The Three Days of Darkness and the Angelic Pope

 

The incorrupt body of Bl. Anna Maria Taigi, Church of San Crisogono in Travestre, Rome

 

 

The prophecy attributed to Bl. Anna Maria Taigi concerning the coming of the Angelic Pope is very similar to the account given by Bl. Elizabeth Canori-Mora, and may help to flesh out a fuller picture of the future events that are being described in these visions. As we noted in the earlier posts on this subject, Pope Benedict XVI's now famous remarks during his inaugural speech "Pray for me that I do not flee for fear of the wolves", have some striking affinities with the prophecies of Bl. Elizabeth Canori-Mori - especially when they are considered in combination with the remarkable events surrounding the Holy Father's abdication. It should be worth recapping this material below, with some additional commentary. During a prophetic vision, Bl. Elizabeth saw the 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.’”
 

After seeing two angels crying out for God's justice to recompense the actions of these "wolves", Bl. Elizabeth then saw bolts of lightning falling down to announce the form of the future chastisement -which forms an amazing parallel to the lightning strikes which occurred just hours after Benedict XVI announced his abdication on 11 Feb, 2013:

 

Like furious wolves they scheme to pull the Church leader down from his throne.” 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 lightning, His face was resplendent with indignation and His gaze alone was enough to incinerate the whole world.”

The first and most obvious connection is the fact that Bl. Elizabeth saw a pope surrounded by a "Sanhedrin of wolves" who plotted to pull him down from his throne. Whether this was intentional or not, it immediately ties into the Holy Father's inaugural address.  In a blog post I wrote on 14th March, 2012 (which can be found here), I had already highlighted the similarities between the two angels in this vision and the two angels described in the Third Secret of Fatima:

 

Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.
 

In my book Unveiling the Apocalypse, I note how the two angels that gather up the blood of the martyrs in the Third Secret contains imagery which deliberately evokes the sprinkling of blood on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant described in the Book of Leviticus:

And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. 

(Lev 16:14-16)

In the book, I argue that the two angels seen in the vision of the Third Secret are used to represent the two cherubim that adorned the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant - the area where the blood of sacrifice was sprinkled for the atonement of sin in accordance with the Mosaic Law. I also argue that a large portion of the structure of the Third Secret is based on the narrative of the Two Witnesses described in chapter 11 of the Apocalypse.

The city half in ruins with a large cross represents Jerusalem. More specifically, it represents the the Church as the Heavenly Jerusalem, which is half in ruins is because of the apostasy of a vast portion of its baptized members. At the end of this journey the pope is slain in this half ruined "Heavenly Jerusalem", in a direct parallel to the location of the death of the Two Witnesses - in the place "where their Lord was crucified":

I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

(Rev 11:4-8)

 

Then, just as the Third Secret closes with a vision of the two angels gathering up the blood of sacrifice, Rev 11 closes with a vision of the Ark of Covenant - which is adorned with the two cherubim of on the Mercy Seat:

 

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
(Rev 11:15-19)

On p54 of the book, I suggest that the two angels depicted on the Ark of the Covenant represent the Two Witnesses of Rev 11. In turn, the narrative of the Two Witnesses in the Book of Revelation is directly based on the martyrdom of Ss. Peter and Paul under the Emperor Nero, who are depicted as precursors to these two end-time restorer figures. The author of the Apocalypse identifies the Beast from the sea/Antichrist with Nero by the means of Hebrew gematria. The name Caesar Nero has the numerical value of 666 once the Greek letters are transliterated into Hebrew and converted into their numerical value (see the post Hebrew 666?).  In making this equation, the Book of Revelation indicates that the Antichrist will be a another "Nero" type figure. The Emperor Nero famously burned Rome to the ground in order to re-build it in his own vision, then attached blame for this atrocity to the burgeoning Christian movement. As part of the persecution which followed, Ss. Peter and Paul were captured, incarcerated and martyred.
Following this template, the Book of Revelation may be suggesting that the Antichrist will purposely attempt to put his own dominion to flame in order to rebuild it according to his own vision. In doing so, he may even attempt to blame the Christian faith for his crimes, and put to death the two greatest leaders of Catholicism at the end-time - the Two Witnesses.

The two cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant (depicted at the close of both Rev 11 and the Third Secret of Fatima) appear to symbolise several dualities associated with the Two Witnesses, ranging from their precursors in Ss. Peter and Paul, to their modern equivalences in private revelation - the Angelic Pope and the Great Monarch.
In The Joint Encyclical of 1255, Bl. John of Parma also linked the Two Witnesses of Rev 11 with the two cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant, in comparing the two orders of the Franciscans and the Dominicans with other symbolic pairings in the Bible:

These orders are - so to speak to God's glory and not our own - two great luminaries which by celestial light shine upon and minister to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. These are the two trumpets of the true Moses, of Christ our God, by whose ministry a multitude of peoples has already been called to the source (Num. 10:2). These are the two Cherubim full of knowledge, gazing at each other while they behold the same object, spreading out their wings to the people while they protect them by word and example, and flying about on obedient wing over the whole people to spread saving knowledge (Exod. 25:18). These are the two breasts of the spouse from which Christ's little ones suck the milk by which they are nourished and receive saving increase (Song of Sol. 4:5). These are the two olives of the Son of Splendor that stand near the ruler of the universe ready for his command wherever his will might lead them to fulfill his mission (Zech. 4:14). These are the two witnesses of Christ who, clad in sackcloth, are already preaching and bearing testimony to the truth (Rev. 11:13). These are the two shining stars that according to the Sibylline prophecy have the appearance of the four animals and in the last days will cry out in the name of the Lord in the way of humility and voluntary poverty...

