The Stigmatization of St. Francis of Assisi
There is yet another striking coincidence concerning the date of the upcoming solar eclipse on 21st August, 2017 involving a 40-day period of penance in Catholic tradition. As we have already noted, the fact that this eclipse takes place on the feast day of Our Lady of Knock recalls the First World War eclipse of 1914, which not only fell on the date of 21st August, but also directly crossed the site of ancient Nineveh, recalling the sign of Jonah mentioned by Christ during his discourse on the binding of Satan. In my book Unveiling the Apocalypse: The Final Passover of the Church, I use this fact to bolster the hypothesis that the opening of the scroll of the Apocalypse by the Lamb of Revelation (the entire focus of the silent Knock apparition itself) took place at the turn of the 20th century, at the beginning of the period of Satan's greater power foretold in the vision of Pope Leo XIII, setting in motion a chain of events which would lead to the Second World War, the Jewish Holocaust and restoration of Israel. This in turn has paved the way for the future conversion of the Jews, which must take place before the Second Coming of Christ.
According to the biblical chronology established by St. Bede the Venerable (who was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1899), we can determine that this period of the unbinding of Satan occurred at the end of the Sabbath Millennium discussed by the Early Church Fathers - which consisted of a prophetic week of millennia beginning from the biblical date of Creation. So Pope Leo XIII's vision of the convergence of a host of demons upon the Eternal City of Rome directly parallels the armies of Satan surrounding the camp of the saints at the end of the thousand years described in Rev 20:
When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea. (Rev 20:7-8)
(For a more in-depth analysis, see the recent posts The Sign of Jonah and the Binding of Satan, Pope Leo XIII and the Unbinding of Satan, and Our Lady of Knock and the Opening of the Sealed Book.)
We have already noted how the 2017 solar eclipse occurs 40 days before the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), on 29th/30th September, 2017. According to Jewish tradition, the month of Elul marks a 40-day period of repentance before the feast of Yom Kippur, and was the time during which Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai after the incident of the Golden Calf, in order to prepare for the reception of the second set of tablets containing the Decalogue.
Given the fact that the date of Yom Kippur this year falls on the feast of St. Michael and the Archangels (Michaelmas), there is yet another disparate period of 40 days of repentance coming into play around the time of the solar eclipse, this time rooted in a long-standing Catholic tradition. Although it is not widely celebrated today, there is a custom in Catholicism dating back to the Middle Ages known as St. Michael's Lent, which was a 40-day period of fasting in preparation for the feast of Michaelmas, lasting from the Solemnity of the Assumption on 15th August to Michaelmas on 29th September. We should note that while the period of St. Michael's Lent actually extends to 45 days, it is still held to be a symbolic 40-day fast in keeping with Lent itself. If we are to count 40 days back from Yom Kippur/Michaelmas on 29th-30th September this year, we arrive at the date of the solar eclipse itself on the Feast of Our Lady of Knock, 21st August, 2017, rather than the Solemnity of the Assumption.
While the practice of St. Michael's Lent has largely fallen out of use today (being kept only by a few Franciscan groups), it was vastly more popular in medieval times. The most famous adherent of St. Michael's Lent was St. Francis of Assisi, who practised this custom annually. Indeed, St. Francis received his stigmata while he was on spiritual retreat to observe St. Michael's Lent on Mount La Verna (Alverna) with three of his Franciscan brothers. The Stigmatization of St. Francis occurred when he received a vision of a crucified seraph, and although the exact date was not stipulated by his earliest chroniclers, it was said to have taken place around the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on 14th September, 1224, just two years before his death. The Stigmatization of St. Francis was commemorated in a feast day of its own on 17th September, before being removed from the General Calendar in 1969. However, as we shall see, there is good reason to believe that St. Francis actually received the stigmata on the 15th of September - the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (which commemorates when the Blessed Virgin partook of the suffering of her Son).
Below is an excerpt from St. Bonaventure's Legenda Minor:
Two years before Francis, the faithful servant of Christ, gave his soul back to God, he was alone on the top of Mt. Alverna. There he had begun a fast of forty days in honor of the archangel Michael and was immersed more deeply than usual in the delights of heavenly contemplation. His soul became aglow with the ardor of fervent longing for heaven as he experienced within himself the operations of grace.
As he was drawn aloft through ardent longing for God one morning near the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and was praying on the mountainside, he saw what appeared as a seraph with six bright wings gleaming like a fire descending from the heights of heaven. As this figure approached in swift flight and came near the man of God it appeared not only winged but also crucified. The sight of it amazed Francis and his soul experienced joy mingled with pain. He was delighted with the sight of Christ appearing to him so graciously and intimately and yet the awe-inspiring vision of Christ nailed to the cross aroused in his soul a joy of compassionate love.
When the vision vanished after a mysterious and intimate conversation it left Francis aglow with seraphic love in his soul. Externally, however, it left marks on his body like those of the Crucified as if the impression of a seal had been left on heated wag. The figures of the nails appeared immediately on his hands and feet. The heads of the nails were inside his hands but on top of his feet with their points extending through to the opposite side. His right side too showed a blood-red wound as if it had been pierced by a lance, and blood flowed frequently from it. Because of this new and astounding miracle unheard of in times past, Francis came down from the mountain a new man adorned with the sacred stigmata, bearing in his body the image of the Crucified not made by a craftsman in wood or stone , but fashioned in his members by the hand of the living God.
(Legenda Minor of St. Bonaventure, de Stigmatibus sacris, 1-4; ed. Quaracchi, 1941; pp202-204)
Many commentators have debated whether or not Gal 6:17 suggests that St. Paul had bore the stigmata, and tradition in the Early Church is silent on this matter. So the Stigmatization of St. Francis of Assisi is widely regarded as the first instance of this miraculous phenomenon in recorded history.
The fact that St. Francis had borne the five visible wounds of Jesus on his own body led the Church Doctor St. Bonaventure to conclude that he should be associated with the angel of the sixth seal in the Apocalypse, who bears "the seal of the Living God":
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on earth or sea or against any tree. I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.” (Rev 7:1-3)
Fr. Joseph Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict XVI) explains St. Bonaventure's prophetic interpretation of the stigmatization of St. Francis of Assisi in his 1971 book The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure:
Even more important, however, is another event - the Stigmatization - which stood as something unique and unparalleled; it all but cried out for an interpretation. Such an interpretation offered itself on the basis of Apoc. 7, 2. Had not the seal of the living God - the figure of the crucified Christ - been impressed on the body of the Saint? Does not the image of the Apocalypse acquire here its real coloration and significance? As for the full actuality and the moving probability of this interpretation, this was to come in the encounter of this event with the entirely independent prophecy of the Abbot of Fiore who had in brilliant words predicted the coming of the angel with the seal of the living God. He had seen in this angel the novus dux de Babylone and the universalis pontifex sanctae Hierusalem. He would receive "full freedom for the renewal of the Christian religion". In view of the amazing coincidence of the particular factors, it is no longer surprising that the identification of Francis with the angel of the Apocalypse should have become an historico-theological axiom of practically unimpeachable certitude.
(Ratzinger, J. The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure, p35)
St. Bonaventure departed from the mainstream Patristic view that the Elijah to come was to be a literal return of the biblical prophet from heaven, by associating St. Francis himself with this figure. As Fr. Ratzinger states:
Francis had called himself the "Herald of a great King." Taking this as a point of departure, Bonaventure sees Francis as the eschatological praeco Dei, as the resurrected John the Baptist. The word "Herald," which was originally used without any theological significance, easily provides a bridge to a new theological interpretation in which the word is applied to one who in fact is a "Voice crying in the desert." This one is the Herald of the Kingdom of God which has come upon us. From here, a further connection is obvious: The Lord Himself had called John the returned Elias (Mt. 11, 1; also Mk. 9, 12ff., and Lk. 1, 17). Consequently the two figures remain related to each other forever.
For this reason, when Francis has been designated as John the Baptist, it is only natural that he should be seen as Elias as well. The two names are used interchangeably to express the same idea.
But this alteration of names is not without significance, for the name of Elias points more clearly to an eschatological dimension than does the name of John the Baptist. The prophecy of Malachy, which was so important in the New Testament, was connected with the name of Elias, and not with that of John. "Behold, I send you the prophet Elias, before the great and terrible day arrives..." (Mal. 3, 23). From this citation, it is fully clear what Bonaventure means when he says: In Francis, Elias has appeared.
