Sr. Lucia with Dom Jose Alves Correia da Silva, the Bishop of Leiria, in 1946
The recently published text detailing the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Sr. Lucia at her convent in Tuy, Spain, on 3rd January 1944, accords with an earlier account of the transmission of the secret given by renowned Fatima scholar Frere Michel de la Saint Trinite (the pen name of Dom François Marie Velut O. Carth, the Prior General of the Carthusians):
The dramatic account of the writing down and the transmission of this vital Message begins in 1943. The hour of providence had then struck. Sister Lucy was living at that time in the convent of the Dorothean Sisters of Tuy, in Spain. In June, 1943, she suddenly fell gravely ill. Her condition was so alarming that Bishop da Silva, the Bishop of Leiria, became worried. He feared that she would die before having revealed the Third Secret of Our Lady and he sensed that it would be the loss of an exceptional grace for the Church. Canon Galamba, the friend and advisor of the Bishop, then suggested to him an extremely judicious idea, that he at least ask Sister Lucy to write down forthwith, the text of the Third Secret and then that she place it in an envelope sealed with wax, to be opened later.
On September 15, 1943, Bishop da Silva went, therefore, to Tuy and he asked Sister Lucy to write down the Secret “if she really wanted to.” But the seer, undoubtedly under the impulse of the Holy Spirit was not content with this vague order. She requested of her Bishop a written order, formal and perfectly clear – that is very important. The final Message of the Virgin of Fatima is, as previously were Her other requests, linked to marvelous promises. It is an exceptional grace offered by God to our 20th Century in order to meet its most urgent needs. But again it is necessary that the pastors of the Church have sufficient faith and docility to the designs of Heaven in order to be instruments of this outpouring of grace that God wants to bestow upon the world through the sweet mediation of His Immaculate Mother. In 1943, God desired that it be the Bishop of Leiria, who demanded of this messenger the writing down of the Third Secret.
In mid-October, 1943, Bishop da Silva made up his mind. He wrote to Sister Lucy, giving her the express order that she had besought of him. However, new difficulties would arise. Sister Lucy experienced at that time, for almost three months, a mysterious and terrible anguish. She has related that each time she sat down at her work table and took her pen in order to write down the Secret, she found herself obstructed from doing it. One must, no doubt, see there the last outburst of satan against the messenger of the Immaculate One. Guessing what a terrible weapon this great prophecy could set up against his dominion over souls and his plan to penetrate the very heart of the Church, such a trial endured by the seer thus indicated the magnitude of the grandiose event which was about to be carried out, should the Secret be put down on paper. On Christmas Eve, Sister Lucy confided to her director that she had still been unable to obey the order that she had been given.
Finally, on the 2nd of January, 1944, (this is very little known) the Blessed Virgin Mary Herself appeared again to Lucy. She confirmed to her that such was truly the Will of God and gave her the light and the strength to accomplish the writing that had been commanded.
The extreme care that Sister Lucy then took to transmit it with complete safety to its recipient, Bishop da Silva, is a new proof of the exceptional importance which she attributes to this document. She did not wish to entrust it to anyone but a Bishop. It was Bishop Ferreira, Archbishop of Gurza, who received from the hands of Sister Lucy, the envelope sealed with wax containing the precious document. He delivered it the same evening to Bishop da Silva.
(This account was given by Frere Michel in an address at the Vatican Symposium on Fatima on 24th November, 1985. We now know that the apparition took place on 3rd January, and not the 2nd. See the full account here)
This version of events is further confirmed by the official Message of Fatima document released by the Church, which states that Sr. Lucia had written down the content of the Third Secret after the express order of the Bishop of Leiria and the Virgin Mary herself - confirming that the Blessed Mother did indeed appear to Sr. Lucia on 3rd January, 1944, in order to encourage her to commit the secret to writing:
The third part of the "secret" was written by "order of His Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and the Most Holy Mother..." on 3 January 1944.
(The Message of Fatima)
Combined with the fact that this newly released text concerning the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Sr. Lucia was published by the Carmel of Coimbra itself, there can be no doubt as to the authenticity of this vision. And there can similarly be no doubt that the content of this vision is directly related to the Third Secret itself. As such, it should be worth inspecting this newly published private revelation given to Sr. Lucia in some closer detail:
The third part of the "secret" was written by "order of His Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and the Most Holy Mother..." on 3 January 1944.
(The Message of Fatima)
Combined with the fact that this newly released text concerning the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Sr. Lucia was published by the Carmel of Coimbra itself, there can be no doubt as to the authenticity of this vision. And there can similarly be no doubt that the content of this vision is directly related to the Third Secret itself. As such, it should be worth inspecting this newly published private revelation given to Sr. Lucia in some closer detail:
Towards 16:00 hours on January 3rd, 1944, in the convent’s chapel, before the Tabernacle, Lucia asked Jesus to let her know His will: ‘I then feel that a friendly hand, affectionate and maternal, touches my shoulder.’
It is ‘the Mother of Heaven’ who says to her: ‘be at peace and write what they command you to, but not that which you were given to understand about its meaning,’ intending to allude to the meaning of the vision that the Virgin herself had revealed to her.
Right after – says Sr. Lucia – ‘I felt my spirit flooded by a light-filled mystery which is God and in Him I saw and heard: the point of the flame-like lance which detaches, touches the axis of the earth and it [the earth] shakes: mountains, cities, towns and villages with their inhabitants are buried. The sea, rivers and clouds leave their bounds, they overflow, flood and drag with them into a whirlpool, houses and people in a number unable to be counted; it is the purification of the world from the sin it is immersed in. Hatred, ambition, cause destructive wars. Afterward I felt in the increased beating of my heart and in my spirit a quiet voice which said: ‘in time, one faith, one baptism, one Church, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic. Heaven in eternity!’ This word, ‘Heaven,’ filled my heart with peace and happiness, so much so that, almost without realizing it, I continued to repeat for some time: Heaven, Heaven!’
It is ‘the Mother of Heaven’ who says to her: ‘be at peace and write what they command you to, but not that which you were given to understand about its meaning,’ intending to allude to the meaning of the vision that the Virgin herself had revealed to her.
Right after – says Sr. Lucia – ‘I felt my spirit flooded by a light-filled mystery which is God and in Him I saw and heard: the point of the flame-like lance which detaches, touches the axis of the earth and it [the earth] shakes: mountains, cities, towns and villages with their inhabitants are buried. The sea, rivers and clouds leave their bounds, they overflow, flood and drag with them into a whirlpool, houses and people in a number unable to be counted; it is the purification of the world from the sin it is immersed in. Hatred, ambition, cause destructive wars. Afterward I felt in the increased beating of my heart and in my spirit a quiet voice which said: ‘in time, one faith, one baptism, one Church, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic. Heaven in eternity!’ This word, ‘Heaven,’ filled my heart with peace and happiness, so much so that, almost without realizing it, I continued to repeat for some time: Heaven, Heaven!’
The first thing of note in this text is that we know that the Third Secret was written down on the exact same day as this apparition, since Sr. Lucia dated the bottom of her letter reprinted in The Message of Fatima as follows: "Tuy-3-1-1944". So the imagery of this vision is quite evidently related to the Third Secret itself.
