After the recent persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt on the 9th October 2011, there have been reports of new appearances of the Virgin Mary in Alexandria on Friday 21st October, to the early hours of Saturday morning (see here). I argue in Unveiling the Apocalypse that these events are inextricably bound with the prophecy of the Woman adorned with the Sun described in Rev 12 - which is an apocalyptic retelling of the story of the nativity (see the earlier post Our Lady of Egypt, where I note how the apparitions at Zeitoun first occurred in the exact month that seen a new "slaughter of the innocents" in the spread of the legalisation of abortion):
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)
Below is a map detailing the journey of the Holy Family during their flight into the wildness according to ancient Coptic tradition (click on the image below and then click again in the link for a close-up view). The map is officially endorsed by the Coptic patriarch Pope Shenouda III. As can be seen on the map, Zeitoun (the place of the first apparitions in Egypt in 1968) is one of the areas which the Holy Family found sojourn in during their escape into Egypt, and Assiut (the location of the apparitions in 2000) is the most southernly point before the return journey. According to Coptic tradition, the Holy Family remained in Egypt for three and a half years before returning to Nazareth after the death of King Herod. So these modern apparitions are re-enacting the path taken by the Holy Family during their escape into the wilderness.
Some rather shakey footage of these apparitions has appeared on youtube:
Could the recent persecution of Christians in Egypt relate to the other part of the prophecy, when Satan goes on to make war against the rest of her offspring after he realises he has been cast to earth?:
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)
I'll update this post as and when more news comes through.
See also the related posts:
Our Lady of Egypt
Our Lady of Assiut
The Woman Adorned with the Sun
The Fall of Satan
The Year of the Dragon
Signs in the Sky
8 comments:
The western media pretty much ignored the astonishing apparition at Zeitoun. It seems a certain spirit operates through the media that would prefer people to remain ignorant of spiritual realities. I personally think the devil has planted the seed of project bluebeam and that it isnt real, the purpose of which is to keep many confused about these supernatural phenomena which could increase in the next few years given the extraordinary nature of our times.
Speaking of apparitions, what do you make of Medjugorje? I personally lean to the side of not believing. I know of a holy priest who says the conversions and repentance that occurs there is unmatched.
On the other side of the coin there is much disturbing information such as the supposed disobedience, the scandals, the "Blessed Mother" getting predictions wrong, and the relatively wealthy lifestyle of some of the seers which is in complete contrast to every other genuine seer I know off in the churches history.
Something supernatural is going on there (another disbelieving very traditional rock solid priest I know off went there and had a change of mind after seeing the Blessed Mother) but I am not sure it is good.
Jamey
Medjugorje is a topic that I'm a fence-sitter on - that's why I don't go into it in the book. On the one side is the fruits it has brought (conversions and so forth), but on the other is all the mistakes made by the seers - as highlighted by the meticulous research of individuals such as Donal Anthony Foley and Richard Salbato.
A negative descision could potentially be disasterous for the large number of Catholics who put so much faith into these apparitions, and for this reason I sincerely hope and pray that they are real visions of the Blessed Mother. It wouldn't affect my faith one bit if there was a negative judgement, but I know that many of the faithful could become jaded by this. I am sure that the commission headed by Cardinal Ruini will be guided by the Spirit to the truth behind these events, and I will accept whatever verdict it establishes.
I don't really like covering yet-to-be approved private revelations, and generally won't unless I feel it is quite remarkable and bears striking parallels to some of my own conclusions. Fr Gobbi was one of these exceptions simply because of the preciseness of it to the conclusions I was forming myself. I didn't come across his "Blue Book" until a very late stage in writing Unveiling the Apocalypse, and I had already completed my chapters on the significance of the turn of the millennium - so I was quite shocked to learn of his prophecy concerning the mark of the beast and how closely this paralleled my own hypothesis. For this reason I felt I had to include it.
We also have to keep in mind that even geniune mystics can get it wrong, as St John of the Cross makes clear in chapter 19, Book II of The Ascent - so apparent mistakes does not immediately necessitate a negative judgement.
Cheers Emmett, I think I may join you on the fence after listening to Father Don Calloways conversion testimony this afternoon. I previously disregarded Gobbi due to the "failed" prophecy that Satan would be defeated by the millennium until you explained it refers to victory of him being expelled from the heavens rather than earth.
Scripture also mentions somewhere that prophecy is imperfect.
I personally read a fair bit of Ned Dougherty's locutions. In his book he alludes to important events taking place in Egypt in the end times. He also very accurately predicted 9/11 in his book that was released 6 months before it occured. He claims to have been given this information by the Blessed Mother in a nde that occured to him in 1984 after he strangled a business associate and then had something resembling a cardiac arrest but not quite.
One verse I can think of is Deut 18:21-22:
"And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him."
I am aware of Ned, he believes that he saw the threat of a mega-tsunami to the east coast through his NDE. He mentions this at his website endtimesdaily.com.
That is one of Neds prophecies as detailed in his book. I personally believe his prophecies are genuine. Interestingly he struggled after his nde and tried to return to his old ways with alcohol, but he would pass out even after one drink. He then had a series of supernatural events happen to him over the next 10 years. I think he was chosen as opposed to called.
He was shown numerous earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and war, and a terrorist attempt on the papacy amongst other things. Interestingly he mentions that all previous civilisations that killed their young were eventually destroyed. It isn't going to be pretty one feels given the scale of abortion in our world.
In regard to locutions which Ned receives on a monthly basis, the Vatican chief exorcist Amorth thinks 95% of them are demonic so discernment is important. Amorth is extremely bright and a fountain of knowledge.
Jamey
Hi Jamey,
I haven't read Ned's book yet - I'll have to put it on my "to-do" list... But he does seem to have a good track record, and there doesn't seem to be anything contradictory to Church teachings in the messages on his website. As you say, it is a matter of discernment.
In regard to your comments on the fate of civilisations that destroy their young - the blood of millions of the unborn is surely crying from the ground for God's justice (Gen 4:10).
Hi Emmett
That quote from Genesis certainly portrays the gravity of the situation.
Neds dvd on his near death experience is absolute gold label spiritual material. It doesn't go into specifics on prophecy though as his book does (there are 2 pages), which is what you probably want.
I give the dvd to friends who despise Catholicism (good people who have caught the societal thought bubble). They are shocked and not sure what to make of Catholicism after viewing it.
I know of women that have engaged in abortion and the effects on them are catastrophic , they are in much need of prayer. Some remain in denial. Ned participated in the culture of death whilst a nightclub owner. He said that if it hit him at once what he engaged in, he would have killed himself.
Fortunately for those who have engaged in abortion there are the sacraments of confession and the Holy Eucharist to help their wounded souls and bodies.
A very interesting account if you haven't already come across it,
http://www.aboutabortions.com/Confess.html
Apologies if I have digressed.
Jamey
Your input is very relevant to this post. You are quite right, the problem stems from wider society, and blame should not be entirely placed on desparate women who know only the relativistic morality of modern culture. We can only hope to enlighten and console these poor souls. The culture of death has been imposed on us from the top down, based on the libertarian ideals of Freemasonry. In democracies is up to the masses to unite against such tyranny. Unfortunately the masses are effectively only ever given the choice of a two-horse race in their decision making, and are easily swayed by the rhetoric of charismatic individuals. It will not be easy to free western democracies from the shackles of culture of death.
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