(Ratzinger, J. The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure, pp32-33)
While it has subsequently become apparent that St. Francis could not possibly be one of the Two Witnesses of Rev 11 - the Elijah to come, as St. Bonaventure appears to suggest, it certainly seems plausible that the great saint of Assisi prefigures this eschatological restorer of the Church. In fact, as we shall see, it appears that the Stigmatization of St. Francis provides us with an essential interpretative key for understanding the prophecy of the angel of the sixth seal, who is commissioned to mark the inhabitants of the earth with the seal of God at the end-time - symbolising the future restoration of the Church by the Two Witnesses.
In Rev 7:2, we are told that the angel of the sixth seal ascends from "the rising of the sun". The symbolism of the east here, as the location from where the angel ascends from "the rising of the sun" is the same as which lent itself to the ancient practice of ad orientem worship, with a focus on the new dawn at the return of Christ. However, the fact the angel of the sixth seal arises from within the sun itself alludes to a later passage in the Apocalypse, concerning the angel seen standing in the sun, who issues the summons for the eschatological banquet and the battle of Armageddon:
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. (Rev 19:17-19)
As I have argued in the previous post The First World War and the Angel Standing in the Sun, the above passage concerning the summons to the eschatological banquet and the angel seen standing in the sun appears to be the key point of scriptural allusion in the occurrence of the Miracle of the Sun on 13th October, 1917. When we look to the origins of this passage concerning the eschatological banquet in the Book of Ezekiel, we find that this event is described in the context of the restoration of the land of Israel after the rise of Gog and Magog at the end of the Millennium of Rev 20:
“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord GOD. “And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. The house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies' lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
(Ezek 39:17-29)
So, the passage in Rev 19 which describes the angel standing in the sun calling for the eschatological banquet is recapitulated again in Rev 20, when the armies of Satan encompass the City of God at the end of the thousand years. The fact that the root Old Testament material here found in the Book of Ezekiel combines the rise of Gog and Magog at the end of the thousand years with the future restoration of Israel is greatly important to understanding the true significance of the historical events which unfolded at the beginning of the period of Satan's greater power/"little while" of the Apocalypse.
When we turn back to examine the passage concerning the angel of the sixth seal in greater detail, we find that this figure is responsible for the cessation of hostilities first unleashed during the appearance of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse during the opening of the sealed book. The forces of chaos are temporarily restrained by four angels in order to allow for the sealing of the saints:
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on earth or sea or against any tree. I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.” (Rev 7:1-3)
The four angels who hold back the destructive forces symbolised by the "four winds of the earth" are one and the same as the Four Living Creatures, who restrain the appearance of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse until the opening of the seven seals. These are the four cherubim that were seen by the Prophet Ezekiel at the Chebar Canal, a tributary of the River Euphrates - the location where the four fallen angels are bound in Rev 9:
Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. (Rev 9:13-15)
As Fr. Ratzinger points out, St. Bonaventure took careful note that the sixth figure in each of the series of septets found in the Apocalypse were all interrelated:
As regards their content, the seven series of seven in the Apocalypse are identical with one another according to the view of Bonaventure. Each one points to the same thing in a different way; namely, the seven-staged course of church history. Consequently, the sixth figure of each series offers a new insight for the solution of the problem of the future. This interpretation of the various schemata leads to surprising results for Bonaventure, and often gives him cause to point out to his listeners the wonderful harmony of Scripture.
(Ratzinger, J. The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure, p26)
So, it is no coincidence that the location of the River Euphrates once again resurfaces during the appearance of the angel with the sixth bowl plague, who, like the angel seen standing in the sun in Rev 19, is predominately involved with the assembling together of the nations of the earth for the Battle of Armageddon.
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
(Rev 16:12-16)
As I have previously argued at some length in the post Our Lady of Mount Carmel: The Visions of Fatima and the Battle of Har Megiddo, the prophetic significance of the visions seen by the shepherd children of Fatima during the occurrence of the Miracle of the Sun not only recalls the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel (prefiguring the ministry of the Elijah to come), but it also heavily alludes to the Battle of Armageddon, since Mount Carmel is itself the "Mount of Megiddo" - which is the meaning of the Hebrew word Armageddon (Har Megiddo). So it is surely beyond coincidence that the shepherd children saw the Virgin Mary appear as Our Lady of Mount Carmel during the Miracle of the Sun on October 13th 1917, within a month of the publication of the Balfour Declaration calling for a Jewish national homeland in Palestine; or that the Battle of Megiddo in 1918 took place just under a year later, the consequences of which led to the land of Palestine falling under the British Mandate, which eventually resulted in the birth of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
Sr. Lucia describes the vision of Our Lady of Mount Carmel during the Miracle of the Sun as follows:
We reached the holmoak in the Cova da Iria. Once there, moved by an interior impulse, I asked the people to shut their umbrellas and say the Rosary. A little later, we saw the flash of light, and then Our Lady appeared on the holmoak."What do you want of me?"
"I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes".
"I have many things to ask you: the cure of some sick persons, the conversion of sinners, and other things..."
"Some yes, but not others. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins."
Looking very sad, Our Lady said:
"Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended."
Then, opening her hands, she made them reflect on the sun, and as she ascended, the reflection of her own light continued to be projected on the sun itself.
Here, Your Excellency, is the reason why I cried out to the people to look at the sun. My aim was not to call attention to the sun, because I was not even aware of their presence. I was moved to do so under the guidance of an interior impulse.
After Our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child appeared to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady; it seemed to me that it was Our Lady of Dolours. Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel.
(Fatima in Lucia's Own Words, pp172-173)
Of course, the significance of Armageddon can not be confined to the Battle of Megiddo in 1918; since the primary layer of interpretation here relates to events which unfold at the end of the world itself. Prophetically important historical events have a tendency to repeat themselves in cycles of microcosm/macrocosm however, and the events which occurred at the beginning of the period of Satan's greater power foreshadow those that will recur in the future. The tendency of prophecy to repeat itself in fractal-like patterns is of especial significance to us here, in the fact that the feast
day of the second-most famous stigmatic in history besides St. Francis himself - St. Padre Pio, is celebrated on 23rd September - the date of the occurrence this year of what has become known as "the sign of Woman Clothed with the Sun".
One of the signs associated with the War in Heaven at the end of the period of Satan’s unbinding is that of a Woman adorned with the sun, with the moon at her feet, crowned by 12 stars, crying out in the travails of child-birth. On 23rd September 2017, a unique heavenly sign will appear in the constellation Virgo which corresponds exactly with the description of the Woman Clothed with the Sun. (See Patrick Archbold's excellent article on this upcoming phenomenon here). The constellation Virgo will have the sun rise directly behind it, with the moon at its feet, crowned by twelve stars (the nine stars of Leo, as well as a conjunction of the planets Mercury, Venus and Mars). Nine and a half months previous to this event (the gestation period of a late-term baby), Jupiter, the king planet had entered the womb of Virgo on 20th November 2016 (the feast of Christ the King). Jupiter will exit from the “womb” of Virgo, or be “born” on the exact day of the appearance of this sign corresponding to the vision of the Woman Clothed with the Sun.
This event will take place 33 days after the Great American solar eclipse on
August 21st 2017 – the feast of Our Lady of Knock. The United States
has not witnessed a solar eclipse crossing its entirety from coast-to-coast since 8th June, 1918 –
towards the end of the First World War. So, while the First World War opened
with a solar eclipse over Nineveh, it closed with a solar eclipse over America,
the like of which has not been seen in almost 100 years. This pattern of Nineveh/American eclispes is echoed at the other end of the "little while" given to Satan, once we taken into consideration the total solar eclipse over Nineveh at the end of the second Millennium on 11th August 1999 - the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, who was sometimes titled alter Franciscus (another Francis), because of her insistence of a strict adherence to the rule of St. Francis by the Order of Poor Clares.
However it is in St. Padre Pio himself whom we find the greatest parallel to St. Francis of Assisi; as not only did he bear the five visible wounds of stigmata, but he was also Christened Francesco Forgione before taking the name of Pius when joining the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (a Franciscan order). If anyone other than St. Clare of Assisi deserves the title of alter Franciscus, it is St. Pio of Pietrelcina; and if anyone else in history prefigures the angel of the sixth seal the same way in which St. Francis did for St. Bonaventure, we find it in this great Italian mystic who also bore "the seal of the Living God".Just over a month after the American solar eclipse of 1918 took place, St. Padre Pio offered himself up as a victim soul as a means of petitioning for the end of the First World War on 27th July, 1918. A few days later, between 5th-7th August 1918, St. Pio experienced a transverberation during a vision of Christ, who pierced his side with a flaming lance, leaving a physical wound. On 8th August 1918, the Allies began the Hundred Days Offensive, which ultimately resulted in the declaration of the Armistice on 11th November, 1918.