Another far more important detail that this text provides us with is that while Sr. Lucia was instructed by the Virgin Mary to write down what Bishop da Silva had ordered her to (the content of the third part of the Secret seen by the three shepherd children on 13th July, 1917), she was also told not to write down the vital meaning of the vision that the Blessed Virgin had revealed to her. This clearly suggests that while the text published in the year 2000 is indeed the complete Third Secret witnessed by the shepherd children in 1917, and that there is no hypothetical "Fourth Secret", Sr. Lucia did not include the meaning of the vision in this particular text.
It would seem then that the Third Secret of Fatima has indeed been published in its entirety - it is the interpretation of the visions contained in the three parts of the Secret that is most likely still being withheld, and it is this text which is the content of the envelope kept in a cabinet inside the Papal Apartments, as described by Mgr. Capovilla (which is distinct from the text of the Third Secret that is known to have been kept in the secret archives of the Holy Office).
In his recent blog post concerning this new text related to the Third Secret, Antonio Socci informs us that Solideo Paolini wrote to the Carmel of Coimbra in June of this year, asking them if Sr. Lucia ever wrote down the interpretation of the Secret - which this text explicitly informs us that the Virgin Mary revealed to her. Socci tells us that to date, Paolini still has not received a response from the Carmel, which is more or less what was expected, since to admit such would be tantamount to confirming the existence of the proposed "attachment" to the Third Secret, which is the central thesis of the "Fatimist" movement. It would be almost unthinkable that Sr. Lucia would not have been instructed by Our Lady to commit the interpretation of the Secret to writing at some point later, since it is self-evident that this would provide the key to understanding the visions as a whole.
In my book Unveiling the Apocalypse: Prophecy in Catholic Tradition, I argue that the real reason this "attachment" to the Third Secret was not made public alongside the text that was published in the year 2000, was because it contained precise details that related to specific dates in the future - dates which the Vatican would quite understandably be reluctant to confirm in advance. If for example, the interpretation of the Third Secret provided precise details along the lines of: "At the end of this century such and such will happen...", the Vatican would be embracing an almost impossible situation - effectively tying itself to the suggestion that a particular event would occur by an exact date, decades before said event was due to take place. Cardinal Loris Capovilla, who was secretary to St. John XXIII, confirmed that the Holy Father had refused to publish the Third Secret (or its interpretation) by the stipulated date of 1960 because he thought it might not be "entirely supernatural" (i.e. some of its content might be Sr. Lucia's own interpretation), and more importantly that it did not want to risk an "immediate interpretation" (i.e. an interpretation given in 1960) because the text contained "minute precisions" (which most likely pointed to a later date).
"Pope John imposed the silence for two reasons: (1) it did not seem to him to consist entirely of things supernatural,‘ (2) he did not dare to risk an immediate interpretation, in the midst of the complex Fatima phenomenon,‘prescinding from minute precisions'…
(Mgr. Loris Capovilla, cited in Cited in Socci, A. The Fourth Secret of Fatima, p154)
"Minute precisions" can only mean that this text contains highly specific details such as dates, or the names and locations of particular events or individuals that relates to a certain point in time. We know that Sr. Lucia was not adverse to date-setting, since she was told that Secret should be published by 1960 - as then it would be "better understood". So it is not altogether unlikely that the interpretation of the Secret would mention a specific date in the future as well. The Vatican itself stated that the Third Secret would not be published in 1960 because it did not want the responsibility of guaranteeing the veracity of the words that the Virgin Mary addressed to the shepherd children - which also suggests the inclusion of such specifics:
"Minute precisions" can only mean that this text contains highly specific details such as dates, or the names and locations of particular events or individuals that relates to a certain point in time. We know that Sr. Lucia was not adverse to date-setting, since she was told that Secret should be published by 1960 - as then it would be "better understood". So it is not altogether unlikely that the interpretation of the Secret would mention a specific date in the future as well. The Vatican itself stated that the Third Secret would not be published in 1960 because it did not want the responsibility of guaranteeing the veracity of the words that the Virgin Mary addressed to the shepherd children - which also suggests the inclusion of such specifics:
"Although the Church recognizes the Fatima apparitions She does not desire to take the responsibility of guaranteeing the veracity of the words that the three shepherd children said that the Virgin Mary had addressed to them."
(Vatican communiqué of 8th Feb, 1960. Cited in De la Sainte Trinite, M. The Whole Truth About Fatima Vol. III pp578-586)
This means that the Secret must have contained some specific details about future events, rather than being vague or open to interpretation; and that the Vatican simply could not afford to stake its credibility on guaranteeing in advance that the contents of this prophecy would take place at the prescribed date. The most telling clue that the "attachment" contains an exact date however, is the reason Pope St. John XXIII gave as to why he would not publish the Third Secret by 1960 - because it did not concern the years of his pontificate:
This means that the Secret must have contained some specific details about future events, rather than being vague or open to interpretation; and that the Vatican simply could not afford to stake its credibility on guaranteeing in advance that the contents of this prophecy would take place at the prescribed date. The most telling clue that the "attachment" contains an exact date however, is the reason Pope St. John XXIII gave as to why he would not publish the Third Secret by 1960 - because it did not concern the years of his pontificate:
Pope John XXIII announced that he was not releasing the secret at the date specified by Sr. Lucia because it “does not concern the years of my pontificate”
(cited in De la Sainte Trinite, M. The Whole Truth About Fatima Vol. III p557)
How could St. John XXIII have possibly known that the content of the Secret or its interpretation did not refer the years his pontificate, unless it contained reference to a date in the future well outside his expected life-span. As I suggest in my book, and in the earlier post The Third Secret and the Turn of the Millennium, it seems that the date mentioned in the "attachment" is the end of the 20th century, and that the events described in it are directly related to struggle of the Woman Adorned with the Sun against the Devil - which is marked by the appearance of the "signs in heaven", and all of which did indeed take place at the turn of the millennium. This would explain Pope St. John Paul II's apparent fixation with the Great Jubilee Year 2000, which he repeatedly harked to from the very beginning of his career as pope, describing it as "a hermeneutical key of my Pontificate" (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 23).
As I have already noted in the earlier post John Paul II: The Triumph of Mary and the Great Jubilee, in his book The End of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium, prominent Catholic journalist Damian Thompson stated that the late Pope's underscoring of the symbolic significance of the turn of the millennium "frequently gives the impression that he knows more than he is letting on" (p172). Writing in 1996 - four years before the publication of the Third Secret, Thompson goes on to suggest that the Pope's level of regard for the turn of the millennium may be attributed to his knowledge of the Third Secret of Fatima (pp173-174).
We can find many examples of St. John Paul's apparent obsession with the prophetic importance of the Great Jubilee Year 2000, one of the most striking of which was made during a prayer service the Pope held at the Spanish Steps on 8th Dec, 1983 - the exact same day the Holy Father issued his now famous "apocalyptic" address announcing his intention to carry out the Act of Entrustment of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in an apostolic letter, again mentioning a specific "precision" related to the turn of the millennium:.
Precisely at the end of the second millennium
there accumulate on the horizon of all mankind
enormously threatening clouds, and darkness falls
upon human souls.
The primary intention of this prayer was a request for the Virgin Mary to overcome evil - alluding to the moment when the Woman Adorned with the Sun would crush the head of the Ancient Serpent:
O Mary! Be the Mother of our liberation from every evil:
From the evil that overburdens man's conscience,
and from that evil which always more threateningly obstructs
the horizon of our century. (The full English text of this prayer can be found here. The original document can be found in Italian on the Vatican website here.)
