His Most Sacred Blood? You should include them, my child, in particular America.'

If the events of 9/11 were indeed a "harbinger" of a worse fate still to befall America, as was suggested in the highly popular book by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, then it would follow that Rosalia Zelkova's focus on a need for prayer for America means that it is this nation in particular that would suffer the most from the chastisement she saw, which appears to involve a volcanic eruption:

I say this to you once again, my child, that only those nations shall not perish who will be submitted to Jesus' Heart through the enthronement, who will recognize Him as their King and Lord. A horrible disaster shall come on this world, he said, as you will soon see." 
 'Suddenly, a terrible bang could be heard. The globe cracked. Enormous fire broke out and disgusting lava flew out as if from a volcano, completely destroying all countries which had not recognized Christ.

If this volcanic eruption is one and the same as the Cumbre Vieja event - the "great mountain, burning with fire" being thrown into the sea in Rev 8:8, then we can see why America would be singled out for particular need of prayer.

However this particular event is not something that we need to worry about happening in the immediate future, since the destruction of "Babylon" takes place just before the rise to power of the Antichrist.  And the ministry of the Two Witnesses to restore the Church, proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth and bring about the conversion of the Jews must take before the Antichrist ascends to power. So it is certainly much too soon to expect the destruction of the dominant eschatological world power referred to as "Babylon" - which is part of the Great Chastisement itself, and should be equated with the cataclysm seen in Sr. Lucia's 1944 Tuy apparition. Given that the process of the restoration of the Church by the Two Witnesses is yet to unfold, this particular chastisement must still lie many years in the future. Due to the fact that the prophecies of Rosalia Zelkova are so closely associated with the events of the Battle of Vienna, it would appear that this chastisement is also in some way connected to a confrontation with the Islamic world.

A few Catholic prophecies suggest that there will also be a "minor chastisement" that will take place before the restoration of the Church, which unlike the Great Chastisement, is conditional in nature. Could it be the events of this "minor chastisement" that will potentially take place next year? This is difficult to tell, since the secrets of Fatima appear to suggest that the "minor chastisement" should be equated with the events of the Second World War. The conditional nature of the Second World War mentioned in the Second Secret was further clarified by a statement made by Blessed Jacinta on her deathbed. We can compare each below:

The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. (Second Secret of Fatima)

If men will repent, God will pardon them, but if they do not amend their lives, there will come upon the earth the most terrible chastisement ever known. (Blessed Jacinta Marto)

It seems that the events of this conditional chastisement, described by Bl. Jacinta as the "most terrible chastisement ever known", were already fulfilled in the Second World War. Is this conditional chastisement one and the same as the minor chastisement? It is difficult to know for sure, and there are some particular components of the prophecies of the minor chastisement which do not fully align with the events of World War II. As Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out in his theological commentary in The Message of Fatima, the future is not unchangeably set, and it would appear that there are still a number of ways in which these prophecies can unfold, depending on how humanity reacts as a whole to God's call for repentance.

There is a particular component of the Third Secret of Fatima which suggests that the world will be able to avoid the occurrence of a major chastisement through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, when the shepherd children were shown a vision in which the flames emanating from the sword of the angel are quenched by the rays of light which emanate from the hands of Our Lady:

After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!'.

This image reflects that of the Miraculous Medal, which shows Satan being crushed under the feet of the Woman Adorned with the Sun, and appears to allude to the period of peace promised in the Second Secret. During the canonization Mass of St. Faustina, St. John Paul II appears to have associated the arrival of the period of peace with the Divine Mercy devotion itself:

Jesus told Sr Faustina: "Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy" (Diary, p. 132). Through the work of the Polish religious, this message has become linked for ever to the 20th century, the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third.
(Pope John Paul II, Mass in St Peter's Square for the Canonization of Sr Mary Faustina Kowalska, April 30th, 2000)

So is it possible that when faced with the threat of chastisement, humanity will eventually repent due to the occurrence of some remarkable form of Divine intervention? In her famous interview with Fr. Fuentes, Sr. Lucia stated that just before God is about to chastise the world for its sins, he will provide one last extraordinary means of salvation, by reluctantly sending His Blessed Mother to convince the world of its impending doom:

"Father, the Most Holy Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world, but She made me understand this for three reasons."

"The first reason is because She told me that the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat. Also, from now on we must choose sides. Either we are for God or we are for the devil. There is no other possibility."

"The second reason is because She said to my cousins as well as to myself, that God is giving two last remedies to the world. These are the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the last two remedies which signify that there will be no others."

"The third reason is because in the plans of Divine Providence, God always, before He is about to chastise the world, exhausts all other remedies. Now, when He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever, then as we say in our imperfect manner of speaking, He offers us with ‘certain fear’ the last means of salvation, His Most Holy Mother. It is with ‘certain fear’ because if you despise and repulse this ultimate means, we will not have any more forgiveness from Heaven, because we will have committed a sin which the Gospel calls the sin against the Holy Ghost."