St. Padre Pio experienced another vision of the Wounded Christ on 20th September 1918, after which he was permanently left with the five visible wounds of the stigmata, in the most renowned example of this phenomenon since St. Francis of Assisi himself. This was timed to coincide with the Battle of Megiddo, which began on 19th September, 1918 (the feast of Our Lady of La Salette). The Battle of Megiddo was the Allies' final offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, and took place between 19th-25th September 1918. The resounding victory of the Allied forces here directly led to the British Mandate over Palestine, and ultimately resulted in the birth of the modern state of Israel in 1948. We should also note that it was during a canonical coronation of Our Lady of La Salette on August 21st 1879 that the Blessed Virgin appeared at Knock. And when she appeared at La Salette, the Blessed Virgin took the form of Our Lady of Sorrows, which was also displayed during the vision of the Miracle of the Sun in 1917.
In Rev 12, the sign of the Woman Clothed with the Sun, who is crowned with 12 stars, alludes to the birth of the people of Israel from the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Jacob, as seen in Joseph's prophetic dream:
He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” (Gen 37:9)
The eleven stars bowing down to Joseph, along with the Patriarch himself, form the Twelve Tribes of Israel, to whom the angel of the sixth seal is sent to inscribe with the Seal of God:
And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
The great sign seen in heaven in Rev 12- the sign of the Woman adorned with the sun, recalls the words of the Prophet Isaiah concerning the asking for a sign either as "deep as Sheol" or as "high as heaven", which is given as a virgin conceiving and bearing a Son:
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isa 7:10-14)
So as well as foretelling the birth of Christ from the womb of the Blessed Virgin, this sign of a Virgin conceiving and bearing a son could also be seen "as high as heaven", alluding to the "great sign seen in heaven" itself. The cries of the Woman in the anguish of childbirth also echoes a later passage in Isaiah concerning the rebirth of the land of Israel:
“Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son.
Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”says the Lord; “shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”says your God. “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” (Isa 66:7-11)
This parallels Jeremiah's prophecy of the rebuilding of "virgin Israel" following the Babylonian captivity (which foreshadows the restoration which must take place at the end of time):
(Jer 31:4-6)
If the prophecy of the angel of the sixth seal rising from the sun in Rev 7 and the angel seen standing in the sun in Rev 19 are indeed related to the Miracle of the Sun itself, then the fact that Padre Pio experienced his stigmatization less than a year later, towards the end of the First World War, appears to suggest that these events are closely connected. Indeed, the end of the First World War was a central component of the second secret of Fatima: "The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pope Pius XI." Given that St. Padre Pio's request to offer himself up as a victim to achieve the end of the war was accepted by heaven through his transverberation and conferral of the stigmata, we can only be left to conclude that his ministry was an extension of Fatima itself. It is this aspect of the life of St. Padre Pio that we can see the various affinities with the angel of the sixth seal, which is worth revisiting here again:
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on earth or sea or against any tree. I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”
(Rev 7:1-3)
The four angels who hold back the four winds of the earth parallels the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who are restrained by the Four Living Creatures until the opening of the sealed scroll by the Lamb of Revelation. As I have already argued at length in my book, the opening of the scroll with seven seals is the catalyst which sets the entire events of the eschaton into motion, and is recapitulated in Rev 20 by the unbinding of Satan to seduce the nations of at the four corners of the world into gathering for war at the end of the thousand years.
When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea. (Rev 20:7-8)
So the release of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are represented in Rev 20 by the nations at the four corners of the earth, which are one and the same as the four angels bound at the River Euphrates to kill a third of "the people" in Rev 9:14-15. When we examine this in light of several other passages in the Old Testament, we can determine that it is a third of the Jewish people that is set to be destroyed by these four angels, rather than a third of humanity. The exact location of their release is given as the intersection of the Chebar Canal/Khabur River on the River Euphrates, which is found at modern Deir ez-Zor - the site of the single largest concentration camp during the Armenian Genocide, which was perpetrated by Ottoman Turkey from 1915 onwards, at the very beginning of the First World War. So many corpses were deposited in the River Khabur by the Ottomans that their skeletal remains actually shifted the course of the water (see here).
It was at this scene of utter destruction that the Prophet Ezekiel witnessed his vision of the resurrection of the people of Israel from the valley of dry bones in Ezek 37, which symbolises the restoration of Israel following a state of devastation described during the release of Gog and Magog in Ezek 38-39. The Armenian Genocide is widely recognized by historians as providing Nazi Germany with the blueprint for annihilating a third of the world's total Jewish populace during the Holocaust.
The havoc that is unleashed upon the world by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is temporarily suspended by the angel of the sixth seal to allow the inhabitants of the earth to be sealed with the mark of God upon their foreheads. Those who do not bear this mark are killed by the locusts which emerge from the abyss in Rev 9, when it is opened by the angel holding the key at the end of the thousand years in Rev 20:1. When we compare this passage with its origins in Ezek 9, we find that it is the inhabitants of Jerusalem without this mark that are slain by the locusts of Revelation during a new Passover of the Jewish people.
While the activities of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse being temporarily suspended by the angel of the sixth seal is chiefly concerned with the events that take place at the end of the period of Satan's unbinding, it appears that this event is reflected in microcosm at the end of the First World War through the intervention of St. Padre Pio. These prophetic events ripple outwards, extending to the end of time, when the angel of the sixth seal will mark the inhabitants of the earth with the seal of God during the New Pentecost. But just as the peace brought about after the First World War proved to be only a temporary lull before the storm brought about during the rise of Nazi Germany, the time of quiet brought about by the shout of the angel of the seven thunders after the sounding of the sixth trumpet will be similarly short-lived before the arrival of the Antichrist. As St. Bonaventure states:
"... no one knows how long that time of great peace will last since "when they said 'Peace and security,' then suddenly destruction came upon them" (Matt 24:21). The seventh time or age, that of quiet, begins with the shout of the angel who "swore through Him who lives forever and ever that there would be no more time; but in the days of the seventh angel the mystery of God will be completed" (Rev 10:6-7).In the sixth age three things take place - excellence of victory, excellence of teaching, and excellence of the prophetic life.... In this age there ought to come a life through an order which will possess the prophetic life. This age is double. Just as in the Lord's Passion there was first light, then darkness, and then light, so it is necessary that first there be the light of teaching and that Josiah succeed Hezekiah, after which came the tribulation of the Jews through their captivity. It is necessary that one ruler, a defender of the Church, arise. He is either still to come or has already come. (He added: Would that he has not already come!) After him will come the darkness of tribulations..."
It was said to the angel of Philadelphia, the sixth angel: "He who is holy and true, who has the key of David, who opens and no man closes, closes and no man opens, says this - 'I know your works, and behold I have placed an open door before you'" (Rev 3:7). (And he said that now for the first time the understanding of Scripture would be given and that the revelation, or key of David, would be given to a person or a large group, but I think rather to a large group.)
In the seventh age we know that these things will take place - the rebuilding of the Temple, the restoration of the city, and the granting of peace. Likewise in the coming seventh age there will be a restoration of Divine worship and a rebuilding of the city. Then the prophecy of Ezekiel will be fulfilled when the city comes down from heaven (Ezek 40); not indeed that city which is above, but that city which is below, the Church Militant which will then be conformed to the Church Triumphant as far as possible in this life. Then will be the building and restoration of the city as it was in the beginning. Then there will be peace. God alone knows how long that peace shall last.
(St. Bonaventure, Collation 16:17-19. Translated by McGinn, B. Visions of the End, pp199-200)
As St. Augustine taught, the period of the unbinding of Satan will be followed by another period of binding in order to allow the goods of the strong man to be plundered during the Second Coming of Christ, when the Lord will come like a thief in the night:
And if this shall be so, his binding is to be spoken of as preceding, that there might follow a spoiling of him both bound and loosed; for it is of this it is said,
Who shall enter into the house of the strong one to spoil his goods, unless he shall first have bound the strong one?
(St. Augustine, City of God, XX:8)
So when we look to the significance of the upcoming appearance of the heavenly sign that will take place on 23rd September, 2017 (the feast of St. Padre Pio), it seems to be chiefly centred around the ministry of the angel of the sixth seal, who is prefigured in the persons of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Padre Pio. A ministry which must take place in a time which is situated at the end of the period of Satan's unbinding. Could the appearance of this sign corresponding to the Woman clothed with the sun in Rev 12 signify the end of the "little while" during which Satan is released upon the world? It appears to be doubly significant that one of the scriptural allusions in Rev 12 points to Jesus' words in the Gospel of John concerning the travail of a woman, which is made in the context of a "little while" during which Christ would no longer be seen:
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. (John 16:16-23)
While the Gospel is veiled during the period given to Satan, obscuring the light of Christ, we will eventually be allowed to witness the glory of the Risen One at the end of this "little while", when the angel of the sixth seal will mark the people of the world with the seal of the Living God.
Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Rev 14:6-7)
112 comments:
Emmett,
You are doing remarkable work. I bought your book (twice: the old and updated editions), and I routinely tell people about it. However, it is difficult for me to follow it all, so I am grateful that you continue to find new connections and ways of explaining.
I have a question that you might have already answered, but I don't remember seeing it: Do you feel that the silent nature of the Knock apparition is related to the "silence in Heaven for half an hour" (Rev. 8:1)?
-- Nicholas Jagneaux
Thank you for the post, Emmett!
I have to admit, I'm still a little confused about the Nineveh/American eclipse pattern and the unbending/binding of Satan. You mentioned the eclipse in August of 1999 signified the end of Satan's "little while" at the close of the millennium. But the Rev 12 sign later this year could signify the end of the "little while" given to Satan as well... So how would you categorize the past 17 years? 2000-2017? Are there two "ends" to the "little while"?
Also, are you thinking the American eclipse serves a dual purpose?
1. A warning to America for a coming chastisement
2. The end of Satan's greater power before the New Pentecost.
Am I understanding that right? So could Satan's "final blow" so to speak during this period of greater power be directed towards the USA before the Restoration of the Church?
Thanks for your insight!
Thanks Nicholas! Yes, the silence of the Knock apparition does appear to reflect the silence in heaven at the opening of the seventh seal. Someone else pointed this out, and I think it is of some significance here.
Bridget, the defeat of Satan at the end-time takes course over two distinct stages - the first is when he is cast out of heaven by the Archangel Michael, and is thrown down to the earth. I argue that this event occurred at the turn of the millennium, and was marked by the appearance of the Signs in Heaven described at the opening of the sixth seal. After he is thrown down to the earth, Satan sends out a great flood to sweep the Woman away, which is what I believe has been happening for the past 17 years, between 2000-2017. The flood from the dragon is eventually swallowed up by the earth, which marks the final end of the "little while", which may be signalled by the Rev 12 sign this year. It is after this that the final persecution of the Antichrist takes place, when the dragon goes off to make war to the rest of the Woman's offspring. So yes, there are two separate components to the end of the "little while". I do feel that this eclipse does serve a dual purpose, as you say.
Will there be a physical chastisement (war, natural disaster, etc.) with the astronomical signs happening through September?
How much time until Antichrist makes himself public?
Citibank has announced a war on cash. I believe this is part of the restraint on trade associated with the mark of the beast. Is any cardinal/bishop speaking out against the efforts to surpress the use of cash?
I hereby nominate St. Emmett for Doctor of the Church. Great work again, Emmett!
Emmett,
Have you considered the possibility that the current suffering and war in Syria is somehow related to the final battle of Armaggedon and the surrounding of the "camp of the saints" and the loosing of the four angels at the river Euphrates who gather the nations for war. Syria is literally the cradle of Christianity and it would make sense that the Antichrist's final persecution would be centered on the cradle of Christianity. St. John's vision was not concerned with a worldwide persecution of Christians at the time of the Antichrist, but rather a persecution of the world he knew and saw, which was the world of the Middle East. Since Obama's proxy war against the Christians of Syria began in 2012, we have literally witnessed the remant nations of the Roman Empire descend upon Syria. We see an Antichrist figure in Obama and the Neocons and a Great Monarch figure in Vladimir Putin, who has come to the defense of the Catholics of Syria. The Syrian bishops themselves have described the war and persecution in Syria as one greater than the ancient Roman persecutions of the early Christians. I think it is possible the Antichrist is alive and has fought in Syria. He might not be Obama. He might still be in the wings. But what we are witnessing in Syria is truly apocalyptic in nature: the cradle of Christianity has literally been wiped off the map in many places. This physical persecution has also been accompanied by a spiritual persecution and famine, in which the peoples of what was once known as "Christendom" have embraced apostasy and paganism and the spirit and illusions of false prophets such as Richard Dawkins who tell us that God is merely a delusion. Anyway, just my thought. Thank you, Emmett for that excellent analysis. This is my go to blog for all things endtimes.
I agree completely with the idea that this is my go-to blog for all things endtimes. In fact, it's the only one I read nowadays.
Another excellent post, Emmett.
And to both Bridget & Emmett - the seventeen years of 2000 to 2017 - consider this: The sex abuse scandal in the US and the west really got noticed for the first time in 2001 and 2002. The roots go back into the 60's, but the whole thing really came to light in 2001 and 2002 for the first time. And here we are today, with Cardinal Pell still facing charges.
And some are predicting (again, admittedly), that there will be a stock market crash in October or November of this year. That would push the central banks into a cashless system.
"...Satan sends out a great flood to sweep the Woman away, which is what I believe has been happening for the past 17 years, between 2000-2017. The flood from the dragon is eventually swallowed up by the earth, which marks the final end of the "little while", which may be signalled by the Rev 12 sign this year."
So Emmett, are you suggesting that the persecutions of the Antichrist may begin later this year? At least, in some form?
I know you said once or twice that you had a timeline in mind, and that you didn't want to publish it for fear of sensationalism, but if we're down to just a few months, it would certainly be handy to know. I was thinking a few years, to be honest.
So would St Francis and St Pio be the two witnesses and should we expect them to resurrect?
Gus and Mark W, I think we are still a good few years away from the persecution of the Antichrist. The restoration of the Church must take place first. So we don't need to worry about that side of things just yet.
Anon, I don't think that what we are seeing now in Syria and Mosul is coincidence, prophetic history has a tendency to ripple outward in resonating waves, reflecting past events. It was also no coincidence that the Armenian people were the first to recognize Christ as their King, and they were first to suffer from Satan's attack upon his release at the end of the "thousand years". I often wonder whether this has something to do with Poland crowning Christ as its King on Nov 20th, 2016 - the very start of this "sign of the Woman clothed with the Sun" sequence.
Mary, no, definitely not. This would be against the Church's teaching on the immediate resurrection of the saints' souls after death to the uninterrupted beatific vision outlined in Pope Benedict XII's papal bull Benedictus Deus. The saints will only be resurrected in bodily form at the Last Judgement alongside the rest of humanity.
St. Francis and St. Pio merely prefigure the angel of the sixth seal, who St. Bonaventure taught was to be equated with the Elijah to come.
Anonymous, how are you equating Neocons and Obama? In my experience, it is the Neocons (and Paleocons) who stood AGAINST Obama's agenda; these conservatives are the ones who either never left, or are returning to, the True Faith. So did you see something in those eight years that I missed? Exactly how is it that you see the Neocons and Obama in the same camp?
JMC
For myself as well - you are the go to person for all things concerning the end times. This is fascinating for me. I'm not sure if you have ever talked about the diabolic delusion - esp. as it relates to cultural acceptance of gender ideology and homosexualism. If you have could you let me know? Thanks. It seems to me we have certainly exceeded the sins of Babel, Sodom, and so on - tempting God, rejection of God's creation and science set in place of God. The insights you share on Knock as well as St. Francis and St. Pio are stunning for me - never considered it before. I'm sorry for always being such a skeptic, but your research is very helpful to me. Thanks.
Emmett,
Since St. Francis and St. Padre Pio both bore the stigmata, how safe is it to assume that the future person who fulfills the final role of the angel of the sixth seal will receive the stigmata, as well? Seems like that has to be a given, right?
And just to make sure I'm piecing this together correctly... the angel of the sixth seal is also one of the Two Witnesses? And since the Angelic Pope and Great Monarch are also the Two Witnesses, which one would you associate with the angel of the sixth seal??
Thanks!
I just linked to your blog from spiritdaily.com. It's reassuring to know there are no coincidences with God: The alignment of peoples, places, events, dates, planets and stars never happens outside the Lord's master plan of redemption; and we are always given if not prior notice, at least clues for the faithful to decode. Glory be to the Trinity!!!
For the past year I attended an awesome Bible study about the Book of Revelation, tying in the messages of Fatima and other approved end-times apparitions (such as Akita and La Sallette), as well as learning about the enemy's battle against the Church in various forms (Protestantism, Freemasonry, Communism). But despite the length or intensity of the warfare, God is ultimately victorious, as He told the infernal serpent at the very outset (Gen. 3:15), "I will put enmity between you and the Woman, between your seed and her seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for His heel."