So it seems apparent then that not only did St. John Paul link the importance of the Great Jubilee Year with the prophecies of Our Lady of Fatima, but also with the struggle of the Woman Adorned with Sun against the Devil foretold in the Apocalypse - which tells us that Satan would be thrown down to earth (Rev 12:9) and transfer his great power and authority to the Beast that rises from the sea (Rev 13:2). An event which would be marked on earth by a series of phenomena that correspond to the "signs in heaven" (an earthquake, solar and lunar eclipses, a meteor shower, a planetary conjunction which recalls the Star of Bethlehem as the "sign of the Son of Man", as well as the appearance of some sort of disastrous spectacle which involves "blood, fire, and columns of smoke" cf. Rev 6:13-14, Matt 24:29-30, Joel 2:28-31).
Sr. Lucia herself gave some insight into the meaning of the Secret of Fatima during an interview with Fr Augustin Fuentes in 1957, which specifically identifies it with the combat between the Dragon and the Woman Adorned with the Sun in Rev 12, when Satan drags down a third of the stars from heaven. Note that the below words are strikingly similar to Pope Benedict XVI's contention (outlined during his pilgrimage to Fatima in 2010) that the content of the Third Secret can be related to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church - which is also highly suggestive of Satan dragging a third of the stars from heaven:
Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that most offends God and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus, the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way, the devil will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.
That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell... The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of lay people and thereby lead them to final impenitence...
“Father, the Blessed Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world, but I understood this for three reasons:
“The first is because she told me that the Devil is engaging in a battle with the Virgin, a decisive battle. It is a final battle where one party will be victorious and the other will suffer defeat. So, from now on, we are either with God or we are with the Devil; there is no middle ground.
“The second reason is because she told me, as well as my cousins, that God is giving two last remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And, being the last remedies, that is to say, they are the final ones, means that there will be no others.
“And the third, because in the plans of the Divine Providence, when God is going to chastise the world He always first exhausts all other remedies. When He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever, then, as we say in our imperfect way of talking, with a certain fear He presents us the last means of salvation, His Blessed Mother.
If we despise and reject this last means, Heaven will no longer pardon us, because we will have committed a sin that the Gospel calls a sin against the Holy Spirit.
It is worth comparing these words with Pope Benedict's comments on the Third Secret below:
Father Lombari:
You were asked if the message could be extended, beyond the attack on John Paul II, to other sufferings on the part of the Popes. Is it possible, to your mind, to include in that vision the sufferings of the Church today for the sins involving the sexual abuse of minors?
...Holy Father:
As for the new things which we can find in this message today, there is also the fact that attacks on the Pope and the Church come not only from without, but the sufferings of the Church come precisely from within the Church, from the sin existing within the Church. This too is something that we have always known, but today we are seeing it in a really terrifying way: that the greatest persecution of the Church comes not from her enemies without, but arises from sin within the Church, and that the Church thus has a deep need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn forgiveness on the one hand, but also the need for justice.
(Interview of the Holy Father Benedict XVI with the journalists during the flight to Portugal)
If we view the words of Sr. Lucia during her interview with Fr. Fuentes alongside the text of Rev 12, we are left in no doubt that she believed that in 1957, the world was on the cusp of the fulfillment of the prophecy of the struggle of the Woman Adorned with the Sun against the Dragon of the Apocalypse:
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.
(Rev 12:1-4)
As Sr. Lucia stated, only one side would be victorious in this War in Heaven - which is a direct reference to the point when Satan would be defeated by the Archangel Michael, and cast down from heaven to the earth, whereupon he begins one last assault against the Church by transferring his great power and authority to the Antichrist.
In addition to Sr. Lucia linking the Secret of Fatima to the eschatological struggle of the Woman Adorned with the Sun against the Devil, there is Cardinal Bertone's conviction that the "signs in heaven" described in the Bible was directly related to the events of 9/11. As we have noted previously, Cardinal Bertone made the following statement to the Italian journal La Republica upon returning from officiating at Sr. Lucia's funeral Mass in 2005:
"prophecy must always be interpreted: It is enough to think of the Apocalypse, of the signs in heaven. Have these perhaps not already been seen with the airplanes that toppled the Twin Towers?"
It is highly unlikely that Cardinal Bertone would have come to this conclusion by himself. The fact that he made this suggestion in the wake of Sr. Lucia's funeral Mass suggests that the real inspiration for his connection between the signs in heaven and the events of 9/11 was rooted in something communicated to him by the seer of Fatima herself. In this regard, it is of specific interest that on 26th October, 2001, the respected Catholic news publication Inside the Vatican claimed that Sr. Lucia had sent a letter to Pope St. John Paul II almost immediately after the attacks on the Twin Towers had taken place. There was a rumour that this text contained a warning that the pope's life was in danger. When questioned about this correspondence, the then Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva: “did not deny that Sister Lucia had sent a letter to the Pope, but said [drawing a very precise distinction] ‘there are no letters from the seer that express fear for the life of the Pope.’” (See chapter 5 of Christopher Ferrera's book The Secret Still Hidden, which can be found online here).
It is highly unlikely that Cardinal Bertone would have come to this conclusion by himself. The fact that he made this suggestion in the wake of Sr. Lucia's funeral Mass suggests that the real inspiration for his connection between the signs in heaven and the events of 9/11 was rooted in something communicated to him by the seer of Fatima herself. In this regard, it is of specific interest that on 26th October, 2001, the respected Catholic news publication Inside the Vatican claimed that Sr. Lucia had sent a letter to Pope St. John Paul II almost immediately after the attacks on the Twin Towers had taken place. There was a rumour that this text contained a warning that the pope's life was in danger. When questioned about this correspondence, the then Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva: “did not deny that Sister Lucia had sent a letter to the Pope, but said [drawing a very precise distinction] ‘there are no letters from the seer that express fear for the life of the Pope.’” (See chapter 5 of Christopher Ferrera's book The Secret Still Hidden, which can be found online here).
The reception of this letter by Pope St. John Paul II was quickly followed by the dispatch of Archbishop Bertone (then Secretary for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith) to visit Sr. Lucia in the Carmel of Coimbra on 17th November, 2001, who conducted a two-hour interview with the seer in the presence of Rev. Luis Kondor, SVD, Vice-Postulator of the cause of Bl. Francisco and Bl. Jacinta, and the Prioress of the Carmelite Convent of Coimbra. The interesting thing to note here is that Archbishop Bertone had already conducted an interview with Sr. Lucia on 27th April, 2000, just before the publication of the Third Secret, and should have at this stage already acquired everything he needed to know about this text before it was made available to the public. So this follow-up interview was in all likelihood related to a current development, and was made in direct response to the letter Sr. Lucia sent to Pope St. John Paul II in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center. And whatever Sr. Lucia told Archbishop Bertone during this subsequent interview appears to have been the primary influence on his remarks following the seer's funeral Mass.
The only possible way that the events of 9/11 could be interpreted as being related to the "signs in heaven" prophesied in the Bible is if we are to equate them with the "blood, fire and columns of smoke" foretold in the Book of Joel, which we are told accompany the astronomical phenomena that herald the eschatological outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Second Pentecost:
“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.