These words of Sr. Lucia strongly suggests that just before the arrival of a future chastisement, there will be another major Marian apparition to announce the coming destruction, and allow the world to embrace a period of penance. This appears to be directly associated with the proclamation of the Gospel to all nations before the end of the world, when the flood poured forth from the mouth of the Dragon is swallowed up by the earth just before the final persecution of the Antichrist:

The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
(Rev 12:15-17)

If the appearance of the remarkable astronomical configuration that began on Nov 20th, 2016 is in some way connected to the prophecies of Servant of God Rosalia Zelkova (on which date one of the most important of these requests was fulfilled), then it would seem that these private revelations are also linked to the culmination of this sign, which concludes on 23rd Sept, 2017 - just days before the centenary of the Miracle of the Sun on Oct 13th, 2017.

It seems that the only way that we can know for sure in advance if the world is faced by the threat of a major chastisement next year (as many Catholics currently believe), is if it announced beforehand by the appearance of a Marian apparition on a scale comparable to those of Our Lady of Fatima.

The Sign of Jonah and the Binding of Satan

With the Iraqi army currently undertaking an operation to take back the city of Mosul from ISIS, it is somewhat timely to discuss the importance of the Sign of Jonah in relation to Christ's discourse on the binding of Satan in the Gospels. The city of Mosul is situated on the site of ancient Nineveh - the location which is the central focus of the story of the Prophet Jonah, who was told by God to travel to the capital of Assyria to announce its impending destruction. As I detail in the new edition of my book, Unveiling the Apocalypse: The Final Passover of the Church, some theologians have forwarded the hypothesis that the reason the inhabitants of Nineveh were so receptive to Jonah's message of doom was because a solar eclipse had taken place over the city at around the same time the prophet had arrived to announce its fate.

The path of totality of the Bur-Sagale Eclipse, which is one of the most famous solar eclipses in ancient history, occurred just north of Nineveh on 15th June, 763BC during the reign of King Ashur-Dan III of Assyria, and was recorded for posterity in the Assyrian Eponym Canon - a series of cuneiform tablets discovered in the 19th century. 

The path of totality of the Bur-Sagale Eclipse of 763BC

We know that the Prophet Jonah was a contemporary of King Ashur-Dan III because of a brief mention of him in the Second Book of Kings, which places his prophetic ministry during the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel:

In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.
(2Kings 14:23-25)

According to the chronology established by E.R. Thiele, Jeroboam II was sole ruler of Israel between the years 782-753BC, placing Jonah's active ministry to this time period; while Ashur-Dan III was king of Assyria between 772-755BC. Given the fact that this solar eclipse was one of the most noteworthy events to have occurred during the reign of Ashur-Dan III, it has prompted many theologians to suggest that the occurrence of the Bur-Sagale eclipse was the primary reason why the Ninevites were so keen to repent upon hearing Jonah's message of doom - a curious reaction which is left unexplained in the Book of Jonah itself. The Assyrian chronicles inform us that a plague had broken out in the city of Nineveh just a few years before the eclipse in 765BC, which was soon followed by an internal revolt which began during the very same year that the eclipse occurred - a series of events which would undoubtedly have been attributed to the wrath of the gods.

It therefore seems quite possible that when the Prophet Jonah had arrived in the midst of these calamities announcing the imminent destruction of Nineveh, the inhabitants were only too eager to listen - especially if his entrance into the city had been timed to coincide with the appearance of a total solar eclipse. As I attempt to show in the book, the appearance of the Prophet Jonah in Nineveh may have been recorded in an ancient inscription found in a cave in Kizkapan (or "Qyzqapan") near the city of Sulaimaniya in Iraq, around 200 miles away from Mosul/Nineveh itself.

The engraving in Kizkapan cave shows two figures laying down their weapons making gestures of peace, which takes place underneath the figure of a man depicted within the symbol of the sun undergoing an eclipse. The Russian archaeologist Igor Diakonov has proposed that this inscription records the total eclipse predicted by Thales of Miletus in 585BC, which according to Herodotus, had interrupted a battle between the Medes and Lydians at the Halys River in Asia Minor, which immediately led to the declaration of a truce between the warring factions. As such, Diakonov has suggested that Kizkapan Cave is actually the tomb of the Median emperor Cyaxares, who ruled during the Battle of Halys. However, Diakonov bases this idea largely upon the fact that the Eclipse of Thales is one of the only known instances of a solar eclipse eliciting such a dramatic reaction from its observers. But when we take the events behind the story of Jonah into consideration, we are presented with an alternative explanation for the origin of this relief, since it largely comprised of a similar set of circumstances. And when we study this inscription in closer detail, we can see that it is clearly based on a much older design that had originally incorporated imagery connected to the Mesopotamian mythological figure Oannes, who has been closely associated with the Prophet Jonah himself.