Speaking of waiting, I am in suspense as the second half of 2017 plays out. I sense that the next few months will be nothing short of stupendous.
Much of contemporary mankind rejects God and His commandments, committing sin upon sin. Ultimately moral darkness with usher in actual physical darkness (3 days of it). But before that happens we will all experience the illumination of conscience, when simultaneously all mankind will see the state of their souls. Only that merciful action by our Lord will make possible the conversion of millions, whose current mantra is "See no Truth, hear no Truth, speak no Truth." Thankfully many will be saved following the mini-judgment; but, b/c of free will, some will still obstinately refuse to repent. During the Three Days of Darkness those unrepentant souls will be harvested by demons and dragged to hell.
The Lord's Prayer (after the opening salutation) begins with "Thy Kingdom come." As long as this proto-petition remains at the heart of our prayers, we can be confident that, no matter what transpires in the near future, God's will is being accomplished. May our battle cry be "Begone satan's kingdom!"
I see the eclipse is 33 days prior to The woman of rev 12 as a sword strike across the country, and it bisects 12 states. Go to the 33rd book in scripture (Ezekeil), then the 33rd chapter and the 3rd verse explains the "watchman" who gives warning to the country! and the last verse of the chapter, you guessed it, verse 33 says "and it is coming"! Also the woman of rev 12 occurs on the Jewish feast of the Shabat Shavaz (23 Sep) the first sabbath following Rosh Hashana (head of the year). It is also referred to as the "feast of returning"! And on Rosh Hashana Jews commemorate the creation of Adam. So the creation of Adam and the birth of Christ correlate. This year is 5777 in the Jewish calendar. Lamech, lived 777 years and then 5 years later came the flood. I have more about this years eclipse which you didn't mention if you are interested. It is absolutely amazing. Yours in Christ Martin G. Baird
Happy New Year 5777
Consider Daniel 10:21/12:9 - 'sealed' Book of Truth
www.thebookoftruthonline.blogspot.com
Seal of the Living God: message - 2/20/12
Benedict: message - 2/19/13
It is my own gut feeling that this is not the time of the Anti-Christ with the capital A. This era of demonic possession is drawing to a close( Thank you Mother Mary!)... mankind will devolve into homicidal and fratricidal anarchy. God will intervene directly (perhaps 3 days darkness ?)...those who survive will live to see the Church flourish again. After some time the Church will degenerate again...the great apostasy will occur and Anti-Christ with capital A will appear, Jews will convert. James of Nashville
RE: the stigmata. Scriptures says the mark will be on the forehead. You linked the mark to the stigmata on St. Francis (hands, feet, side) completely ignoring the forehead part. Then you make a huge leap and link the marking of Francis with Padre Pio. This seems sloppy to me. To my knowledge, neither had marks on their foreheads.
Pick and choose to fit the narrative???
JMC,
You can’t be serious. The Neocons were firmly in control of both the Bush and Obama Administrations. Neocon Victoria Nuland was the architecht of the violent overthrow of the democratically-elected, pro-Russian President of Ukraine, Yanukovych. Neocon RINOs like John McCain and Lindsey Graham permeate the halls of Congress and the Deep State and are the driving force behind our demonic foreign policy of “spreading democracy” and regime change in Iraq, Libya Ukraine, and now Syria. The Neocons also appear to have a congenital hatred of all things Russia. Now it would appear that Trump has been hijacked by the Neocons, as evidenced by his bombing of Syria, his refusal to cut foreign aid to Israel and Saudi Arabia (whilst America crumbles and the Middle Class continues to be taxed out of existence), his refusal to disavow the neo-nazi Junta currently occupying Kiev, and his refusal to remove the unjust sanctions on Russia.
As for the origin of the Neocons, Pat Buchanan identified them quite well in his classic book “Where the Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency”:
“The first generation were ex-Trotskyites, socialists, leftists, and liberals who backed FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ. When the Democratic party was captured by McGovern in 1972— on a platform of cutting defense and “Come Home America!“— these Cold War liberals found themselves isolated and ignored in their own party. Adrift, they rafted over to the Republican Party and were pulled aboard as conservatism’s long voyage was culminating in the triumph of Reagan. Neoconservatives were the boat people of the McGovern revolution that was itself the political vehicle of the moral, social, and cultural revolutions of the 1960s… “This was a movement founded on foreign policy,” says Max Boot. Boot called support for Israel “a key tenet of neoconservatism.” It was the only tenet Boot mentioned, adding that “Commentary”, the magazine of the American Jewish Congress, is the “neocon bible.”
According to Irving Kristol, the “godfather” of the movement: “the historical task and political purpose of neoconservatism would seem to be…to convert the Republican Party and American conservatism in general, against their respective wills, into a new kind of conservative politics suitable to governing a modern democracy.”
Foremost among the traditional ideas conservatives must discard are those in the Farewell Address, Washington’s admonition that we stay out of foreign wars and avoid “permanent alliances” and “passionate attachments” to nations not our own. Intervention, wars for democracy, and a passionate attachment to Israel are what neoconservatism is all about.”
The Neocons are really just Jewish Bolsheviks and Trotskyites in disguise as Conservatives. They are “the Deep State” and control the West’s Foreign Policy. They are to the West what the Communists were to Russia. They have hijacked and subverted the Christian West just like they hijacked and subverted Christian Russia in 1917. Although most Neocons are Jewish, they are followers of Zionism which is the religion of the Antichrist, being the secularization of Jewish messianism. They are the descendants of the same Jewish leaders that wanted a political, military messiah rather than the suffering messiah.
I am surprised your analysis is missing a huge current event of a present day Elijah. Our Lady of Medjugorje first appeared on June 24, 1981, on the Feast of St. John the Baptist. Clear indication that she should be viewed as a Herald, as a present-day Elijah. Note also that there have been hundreds of thousands of people who have witnessed the Miracle of the Sun in Medjugorje. She appears with a crown of 12 stars, and disappears in a flash of light -- clothed with the sun. She is standing on a cloud which obscures her feet -- likely because she has not yet defeated Satan.
Emmett,
Another confluence you might find interesting: Hawaii, our final (so far) and 50th (another Marian number)state, was admitted into the Union on August 21, 1959. The big island Hawaii is also the southernmost State, directly parallel to Mexico City. Of the three major record-holding volcanoes that make up the island; Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on Earth above water and if you measure its height from its base on the ocean floor, it's taller than Mt. Everest! The other two major ones are Mauna Kea (tallest volcano) and Kilauea (most active). Now, if you draw a perfectly straight line from the summit caldera and head east, you'll eventually hit the area of Tepeyac, the hill where the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego in Mexico. Both old and new Guadalupe Basilicas occupy the 19.48 parallel north which would fit easily within the 19.45-19.49 range of the Hawaiian caldera.
Guadalupe itself has connections to St. Luke (and therefore the Blessed Virgin) via its migratory namesake in Spain with the first ever carved statue of Our Lady, to St. James in Spain via the October 12th discovery of the Americas by Columbus with that being the feast day of the very first apparition (or bilocation) of the Virgin Mary in Zaragoza. To "top" it off, she has two hidden connections with "Philadelphia." The first is that "Tepe" in Tepeyac means "hill" in the native Nahuatl language and it's the only word that retains that meaning in Turkish. "Toptepe" is the name of the hill on which the ancient Philadelphia of St. John's Revelation was partially built on (now Alasehir). The four-petalled flower that appears over the Blessed Virgin's womb on the Tilma itself is normally referred to as the "jasmine flower", but it is actually an old misnomer going back to the first European explorers. It's actually the flower of a shrub called a "mock orange" in the US, but is know by it's scientific name "Philadelphus." The flower is commonly known for it's blend of orange and jasmine scent (one of the reasons it was confused with the jasmine flower), but the Philadelphus Mexicanus is the only one to my knowledge with a rose-like scent. Linnaeus named the shrub after Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who was the very pharaoh who is said to have called the 72 Jewish rabbis together who were responsible for the Septuagint. Most notably, it was precisely one of those elders, Simeon, who would later ensure that the word for virgin, "parthenos" would be used in Isaiah 7:14. It would prove to be the first direct reference to the Queen of Heaven. St. Simeon is also the only contemporary of Christ who we have a fully intact body for and is currently found in Zadar, Croatia...