(Joel 2:28-32)
As we have already noted several times previously, each of the other "signs in heaven" described in the Bible did indeed occur around the turn of the millennium - which included a highly symbolic solar eclipse on 11th August, 1999, which traversed an area in Turkey close to the location of the seven churches of Asia Minor (including Pergamum - the "throne of Satan"), which was soon followed by a major earthquake in the same area just days later at the city of Izmit, on August 17th, 1999. The path of this same eclipse also passed directly through the city of Mosul in Iraq - the site of ancient Nineveh, alluding to the mysterious "sign of Jonah" mentioned by Christ immediately after his discourse on the binding of Satan in Luke 11. Three months later, the 33 year cycle of the Leonid meteor storm took place - which is the most prolific of all meteor showers. Then the first lunar eclipse, or "blood moon" of the new millennium took place between 20th-21st January 2000 - the anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Zion to Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne (which links the grace poured out from the hands of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal to the future conversion of the Jews/the sealing of the 144,000). Then on 5th May, 2000, an extremely rare planetary conjunction involving each of the seven planets known to the ancients, which echoes the seven stars held in the right hand of Jesus - described in Rev 1:18 as being "the keys to Death and Hades". (See the earlier post The Seven Wandering Stars and the Heads of the Dragon)
In the next post, we will look again at how the Angel of the Seven Thunders in the Book of Revelation is related to the angel of the Third Secret, and how this prophecy can be used to identify New York City as the "great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth" described in Rev 17:18 - the city seen by Sr. Lucia being destroyed by a tsunami just before she wrote down the Third Secret. It is this future event which is prefigured in by the "harbinger" of 9/11, which is so closely connected to the "signs in heaven" and the lingering mystery surrounding the Third Secret of Fatima.
67 comments:
This is remarkable. I'm quite convinced by this. My heart exults. I don't know how or what to say. I know it sounds crazy, but I want to pray out loud, "Now you can dismiss your servant O Lord ..." The prayer of Simeon, which I'm unworthy to pray as my own.
Thank you, Emmett, for another fascinating post! The idea of New York being the city to be hit by a great tsunami is sobering. When hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast in 2012, the lower part of Manhattan was flooded, including some of the subway system. That could have been a harbinger of more to come.
One thing, though, is that I am not entirely convinced that John Paul looked forward to the millennium because of events foretold in the Fatima secret. He was looking forward to the year 2000 right from the beginning of his pontificate. His first encyclical, Redeemer of Man, was dated March 4, 1979, about 6 months after he was elected. I don't think it likely that he developed his ideas on the basis of having read the secret, for we don't even know he had done so by then. It is highly speculative to draw such conclusions.
In that encyclical he talked about the coming Jubilee in the very first paragraph: "This time, in which God in his hidden design has entrusted to me...is already very close to the year 2000." He goes on to speak about the Incarnation and the redemption, and the approaching 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ. I think it more likely that that was the source of his intense interest in the jubilee. In many of his later documents, when he spoke of the Jubilee he linked it to the anniversary of Christ's birth and the redemption. In 1987 he called the special jubilee year of the redemption for the 1950th anniversary of Christ's crucifixion.
There has been two incredibly fascinating shows on Sid Roth's "It's supernatural".
It's Worth Watching:
http://sidroth.org/television/tv-archives/mark-biltz-0
http://sidroth.org/television/tv-archives/jonathan-cahn
Those two guests are real prophets of the Lord.
Thanks Emmett,
Great post as usual! Two facts of interest. Sr Marianne, interestingly Dr Navarro Vals the former communications director for JP II said in 2000 just after the 3rd secret publication that JP II read it for the first time days after his election in 1978, which Socci and others took to mean he read the attachment kept in his papal bedroom.
Also Emmett, to give more weight to your comments about St John Paul and Rev 12, also in on 19 June 1983 in Poland in a speech to the Pauline Fathers he spoke these stark words " Our times are in need of this action (the growth of the order and their charism through the Holy Spirit), because they are times of great struggle. The late Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, who was your spiritual brother spoke often of it. Many times he said, using the latin words: "Non est nobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem, sed adversus principes . . . Tenebrarum harum" (Eph 6:12).In the period of these great struggles, Mary is given to us as a sign. "A woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Rev 12:1), thus sees John in the Book of Revelation. In the period of this great struggle with the "principes et potestates . . . Tenebrarum harum" a powerful illumination is required, more powerful than at any other time"
Stephen Walford
Thanks Terry!
Sr. Lorraine, I meant to mention that it was known that St John Paul read the attachment to the Third Secret days after his election, but Stephen beat me to it. The notes of Cardinal Capovilla, the former secretary of St John XXIII, informs us that this attachment is kept in a bedside apartment in the papal apartments, while the Third Secret itself was stored in the archives of the Holy Office. It makes sense that St John Paul read the attachment soon after his election, since it was situated right beside where he slept. This is not to say that he did not hold the importance of the Great Jubilee Year in such high regard due to his own spiritual insight, which was quite profound. Its association with the Incarnation and the promises of the Protoevangelium are quite clear, and has as its central focus the moment when the Woman Adorned with the Sun crushes the head of the Ancient Serpent by bearing the Redeemer of mankind into the world. And of course the First Advent always foreshadows the Second in the calendar of the Church. So he may have reached this conclusion by himself.
Thanks for pointing out that quote from the Holy Father Stephen! That really is quite amazing. I'll have to keep that one in mind...
Thank you Emmet for this remarkable post!
Dia
Emmet, i hope you don't mind that I share this in your blog
OUR LADY AND ISLAM: HEAVEN’S PEACE PLAN
Fr Ladis J. Cizik, Blue Army National Executive Director
Islam
Islam is an Arabic word that can be defined as "to make peace." Islam is the religion founded by Mohammed, which considers the Koran as its holy book. In addition, Islam accepts the New Testament of the Christians and the Old Testament of the Jews as Divinely inspired works. Followers of Islam are known as Muslims (also: Moors, Turks, and Moslems) and, just as Jews and Christians, believe in only one God. Yet, over the centuries, Muslims have engaged in tremendous wars with Christians and Jews. It would seem that there is little hope for peace. However, Heaven's Peace Plan, involving Our Lady, is evidenced at Fatima, Portugal as well as other places around the world.
Fatima
The Moors once occupied Portugal. The village of Fatima was given the Islamic name of the well-loved Princess of the nearby Castle of Ourem. She died at an early age after marrying the Count of Ourem and converting to Catholicism. Baptized with the Christian name of Oureana, she was named at birth "Fatima," like many other Moslem girls, in honor of the daughter of Mohammed. Of his daughter, Fatima, the founder of Islam, Mohammed, said: "She has the highest place in heaven after the Virgin Mary."
It is a fact that Moslems from various nations, especially from the Middle East, make so many pilgrimages to Our Lady of Fatima's Shrine in Portugal that Portuguese officials have expressed concern. The combination of an Islamic name and Islamic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great attraction to Moslems. God is writing straight with crooked lines, as we will see. Fatima is a part of Heaven's Peace Plan. It is hope for the world.
The Koran
In the Koran, the holy name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned no less than thirty times. No other woman's name is even mentioned, not even that of Mohammed's daughter, Fatima. Among men, only Abraham, Moses, and Noah are mentioned more times than Our Lady. In the Koran, Our Blessed Mother is described as "Virgin, ever Virgin." The Islamic belief in the virginity of Mary puts to shame the heretical beliefs of those who call themselves Christian, while denying the perpetual virginity of Mary. Make no mistake about it, there is a very special relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Moslems!
The Holy Land
The Holy Land has been a real battleground between the Islamic peoples and Christianity over the centuries. Evidence of this are the numerous churches and basilicas that have been built by the Church, destroyed by, the Moslems, rebuilt by Catholic Crusaders, leveled again by the followers of Islam, and so on over the course of history. However, there is one remarkable exception: the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem.