Once we compare the centre-piece of Kizkapan Cave with a well known scene of even greater antiquity found in Mesopotamian culture, we can be certain that the primary inspiration of this engraving is based upon the legendary figure of Oannes/Adapa. Although it has a unique style of its own, introducing a few idiosyncratic motifs that can only be found here, the inscription at Kizkapan Cave is virtually identical to a much older scene found elsewhere in Mesopotamian culture which predominately features the figure of Oannes/Adapa.

A scene found on an ancient cylinder seal featuring the "fish-man" Adapa/Oannes standing below the winged solar deity Shamash adoring a sacred tree, who is presumably accompanied by one of the other of the seven sages who were of similar appearance

As we can see from the pictures above, the posture of the two figures above is exactly the same as that found on the older relief depicting Oannes/Adapa, and is similarly situated directly below a figure within a sun-disc. The only major differences are that the figures shown at Kizkapan are not attired with the fish-garb usually associated with Oannes and the seven Apkallu, or Mesopotamian sages, and instead of holding a basket, they are apparently in the act of placing down their bows with their attention diverted to paying homage to the gods instead. Also the sun-disc at Kizkapan is quite clearly shown to be in eclipse, with the corona visible underneath the figure holding a scroll-like object.

There has been a long-standing association between the Prophet Jonah and the mythological figure of Oannes, not only because the two names are so similar from an etymological point of view, but chiefly because this deity was depicted as a man adorning fish-like garments, almost as if he is emerging out the fish itself. The Babylonian historian Berossus describes Oannes as a half man, half fish creature below:

“A man, or rather a monster, Half man and half fish, coming from the sea, appeared near Babylon; he had two heads; one, which was the highest, resembled that of man, the other that of a fish. He had the feet of a man, and the tail of a fish; and his speech and voice resembled that of a man: a representation of him is still preserved. This monster dwelt by day with men, but took no food; he gave them knowledge of letters, arts, and sciences; he taught them to build towers and temples; and to establish laws; he instructed them in the principles of geometry; taught them to sow, and to gather the fruits of the earth; in short, whatever could contribute to polish and civilize their manners. At sun set he retired to the sea, in which he passed the night. There appeared likewise others of the same species.”

According to Mesopotamian mythology, Adapa/Oannes was a mortal man and a son of the god Ea, and was instrumental in bringing the arts of civilisation to humanity. In a further parallel to the story of Jonah and the fish, we are told that while Adapa was out fishing one day, his boat was overturned by Ninlil, the personification of the South Wind. Indeed, the similarities between the story of Jonah and the figure of Oannes run so deep, that many commentators have erroneously proposed that these legends were originally inspired by the events surrounding the Prophet Jonah himself. This misconception is recounted in the Wikipedia article concerning Jonah:


Biblical scholars have speculated that Jonah may have been in part the inspiration behind the figure of Hannes in late Babylonian mythology. The deity name "Oannes" first occurs in texts from the Library of Ashurbanipal (more than a century after the time of Jonah) as Uanna or Uan but is assimilated to Adapa, a deity first mentioned on fragments of tablets from the 15th or 14th century BC found in Amarna in Egypt. Oannes is described as dwelling in the Persian Gulf, and rising out of the waters in the daytime and furnishing humanity instruction in writing, the arts and the various sciences. Berossus describes Oannes as having the body of a fish but underneath the figure of a man—a detail that, some biblical scholars suggest, is not derived from Adapa but is perhaps based on a misinterpretation of images of Jonah emerging from the fish. (See here)



However the various myths concerning the figure of Adapa predate the ministry of Jonah by several centuries, and can be traced as far back as the 14th century BC. Although the connection between the events behind the story of Jonah and the figure of Oannes would not have went unnoticed by the Assyrians themselves, and it is quite probable that the ancient Ninevites would have associated the appearance of the prophet emerging from the fish with the myth of Adapa. It is even possible that the later name "Oannes" used for Adapa is itself derived from Jonah, because of this close association.

Given the fact that the engraving found in Kizkapan Cave is based upon earlier imagery associated with Adapa/Oannes, it makes it more likely that this relief depicts events which took place during the Bur-Sagale Eclipse of 763BC, rather than the Eclipse of Thales. As such, the two figures laying down weapons may represent a cessation in hostilities during the revolts that were unfolding in Nineveh, which were recorded as taking place around this time by the Assyrian Eponym Canon. Actions which were prompted by the appearance of the eclipse itself, and a prophet who emerged out of a fish to announce the destruction of Nineveh.