There were many ancient Philadelphias, but there were at least two founded ahead of the Anatolian city, the most prominent of which was the one founded by Ptolemy II himself over the ruins of Rabbath-Ammon, which in turn became part of the Decapolis and which is now known as Amman, Jordan. I'd like to think that there is a connection with the 6th Church of Revelation to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her promised "era of peace", the "Great Monarch", and the "Angelic Shepherd" to come.
On a side note, if you draw a line connecting the Knock shrine in Ireland to Grand Cess, the most Catholic city in Liberia, you end up going directly through the Fatima Shrine in Fatima. What's more is that the decimal notation for the longitude Grand Cess resides over is right on the -8.21 and -8.22 border. You can check it out on a "distance between cities" look up search.
I know this is a bit of a comment overload, but I've been following your blog for a long time and I wanted you to know that I'm always looking out for your latest articles. You do great work Emmett! I hope this doesn't come off as an incoherent ramble, but I wanted you to know that I see connections out there too. Despite all the trouble on the horizon there is hope to be found yet. God bless you!
Hi. I'd like to get your opinion on a couple of things.
Since the sign in Rev 12 is quickly followed by the sign of the dragon with seven heads and ten horns, should we expect to see the VISIBLE (e.g. not hidden, like the last 100 years) rising of Rev 13's beast that rises out of the sea, around the time of Sept 23rd?
Secondly, I want to draw your attention to an interesting biblical pattern of what look like (but aren't) failed prophecies. Let me explain.
According to an online book called "Restoring the Original Bible" (available thru askelm dot com), the book of Revelation was likely written in two distinct phases. Part of it would have been writen prior to the destruction of the Temple, during the reign of Nero - in line with the seven kings of Rev 17, with the one who "is" being Nero - and part afterwards, while John was exiled in Patmos. So, rather than Revelation playing out in the 1st century with the Lord returning right then, instead the Temple was destroyed.
The book of Zechariah was apparently written in two parts as well. The first eight chapters clearly happen after the Babylonian exile, but in chapter 9, we see enemies of Israel mentioned that don't exist anymore in the time after the Babylonian exile, because Babylon wiped them out as it marched inexorably towards Jerusalem. So...chapters 9-14 appear to have been written prior to the Babylonian captivity. Chapter 14 has the Lord standing on the mount of olives, but of course history didn't play out that way, and instead the Temple was destroyed.
Now, it's probably obvious that these are meant to be overlays (repeats) of history, with partial fulfillment in the original time setting, and a final fulfillment prior to the Lord's return.
But here's the weird example. Let me explain it by first reviewing the structure of the book of Ezekiel:
A - Ezekiel 1-11: The Lord comes to his defiled Temple, then departs
B - Ezekiel 12-23: Oracles of judgment
C - Ezekiel 24: Jerusalem besieged
D - Ezekiel 25-32: Oracles against foreign nations
C' - Ezekiel 33: Jerusalem destroyed
B' - Ezekiel 34-39: Oracles of restoration
A' - Ezekiel 40-48: The Lord comes to his restored Temple and remains there forever
First of all, why would "foreign nations" be Ezekiel's central focus? Maybe because something unusual and prophetic is going on there?
Look at the description of Tyre's destruction in Ezekiel 26. Tyre is prophesied to sink into the sea, never to be found again.
Except that's not what happened. Instead, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Tyre and occupied it. Ezekiel even makes passing reference to this in Ezekiel 29:18.
So, is this another so-called "failed prophecy" with a greater meaning? Could it perhaps be foretelling the destruction of the "beast that rises out of the sea" in Revelation?
Could the "prince of Tyre" in Ezekiel 28 be the leader of this beast?
Your thoughts appreciated.
Sorry for the delay in responding to the above comments. I've been side-lined recently. I'll try to reply to each of them when I have more time.
Emmett, thank you for the reply, above (on 7/14/17). Please keep up the interesting work.
Dear Emmett,
Have you looked at the imagery of this eclipse with Leo and Aquarius?
Thanks, Martin
Hi Martin - How do you mean the imagery relative to Leo and Aquarius? I've looked into a fair amount of the "Sacred Astronomy" ideas, but I don't think I've encountered this one yet.
Thanks,
Mark
el Papa
http://yournewswire.com/pope-francis-world-government-rule/
Pope Francis: World Government Must Rule U.S. ‘For Their Own Good’
Pope Francis: World Government Must Rule U.S. ‘For Their Own Good’
July 9, 2017 Baxter Dmitry News, World 204
Pope Francis said that the U.S. has “a distorted vision of the world" and Americans must be ruled by a world government "for their own good."
Pope Francis told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the United States of America has “a distorted vision of the world” and Americans must be ruled by a world government, as soon as possible, “for their own good.”
The Pope made the observation in an interview with La Repubblica reporter Eugenio Scalfari.
“Last Thursday, I got a call from Pope Francis,” Scalfari reported. “It was about noon, and I was at the newspaper when my phone rang.”
He said Pope Francis had been watching Putin and Trump at the G20 and had become agitated. The Pope demanded to see him at four that afternoon, according to a Google translation of the Italian report.
“Pope Francis told me to be very concerned about the meeting of the G20,” Scalfari wrote.
As translated into English by Agence France Presse, which picked up the story, the Pope said “I am afraid there are very dangerous alliances between powers who have a distorted view of the world: America and Russia, China and North Korea, Russia and Assad in the war in Syria.”
“The danger concerns immigration,” the Pope continued to La Repubblica. “Our main and unfortunately growing problem in the world today is that of the poor, the weak, the excluded, which includes migrants.”
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“This is why the G20 worries me: It mainly hits immigrants,” Pope Francis said, according to AFP.
[WATCH – Pope Francis Claims ‘Relationships With Jesus Are Dangerous And Very Harmful’]
Pope Francis’s idea that Americans would be better off under a world government doesn’t stop there. The radical leftist pontiff also went on record stating that Europe should become one country under one government.
In the same interview, according to La Repubblica, Pope Francis said that Europe must take on a “federal structure,” resembling feudal times when the peasants were ruled by unimpeachable monarchs.
chris
In terms of the beginning of the time of quiet "when the angel of the sixth seal will mark the inhabitants of the earth with the seal of God during the New Pentecost" as Emmett splendidly puts it, no one knows how long that time of great peace will last since according to St. Bonaventure ''when they said 'Peace and security,' then suddenly destruction came upon them" (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3), just as we do not know when it will begin, or exactly how.
While we don't have specifics other than some opaque clues, St. John Bosco did utter a cryptic remark that might be of some significance:
"before two full moons shall have shone in the month of flowers,40 the rainbow of peace41shall appear on the earth"
Emmett believes and has made a very good case to this end, that Bosco refers to January and March of 1999: when there were two Blue Moons occurring in the same year. The last time this happened prior to 1999 was in January and April of 1961 and it will not happen again until January and March of 2018 and then, after that, in January and March, 2037.
Yet while the year 1999 may very well be significant here - especially since Bosco did anticipate a significant year in the 20th century - I would argue that the prophecy was not completely fulfilled in 1999, which I interpret as a foreshadowing of the New Pentecost. St. John Bosco is quite clear that his prediction concerned the Second Pentecost, where the Church Militant is conformed as closely as possible in this life with the Church Triumphant, for he states:
"...The great Minister shall see the Bride of his King (the Catholic Church) clothed in glory. Throughout the world a sun so bright shall shine as was never seen since the flames of the Cenacle until today, nor shall it be seen again until the end of time..."
This did not actually happen in 1999, in the sense of a Second Pentecost spearheaded by the Great Monarch/Angelic Pontiff, but it was potentially foreshadowed.
With this proviso, here is a scientifically precise and complete list of all Blue Moons calculated to occur this century in the month of May. They amount to five:
http://www.obliquity.com/cgi-bin/bluemoon.cgi
May 2026
May 2045
May 2064
May 2072
May 2083
And in March they amount to four:
March 2018
March 2037
March 2056
March 2067
In truth we don't know the times or the seasons. Nothing eschatologically significant could happen on May 2026 or during this century at all.
But if I were to pitch for a date this century and if St. John Bosco was correct in his prediction, I would opt for "January - March 2037".
Why?
Like 1999 it will be one of the rare occasions in which there are two 'Blue Moons' (from which we derive the aphorism "once in a blue moon", incidentally) in a single year.
Moreover, AD 36 - 37 is considered to be the timeframe in which the Apostle Paul converted to Christianity. I would imagine that if any date would be of especial significance for a Second Pentecost, that it would be the bimillennial anniversary of the conversion of the Apostle to the Gentiles himself, an appropriate occasion in my opinion for the epoch when the "fullness of the gentiles" will be fulfilled.
