The Worthy Shepherd, the Great Schism and the Millennium

As we have already noted, there is an amazing correlation between the prophecy of Bl. Elizabeth Canori-Mora and the lightning strikes which hit St. Peter's Basilica just hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his abdication. First, we must take into account that during his inaugural address, the Holy Father had used his now famous statement "Pray for me, that I do not flee for fear of the wolves". Last year, I had suggested that this directly alluded to the prophecies of Bl. Elizabeth, who saw a pope:

"surrounded by wolves who plotted to betray him… I saw the Sanhedrin of wolves which surrounded the Pope, and two angels weeping… when I asked them why they were sad and lamenting, looking upon Rome with eyes full of compassion they responded, ‘Wretched city, ungrateful people, the justice of God will chastise you.’”

This situation already sounds like the recent revelations of divisions in the Church, highlighted by last years Vatileaks scandals, where it had emerged that there were several factions in the Church hierarchy who appeared to be attempting to undermine the Holy Father. Divisions which Pope Benedict referred to during his last Homily as the Supreme Pontiff:

Finally, the prophet considers the prayer of the priests, who turn to God with tears, saying: "Do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’" (v. 17). This prayer makes us think of the importance of the witness of Christian faith and life given by each of us and our communities for showing the face of the Church, and how that face is sometimes disfigured. I think in particular of sins against the unity of the Church, and divisions within the body of the Church. To experience Lent in a more intense and manifest ecclesial communion, overcoming individualism and rivalry, is a humble and valuable sign for those who are distant from the faith or indifferent.

(Homily of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Ash Wednesday, Feb 13th, 2013. See full text here)

The next part of Bl. Elizabeth's prophecy also appears to have been alluded to by Pope Benedict:

“many ecclesiastics who persecute Jesus Crucified and His holy Gospel under the guise of doing good… Like furious wolves they scheme to pull the Church leader down from his throne.”

The Holy Father echoed this exact sentiment during his Angelus prayer on 17th Feb:

“The Temptor is devious: he does not push us towards evil directly, but towards a false good, making us believe that the real things that matter are power and whatever satisfies our primary needs,”
Pope Benedict XVI

What "good" are these wolves surrounding the Holy Father pushing for? Are these words being directed at a progressive element within the Church hierarchy that is pushing for a more liberal papacy? A progressive element that has pushed Pope Benedict XVI from the chair of St. Peter? While I believe that the Holy Father has left the papacy of his own accord, and that he has done so in a profound act of humility; I can't help but to wonder how many behind the scenes were there behind him manipulating, convincing him of his need to step down. And that the motivations behind such actions, while perceived to be "for the good" by those who are committing them, are arousing a great anger in God.

Next Bl. Elizabeth was shown a vision of the anger that these wolves aroused in God, which resulted in the falling of blazing lightning bolts of Divine Justice to announce the chastisement which is to take place:

Then she was allowed to see the terrible indignation these wolves aroused in God. “In terror I saw the blazing lightening bolts of Divine Justice fall about me. I saw buildings collapsing in ruins. Cities, regions and the whole world fell into chaos. One heard nothing but countless weak voices calling out for mercy. Countless people will be killed. [I saw that God was] extremely angry with those who persecute Him. His omnipotent hands were holding bolts of lightening, His face was resplendent with indignation and His gaze alone was enough to incinerate the whole world.”


Bl. Elizabeth then turns from her vision of God casting lightning bolts after the wolves try to pull the pope from his throne, to a vision of the chastisement which is to take place after, with the collapse of buildings and the whole world turning to chaos. But she then looks beyond this vision of chastisement, and sees the coming of the Angelic Pope - who will restore the Church from its state of decay:


On the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 1820, she saw Saint Peter descending from heaven, robed in papal vestments and surrounded by a legion of angels. With his crosier he drew a great cross over the face of the earth, separating it into four quadrants. In each of these quadrants, he then brought forth a tree, sprouting with new life. Each tree was in the shape of a cross and enveloped in magnificent light.
However, all will not end in this death and destruction. After these purifying punishments, she saw Saint Peter return on a majestic papal throne together with Saint Paul, who went through the world shackling the devils and bringing them before Saint Peter, who cast them back into the dark caverns from where they had come. “Then a beautiful splendor came over the earth, to announce the reconciliation of God with mankind.”
The small flock of faithful Catholics who had taken refuge under the trees will be brought before Saint Peter, who will “choose a new pope. All the Church will be reordered according to the true dictates of the holy Gospel. The religious orders will be reestablished and the homes of Christians will become homes imbued with religion.
“So great will be the fervor and zeal for the glory of God that everything will promote love of God and neighbor. The triumph, glory and honor of the Catholic Church will be established in an instant. She will be acclaimed, venerated and esteemed by all. All will resolve to follow Her, recognizing the Vicar of Christ as the Supreme Pontiff.”


Rather amazingly, another lightning strike on St. Peter's Basilica has occurred in recent times - on the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, June 29th, 1995 - the exact feast day mentioned by Bl. Elizabeth Canori Mora concerning her vision of St. Peter descending from heaven!
What's even more astonishing is the fact that the lightning strike took place during a meeting between Pope John Paul II and the Greek Othrodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. In his homily for the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, titled "We cannot remain separated", Pope John Paul II concluded with the following words:

Christ is sending us out together, so that we may jointly bear witness to him. Thus we cannot remain separated! We must walk together, because this is Our Lord's will. The world must recover its faith at the end of the second millennium and at the start of the third!
(See here)

This meeting was recorded by the journal Orthodox Life (Vol. 45, 1995), published by the Holy Trinity Monastery of the Orthodox Church:

John Paul II, head of the Roman Catholic Church, and Patriarch Bartholomew, symbolic head of Orthodox Christians, together, on Thursday, June 29, from the balcony of the basilica of St. Peter, blessed their faithful all over the world. They addressed a common appeal for the reunification of the Christian churches, separated for 1,000 years. The two religious leaders came to participate at a mass in the Vatican, where they undertook to redouble their ecumenical efforts...

In an atmosphere charged with intensity... ambassadors credited to the Holy See, members of the Sacred College, and numerous high officials of the Vatican, the Pope, and the Patriarch each in their turn spoke... to express their intention to 'dispel' the misunderstandings which have separated Christians… since the 11th century...

The Patriarch underlined "that today, happily... we have arrived at a maturity." The Pope, in turn, suggested that papal authority would have to be supreme in a unified Church because Christ had given Saint Peter, the first pope, free power to rule the flock on earth.

Patriarch Bartholomew then asked Christians to pray and fast to oppose the power of the Devil and to drive out demons. At that exact moment, all the faithful were startled by a lightning bolt which struck the basilica, followed by a violent summer storm.


This of course echoes the words of Jesus in the Gospels:

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
(Luke 10:17-19)

As I suggest in my book Unveiling the Apocalypse: Prophecy in Catholic Tradition, the true nature of the "millennium" described in the Book of Revelation appears to be primarily related to the Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches in 1054, which ended Christian unity a thousand years after the Apostolic Council at Jerusalem had first achieved unity around the year 50AD by settling a dispute that had threatened to split the Early Church (see Acts 15). As Christ himself had explicitly stated concerning the casting out and binding of Satan, if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand:

And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
(Mark 3:23-27)

Christ uses this statement directly in relation to the binding of Satan - the strong man who is the "god of this world", and who blinds the minds of the unbelievers:

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
(2 Cor 4:4)

Christ entered the "strong man's house" through his Incarnation in the womb of the Virgin Mary - the Theotokos or "God-bearer", and bound him through His sacrificial death on the Cross, from where he descended into hell to free the captives before his glorious Resurrection from the dead.
We are told in the Book of Revelation that Satan would be bound for "a thousand years", after which he would be released once again to deceive the inhabitants of the earth:

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
(Rev 20:1-3)