Given the possibility that the repentance of the Ninevites at the preaching of Jonah can be attributed to the Bur-Sagale Eclipse, we have some grounds to suggest that the original "sign of Jonah" consisted of the appearance of a total solar eclipse over the site of ancient Nineveh. When we look to Christ's statement concerning the appearance of the "sign of Jonah" to a wicked and perverse generation, we find that these words were made immediately after His discourse on the binding of the strong man - which according to St. Augustine of Hippo, is an integral component of the prophecy of the unbinding of Satan at the end of the "thousand years" mentioned in Rev 20:

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)

So in relation to the sacrificial death of Jesus and His resurrection on the third day, the "sign of Jonah" harks back to the three days the prophet spent in the belly of the fish. An event which foreshadowed the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Christ - which in turn brought about the binding of Satan.

But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
(Matt 12:39-41)

Therefore as well as pointing us towards the significance of a total solar eclipse over the site of ancient Nineveh, the "sign of Jonah" is also intimately connected to the binding and unbinding of Satan.

It is surely beyond coincidence in this regard that the start of the First World War was marked by a total solar eclipse which directly traversed the site of ancient Nineveh in Mosul, Iraq on 21st August, 1914. The World War I Eclipse crossed over the battlefields of war-torn eastern Europe before making its way down towards Nineveh - an event which took place on the feast day of Our Lady of Knock, a Marian apparition which appears to have announced the imminence of the opening of the seven seals by the Lamb of Revelation.

The path of totality of the eclipse of 21st August, 1914

Moreover, the path of totality of the solar eclipse of August 11th, 1999 had similarly crossed the site of ancient Nineveh at the turn of the millennium. A solar eclipse which I argue in some depth was part of a sequence of events linked to the "signs in Heaven" foretold throughout Sacred Scripture, which mark the moment when Satan is thrown down to earth in great fury by the Archangel Michael, after which he sends out a flood which threatens to sweep away the Church. The fact that the "sign of Jonah" appeared at the dawn of the third millennium after the birth of Christ parallels the three days the prophet spent in the belly of the fish, and the three days of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, since according to the words of St. Peter:

...do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
(2 Peter 3:8-9)

The path of totality of the solar eclipse of 11th August, 1999

In order to further heighten the significance of this event, the 1999 solar eclipse had occurred on the exact day that a rare "Grand Cross Alignment" took place, when the planets of the solar system were arranged to take the form a cross - the ultimate sign of the defeat of Satan.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
(Psalm 19:1)

This ties into the recent observation made by researcher Miguel Antonio Fiol, that the planets had arranged to take the form of a crucifixion scene on the most likely date of the death of Jesus - 3rd April, 33AD.

As Christian Newswire reported back on 31st August, 2015:

In an illustration (hi-res version) released today to the public, the planets Saturn, Uranus, Jupiter, Earth and Venus align on an orrery model to form what looks like Jesus on the cross with the head, the hands spread out and the legs together in accurate positioning, rotation and on a galactic scale. Indeed, even Saturn's rings can be viewed as representing the "halo" or "crown of thorns."

Moreover, and perhaps most noteworthy, is the date of the alignment, the day commonly viewed as that of Jesus' actual crucifixion, April 3, 33 A.D. (See here for more).

A few days after the total solar eclipse passed through central Turkey on 11th August, 1999, a massive earthquake struck the city of Izmit in this region on 17th August, 1999, killing more than 17,000 people. The location of Izmit itself is highly significant in the fact that this is the site of ancient Nicomedia - the location where the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued his first Edict against Christians on February 23rd AD303, beginning the Great Persecution. The emperor Diocletian had shifted his seat of governance from Rome to Nicomedia, which he made eastern capital of the Roman Empire in 286AD. So Nicomedia was in essence the very nerve centre of the most severe persecution of Christians in antiquity. The Diocletianic Persecution saw the most intense attack against Christians established throughout the majority of the Roman Empire, and in many ways reflects the coming Great Persecution of Christians under the Antichrist, which was foreseen in the Third Secret of Fatima. Immediately before the appearance of the signs in Heaven at the opening of the sixth seal, the Apocalypse presents us with a vision of those who were martyred for their testimony to Christ calling out for justice:

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.  When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
(Rev 6:9-13)

The fact that the epicentre of this earthquake was concentrated upon the very base of operations of the Great Persecution helps us to further establish that the 1999 solar eclipse was part of the signs in Heaven described in the Apocalypse. It is interesting to note that there was a repeat of a the "Grand Cross Alignment" that occurred on 11th August, 1999 just a few days later between 17th-18th August, when the planets once again assembled in the form of a cross in a slightly different form at the very moment this earthquake occurred within the confines of ancient Nicomedia.