That St. John Bosco's prophecy can be correlated with a year that very well could be the two thousandth year since the conversion of St. Paul, is possibly significant to me.
But these are just my musings. As I said, I wouldn't be surprised if nothing eschatologically "huge" were to occur this century either. We just don't know.
I should also note that 2067, the bimillenium of the martyrdom of Sts. Paul and Peter under Nero in AD 67, could be another contender this century. It will also, as seen above, have a double blue moon - in January and March of 2067.
Anon, I think I made it clear that it was St. Bonaventure who linked St. Francis of Assisi to the angel of the sixth seal, not me. So, I don't think there was any sloppiness on my behalf in this regard. Also, the connection between St. Francis and St. Padre Pio is obvious to all, as they are both the two single most famous stigmatics in history. I'm sorry you can't see these connections, but a lot of people don't understand parables or abstract ideas.
Sam H,
Thanks! You have presented so much information here. It will take me a while to digest it all.
Damon,
You obviously have a good grasp on this area of theology. I prefer a synchronic rather than diachronic approach to Scripture. While the hypotheses of source and form criticism are interesting, I don't think they do justice to the end-produce of Divine Revelation. But you are definitely on to something with your observations on the prophecies concerning Tyre. I have noticed this myself. Remember that Christ also spoke of Tyre and Sidon in relation to the end-times, and the King of Tyre is presented as a type of antichrist in Ezek 28.
Martin,
Can you elaborate further? This is something that I must have missed...
Colin,
Excellent observations as usual! I would love for you could start blogging yourself. You obviously have a real depth of knowledge on this subject, and you should share this learning with others on a wider scale. Don't hide your light under a bushel!
Chris,
I'd wager on 2018 rather than 2037. Bosco says the prophecy will be fulfilled before the two blue moons. 2017 fits perfectly, especially given the context of Fatima.
Thanks for the kind words Emmett, but I am nowhere near as adept at this as you are. Your work is truly phenomenal. I really admire the effort you have put in to dispelling spurious prophecies floating around on the internet and rebutting millenarian misinterpretations. Keep up the good work!
By the way, the earliest Latin Father to write a commentary on Revelation concurs with you Emmett: the "two wings of the great eagle" who support the Church are the Two Witnesses who precede Antichrist and inaugurate an era of peace in which the Church is restored and spreads across the nations.
St. Victorinus of Pettau's exegesis in full:
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm
"......2. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.
He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution. We read that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New Testament; for He says by Malachi: Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, according to the time of calling, to recall the Jews to the faith of the people that succeed them. And to that end He shows, as we have said, that the number of those that shall believe, of the Jews and of the nations, is a great multitude which no man was able to number. Moreover, we read in the Gospel that the prayers of the Church are sent from heaven by an angel, and that they are received against wrath, and that the kingdom of Antichrist is cast out and extinguished by holy angels....
6. But the woman fled into the wilderness, and there were given to her two great eagle's wings.
The aid of the great eagle's wings— to wit, the gift of prophets— was given to that Catholic Church, whence in the last times a hundred and forty-four thousands of men should believe in the preaching of Elias...
14. Two great wings are the two prophets— Elias, and the prophet who shall be with him...
7-9. There was a battle in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon warred, and his angels, and they prevailed not; nor was their place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon was cast forth, that old serpent: he was cast forth into the earth.
This is the beginning of Antichrist; yet previously Elias must prophesy, and there must be times of peace. And afterwards, when the three years and six months are completed in the preaching of Elias, he also must be cast down from heaven, where up till that time he had had the power of ascending; and all the apostate angels, as well as Antichrist, must be roused up from hell...."
So you see that St. Victorinus believed there had to be "times of peace" before the coming of Antichrist, initiated by two prophets who will come to the aid of the Church undergoing persecution during the preceding tribulation like the "wings of a great eagle," the metaphor of flight being used to indicate a respite from Satan, fleeing to safety, and a soaring to new heights due to the extraordinary success of the gospel as a result of the ministry of the two prophets of the End Times. These are the exact same figures whom St. Louis de Montfort referred to when he spoke of, "Apostles of the End Times" who would "extend the Lord’s empire over the impious, the idolators and Muslims" (TD 49), receiving the deluge of fire that will empower them to convert "Muslims, idolators and even Jews" (PM 17) and thereby "enkindle everywhere the fires of divine love" (TD 56), "build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God" (TD 48), and "shower down the rain of God’s word and of eternal life" (TD 57).
Hi Emmett!
I'm not sure if you've posted about this in the past, but would you mind elaborating on how Our Lady of Fatima is the bridge between Christians and Muslims? And what this could mean for the future?
I know the basics- how Fatima is named after the Muslim princess who converted to Catholicism, and how Mary is revered in Islam and they make pilgrimages to Fatima. But i read that Islam is "technically" the fastest growing religion. So I always wonder how things will realistically play out in the future to actually cause conversion. It seems like something monumental would have to happen to cause things to swing in the opposite direction...
As always, your thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Emmett,
I would just like to question you one point, if that's OK.
Personally, I've never been one for looking at alleged "signs in the heavens" - I'm naturally sceptical on that front, given the whiff of astrological fluffery, and excepting the Star of Bethlehem.
To this end, I am not convinced that the astronomical alignment in September 2017 is significant or unprecedented. The sun in Virgo, the moon at Virgo’s “feet”, and Jupiter in the constellation are regular occurrences, happening every dozen or so years. The sun is in Virgo every September. So, the celestial “woman clothed with the sun with the moon at her feet” is not terribly unique in itself.
The planets crowning the head of Virgo is a bit rarer, I'll grant - but, apart from being a single determining factor, astronomers dispute how many stars should be granted to Leo.
This basic alignment happened before —in September 1827, in September 1483, in September 1293, and in September 1056, if one looks at the span of the last millennium.
It's interesting that its happening this year, the centenary of Fatima, and it does resemble the description in Revelation - but I would be cautious of reading too much into it.
Here are possible alignments of Woman Clothed with the Sun, past and future.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Xz0HwJvEVE/WQ3Wbj3LnGI/AAAAAAAAFZY/Omy_H5Ktb2seeyTbe4t6a6gWl9EVrUe_ACLcB/s1600/Rev12Alignment.jpg
theflyingnun
Emmett - I'm curious if you see anything in the actions of Pope Francis regarding traditionalists. I don't go to a Latin Mass parish, but I would if there were one closer. But he seems quite displeased with traditionally minded Catholics.
Just curious.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-rumblings-pope-francis-aiming-to-end-latin-mass-permission?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=e9ef923cd5-Catholic_7_26_2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-e9ef923cd5-402224389
The Flying Nun - How'd you find this? I can't get the url to work in finding a blog post about it. I'm curious how they define the Pregnancy and Birth Before Labor columns. I'd also like to see something about the methodology used here. For example, you could technically get the moon at the feet of Virgo quite often, and clothed with the sun would happen in some form every year.
HI Colin Cooper,
Yep, you're absolutely correct in advising against reading too much into it. However, I agree with Emmett that it's significant this year, if for no other reason than the other anniversaries in the immediate timeframe.
The definition of Leo by modern astronomers is really inconsequential. I think the classical definition is what they aim at mainly. This would include, I think, Ptolemy's definition of 9 stars. Brahe actually changed some of the definitions as well, so the questions really began in the Early Modern Period. The 9 stars have been used by mariners since the birth of navigation.
You're right that the 12 "stars" in Leo are part of this particular moment's significance, but they have to be taken into consideration with the moon and the sun.
But the really odd part is Jupiter's movement during the rest of this. This is the part that others have found so difficult to find in the past - Jupiter's movement in combination with the other elements.
While you're right in principal to be wary of the obvious tendencies toward astrology. But read Genesis 1:14, and consider that in relation to this particular ASTRONOMICAL event. [Emphasis to avoid any consideration of astrology.] One thing about the modern world is that we're preconditioned to be skeptical of "signs", partly because of our reliance on science to explain...everything.
Mark
Bridget, I haven't given a lot of thought to the Muslim connection with Fatima. It may be of significance, but as to what it is, I can't determine.
Colin, I certainly don't advocate attaching too much importance to this sign. I knew of its existence, and deliberately left it out of the book. I think the fact that it is happening at this very particular time, in the centenary of Fatima, is definitely worth noting, and the fact that it occurs on the feast day of St. Padre Pio also has my attention. Also, as Mark points out, it is the movement of Jupiter spending nine and a half months in the "womb" of Virgo which makes this event interesting. As does the fact that Christ was crowned King of Poland at the beginning of this event on Nov 26th, 2016. Does it mean anything? We don't have any way of knowing until later in the year. So we'll wait and see...