The Crusaders built this church and named it in honor of the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Crypt of St. Anne's Basilica, a statue of the Infant Mary is venerated on what is believed to be the exact spot where Our Lady was born. Their great reverence for Our Lady precluded the Moslems from destroying her birthplace. The foundation for Heaven's Peace Plan at Fatima, Portugal, can be found in the Land of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Spain
As the Moslems swept through Spain in the 8th century, a great religious treasure was buried for safe-keeping in the earth, high in the Estremadura Mountains. It was a much venerated statue of Our Lady holding the Divine Child Jesus that was a gift of Pope Gregory the Great to Bishop Leander of Seville. After the overthrow of Moorish occupation, the image was uncovered in the year 1326, subsequent to a vision of Our Lady to a humble shepherd by the name of Gil. Our Lady's very special statue was enshrined in a nearby Franciscan Monastery next to the "Wolf River."
The Moslems, during their Spanish occupation, had actually named the river. The Islamic term for Wolf River is "Guadalupe" (Guada = River; Lupe = Wolf). Hence, the famous Catholic image in Spain has been known, since the 14th century, by the Islamic name of "Our Lady of Guadalupe."
Mexico
In the fullness of time, we can be sure that Almighty God knew that the Islamic religion would pose a serious threat to Christianity. God also knew that the Spanish missionaries would face grave resistance in the "new world" from the mighty Aztec Indians. The Aztecs worshipped an evil stone "serpent god" that demanded human sacrifice. It was extremely difficult to win souls for Christ from these bloodthirsty savages. However, with God all things are possible. Our Lady appeared to a humble Aztec Indian convert by the name of Juan Diego in 1531. When asked her name by Juan Diego, at the request of the local bishop, Our Lady's response, in the Aztec language, included the words "te coatlaxopeuh" (pronounced: "te quatlasupe") and meant "one who crushes the head of the stone serpent."
To Juan Diego and his fellow Aztecs, this revelation had great meaning, coupled with the miraculous image of Our Lady standing on top of a "crescent," the symbol of this evil serpent god. A tidal wave of conversions to Catholicism ensued. However, Bishop Zumarraga, who was from Spain, made what was no doubt a "heavenly mistake" that one day may lead to the mass conversion of Moslems. To the Bishop's Spanish ears, Our Lady's Aztec name of "Te Quatlasupe" sounded just like the name of the revered Madonna from Spain with the Islamic name, "Guadalupe." Hence, the bishop named the Mexican Madonna "Our Lady of Guadalupe." It is interesting that the "crescent" is also the symbol for Islam and that America's Shrine to Our Lady has an Islamic name.
Battle of Lepanto
On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under the command of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Moslem force with between 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage, the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God.
What you may not know is that one of three admirals commanding the Catholic forces at Lepanto was Andrea Doria. He carried a small copy of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe into battle. This image is now enshrined in the Church of San Stefano in Aveto, Italy. Not many know that at the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, one can view a huge warship lantern that was captured from the Moslems in the Battle of Lepanto. In Rome, look up to the ceiling of S. Maria in Aracoeli and behold decorations in gold taken from the Turkish galleys. In the Doges' Palace in Venice, Italy, one can witness a giant Islamic flag that is now a trophy from a vanquished Turkish ship from the Victory. At Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome, close to the tomb of the great St. Pope Pius V, one was once able to view yet another Islamic flag from the Battle, until 1965, when it was returned to Istanbul in an intended friendly token of concord.
The Rosary
At Lepanto, the Victory over the Moslems was won by the faithful praying the Rosary. Even though they had superior numbers, the Turks really were overmatched. Blessed Padre Pio, the Spiritual Father of the Blue Army, said: "The Rosary is the weapon," and how right he was!
The Battle of Lepanto was at first celebrated liturgically as "Our Lady of Victory." Later, the feast of October 7th was renamed "Our Lady of the Rosary" and extended throughout the Universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1716 (who canonized Pope Pius V in 1712).
And with that we are back to Fatima, Portugal where Our Lady, when asked her name, said: "I am the Lady of the Rosary." At Fatima, Our Lady taught us to pray the Rosary every day. Heaven presented its peace plan at Fatima and truly gave us hope for the world. Conversions were promised at Fatima: the conversion of sinners; the conversion of Russia; and what also appears to be the conversion of Islam. Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!
Source: http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/olislam.htm
Thank you Emmett, I enjoyed reading your analysis on JP II and the implications of the third secret.
I would like to point out that the "mountain cast into the sea" may have quite a few meanings. Mountain in Scripture symbolize nations (government) and people. And during those times the "mountain" was a standard expression among the Jewish people for the Temple Mount. And the Disciples understood it to be in reference to the nation of Israel which was directly related to the Temple.
We must not forget that Jesus warned about the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 20-25), and He cursed an unfruitful fig tree, as a symbol of judgment upon Israel. "Mountain cast into the sea" may very well speak symbolically of the dispersion of the Jewish people across the earth.
"This 'mountain' that Jesus speaks of in (Matthew 21) was replaced by 'the great mountain' of (Daniel 2:35). We see the replacement of the Harlot with the Bride, Israel with the Church, and Babylon (earthly Jerusalem) with the heavenly Jerusalem."
Today "Mystery Babylon" may symbolically mean Freemasonry, as Fr Gobbi had prophesied. And yes, the United States does have the Masonic tentacles infiltrated in its government, but so does the Church, as well as, the countries of Europe, Asia, and even under Muslim rule in the Middle East, Freemasonry is practiced.
"In 1855, the renowned Rabbi Isaac Wise wrote: 'Freemasonry is a Jewish establishment, whose history, grades, official appointments, passwords, and explanations are Jewish from beginning to end.' And the Jewish Tribune of New York on Oct 28, 1927 said; 'Masonry is based on Judaism. Eliminate the teachings of Judaism from the Masonic Ritual and what is left?'"
It has always been about destroying the Christian culture.
The false Babylonian system that will govern the world in the future under the Antichrist will be destroyed in one day by the throwing of a stone shaped like a millstone into the ocean. (Rev 18:8). Now this sounds more like a nuclear weapon. According to (Zechariah 9:2-8) it tells of the destruction of the whole seacoast of the Levant reaching southward. Tel Aviv will have widespread ruins along with all regions from the Turkish border down to Gaza and Egypt. Even (Ezekiel 29:1-2) may be referring to this destruction. So, Emmett you are right about destruction coming. But it may not be how you think. Mind you, New York may very well suffer more, but hopefully not. I pray George Washington was right.
The last world kingdom will be headquartered in Jerusalem, not in New York. The Antichrist will come to Jerusalem.
(Rev 11-8)...and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified." The great city is Jerusalem.
The Middle East wars we are engaged in today are destabilizing Syria and Iraq in order to allow the state of Israel to achieve its aim.
Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Quatar are all allies.
Dia, Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey has just been beatified. She needs one more miracle to become a Saint.
Pray to her for the conversion of the Middle East. She found the House of Mary with the help of archaeologists on July 29, 1891. Sister Marie restored the house making it a place of pilgrimage for all people, especially Christians and Muslims.
To know more about this saintly nun let me give you this information:
WWW.SISTERMARIE.COM
God bless
The House of Mary, built by St John the Apostle, is located in Ephesus, Turkey.