(Translated by Bernard McGinn, Visions of the End, pp164-165)

We also need to take into consideration that it was after her vision of the two angels and the lightning bolts of God's justice, that Bl. Elizabeth saw St. Peter descending from heaven to appoint the Angelic Pope.  And then there is the fact that there was not one, but two lightning strikes on St. Peter's Basilica after the Holy Father announced his intention to abdicate. Is this in any way connected to Bl. Elizabeth's vision of the two angels and Ss. Peter and Paul?:


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. All the good laity and religious fled for protection underneath these trees and were spared from the tremendous chastisement. “Woe! Woe to those unobservant religious who despise their Holy Rules. They will all perish in the terrible chastisement together with all who give themselves to debauchery and follow the false maxims of their deplorable contemporary philosophy!...

 ...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.”
Early in 1821 Our Lord said to her, “I will reform my people and my Church. I will send zealous priests to preach my Faith. I will form a new apostolate and send the Holy Ghost to renew the world. I will reform the religious orders by means of new holy and learned reformers. They will all have the spirit of my predilect son Ignatius of Loyola. I will provide my Church with a new pastor, who is learned, holy and full of My Spirit. With holy zeal he will reform My flock.”
“He told me many other things about this renovation. Many sovereigns will support the Catholic Church and be true Catholics, placing their scepters and crowns at the feet of the Holy Father and Vicar of Jesus Christ. Many kingdoms will abandon their errors and return to the bosom of the Catholic Faith. Entire peoples will convert, recognizing the Faith of Jesus Christ as the true religion.”

The above prophecies of Bl. Elizabeth Canori-Mora are strikingly reminiscent of the visions of Bl. Anna Maria Taigi (recorded in several publications, such as Private Prophecies, Rome, 1863) - which place the appearance of Ss. Peter and Paul to intervene in the election of the Angelic Pope as occurring after the Three Days of Darkness:

 

“A heavenly apparition shall come to reassure the faithful. Saint Peter and St. Paul will appear on the clouds, and all men shall see them; and, in a supernatural manner, faith shall return to their hearts. Innumerable conversions of heretics shall cause universal edification.”

“St Peter and St Paul will intervene in the election of a new pope”.

“After the three days of darkness, Saints Peter and Paul, having come down from heaven, will preach throughout the world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and settle upon the cardinal, the future pontiff. Then Christianity will spread throughout the world. He is the holy pontiff chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end he will have the gift of miracles and his name shall be praised over the whole earth. Whole nations will join the Church shortly before the reign of the Antichrist. These conversions will be amazing. Those who survive shall have to conduct themselves well. There shall be innumerable conversions of heretics, who will return to the bosom of the Church; all will note the edifying conduct of their lives, as well as that of other Catholics. Russia, England and China will come into the Church…”


Interpreting the Three Days of darkness in a literal manner would present some serious difficulties in linking this prophecy to the election of the next pope. However I have always understood the Three Days of Darkness in various private revelations to be symbolic in nature, rather than literal. It just seems to be too extreme to imagine that God would not only flout the laws of nature in such an incredible manner, but also allow innumerable souls be carried straight to hell just for peeking out the window, or nipping down to the shops at night to pick up a few tea-bags.
From the very first time hearing of the prophecies of the Three Days of Darkness, I always had an impression that they were symbolic in nature. It will be worth looking over what Bl. Anna Maria Taigi had to say concerning the Three Days of Darkness before attempting an interpretation:

"God will send two punishments: one will be in the form of wars, revolutions and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing can be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which will claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of religion. It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, pray the Rosary and beg God for mercy. All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms."
(Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, Private Prophecies, Rome, 1863)


The Three Days of Darkness are primarily based on the ninth plague of Egypt, which interestingly enough, occurs immediately after the plague of locusts, and just before the plague of the deaths of the firstborn:


Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.
(Exod 10:21-23)