So while the "thousand years" refers to the age of the Church, beginning from Christ's ministry to the release of Satan for "a little while" towards the end of the age; we can also find a literal one thousand year period in which the East and West were united in harmony. During the Great Schism, the Filioque controversy resulted in the Eastern Churches questioning the extent of Papal Primacy, causing a complete rift among the two churches which has remained for almost a thousand years. As I noted in last year's post The Great Sign in Catholic Prophecy, one of the few, and indeed best known, historically verifiable supernovae SN1054, took place in the year 1054AD, the exact year of the East-West schism that saw the division of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, ending a thousand years of Christian unity. And supernovae have the almost unique capacity to produce a very bright cross-shaped star formation in the sky - as was recorded by Josephus in the events leading up to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70AD:

Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them. Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. Thus also before the Jews' rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan,] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it...
(Josephus, Jewish Wars VI:5:3 See full text here)
So the supernovae seen in the night skies during the Great Schism would similarly have appeared as a "sword shaped" star. Which sounds remarkably similar to the events described by Bl. Elizabeth Canori Mora:

On the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 1820, she saw Saint Peter descending from heaven, robed in papal vestments and surrounded by a legion of angels. With his crosier he drew a great cross over the face of the earth, separating it into four quadrants. In each of these quadrants, he then brought forth a tree, sprouting with new life. Each tree was in the shape of a cross and enveloped in magnificent light.

Rather profoundly, the Filioque controversy concerns whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son (the Roman Catholic position), or whether from the Father alone (the Eastern Orthodox position). A debate it seems will only be settled during the final Outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the eschatological age, when Jesus will send forth the Paraclete (who also proceeds from the Father) to guide all to the truth:

“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
“And 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. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.
(Joel 2:28-32)

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me."
(John 15:26)

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
(John 16:12-15)

Following the Great Schism, the Church as the kingdom of Christ on earth was divided itself, allowing Satan to gain a foothold in the world once again. This would gradually facilitate the spread of Islam, the Protestant Reformation, the separation of Church and State, and the emergence of occult secret societies which have spearheaded the secularising forces causing the Great Apostasy we are enduring today.
Although Christ reigns eternally as King in Heaven, where His Kingdom has no end, Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom of God was that it was both "now, and not yet" - what theologians refer to as "inaugurated eschatology". Whilst Christ taught that the Kingdom of God was now present in His own ministry, He also taught that it is something that will only be fully achieved in the future during the eschatological age.
As the Catechism states:

"Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God." That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him: Marana tha! "Our Lord, come!"
(CCC 671)

In the Our Father, we are told to pray for the coming of the Kingdom so that the Divine Will of God will be "done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt 6:10). The Kingdom of God can only be fully emulated on earth through the unity of orthodox Christendom, when East and West once again finally become one, in accordance with Christ's prayer:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
(John 17:20-23).

It is this unity, brought about by the actions of the Holy Spirit, which will purify the Church, allowing the Bride of Christ to dress itself in fine virginal linen in preparation for the coming of the Groom:

 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
 “Hallelujah!
 For the Lord our God
  the Almighty reigns.
 Let us rejoice and exult
  and give him the glory,
 for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
  and his Bride has made herself ready;
 it was granted her to clothe herself
  with fine linen, bright and pure”—
 for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
(Rev 19:6-9)


As long as orthodox Christianity is divided against itself, it cannot hope to stand against the steady onslaught of the forces of Satan. But once the Angelic Pope purifies the Church and unites it with its lost brothers, all men will be drawn to Christ:

Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
(John 12:28-32)

It is here that we can begin to see what may have been signified by the lightning strike on St. Peter's Basilica after the Holy Father's announcement of abdication, and its connection to the lightning strike on the feasts of Ss. Peter and Paul on 29th June, 1995 during the meeting of Pope John Paul II and Patriach Bartholmew I. Those with Christ thought that the voice coming from heaven to glorify the name of the Father was thunder, while others thought that it was the voice of an angel. Christ told them that the voice was announcing the judgment of the world, and that the ruler of this world - Satan, would be cast out:

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
(Luke 10:17-19)

It seems that the lightning strike on St. Peter's Basilica, hours after Pope Benedict announced his abdication signifies the defeat of Satan. In a profound act of humility which is the complete opposite of Satanic pride, by stepping down as Supreme Pontiff it seems that the Holy Father has hastened the Devil's final defeat by bringing forward the reign of the Angelic Pope. The wolves' plans will be turned on their heads and the Church will be restored to its former glory.
At key points in the Bible, both lightning and falling stars are used to symbolise the fall of Satan - an event which I argue at some length occurred at the turn of the millennium. In the post Tunguska, Pope Leo XIII and the Opening of the Abyss, I argue that the Tunguska event symbolised the angel holding the key to the abyss unlocking the gates of hell at the beginning of the 100 years of Satan's greater power:

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
(Rev 9:1-3)

This is to be equated with the "little while" mentioned in Rev 20:3, where we are told that Satan would be unleashed for a period before the end of the world, to gather the nations for war. I also argue that this time period began at the turn of the 20th century, and was marked by Pope Leo XIII's consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1899, in the same year as a rare planetary alignment that can be interpreted as "the keys to Death and Hades" (see the post The Seven Wandering Stars and the Heads of the Dragon). So just as the 1908 Tunguska event symbolised the angel unlocking the abyss at the start of Satan's "little while", so it seems that this new Russian meteor strike symbolises the fall of Satan and the closing of the abyss, when he is cast from heaven to earth at the end of his period of greater power. This is just over twelve years since the astronomical events at the turn of the millennium symbolised that the 100 years of greater power was over, and that Satan was defeated in Heaven (see the posts The Fall of Satan, Signs in the Sky and The Year of the Dragon).
It is also interesting to note that the Book of Revelation states that the Apocalyptic Locusts wouldn't be able to harm people for "five months". According to Tyconius' Book of Rules (4th century AD) - one of the oldest books dealing with the interpretation of prophecy, days can be equated with weeks, months or years and vice versa in prophetic texts (e.g. Jeremiah's seventy weeks is reinterpreted as seven weeks of years - 7 x 70 - by the prophet Daniel). So the five "months" could mean five years in a prophetic sense. If we count five years from the Tunguska event in 1908, we arrive at the year 1913. Which brings us to just before the outbreak of WWI - when military aircraft were first put to use, and the first deaths by these "locusts" first began. So the locusts weren't allowed to kill people for five "months" (equalling years), but after this time period had elapsed, they were permitted to kill.
So just as the effects of the 100 years of Satan's greater power were not felt until the outbreak of WWI in 1914, so it seems that the effects of the end of Satan's greater power after his defeat in Heaven would not be felt until 100 years after this - which brings us to up to this very moment.

“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
(Isa 14:12-15)

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. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
(Rev 12:7-10)

As I have argued in my book, and on various posts through this blog, it is only through the defeat of Satan in heaven that will allow the Second Pentecost to take place. The Church has passed through the "trials of Job" during the time of Satan's greater power. But the War in Heaven marks the end of the "little while" of Satan's greater power on earth. And just as Job's fortune was restored to him, with interest  on top, the fortunes of the Church will be restored during the Second Pentecost, bringing our brothers and sisters lost to schism back into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church:

And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house.
(Job 42:10-11)

But how is this Second Pentecost to come about? The Church has been trying to reach out to the modern world with the New Evangelisation for many years now, and for the most part, its efforts have been met in vain. To help us understand how the New Springtime of the Church will come about, we must turn to Christ's prophetic words in the Gospel:

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
(Luke 5:1-11)

Seeing two boats out by the lake of Gennesaret, Christ gets into the one belonging to Simon Peter. After asking them to pull out a little from the land, he teaches the people in St. Peter's boat, and after he has finished speaking, he instructs those aboard exactly where to cast their nets. Simon Peter laments that they have toiled all during the night, and have took nothing. But Christ has been speaking to the people in St. Peter's boat since it first departed the shore with the Lord aboard. He who has been been with us "always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). During the night-time of the Great Apostasy, the light of Christ's truth has been obscured by the "god of this world", and the crew of St. Peter's bark are lamenting because they have caught no fish. But Christ, who has been speaking to those on board St. Peter's boat all the while (through various private revelations), will show St. Peter exactly where to cast his nets, and they will enclose a very great number of fish. So many indeed, that the nets (clergy) will not be able to support the sheer weight of them. The crew of St. Peter's will have to signal to our partners in the other boat - the crew of St. Andrew, to come and help us, so that both boats will be filled.