Servant of God - Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey. Sept 13th, 1837 - May 31st, 1915.
“The second reason is because she told me, as well as my cousins, that God is giving two last remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And, being the last remedies, that is to say, they are the final ones, means that there will be no others." Given this statement, what are we to think about the Chaplet of Divine Mercy?
Emmet, I am puzlled by what you say regarding the "attachment" written by Sr Lucia, still hidden until now. I agree with you that this attachment truly exists like this was demonstrated by Paolini and Socci and that it is, like for the 1st and 2nd secrets, an explanation of the vision given to the children.
But I strongly disagree when you say that this attachment has been dismissed (and stays hidden) by the Vatican because it would be the fruit of the own reflexions of Sr Lucy and therefore, highly discutable.
The Vatican itself unwillingly revealed its substance in the press release of Feb 8th 1960 that yourself quoted above:
"...guaranteeing the veracity of the WORDS that the three shepherd children said that the Virgin Mary had addressed to them"...
Then we know that the 3rd Secret contains WORDS of Our Lady. Since the text disclosed in june 2000 doesn't contain ONE WORD of Our Lady, we must logically deduce 2 things:
1/ There is a hidden text attached to the vision revealed in 2000. This text contains WORDS of the Virgin.
2/ Logically this text should be the explanation by the Virgin of the vision. Therefore it cannot be in any way a result of the thoughts of Sr Lucy
Thank you, both Emmett and Stephen, for shedding light on Pope John Paul reading the secret. That makes a lot of sense. I also looked up that quote you mentioned of the Pope, and it continues,
"A powerful illumination is necessary, more powerful than in any other time, of the power of the Holy Spirit, through his most pure Spouse"
That is quite interesting in light of the illumination of conscience that some speak of. The Pope seems to be saying it will come through Mary.
My Name is Marcos.
Hi Emmet, I was wondering about the Lunar eclypse coming to pass today at 4.00 am (GMT+3, I'm in Argentina); since i'v read in many of your posts the importance you give to natural events and the discernment of these in the light of the End Times. Are you planning on wrinting something about it?
Thank's for a lot of fascinating literature, specially the Book "Unveiling the Apocalypse", I practically read it in 5 days, i felt absorved by it.
Bendiciones desde Argentina! Adorado sea el Sagrado Corazon de Jesus.
Hi Marcos! Thanks! Yes I am planning to write something about this, especially given the fact that this recent blood moon has taken place during the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which commemorates the victory of the Catholic forces against the Islamic Ottoman Empire. The last blood moon in April coincided with the rapid expansion of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, so there appears to be some connection here.
It is also noteworthy that this recent blood moon has occurred right at the beginning of the synod of the family, so it might also point to some changes taking place within the Church itself (cardinal against cardinal?).
Un abrazo
I will take the opportunity given to me by the last two comments to say a word about this wednesday morning blood moon on october 8th.
Here in Quebec where I live, the strange thing is that the moon turned at its most reddish color at sunrise, at 6:55am.
This time zone (EDT - eastern daylight time) is also the time zone of great cities in Canada like Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City. It covers also the east coast of the United States from New England to Florida.
The fact that the sun rises with this blood red moon in the sky is surely a sign that the Lord wants our attention.
A recent survey in a college in Quebec has shown that only one student out of five believes there is a God.
The faith is diminishing dramatically in Quebec especially among young people 16 to 21 years old.
Are there are prophecies about a pope is an apostate, a "black pope"?
Surely we are seeing the culmination of the Third Secret regarding the church - "troubling apostasies", "the apostasy beginning from the top", "the work of the devil infiltrating the church", "cardinal vs cardinal and bishop vs bishop". What a shipwreck. If this papacy continues in similar vein it won't be a long one.
The dogma of papal infallibility teaches that the Holy Spirit will prevent the pope (no matter who he is or what he believes) from error on matter of faith or morals when speaking ex cathedra. So there certainly won't be any big shocks from this synod, and I wouldn't expect any ex cathedra pronouncements anyway, so anything that does happen can always be reversed. There may be a reform/streamlining of the annulment procedure, but I think this will be in line with the huge number of invalid sacramental marriages that this widespread apostasy has already incurred.
I admit that this recent document from the synod concerning homosexuality is troubling, since it is impossible for this choice of lifestyle to be reconciled with Church teaching and natural law. But it is not authoritative, and it has a rather vague "Church of nice" spin, which still doesn't even attempt to consider admitting such individuals to communion. The Holy Spirit will always prevail.
Anon,
The prophecies of a "black pope" stem from the heretical Franciscan Spirituals in the Middle Ages, who were in schism from the Church. Christ promised that the gates of hell would never prevail against the Church and the ministry of Peter:
"And I tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matt 16:18)
I have full trust in the words of Our Lord.
Emmett I don't anyone is talking about papal infallibility or denies our Lord's words. I still find it more of a scandal that the church introduced a Protestant style Mass that has wiped out the faith. There have been legions of homosexual priests that have predated on young boys often working in tandem with one another. The Doyle-Moulton-Peterson report says 45% of priests in the US engage in illicit sexual relationships. The faith has been shaken that hard I think we all have to adjust our understanding how much the Lord will permit the gates of Hell to attack his church. Can a false pope (someone who appears to be pope but isn't really) be a false prophet or the false prophet, I personally wouldn't rule it out.
Vennari reported from his local newspapers they are saying the church is changing its teaching. Likewise here on the news we got the same thing, it was even said that what is going down in the church could well split it in 2 all of which brings up the following:
"There is an old political axiom that has apparently been totally lost on the people in charge of the Synod: how something looks is often more important than what it is."
http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/1135-blind-optics
That report seems to attack Doyle personally and there is nothing debunking the 45% figure. Doyle lost the faith - I think many would who have to comb through these horrific cases of child abuse. I remember one senior Catholic saying to avoid reading works such as Randy Engels' because it could result in loss of faith. I read a little but was too disturbed personally. Doyle accuses the hierarchy of being worse than the Nazi's in many ways he is right they operate under the pretense of shepherds yet have protected predator priests. At least the Nazi's didn't pretend to be humane and "nice". Doyle was blowing the whistle in the early 90's and still wasn't being listened to.
Here in Perth there was a heap of priests who impregnated women or left the priesthood to pursue women I was truly shocked when told by an aspiring nun. A guy I worked with hung around a heap of seminarians in the UK - many were going of with women and when he questioned them (he wasn't Catholic but knew it wasn't right) they said it was ok they weren't priests just yet. Remember Sr Lucia's declaration in 1957 that chastisement was imminent and the devil was going to go after consecrated souls. Much of this isn't new though, remember St Peter Damian fighting rife homosexuality in the priesthood a millenium ago.
As Archbishop Lefebvre said, the worse sin is to live our life as if God did not exist.
I think priests should be allowed to marry, as it was in the first millenium of the catholic Church.
Priests are men and it is not so surprising to see some of them flirting women.
I do not think this is so serious because most of them are in good relationship with the Lord and recognize with great humility their weakness regarding beautiful women.
The lost of the faith is what worries me the most.
I think Fr Calloway said it well every man needs a woman in their life, it isn't good for man to be alone - as a result priests need to be close to Our Lady, the graces from this help priests live chastely and celibate which the scriptures say is the best way to serve the Lord. To flirt is to open to dangers throwing fuel on a fire so to speak.