Yet again, it is surely beyond coincidence that the "sign of Jonah" (in the form of a total solar eclipse occurring over the site of Nineveh) had appeared not only at the very dawn of period of Satan's greater power foreseen by Pope Leo XIII, at the beginning of the First World War, but also just before the Great Jubilee Year of the Incarnation at the start of the third millennium AD. A date which is closely associated with the promises of the Protoevangelium, when the head of the ancient serpent is trampled under the feet of the Woman Clothed with the Sun.

As I detail in the book, the turn of the millennium was accompanied by a number of phenomena which can be directly equated with the signs in Heaven - the 1999 solar eclipse followed by the Izmit earthquake in August, the recurrence of the 33 year cycle of the Leonid Meteor Storm in November (the most prolific of all meteor showers), followed by the first blood moon of the new millennium on the feast of Our Lady of Zion on Jan 21st 2000. In addition to this, after an interview with Sr. Lucia in the immediate wake of 9/11, Cardinal Tarcisco Bertone was left to conclude that the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 were also part of the "signs in Heaven" - which can only be equated with the "blood, fire and columns of smoke" included among these signs in Joel 2:30-31 and Acts 2:19-21: 

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. (Joel 2:30-32)

The signs in Heaven are the visible signs which herald the eschatological expulsion of Satan from Heaven at the expiration of the "short time" given to him at the end of the thousand years, when the Devil is cast down to the earth with a third of the angelic host. Throughout the Bible, these signs are associated with casting down of Satan to earth, in passages such as that found in Ezek 32:

You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers. Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will throw my net over you with a host of many peoples, and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
And I will cast you on the ground; on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
I will strew your flesh upon the mountains and fill the valleys with your carcass. I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood, and the ravines will be full of you.
When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you,
and put darkness on your land, declares the Lord GOD.
(Ezek 32:2-8)

Once Satan realises he has been cast down to the earth, he sends forth a flood from his mouth in order to sweep the Woman away. Many Catholics believe that the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima next year will in some way be involved in the end of the period of Satan's greater power, which would correspond to the next event which must follow in the sequence of the Divine drama - when the flood issued from the mouth of the serpent is finally swallowed up. It is therefore quite remarkable that there will be another "great sign seen in heaven" that will appear during the course of the year 2017 which also harks back to the significance of Rev 12. A sequence of astronomical events which are set in motion in just a few days time at the conclusion of the Year of Mercy on Nov 20th, 2016 - the feast of Christ the King, and peaks on 23rd September, 2017. As the widely respected Catholic writer Patrick Archbold notes:

On November 20, 2016, an astronomical event begins that will last nine and a half months, culminating in startling concurrence with the vision of Revelation 12. While I am not an astronomer, all my research indicates that this astronomical event, in all its particulars, is unique in the history of man.

On November 20, 2016, Jupiter (the King planet) enters into the body (womb) of the constellation Virgo (the virgin). Jupiter, due its retrograde motion, will spend the next 9 ½ months within the womb of Virgo. This length of time corresponds with gestation period of a normal late-term baby.

After 9 ½ months, Jupiter exits out of the womb of Virgo. Upon Jupiter’s exit (birth), on September 23, 2017, we see the constellation Virgo with the sun rise directly behind it (the woman clothed with the sun). At the feet of Virgo, we find the moon. And upon her head we find a crown of twelve stars, formed by the usual nine stars of the constellation Leo with the addition of the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars.

That is a truly remarkable and, as far as I can determine, unique series of event with a startling degree of concurrence with the vision of Revelation 12. (Read the full article here)

Just before the conclusion of this astronomical event on 23rd Sept, 2017, another remarkable total solar eclipse will take place. And just like the solar eclipse which occurred at the start of World War One (at the beginning of the period of the unbinding of Satan), this event will also transpire on Aug 21st, 2017 - the Feast of Our Lady of Knock. While it is difficult to know for sure if this event has any real prophetic significance, the fact that it will take place at the end of the period of Satan's greater power foretold in the prophecy of Pope Leo XIII, and that it so close to the Rev 12 sign that occurs on 23rd Sept, 2017, prompts us to ponder whether this solar eclipse is part of the "sign of Jonah" sequence that began on Aug 21st, 1914. Only instead of appearing over the location of ancient Nineveh, this solar eclipse is concentrated entirely upon America, and the path of totality can only be seen across the central United States.