As we have noted in several other posts, the Book of Revelation bases much of the trumpet and bowl judgments on the ten plagues of Egypt. Just like in Exodus, the Apocalypse describes plagues of water turning to blood (Rev 8:8-9), darkness (Rev 8:12), locusts (Rev 9:1-11), sores (Rev 16:2), and frogs (Rev 16:13). In doing so, it appears to  suggest that the plagues of Egypt would once again be revisited towards the end of time. In the previous post The Santorini Eruption and the Apocalyptic Plagues of Egypt, we already covered how the plagues of Egypt (including that of the "three days of darkness") were most likely caused by a massive eruption of a volcano at Thera (Santorini) circa 1500BC, and how this ties into the description of a "great mountain, burning with fire" being thrown into the sea in Rev 8:8. But while the prophecies of the Three Days of Darkness may point to a future catastrophic volcanic eruption, such as the future collapse of Cumbre Vieja (see the post Mega-tsunami); for the most part they appear to be imbued with symbolic overtones.
Bl. Anna Maria Taigi tells us that God would send two punishments before the arrival of the Angelic Pope. The first is a man-made chastisement in the form of wars and revolutions (the two world wars and the revolutions of the early 20th century?), and the second - the Three Days of Darkness, would be sent from heaven itself.
If the order of the plagues of Egypt have any significance in relation to the prophecies of the Three Days of Darkness, then the "wars and revolutions" may be associated with the plague of locusts which immediately precedes the plague of darkness. In the post Tunguska, Pope Leo XIII and the Opening of the Abyss, we have already went into some detail how the plague of "locusts" described in the Book of Revelation can be directly linked to the world wars of the 20th century. And as if to complete the parallel between the 1908 Tunguska event (which was accompanied by the rise of what I argue were the "Apocalyptic Locusts") with the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor strike on 15th Feb, a plague of locusts descended upon Egypt just before Passover, on the weekend beginning on 3rd Mar, 2013 (see here for details).

We can find another correlation between the plague of the deaths of the first-born in this sequence (which we should note directly follows the three days of darkness in the Book of Exodus), with the introduction of the legalisation of abortion in Western society - which began with the implementation of the UK Abortion Act in April 1968. The exact same month that the (Church approved) apparitions of Our Lady of Zeitoun appeared in the location of the Holy Family's Flight to Egypt, in order to announce to the world that it was about to commit a modern-day "slaughter of the innocents" (see the earlier post on this subject here). If these connections are correct, is it possible that the Three Days of Darkness actually cover a longer period of time which began in the post-war era from the mid to late 1960's? If so, then the prophecies of the Three Days of Darkness would appear to make a lot more sense, given that this exact time period saw the beginning of the falling away of baptised Catholics from the Church en masse, in a spiritual landslide which can only be equated with the Great Apostasy foretold in Scripture.
If the "darkness" depicted in these prophecies refers to spiritual darkness, rather than an actual physical lack of light, we can see how a prolonged period of time for the duration of the Three Days of Darkness would better fit the equation. We have already discussed previously how from the earliest days of the interpretation of biblical prophecy, time periods are often interchangeable with larger or smaller units of time. An oft cited example of this is found in 2Pet 3:8:

"But 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 earliest, and most extensive treatment of the symbolic use of time measures in biblical prophecy was given by Tyconius in his 4th century AD work, the Book of Rules. Using Tyconius' rules of interpretation, we can thus see how the various time periods given in both the Book of Daniel and the Apocalypse can either be expanded or contracted. This expansion or contraction almost exclusively occurs in decimals of ten, but sometimes, such as in the case of Daniel's weeks of years (Dan 9:22-27), it can also be multiplied or divided by other symbolic numbers, such as seven.
The Three Days of Darkness appear to be connected with the "times, time and half a time" of the Book of Daniel and the Apocalypse, which concerns a three and a half year period related to the prophecy of the abomination of desolation. Using a luni-solar calendar, the Book of Daniel calculated this three and a half year period as 1,290 days, while using a solar calendar, the Apocalypse gives it as 1,260 days (although in the post the Abomination of Desolation, I argue that even this apparent anomaly is quite deliberate). Another way the Book of Revelation expresses this time period is by calculating it as 42 months, which may be of some importance later...
The three and a half years of the abomination of desolation is directly related to the three and a half years of drought sent as punishment for the apostasy of the Israelites in the 9th century BC, which was ended by Elijah's contest with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel - as was recounted by Jesus:

But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
(Luke 4:25-26; cf. 1Kings 18:41ff)

It is thus reasonable to assume that the end of the three and half "years" of the abomination of desolation/Three Days of Darkness would be similarly ended by the coming of the Elijah to come. And this indeed is reflected in Bl. Anna Maria Taigi's prophecy, which states that the Angelic Pope - the "holy pontiff chosen by God to withstand the storm", would appear immediately after the Three Days of Darkness, and shortly before the reign of the Antichrist:

After the three days of darkness, Saints Peter and Paul, having come down from heaven, will preach throughout the world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and settle upon the cardinal, the future pontiff. Then Christianity will spread throughout the world. He is the holy pontiff chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end he will have the gift of miracles and his name shall be praised over the whole earth. Whole nations will join the Church shortly before the reign of the Antichrist.


I know that a symbolic interpretation of the Three Days of Darkness isn't going to prove popular with some people (especially the beeswax candle industry), but here goes my take on this particular subject anyway...
The home that we are urged not to leave during this time of darkness represents the Church itself. Outside of the Church there is no salvation, only a looming darkness which threatens to drag us away into hell. The darkness is the Great Apostasy prophesied throughout the New Testament, when driven by their own selfish egos, baptised Christians would leave the sanctuary and light of the Church, and venture out into the blinkered darkness of secular atheism:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
(2 Tim 3:1-7)

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
(1 Tim 4:1-3)

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
(2 Thess 2:1-4)

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
(2 Thess 2:9-12)

The only light that can penetrate this darkness emanates from blessed beeswax candles, which as well as representing the Church, also symbolises the light of the Gospel - which Satan seeks to obscure. During his Homily for Easter Vigil Mass, on 7th April, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI commented on the symbolic significance of beeswax candles:

The great hymn of the Exsultet, which the deacon sings at the beginning of the Easter liturgy, points us quite gently towards a further aspect. It reminds us that this object, the candle, has its origin in the work of bees. So the whole of creation plays its part. In the candle, creation becomes a bearer of light. But in the mind of the Fathers, the candle also in some sense contains a silent reference to the Church. The cooperation of the living community of believers in the Church in some way resembles the activity of bees. It builds up the community of light. So the candle serves as a summons to us to become involved in the community of the Church, whose raison d’être is to let the light of Christ shine upon the world.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for Easter Vigil Mass, Holy Saturday, 7th April, 2012. See full text here)


While Matthew 12 tells us that Christ had bound the powers of Satan - the "strong man", in order to plunder his goods by allowing the light of the Gospel to spread; the Book of Revelation foretold that towards the end of time, the Devil would be unleashed for a "little while", in order to once again blind the minds of unbelievers to the Truth. At this time, the forces of Satan would surround the "beloved city" - the Heavenly Jerusalem which represents the Church, threatening to destroy it:


Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
(Matt 12:29)

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

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city
(Rev 20:7-9)

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.
(Rev 9:1-3)


And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
(2 Cor 4:3-6)


It thus appears that the prophecies of the Three Days of Darkness refer to the long night-time of the Great Apostasy, which must take place before the dawn of the Second Pentecost. And there can be little doubt that we are currently enduring a spiritual dark age, with millions of baptised Catholics deliberately forsaking their faith, in order to engage in the current hedonistic excesses that are being sponsored by the consumer-driven mass media.
Three days of darkness before a time of enlightenment is a recurring theme in the Bible, which all directly points to the three days of Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection. Starting with the Agony in the Garden, Jesus had to endure terrible suffering before His death on the Cross on Good Friday. On Holy Saturday, He even descended into Sheol itself in order to free the captives that were imprisoned there (1Pet 3:19-20; 4:6). But with His glorious Resurrection on the third day, he gave us the light of eternal life.
We all know that Jonah being in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights (Jon 1:17) prefigured the Resurrection of Christ. But we can find some other biblical references to three days of darkness. The Book of Acts tells us that Saul was without sight for three days before starting his new life in Christ (Acts 9:9). The Apocalypse tells us that the Two Witnesses lie dead on the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days before they are restored to life:

For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
(Rev 11:9-11)

And to borrow from the "Finding in the Temple" analogy once again, it is interesting to note that the boy Jesus was found in the Temple after three days:

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
(Luke 2:41-47)


The recurring theme of "three days" in Scripture therefore almost universally focuses on a new and glorious dawn after a time of great spiritual darkness. Much like the "Dark Night of the Soul" experienced by St. John of the Cross and various other mystics, it seems that in order to attain spiritual perfection, we must endure a long night of darkness before seeing the light of union with the Creator. 
As St. Paul states above in 2Cor 3:4-6, the light of of the knowledge of the glory of God will eventually shine out of the darkness, just as the light of Creation was brought forth through the Eternal Logos after the Spirit moved on the face of the deep:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
(Gen 1:1-4)

Just as the Holy Family were forced to flee into Egypt to escape King Herod's slaughter of the innocents, the Book of Revelation tells us that the Woman Adorned with the Sun (who also represents the Church) would have to flee into the wilderness for "a time, times and half a time" to evade the pursuit of the Dragon:

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.
(Rev 12:13-14)

The above passage is also partially based on the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites led by Moses, who spent forty years in the desert before they could enter the Promised Land. Because of their apostasy in fashioning the Golden Calf, it was only after a period of trial, testing, and purification, that the Israelites would be allowed to enter the Holy Land. And the Holy Family were only able to return to Nazareth in Galilee after their own dark period of wandering in the wilderness, upon the death of King Herod.

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.(Isa 9:1-2)

We are told that the Woman was able to escape from the river sent forth from the Dragon, because not only did the earth open its mouth to swallow the flood, but she was given the two wings of the great eagle. These two "wings" represent the Two Witnesses, who are the two healing wings of the sun of righteousness rising at the new dawn, described in the Book of Malachi:

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.
 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
(Malachi 4:2-6)

As well as being the two olive trees that stand before the Lord of all the earth in Rev 4:11 and Zech 4:11-14, the Two Witnesses are also represented by the two trees of life in Rev 22 - whose leaves are for "the healing of the nations". In the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Tree of Life is divided into two (one of which replaces the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil spoiled by the Serpent), and it now stands as two trees on each side of the river of life, which flows forth from the throne of God and the Lamb:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
(Rev 22:1-2)

A precursor to the Church as the Bark of St. Peter can also be found in Noah's Ark, which withstood the flood lasting forty days and nights. Seeking to find out if the waters had receded, Noah sent forth a dove, which came back with an olive leaf in its mouth:

And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
(Gen 8:11)


And as Dr. Taylor Marshall points out here, Christ's own "Dark Night of the Soul" took place amongst the olive trees of Gethsemane, during the Agony in the Garden.