BREAKING: Pope Harming the Church
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLS3cOxfkJw&feature=youtu.be&list=UUX17igkZ9JhU64JoTBVSWeQ
Cardinal Burke states that the pope is harming the church. He said that the entire synod has been arranged on purpose to weaken the teaching of the church. All done with the apparent approval of the pope!
Hokey Smokes! I'll be curious how the spin will be applied.
charles
Thanks for sharing that Charles. This is disturbing news indeed. I have never witnessed such open division within the Church hierarchy. Surely this is the fulfillment of Akita. I am still confident that the Holy Spirit will protect the Church from error though, as He has always done in the past. It will be interesting to see how this synod plays out though, as it will have a significant impact on the next one in 2015...
The news coming out of the Synod has been disturbing at times. Did we expect any different? The media, and those within the Church with their own agenda will always create "confusion" amongst the faithful in the Church. Everybody is so caught up in this particular tradition, or this particular apparition etc. that we are ready to pounce at the first supposed sign we see.
My point is I hate seeing and hearing the rash judgments on the Holy Father, when we allow media members and even bad translators speak for him.
Regardless of whether we think he's made a mistake by staying silent or not, he has not strayed away from the very foundation of the Magisterium. Below I have posted a link detailing the Pope's speech at the end of this years Synod. To me reporting on things you hear are one thing, but to put our own spin, opinion or agenda, without knowing the cold hard facts are quite another(I'm not implying anyone here is falsely reporting) Please don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that this isn't a tumultuous time, but what I am saying let's give this Pope a chance for the Love of the Almighty God, without jumping down his throat on the first thing we hear from this supposed "faithful" reporter or that "church" document or the secular media, or whatever. The Devil is at the very root of all confusion and discord. Let's put away our bias opinions, and listen to the still small, voice of truth.
God Love you all.
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/10/18/pope_francis_speech_at_the_conclusion_of_the_synod/1108944
Emmett.
I agree with you on the fulfillment of Akita here. This is the first time we have actually publicly seen division amongst the Cardinals on such a big stage.
As time rapidly moves forward I keep thinking about the Bishop dressed in white at Fatima. Can we not see the persecution taking place as we speak,(ISIS) and ending in the actual martyrdom of our Holy Father? Oh how I hope I'm wrong!
The strange thing is that a pope so "à la mode", so to speak, will talk about more openness towards homosexuals, which to a certain degree makes sense because the Lord never rejects anyone, but will not open the debate regarding the marriage for priests.
A priest told me once that the first reason for celibacy was that the church wants to keep the heritage of the priest instead of the heritage going to the children the priest could have.
It is a sad thing if money is the reason for celibacy because we see what kind of havoc money can bring to the world. Money does not appear to be a factor of peace in the world.
I think we should read again and again St Thomas More in his classic masterpiece "Utopia" to know how to live in society. His work is still very pertinent and I would say more pertinent than ever.
Joe I agree with you that many are twisting the pope's words at times including trads that want to see the worst, as bad news strangely is good news in these times. And yes we should try reading what he really said in context. However actions speak louder than words and his appointments such as Kasper (and praising him), his demolition via Volpi of the FFI, the way he tried to structure the synod signal what is going on in his mind and to me it is the annihilation of Catholicism as we have always known it. I pray that he converts and restores the church but I think he is the final demolition act of the "Springtime Era" and in the next conclave cardinals will realise we need a strong pope who doesn't aim to be friends with the world and will teach the Faith with true mercy and justice.
What worries me is if Bergoglio is truly malicious we will see him structure the Vatican in such a way before the 2015 synod to eliminate the voices who resisted and foiled some of his aims.
The synod has been a positive in some ways one is a clearer understanding of who truly is Catholic in the hierarchy. I do expect another verbose document that will probably clarify nothing in the meantime.
Jamey, did you read the final speech from the synod, given by Pope Francis? He referred to progressives as fearful do-gooders who desire a deceptive mercy to bandage a wound without getting to its underlying problem, that progressive desire to come down off the cross and please the world, and who believe they control the deposit of faith rather than being caretakers of it. He also said that the doctrines cannot change.
Read his speech. It's not liberal/progressive.
I am more and more convinced that the return of Jesus is near.
I think this is the meaning of those blood moons in 2014-2015.
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He answered:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.”
The fact is that these two commandments are not very well put in practice in our times.
It is one more clue that the return of the Lord is near.
Our Pope is Jesuit. A true one, not a fake one. And if you've met real Jesuits like me, you would understand how they work. Pope Francis is getting ready. He has just opened the light on the progressives. We now know who is who. Patience, patience.
KP it sounds like you are thinking along the lines of a Fatima Sunrise scenario where a pope will be cunning identify heretics and then clean out the church.
He also blasted traditionalists as being as being pharisees. Immediately upon reading that and but his spot on analysis of progressives I was thinking Papa Pancho where do you sit? What are his thoughts on mortal sin? Can sins of the flesh send people to Hell? Unfortunately we don't get any clear answers but confusion. Socci made a point along similar lines.
Personally I think it looks dire but am still open to where this papacy may go - he may well do the Consecration of Russia when the world is brought to its knees (someone made the point the pope doesnt have to be a good one but just has to do it). He does have interest in Fatima. But I am also open to this papacy being linked to the false church of darkness prophecies due to certain indicators.
If things don't change for the better I am thinking many cardinals previously on the fence realise we need a strong pope who proclaims the truth and wouldn't be surprised if Burke gets the gig after his recent performance at the Synod. Things like that can have a big impact many will galvanise behind him.
The false church will never be the Catholic Church. The false church is the one that turns it back on the Pope.This Pope is dealing with a worldwide apostasy, that has little care for the Catholic Church. So, his turn towards mercy for those who have no idea how much trouble they are in because of their sinful lives is a rather wise one. You don't convert pagans by way of just blasting them on morality. It is too late for that. His hope is that through his example of living the true life of a saint by loving the sinner, instead of hating the sinner, we may see more conversions. I pray he's right.
Well said Marianna
God Bless.
Mariana,
You pray he's right? Sounds like doubt in your response. The church does not hate the sinner as you suggest. It never has. Funny you would have that in mind. The church's mission is to save all sinners but if they refuse? (Don't you think the church has been soft on the world since the 60's? Is 50 years enough time to figure on a response from pagans? The mission is also to preach the truth about sin. Any reference to this sin in the synod? Too late to blast? I think not- it's never too late. Like, it's never too to consecrate Russia either!
I fell your pain Anon. Life has changed on us dramatically. Oh, we can become bitter and point fingers and get anxious, but then what good will that do? Have you seen the joy and love our Pope has received worldwide? He is energizing the Church. That is hope. We need to continue to pray for him and all the priests. Let God, let go. Let the Holy Spirit guide us all to always do what is right. At the end of the day, the Rosary is the only weapon we have to fight the world we live in. Fight the worldly sins by living our own lives with pure hearts of joy through the Sacraments. It is what Pope Francis is doing. He speaks and lives like a true saint. And people all over the world want to be near him. They can't get enough of him. Now don't we want our own children to feel the same way about us? I think Pope Francis is teaching all a good lesson.
Finally, the voice of wisdom:
Pope Emeritus Breaks Silence to Support Truth Over Dialogue
rose
There is war no doubt but everyone is too afraid to offend so everything is veiled reading between the lines necessary. VII aimed to not offend and the men formed in/ by that era demonstrate that - Burke somewhat retracted his own criticism of Francis, Bishop Chaput likewise.