If this solar eclipse does have any significance in regard to the "sign of Jonah" which appeared on Aug 21st, 1914 and was repeated on Aug 11th, 1999, then we are left to consider if this may suggest that America is the new Nineveh that is being called to repentance. The fact that 40 days onward from this event brings us into October - the month of the Holy Rosary, within which takes place the centenary of the Miracle of the Sun on Oct 13th, 2017, recalls the words of Jonah himself:

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. (Jonah 3:4-5)

Furthermore, the fact that this eclipse takes place during the Feast of Our Lady of Knock may further suggest that the events of 2017 have something to do with the opening of the seven seals by the Lamb of Revelation. As I attempt to show in the book, the events which take place during the opening of the first six seals of the Apocalypse have already taken place, and these events are one and the same as that which unfolds during the unbinding of Satan at the end of the "thousand years". It is only the opening of the seventh seal that is yet to occur. Is it possible that the opening of the seventh seal will only take place at the end of the period of Satan's greater power? When we look to the Book of Revelation, we find that there some interesting parallels between the opening of the seventh seal and the vison of the angel in the Third Secret of Fatima, who threatens to strike the earth with his flaming sword:

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
(Rev 8:1-5)

The angel with the golden censer here is the same as the angel who "has authority over the fire" who calls for the harvest of the earth in Rev 14:

Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
(Rev 14:17-19)

Could this portend the threat of some sort of chastisement that America will have to suffer next year, unless it is brought to repentance? It is difficult to know for sure, since without any "revealed" knowledge this purely involves speculation. But the coincidences surrounding the sign of Jonah and the significance of the year 2017 are certainly stacking up, especially since the site of ancient Nineveh in Mosul is faced with such dire circumstances in the immediate approach of the ominous date of Nov 20th, 2016. This seems to be yet another facet to a puzzle which is gradually falling into place in the run-up to the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.

It is interesting to note that the significance of the planetary alignment that will occur on 23rd Sept next year involves a particular portion of Rev 12 that specifically relates to the birth of the "male child":

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. (Rev 12:1-6)

While the preterist interpretation of the "male child" is undoubtedly Jesus Himself, some modern commentators, such as Fr. Herman Kramer, have suggested that the futurist interpretation of the figure behind the "male child" may involve a pope as the Vicar of Christ on earth - possibly the Angelic Pope of Catholic prophecy. An alternative explanation is that it refers to the coming of the Great Monarch, who as a Davidic type figure is similarly foretold to "rule all the nations with a rod of iron". The Devil seeks to destroy the male child as soon as he is "born", which may be a metaphor for when he first assumes power. We should note that this event only takes place once the Devil has been cast down to the earth with a third of the angelic host, since the Dragon sweeping down a third of the stars and casting them to earth in Rev 12:4 above is recapitulated again in Rev 12:9, when we are told that Satan is thrown down alongside his angels by the Archangel Michael:

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)

After Satan and a third of the angelic host has been cast to earth, he attempts to devour the male child as soon as he is born, just as King Herod sought to destroy Christ during the massacre of the Holy Innocents. Again, this passage is recapitulated in Rev 12:12-16, when we are told that once Satan realises he has been cast down to earth, he attempts to destroy the Church with a flood before it can be renewed by the Two Witnesses, who are symbolised by the "two wings of the great eagle":

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!” And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. (Rev 12:12-16)

So the birth of the male child and the Woman being given the "two wings of the great eagle" in order to flee to a sanctuary provided for her in the desert are synchronous events, both involving the restoration of the Church before the final persecution of the Antichrist.

Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Rev 12:17)

Given the fact that the astronomical sign of 23rd Sept, 2017 reflects the birth of the "male child" of Rev 12, we can conclude that the potential significance of this event relates to the restoration of the Church by the Two Witnesses, which can only take place once the powers of Satan are yet again restricted following his period of unbinding. As St. Augustine of Hippo states:

And yet the verse of the Gospel will not be untrue, Who enters into the house of the strong one to spoil his goods, unless he shall first have bound the strong one? For in accordance with this true saying that order is observed— the strong one first bound, and then his goods spoiled; for the Church is so increased by the weak and strong from all nations far and near, that by its most robust faith in things divinely predicted and accomplished, it shall be able to spoil the goods of even the unbound devil. For as we must own that, when iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold, Matthew 24:12 and that those who have not been written in the book of life shall in large numbers yield to the severe and unprecedented persecutions and stratagems of the devil now loosed, so we cannot but think that not only those whom that time shall find sound in the faith, but also some who till then shall be without, shall become firm in the faith they have hitherto rejected and mighty to conquer the devil even though unbound, God's grace aiding them to understand the Scriptures, in which, among other things, there is foretold that very end which they themselves see to be arriving. And if this shall be so, his binding is to be spoken of as preceding, that there might follow a spoiling of him both bound and loosed; for it is of this it is said, Who shall enter into the house of the strong one to spoil his goods, unless he shall first have bound the strong one?'
(St. Augustine of Hippo, City of God XX:8)

If the solar eclipse which takes place over America next year is indeed part of a wider sequence of events which pertains to the sign of Jonah, the binding of Satan and the opening of the seven seals, we can only hope that this will see the end of the period of Satan's greater power, and that any threat of chastisement that may loom with the ominous date of 13th Oct, 2017 can be averted through public repentance, so that the hand of the angel with the flaming sword may be stayed through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin:

After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. (The Third Secret of Fatima)

October 13: Fatima and the Martyrdom of St. Peter

Marianna Bartold has recently posted an excellent article on her blog Keeping it Catholic, which has some rather striking parallels with some of the conclusions I forward in the new edition of Unveiling the Apocalypse: concerning how the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul under the Emperor Nero foreshadows that of the Two Witnesses under the Antichrist.