As well as being intimately connected to the introduction of the new "slaughter of the innocents" that is abortion, the apparitions of Our Lady at Zeitoun between 1968-1971 also appear to have symbolised that the Church was about to endure its very own "flight into Egypt", at the beginning of the Great Apostasy. And it is noteworthy that the Arabic name zeitoun means "olives" - so this can be literally translated as "Our Lady of the Olives". There is no doubt that the wholesale collapse of Mass attendance began during this very time period (see here for example). This is almost certainly related to not only the impact of the sexual revolution of the 1960's, but also to the growth of the influence of television - which allowed Christian families to be constantly bombarded with Masonic-inspired secular values. Being immersed in this culture, which is directly transmitted into our living spaces, has gradually chipped away at the Christian faith. Could this be related to Bl. Anna Maria Taigi's prophecy concerning the Three Days of Darkness, that the "air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms"?
It seems almost certain that the prophecies of the Three Days of Darkness are chiefly concerned with a new dawn after a long, dark night of the soul for Christian culture. The superlative form in Hebrew is emphasised by a threefold repetition. So there being "three days" of darkness communicates the fact that we would have to endure the very darkest night before the dawn of the New Springtime.
So taking all of the above into consideration, could Bl. Anna Maria Taigi's vision of Ss. Peter and Paul descending from heaven to designate the Angelic Pope after the Three Days of Darkness be in some way connected to the two lightning strikes on St. Peter's Basilica on the day that Pope Benedict XVI announced his abdication?


“After the three days of darkness, Saints Peter and Paul, having come down from heaven, will preach throughout the world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and settle upon the cardinal, the future pontiff."


We have already discussed how this event was loaded with symbolism in the earlier post here, especially when we consider another lightning strike on St. Peter's Basilica,  which took place on 29th June, 1995 (the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul), during a meeting with the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. And this appears to be directly related to the Worthy Shepherd Prophecy and the vision of 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.
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.”
(Bl. Elizabeth Canori-Mora)

By about twelve years shall the millennium have passed when the resplendent mantle of legitimate power shall emerge from the shadows where it was being kept by the schism. And beyond harm from the one who is blocking the door of salvation, for his deceitful schism shall have come to an end. And the mass of the faithful shall attach itself to the worthy Shepherd, who shall extricate each one from error and restore to the Church its beauty. He shall renew it."

(Bl. Tomasuccio de Foligno)
 
 

With these rather astounding "coincidences", it appears that God is announcing that the primary goal of the next pope is to be the reunification of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches - which ultimately concerns the fulfilment of the promise of Our Lady of Fatima:

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world”
(The Second Secret of Fatima)


While there is some debate as to whether or not the consecration requested by Our Lady of Fatima has already been carried out as specified, there can be little doubt that the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary carried out by Bl. Pope John Paul II in 1984 had a profound impact on the future history of Russia. Within a year, Mikhail Gorbachev was made General Secretary of the Communist Party, on 15th March 1985 - who would then put in motion a series of events that would ultimately lead to the complete dissolution of the militantly atheistic Soviet Union. Shortly after taking control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev began  to implement radical political reforms, such as Perestroika in 1986, and Glasnost in 1988, that would directly lead to the Revolutions of 1989 - which  brought about the fall of Communism. Beginning in Poland (the homeland of Pope John Paul II) in 1989, the revolutions protesting against the Communist governments of the Eastern Bloc quickly spread to East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. A situation which echoed the words of St. Faustina: "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.”
With the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the threat of nuclear annihilation presented by the Cold War was finally over. The Third Secret of Fatima appears to suggest that this threat had subsided directly due to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, when the flames issuing from the Angel's flaming sword threatening to consume the planet (such as was possible during the Cuban Missile Crisis), died out in contact with the radiance of Our Lady. We are told in the Third Secret that this act of mercy was to allow for a period of penance in the Era of Peace, which would involve the conversion of Russia:

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!'.


Without the revolutions of 1989 leading to the collapse of Communism in the Eastern Bloc, the future conversion of Russia in the healing of the East/West schism would be all but impossible.
Rather interestingly, there have been many stories related to this matter circulating around Mikhail Gorbachev's religious persuasion. On 15th March, 2008, Gorbachev made a surprise visit to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, stating to Italian newspaper La Stampa "St Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ...". Adding that his "story fascinates me and has played a fundamental role in my life". Gorbachev then went on to say "It was through St Francis that I arrived at the Church, so it was important that I came to visit his tomb..."

 

Mikhail Gorbachev at the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in 2008.

 

 

Gorbachev was particularly interested in the icon of the "Dream at Spoleto", which a pivotal moment in St. Francis' life, when he turned from the life of being a warrior and the son of a rich merchant, to embracing a calling to a new life of poverty in Christ. (See the full story on Gorbachev's pilgrimage to Assisi here).

Later in his ministry, St. Francis had famously heard a voice while praying before an ancient crucifix in the dilapidated country chapel of San Damiano, saying: "Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin." Thinking that the voice was referring to San Damiano itself, rather than the entire Church, St. Francis then mistakenly set his efforts on attempting to restore the ruined chapel.