Elton John is calling for the canonization of Bergoglio who knows could be done while he is still alive ;-) but being praised by Obama tops the cake. Recommend to readers Bob Sungenis' "Is the Catholic Church on the brink of Judgement" written in 2011. The judgement is here in this Bergoglian "reign of mercy". Ultimately this will be a time of testing for the loyal sons and daughters of the church before the new dawn.
Mariana says: "Have you seen the joy and love our Pope has received worldwide? He is energizing the Church. That is hope." REALLY Mariana?
What I have seen is confusion in the church and worldwide adulation for Francis. That is the reverse of what it should be. Catholics should be secure in the faith of the church, in what the pope states, and the world , in reality, should hate the church because of what She, the Bride of Christ, should stand for.
Jamey, would you happen to have this Sungenis link? I looked around- no find. Sounds like good reading.
Rash judgements and the Spirit of Suspicion...Fear and Mass confusion. Disrespect and the loss of faith in Christs teaching. Before any of you decide that you know what all the answers are, it's about high time all of you including myself open our hearts to what God is saying before "we find ourselves against God"
Sorry Jamey, I don't see any confusion or false statements coming out of Pope Francis. The man is energizing the Church, and we need more love in, and outside the Church. He speaks the truth and he is reforming the Vatican bank. He even called out the Mafia, spoke against drugs, etc. As for the Synod, read what he said about marriage. And please stop believing what the media is portraying him to be. They are the false one's not the Pope. God bless.
Joe I am a dreadful sinner I am aware of that I am not sure I will make it to paradise - saying that church teaching is clear and unfortunately Fr Cekada was right very early on with one point - Francis is a loose cannon.
http://culbreath.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/the-popes-first-commandment-problem/
Remember Burke himself was not sure what to make of parts of EG and has been "mercifully" dealt with.
And yes I pray for the pope daily that he restores the church. But its better we have a pope like this setting Rome on fire than the past few which were diabolically disoriented with a conservative veneer. Almost paradoxically we are closer to restoration with someone like this at the helm.
Anon I will put the key excerpts of Sungenis' article up on my blog on the weekend.
But its better we have a pope like this setting Rome on fire than the past few which were diabolically disoriented with a conservative veneer.
Benedict JPII?
Open your eyes, Jamie, those you continuously view as the righteous in the Vatican are not necessarily the innocent when it comes to the scandals.
Many so called conservatives turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to what was happening. You of all people should be rejoicing that we have a Pope, today, who is not scarred by the very scandals, you continue to complain about. Totally agree with Joe that he is not putting out the fires, he is causing the fires, so we can finally deal with the truth. It's uncomfortable isn't it Jamie? The truth can hurt.
The veil is lifting on the mistakes made by many who believed ignoring them or hiding them was best.
Nobody is perfect from the Vatican. They are all sinners like the Apostles. Pope Francis is trying to save the Judas' from committing the sin of standing apart in their "solitude and selfishness that grows to the point where they betray Jesus," just like Judas did.
Pope Francis is making many very nervous. And that's a good thing. It's about time.
Hi Joe,
There is a reason Hans Kung is still considered a priest in "good standing" after those papacies.
I must admit a real affection toward B16 despite him not being trad he wasnt interested in having a personality cult. I think it is a good chance he will release the hidden portion of the Third Secret one day.
I didn't realise you had started a blog Jamey. You kept that one shy! It looks really "bonzer" too! I'll have to try to add a link to my blog roll...
Thanks Emmett. For a moment I thought you said sly rather than shy lol.
Jamey
Would you please also post your blog address, here, if it is allowed? I would love to follow your blog thoughts as I do Emmett's.
Sherry
Hi Sherry
Good to hear from you.
Blog address is
http://ourladyofakitasaveus.blogspot.com.au
I hope to have some good material up by end of year that has been in the mental pipeline for a while.
Jamey:
I first tried to access your blog on my iPad with no results and then tried by copy and paste on my computer but still have no results. (I'm in the USA, btw.) I'm getting this error message:
"No results found for http://ourladyofakitasaveus.blogspot.com.au."
Sherry
Follow-up Just dabbled around and solved the problem by leaving off the "au"
In the USA anyway,
http://ourladyofakitasaveus.blogspot.com
Regards,
Sherry
Second Try. I'm with Pope Benedict- the voice of wisdom:
http://www.aleteia.org/en/religion/article/pope-emeritus-breaks-silence-to-support-truth-over-dialogue-5807060570603520
Copy and paste. It's worth the few minutes it takes to read.
rose
Sungenis article on church being on brink of judgement available on my blog
http://ourladyofakitasaveus.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/robert-sungenis-in-2011-is-catholic.html
Jamey,
Thank you for the link you provided authored by Sungenis. It is excellent. It shows clearly that the church IS in trouble in a number of ways.
I just thought I'd post this to show the absolute deception that is happening within the translations being given especially in the English translation. This is not just a grammatical error or a word miss. This is a blatant agenda. We say the Pope is saying and doing the wrong things right? Is it the Pope?
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/translation-error-final-english-synod-text-cuts-marriage-between-a-man-and
Thanks Joe for your comment. Read the article, and it looks like it may very well be an agenda, but from whom? May it be a conspiracy against the Pope? Who would gain the most by tarnishing our Pope? If it were the progressives, why would they risk the scorn from a Pope who is trying to reach out to them? I smell a bigger rat.
That's not the real sister Lucia thee in that picture with JP2 the awesome. A couple of sedevacantists pointed this out and they're absolutely correct. Google the pictures of this "Sr. Lucia" with the pictures pre 1860, completely different facial features and unless the simple nuns must have an awesome dental plan because her simple and beautiful pre 1860 peasant crooked teeth smile changed to perfectly straight, white teeth. Pure, 100% mickey mouse stuff, not the same woman at all.
There so many comments so I took just one made about Sr. Lucy's teeth.
A new set of false teeth will make you look like you always had nice even teeth.
They pull all the teeth out to replace them with good looking choppers.
Anyway...We will see this October whether or not the Church has a Holy Leader as Pope. Invited were several Bishops and Cardinals that if you read about their
teaching of accepting gay marriage and the lifestyle of the LGBT with a couple
who turned an eye from a fellow Bishop, for instance, sexually molesting his
very young nephews, you would be shocked. Read about just one, the retired Cardinal
in Belgium who was personally invited by Pope Francis. What is coming sooner than later is a turning point in the Roman Catholic Church. We all have to realize what
is as stake. If dogma flies out the windows and new false teachings are accepted,
know that the second great schism surely will happen. Study what is truly taking
Place....Cardinal Kapser has many friends. Pray.
Hi all! Just catching up on some old posts here. So I wonder - what kind of event would affect the whole world? A mega tsunami from the Canary Islands would certainly be destructive but not affect the whole world - right? But....what if an mega asteroid hit our moon and knocked it into a different rotation? Or....and I don't know if this is possible - what if the moon had a mega earthquake? Just trying to think outside the box like Anon. said.
So...in reference to my earlier post - the answer is yes - the moon does have earthquakes: https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/15mar_moonquakes/
or maybe the April 8 ,2024 solar eclipse will be the catalyst ( the day after Divine Mercy Sunday) : https://sciencenotes.org/can-a-solar-eclipse-trigger-an-earthquake/
fyi...it's really, really interesting to go back and read old posts. I wonder how many of you still have the same opinion of PF now that we have more information about scandals covered up and other bishops speaking out against him?
Post a Comment