“And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” —2 Peter 1:19.

October 13, 2017 is the 100^th anniversary of the startling Miracle of the Sun (the “day star” of Holy Scripture) in Fatima, Portugal. October 13 also appears to be the true date of St. Peter’s martyrdom in Rome, occurring on the 10^th anniversary of the tyrant Nero’s ascent to the imperial throne—Nero, one of the most infamous, historical figure-types of anti-Christ, “the son of perdition.”[1] Since there are no coincidences in God’s designs, did this discovery reveal anything more about the Miracle or the still-hidden Third Secret Message of Fatima? (Read the rest here).

The Three Holy Youths and the Image of the Beast

Icon of the Three Holy Youths

As I explain at some length in the new edition of my book Unveiling the Apocalypse: The Final Passover of the Church, when Our Lady of Fatima revealed the frightening vision of hell to the three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria on 13th July, 1917, it was clearly intended to parallel the story of the Three Holy Youths in the Book of Daniel, and at the same time tie this narrative into the description of the lake of fire given in the Apocalypse:

Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.  We then looked up at Our Lady, who said to us so kindly and so sadly:  “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace"... In the First Secret of Fatima, the shepherd children symbolize the Three Holy Youths of the Book of Daniel, who were able to walk unharmed inside King Nebuchadnezzar's  blazing furnace due to the protection of an angel who appeared alongside them. Only in the vision of the First Secret, the angel is represented by the Blessed Virgin. By basing itself symbolically on the story of the Three Holy Youths in Dan 3 and combining this with the description of the lake of fire in the Book of Revelation, the first part of the Secret of Fatima deliberately recalls the fate of those who worship the image of the Beast in Rev 13, who are thrown into the sea of fire, and serves to act as a warning against participating in idolatry. The imagery of the sea of fire in the First Secret is directly lifted from the lake of fire described in the Apocalypse. The lake of fire standing before the throne of God is described in the Book of Revelation as the place of punishment for those who have worshiped the image of the Beast and accepted its mark: "And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”  (Rev 14:9-11)   In the book of Daniel, we are told that the Three Holy Youths were thrown into a blazing furnace under the orders of Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to worship a golden image that he had erected in the plain of Dura, just outside of the city of Babylon: King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.  Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.  (Dan 3:1-30) By alluding to the Three Holy Youths of the Book of Daniel who refuse to worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image in the context of imagery presented in the Apocalypse concerning the fate of those who worship the image of the Beast, the vision of the First Secret subtlety informs us that the contents of three parts of the Secret of Fatima does indeed concern chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation. This portion of the Apocalypse was singled out by Sr. Lucia to be of particular importance to the interpretation of the visions seen by the shepherd children. There is a scholarly consensus that the passage concerning the image of the Beast in the Apocalypse is primarily based on the erection of a golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar described in Dan 3. Just as those who refuse to pay homage to the image of the Beast are killed in Rev 13:15, we are told in Dan 3 that those who refused to worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar were to be executed by being thrown into a blazing furnace. To further reinforce the link with Rev 13, the dimensions of Nebuchadnezzar's statue is 60 cubits by 6 cubits, which prefigures the number that is assigned to the Beast itself - 666. The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is further elaborated upon in the Deuterocanonical work The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Holy Children - which helps to elucidate its striking parallels with the First Secret of Fatima. The Deuterocanonical material of the Book of Daniel concerning the story of Bel and the Dragon is also reflected in narrative concerning the image of the Beast in the Apocalypse. Both of these narratives share the overarching theme of a pagan idol which is seemingly brought to life. While the False Prophet "breathes life" into the image of the Beast so that it has the ability to talk and identify those who refuse to worship it, singling them out for persecution, the prophets of Bel attempt to deceive the inhabitants of Babylon into believing that the idol of Bel was really alive through the use of religious charlatanry. Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.  (Rev 13:11-15) The image of the Beast described in the Apocalypse is directly based on the ancient automata that were frequently incorporated into pagan idols in order to give them a semblance of life, and they were sometimes even used to issue oracles through simple gestures made by operating an elaborate mechanism through the use of water or steam and a system of gears and levers. In Greek mythology, the inventor Daedalus (the father of Icarus) was thought to have used the "magical" properties of quicksilver in order to install voices into moving statues he had crafted, and the workshop of the god Hephaestus was said to have been filled with automatons who served him. But the use of automatons in antiquity was not just the stuff of legend. The ancient Greeks and Romans had the ability to construct relatively sophisticated automated devices such as the Antikythera mechanism, and their use was fairly widespread by the time St. John wrote the Apocalypse. So the image of the Beast described in Apocalypse is directly based on the example of ancient automata, and is said to possess