Could it be that Gorbachev's attempts at reforming the politics of the Soviet Union were in some way inspired by a dream or vision involving St. Francis of Assisi? A dream that would ultimately lead to the repair of God's house? If so, then this may help to explain Gorbachev's reported mea culpa before Pope John Paul II on 1st Dec, 1989 (the year of the outbreak of the revolutions against Communism), which was recounted by Sr. Lucia in relation to the significance of the Third Secret. Cardinal Bertone gives an overview of some highly relevant material pertaining to this in his book The Last Secret of Fatima:

Guiseppe De Carli:

Lucia adds that God's strength has enabled men to accept change and "has even moved one of the main leaders of atheist communism to travel to Rome to meet with the Holy Father and... acknowledge him as God's highest representative... to receive the embrace of peace and ask forgiveness for the mistakes of his party." She's obviously referring to the sensational meeting between Mikhail Gorbachev and John Paul II that took place in the Vatican on December 1, 1989...

Cardinal Bertone:

...Now as far as Gorbachev's visit to the Vatican is concerned, it's quite likely that Lucia had learned about it from someone else. And the president of the former Soviet empire may very well have offered the pope a mea culpa. After all, weren't glasnost and perestroika attempts at reform? Wasn't Gorbachev motivated by a noble, if secular, ideal, whose importance was reinforced in his mind by an awareness of the mistakes made by the Soviet Communist Party? How many Russian intellectuals have acknowledged the sins of the Communist regime? Gorbachev was too shrewd not to take responsibility for what had happened in the Soviet Union. If you have an intellectual, or an honest politician, with his back up against a wall, don't forget that he has a brain. Remember, too, that Gorbachev even wrote an article in whiche he acknowledged the role played by Pope John Paul II in the crumbling of the USSR: "And today we can say that everything that has happened in Eastern Europe in the last few years would not have been possible without the presence of this Pope, without the major role - which was also a political one - that he managed to play on the world scene."
"Perestroika" means, among other things, "conversion." The fall of communism happened so quickly and so suddenly... The Communist system seemed invincible, and it looked as if it were going to endure for centuries. But then the whole thing collapsed like a house of cards. The synodal assembly of the bishops (1991) got it right: "even many nonbelievers have seen these events as a sort of miracle."
(Tarcisco Card. Bertone, The Last Secret of Fatima, Doubleday, New York, 2007, pp86-87)

Could all of these events be in some way connected? Could Bl. Anna Maria Taigi's vision of the election of the Angelic Pope after the Three Days of Darkness be in some way linked to the future conversion of Russia promised by Our Lady of Fatima? To answer this, we must be mindful that this event could only possibly take place after the revolutions of 1989, which directly led to the fall of Communism - and seem to be directly connected to Pope John Paul II's consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984.  In turn,  we must also consider that this momentous event apparently occurred through the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi - who was told to repair the house of God.

It appears that a bridging connection linking all these events together can be found in the Gospel of St. John. In the post The Worthy Shepherd, the Great Schism, and the Millennium, we have already discussed how the story of Christ calling St. Peter recounted in Luke 5:1-11 also appears to be "enacted prophecy". The story of the large catch of fish appears to symbolise how Christ will instruct St. Peter (who represents the pope) where to cast the nets to enclose a very large number of fish (during the Second Pentecost) - so large in fact, that it would be necessary to call to the other boat (St. Andrew's?) for assistance. A parallel to this story can be found in St. John's Gospel. Only this time it is a post-Resurrection narrative, and therefore describes a different set of events. But both stories seem to point to the same future bounty of "fish" that will be caught during the Second Pentecost:

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
 (John 21:1-14)


In this account, the disciples are together once again at night fishing, and fail to catch anything. This failure to make any inroads during the night also appears to represent the "Dark Night of the Soul"/Three Days of Darkness/Great Apostasy. But then suddenly, the Risen Lord appears to the disciples at the exact moment of daybreak and shows them where to cast their nets. Before the disciples can pull their heavy load in, St. Peter takes the rather curious action of dressing himself before jumping from the boat. Can we find a parallel here with Pope Benedict XVI's actions? Peter then goes on to drag the huge catch of fish to shore, and St. John recounts another bizarre bit of information - the exact number of the fish caught - 153 of them. What is the significance of this exact number? Theologians have long recognised that this number is of obvious symbolic importance. The most widely accepted answer to the enigmatic meaning of the 153 fish is that proposed by St. Jerome - that it is directly connected to a prophecy contained in the Book of Ezekiel concerning the living water flowing from the door of the Temple of God to purify the Dead Sea, so that it would be full of fish for the nets of the fishermen:

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.
 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”
 Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
(Ezek 47:1-12)

This prophecy in turn is directly alluded to (underlined above) in the vision of the tree of life standing either side of the river in Rev 22 - which we have noted above is directly linked to the Two Witnesses of Rev 11. The Dead Sea being purified by fresh water flowing from the door of the Temple of God is another obvious prophecy of the Second Pentecost, when the "Dead Sea" of the apostate world would be transformed by the living water of Christ. It also seems to be related to the doors of the God's Temple in heaven being opened described in Rev 11, which also appears to be related to recent events:


Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
(Rev 11:19)