some kind of artificial intelligence which allows it to detect and identify those who refuse to participate in its worship. Once we transpose this imagery onto a modern template, we can only be left to conclude that the automated device  symbolized by the image of the Beast is some form of contemporary computer. If we look back to the exact date when Sr. Lucia first wrote down the first two parts of the Secret of Fatima in her Third Memoir in August 1941, we find that this was timed to directly coincide with the creation of the world's first programmable computer - the Turing-complete Z3 system devised by Konrad Zuse, which was unveiled in Berlin on May 12th 1941. Given the fact that the First Secret of Fatima is so closely associated with the story of the Three Holy Youths and the image of the Beast described in the Apocalypse, it appears to be beyond coincidence that Sr. Lucia would have been prompted to put these secrets to writing at the exact moment the first modern computer was introduced to the world. We now know that the Third Secret was only first put to writing as the result of an apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Sr. Lucia in 1944. So it is quite probable that the composition of the first two parts of the Secret were similarly prompted by a private revelation. Given the fact that the development of the Z3 computer was sponsored by the Nazi government for potential military applications, these findings can be used to further establish the true identity of the False Prophet as Adolf Hitler. As I attempt to show at some length in the book, this interpretation is also strongly suggested by Daniel's various prophecies concerning the 1,290 and 2,300 days in relation to the timing of the restoration of Israel after the persecution of Daniel's people by the "Little Horn". In the Book of Daniel, the "saints of the Most High" (i.e. the Jews) only have the Holy Land restored to them after they persecuted by the Little Horn, in a model which closely follows the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV before the Maccabean revolt. While the timing of the publication of the first two parts of the Secrets of Fatima strongly suggests that modern computer technology is in some way related to the image of the Beast described in the Apocalypse, we can be fairly confident that the ultimate significance of this prophecy still lies in the future. The construction of the image of the Beast was first incited  by the False Prophet, who deceives humanity into fashioning this idol for the Beast. But its fullest potential will not be reached until the Antichrist comes to power. It is then that the Antichrist will exploit this technology to its fullest extent, making it impossible for anyone to buy or sell without its use under the watchful gaze of the image of the Beast itself, which is used to identify those who refuse to worship it by its own volition. This not only suggests that the image of the Beast possesses some sort of artificial intelligence, but also that it has the capabilities of mass surveillance of the public - something much akin to how the worldwide web is already being exploited by the world's governments. It is tempting to suggest that during the age of the Antichrist, computer technology will have reached the point where the worldwide web acts as one massive singular superintelligence, which has a direct window into each of our own homes, constantly monitoring our behaviour. This prospect is a truly frightening tool for any dystopian government to have at its disposal, and we can be certain that any future world dictator would seek to use this technology to suit his own agenda, using it to automatically select any enemies of the regime for elimination, just as the image of the Beast can "speak" and cause those who refuse to worship it to be slain (Rev 13:15). And just as Nebuchadnezzar's golden image acts as the prototype for the image of the Beast and measures 60 x 6 cubits, the acronym of the worldwide web - www, directly transliterates from Hebrew as the letters waw waw waw - which has the numerical equivalence of three sixes - 6-6-6, lending us a further insight into the true metaphysical nature of this technology. The single most dangerous prospect of developing an artificial superintelligence is that we may be in the process of creating an idol in the truest sense of the word - one that has the potential to amass "godlike" powers here on earth. In doing so, there is the possibility that  we creating a vessel that could be some way inhabited or driven by a separate preternatural intelligence with an agenda of its own. The creation of an artificial superintelligence is vaunted by the transhumanist movement as the first step in an intelligence explosion that will lead to the creation of artificial eternal life. However it is exactly such hubris that causes the arm of the angel with the flaming sword to descend to earth in order to protect the way to the Tree of Life. Paralleling the imagery of the Three Holy Youths standing unscathed in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace, we are told that those who have conquered the Beast and his image by laying down their lives stand upon the sea of fire untouched by its unending flames singing the Song of Moses: And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing [upon] the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb... (Rev 15:2-3) This stands in direct contrast against those who worship the Beast and his image in Rev 14:9-11, who are cast forever into the same lake of fire that was seen by the shepherd children in the first part of the Secret of Fatima. The primary theme of the Song of Moses contained in Deut 32 is a warning against participating in idolatry, which has a renewed significance directed against those who worship the image of the Beast, warning of God's judgement being meted out by the descent of the sword seen in the Third Secret: For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, as I live forever, if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me. (Deut 32:40-41) After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire... (The Third Secret of Fatima)