With the abdication of the Holy Father on 28th Feb, 2013, it seems that if the motto "Glory of the Olive" is indeed related to the Two Witnesses, then we could perhaps interpret it as meaning that Pope Benedict is the one who opens the door to reveal the "glory of the olive". This would then tie in with the door being opened in the Temple in Heaven to reveal the Ark of the Covenant, and the two cherubim on the Mercy Seat which represent the Two Witnesses - who are the two olive trees that stand before the Lord of all the earth. As we now know, there was indeed "flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail" when Pope Benedict XVI opened the doors of St. Peter's Basilica to make way for the next pope. Just hours after the Holy Father announced his abdication, lightning struck St. Peter's Basilica twice. This was followed just days later by the Chelyabinsk meteor strike, on the 15th Feb, 2013 - which sounds incredibly similar to the plague of "heavy hail" described in the Book of Exodus:


There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
(Exod 9:24)

Then an 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck just south of Rome a day later, on 16th Feb, followed by more earthquakes near Castel Gandolfo. And all of this is taking place 42 years after the last apparitions of "Our Lady of the Olives" in Zeitoun, in 1971:

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
(Rev 11:1-4)

This could suggest that authority is granted to the Two Witnesses 42 years after the Great Apostasy had taken hold.
Turning back to the 153 fish, there is a possibility that it could be used to calculate some highly significant historical dates. There are some other specific numbers contained in this portion of John's Gospel, which can be found in the number of those present. In all, John 21 specifically mentions seven disciples in this scene: "Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee [James and John], and two others of his disciples were together."
If we multiply 153 by 7, we arrive at the sum of 1071. The date 1071AD is of great significance here, since this was exact year of the Battle of Manzikert - which saw the Byzantine Empire lose the vast majority of Anatolia. This had a catastrophic strategic effect for the future of Byzantium, that would ultimately lead to the complete collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1423. After the Great Schism of 1054, the previously powerful Byzantine Empire had began to decline during the reign of Constantine IX, and the Battle of Manzikert - its first great defeat, was to have enormous repercussions. The defeat of the Byzantine army in 1071 gave the Seljuk Turkish forces an irreversible foothold over the Eastern Empire, and provided the springboard from which the Ottoman Turks would eventually overrun Constantinople in 1423.
It was with the Battle of Manzikert that Christ's words begun to ring true: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand" (Matt 12:25). The loss of Anatolia for the Byzantine Empire would ultimately provide an Islamic bulwark against the Christian Crusaders encroaching against the Holy Land, and was one of the greatest tragedies for the future destiny of Eastern Christendom. With Christianity divided against itself after a thousand years of unity, the Eastern Roman Empire was doomed to failure without the backing and political support that could have been provided by the papacy. So the figure 153 x 7 = 1071 appears to be highlighting the political aftermath of the Great Schism.

If we are to include Jesus himself in any calculations concerning the 153 fish, this would bring the total figure up to 8 - which allows for yet another possible date. If we multiply 153 x 8 (the number of disciples mentioned + Jesus), it gives us the figure of 1224 - which was the exact year in which St. Francis of Assisi received his stigmata. Br. Leo, a companion to St. Francis, recounted that he received the stigmata after receiving a vision of a winged Seraph on the Feast of the Exhaltation of the Cross, while conducting a 40 day fast on the mountain of Verna (see here). This was the spiritual zenith of the life of St. Francis, and the first definite recorded instance of the phenomena of stigmata (although St. Paul was probably also stigmatic, judging by Col 1:24).
We have already noted the apparent importance of St. Francis of Assisi to Mikhail Gorbachev, who by his own admission, was a figure of great influence in his spiritual life. Given that St. Francis was also told to "repair my Church, which as you can see is falling into ruin", we can see how this would then tie into the figure of 153 x 8 = 1224. So the symbolic importance of the 153 fish appears to be turning from the significance of the events of the Great Schism, to point to a desire to restore the Church and a possible link with the fall of Communism, beginning in 1989. Is this in some way alluding to the conversion of Russia promised by Our Lady of Fatima? We shall see momentarily that this does indeed seem to be the case...

We can find another possible number to use in these equations if we were to assume that all of the apostles were present during this episode, and that St. John only mentioned seven of them to give a specific alternative figure. If we were to count all the apostles (minus Judas, but plus his replacement St. Matthias - who some link with Nathanael) then this gives us the possibility that 153 can also be multiplied by 12 - which would bring us up to the year 1836. It just so happens that according to most accounts, 1836 was the year in which Bl. Anna Maria Taigi received her vision of the Three Days of Darkness and the Angelic Pope coming afterwards to restore the Church before the reign of the Antichrist. So again, this would seem to point us towards how the Church is to be restored, and how St. Peter would bring to shore the net laden with the 153 fish of the Second Pentecost.
It is perhaps worth mentioning here yet another different number contained in this narrative, which is likewise curiously specific in its level of detail - that the disciples were about 100 yards away from the shore with their catch of fish. However, we have to take into consideration that the original Greek of this text gives the different figure of 200 cubits - which was the actual units of measurement used at the time of writing. If we were to also interpret the 200 cubits as years, then the disciples being this distance away from the shore (at 12 x 153 = 1836) could give us a date closer to our own time for when the catch of fish is finally brought to land - 2036. As to what this could point to is open to speculation... (and I really should emphasise the point that all of this is just speculation here!). Does it mean when the period of the apostasy would end? The moment when the 153 fish are brought to shore by St. Peter and handed over to the Resurrected Christ?
As Jamey pointed out in the last post (see the com-box here), periods of apostasy in the Bible are frequently associated with Jeremiah's prophecy of the seventy years of Babylonian captivity:

“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations."
(Jer 25:8-13)


The Book of Daniel goes on to use Jeremiah's seventy years of Babylonian captivity to form the basis of the prophecies of the seventy weeks and the abomination of desolation.
So if the 153 fish being brought to shore by the 12 apostles marks when the period of apostasy would end, we could also possibly use this date to establish when the Great Apostasy would have began - by subtracting 70 years from 2036. Before we do so, it would perhaps be worth considering that if the period of apostasy were to end in 2036, then it would only have lasted up to the year 2035 - since 2036 would mark the beginning of a new period with the metaphorical landing of the 153 fish. So it would therefore be best to subtract 70 from 2035 to establish the closest possible date for the beginning of the Great Apostasy, and also in order to align its central hub with the turn of the millennium. When we do so, we are left with the date of 1965 for the beginning of the Great Apostasy. This would correspond almost exactly with when Mass attendance began to plummet, due to the effects of the contraceptive pill-inspired sexual revolution, combined with the explosion of the modern secular mass media in the widespread availability of television.
During his eschatological discourse on Mt. Olivet, Christ specifically stated that the period of the apostasy would be cut short for the sake of the elect:

And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
(Matt 24:22)

Christ seems to be stating  here that if the period of the Great Apostasy were to be allowed to continue for the full period of the 70 years of Babylonian captivity, then no one would be saved - not even the elect. "Saved" in this sense of the word, means saved by Christ in accepting the Gospel, rather than being saved from physical danger - which is of far less importance. If the period of the Great Apostasy were to be allowed to continue throughout the full 70 years, then even the elect would be led astray. Most theologians agree that the symbolic significance of the three and half years (or "time, times and half a time") of the abomination of desolation lies in the fact that it is exactly one half of seven - the divine number of completion in Jewish mysticism. So the number 3.5 represents incompletion, or being "cut short". In this case, the 70 years of Babylonian captivity being cut short would be represented in number symbolism by 35 years.
Therefore to arrive at the time when this period of apostasy would be cut short, we must add 35 years to the date of the beginning of the desolation - which we have already established as 1965. And when we do so, we arrive at the turn of the millennium - which I argue in the book was the exact moment when Satan was cast from heaven at the end of his 100 years of greater power. It was at this point that we were given the Morning Star (which always precedes the dawn), to crush the head of the Serpent (see the post The Seven Wandering Stars and the Heads of the Dragon). The significance of this event was manifested on earth by not only the appearance of the signs in the sky, described at the opening of the sixth seal, as well as the fulfilment of numerous prophecies related to this time period; but also by the apparitions of Our Lady of Assiut - which were a brief continuation of the events at Zeitoun - "Our Lady of the Olives".
Although the prophecies of the Three Days of Darkness appear to be directly related to the "time, times, and half a time" in the Book of Daniel and the Apocalypse (and would therefore be synonymous with the 35 years of apostasy leading up to the millennium), there is also the possibility that they can be used to point to another date. If the Three Days of Darkness are to be interpreted as representing three decades of darkness - three decades which are to be calculated from before the appearance of the Morning Star announcing the arrival of the new dawn in the Great Jubilee Year 2000, then we could have an alternative date concerning the start of the Great Apostasy - the year 1970; which is just before the end of the Zeitoun apparitions (see the post Our Lady of Light and the Apocalyptic Nativity). And if we use the alternative figure for the duration of the abomination of desolation, which is given in Rev 11 as 42 "months" (which is the equivalent of the three and a half years), then the "gentiles" trampling upon the Holy City would last for a period of 42 years - after which a restoration would take place. So according to this interpretation, the "trampling" of the Holy City underfoot would only last until up to the year 2012, and the restoration would begin the year after, in 2013. So this interpretation could also be used to support the Worthy Shepherd Prophecy.
Also worth noting is that there appears to be a division of the period of apostasy similar to the seventy years being cut short in Rev 11:1-3 below:

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
(Rev 11:1-3)

The gentiles trample on the Holy City for 42 months (which equals the "time, times and half a time", or 35 years), before the Two Witnesses are granted authority - which lasts for "1,260 days", or the remainder of the Babylonian captivity.
One final number can be calculated from the 153 fish of the Second Pentecost, which helps to weave together the significance of the three other dates pertaining to this. If we are to include Jesus together with the twelve apostles, giving 13 x 153, it equals 1989 - the  exact year of the fall of Communism. So the enacted parable of the 153 fish contains calculations which relate not only to the consequences of the Great Schism, St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata (and the significance of repairing the Church), Bl. Anna Maria Taigi's vision of the Three Days of Darkness and the coming of the Angelic Pope, as well as Jeremiah's period of seventy years for the Babylonian captivity of the Great Apostasy; but it also points to the one single event which will pave the way for the future conversion of Russia promised by Our Lady of Fatima - the complete dissolution of the Soviet Union that was precipitated by the Revolutions of 1989. The exact year that Mikhail Gorbachev is reported to have made a mea culpa before Bl. John Paul II - which at his own suggestion, was inspired by St. Francis of Assisi.
Can we really put all of this down to mere coincidence?