It won't affect my faith one way or the other.
Mark, I think Pope Francis sees the unbending rigor of traditionialism a big problem, because of its increasingly hostile stance towards him personally. I really hope that he doesn't act to suppress the Latin Mass because of this polarisation.
Hi Mark
This is a protestant site, but it has some intriguing info on the Aug, 21, eclipse as well. The number 33 Is also interesting as to how it relates
To the eclipse.
http://www.unsealed.org/2017/05/the-celestial-c-section-defense-of.html
http://www.unsealed.org/2017/06/the-divine-message-of-august-eclipse.html
While I am at it. Here is a video on Freemasonry
https://youtu.be/FPZG9XIb4rY
theflyingnun
Colin, Jupiter has also been in Virgo's womb many times the last two thousand years along with the other alignments mentioned. This is mentioned on science web sights but not prophecy web sites. one can bring up astronomy software, turn on just constellations & planets, and run a 5 minute "fast forward" for 2k years and see it for oneself.
if there are signs in the heavens which are meant for the world, I don't think it will take deep arcania and a select few on the internet to be the only ones to know about it.
signs will be there for all to see. just like the super bright 'star' of bethlehem everyone could see. most on the planet don't know what virgo constellaton loks like, let alone be able to see it in the light pollution sky
Mark and Emmett,
Thanks guys for replying.
I agree that many of us, myself included, have imbibed the post-Enlightenment trend of privileging a narrowly-defined “rational scientific inquiry” as the only path to knowledge.
But it does help to keep us grounded too and temper the urge to be over-enthusiastic with signs.
It is intriguing, as you both say, that this astronomical alignment - which, as per my calculation, last occurred in 1827 - is happening this year, the centenary of Fatima. And the Jupiter - womb element adds to the possible significance, certainly.
Nonetheless, I still think we need caution in reading into it.
Anonymous,
I agree with you. Well said! I hadn't looked into the "Jupiter in Virgo's womb" element, so thank you for confirming my scepticism.
I concur with you that any true "sign" meant for the world, like the Miracle of the Sun itself, would be understood by all.
As such, I'm inclined to think that this astronomical dimension is probably a red herring.
The Celestial C-Section article- "if the Revelation 12 Sign occurs on September 23rd, why does it appear that the male child (Jupiter) is born two weeks earlier on September 9th?"
I wasn't aware of this detail. If the Protestants believe this points to the rapture, what would the Catholic interpretation be? Pointing to the future restoration of the Church before the rise of the Antichrist?
Thanks Emmett! Do you mind if I ask another question again that I think got lost in the shuffle earlier?
Since St. Francis and St. Padre Pio both bore the stigmata, how safe is it to assume that the future person who fulfills the final role of the angel of the sixth seal will receive the stigmata, as well? Seems like that has to be a given, right?
And just to make sure I'm piecing this together correctly... the angel of the sixth seal is also one of the Two Witnesses? And since the Angelic Pope and Great Monarch are also the Two Witnesses, which one would you associate with the angel of the sixth seal??
Thanks!
Emmett, I know you don't like to go down the road of sensationalism, so feel free NOT to respond, haha...BUT... IF Pope Francis receives the stigmata on September 23rd, then I say we all have permission to completely FREAK OUT. lol. ;)
"...'Jupiter in Virgo's womb' element, so thank you for confirming my scepticism."
Yeah, except that's not really the point, is it.
Bridget,
The Angelic Pope and Great Monarch are not the Two Witnesses. They are only types of the Two Witnesses. The early Church writers were nearly unanimous that the Two Witnesses are Enoch and Elijah, who will return to earth to do battle with the Antichrist.
Sorry Bridget, I have been preoccupied of late. That thought had crossed my mind, so I know where you are coming from. But I really don't want to speculate about that. I don't have a crystal ball! :)
Colin, I think your words of caution are worth noting. We should not get too wrapped up about particulars. We should just concentrate on the fact that the War has already been won by Christ on the Cross. Nothing else matters really.
http://www.cfnews.org/page10/page91/consecration-addup.html
It Doesn't Add Up
The Latest Reported News of Sister Lucy
by John Vennari
For over 70 years, Sister Lucy of Fatima has maintained constancy on the exact conditions Heaven demanded for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to bring about the conversion of "that poor nation".
chrs
evidently JP 2 was a liar!
http://www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com/history/79-history/225-john-paul-ii-admits-1984-consecration-invalid.html
That the papal consecration of Russia to the Mary in union with the bishops as specifically requested at Fatima has not been properly carried out is generally admitted by most Catholics. That Pope John Paul II himself admitted the fact is not as well known
chris
A fitting video for the anniversary year of Fatima, which explains the truth about Fatima:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fHmtZlbVbc
God bless you,
Greg J. Cring
IT IS INTERESTING to see and read what information comes to light after someone dies and is unable to verify or deny.
Her whole life recorded actions and statements in DIRECT OPPOSITION to what is presented after her death.
Once this secret is revealed, it must be a direct reflection on our current catholic leaders and magisterium.
chris
While I refrain from judging, one should not listen to one who calls the Pope a liar, and attacks the Catholic Church. But one is free to choose who one follows, who one listens to. And on that, we will be judged.
God bless you,
Greg J Cring
You ARE correct, we should not judge..
I did not call the pope a liar.I questioned if the video posted was, as JP2 in the local newspaper the day after the failed consecration in 1984 was quoted as believing the consecration was not yet done!!
and if you think we are not allowed , nay obligated to point to questionable actions and writings by certain jesuit priests you are wrong!!
Maranantha
Chris
I guess we have an example of a nun overriding a pope on an issue! Lucy didn't think the consecration was done- for a five year period. Then overnight , in '89 she changed her mind. All this time, not a peep from JPII re this. In fact, I don't think any pope has reiterated the consecration was done according to Our Lady's instructions. So the church had 'left' it up to a nun to settle the argument, five years later.
How could anyone dare think something might be amiss because of this man??
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-fox/cardinal-bertones-sins-ag_b_9708216.html
Not content to create a strategy for priestly pedophile cover-ups during two papacies, the former Vatican Secretary of State also steals from a children’s hospital
maybe he wanted it to look nice for sister lucy!!
chris
Its frankly bizarre to see a group of so-called Catholics wallowing in speculation and regarding the centenary of Fatima/ signs in the sky.
Its my understanding (Im open to correction and changing my mind) that these signs are the signs referred to in rev 12. However thinking that anything is actually going to occur is madness. It comes to somthing when people are suggesting that the Pope might receive the Stigmata and they arent even the maddest people on the thread?!?!?!?
If this stuff is to be looked at, surely a slow, steady, reflective, methodical approach is more appropriate?
This sensationalist 'evil Pope', Stigmata, miracles-left-right-and-centre reflects a tenuous grip on the subject matter and/or a very fragile grip on reality.
I strongly suggest that people consider their own educational level and mental health as a factor before they post on these subjects.
(Emmett - sorry to rain on the parade but this really is starting to attract some unstable types and may be damaging to them. I recommend tighter control over the comments)
To Emmett.
Keep up the good work your blog is very informative.
One thing I'd like to draw your attention to with the 100th anniversary of Fatima this year is a video I've seen on Youtube by Carlos Evaristo entitled " The prophecy, consecration, Triumph and third secret of Fatima". In this video there is an interview sister Lucia gave to Cardinal Richardo Vidal of the Philippines in 1993 which was filmed and recorded. I will list the most important things sister Lucia said to clarify things because of all the misinformation that was circulating at the time by people like the late Father Gruner and others.
1. The consecration was done in 1984 and accepted by heaven. The fact that the Pope did not mention Russia does not matter now because Our Lady and Jesus asked for the consecration to be done in 1929 because Russia still existed but after that time it became the Soviet Union. And because the Pope of the time did not do this consecration then communism spread across the world. This is very important to note that the consecration had to be done in 1929 and Russia had to be mentioned then to stop communism from spreading around the world. But once this date had passed then there was no Russia now only the Soviet Union and communism spread all around the world. And that the
2. And to understand what the consecration would bring about and what the conversion of Russia meant. With the consecration this did not mean that Russia would become Catholic or Orthodox again over night. But that communism would fall and that the people would have the freedom to choose whether they wanted to become Christians again. Remember God gives us free will. It was only the slavery and barbarism of communism with it's ferocious persecution of Christianity that would be removed. The people can now worship God again without fear of persecution.
3.The third secret was revealed in 2000 but sister Lucia cautioned the pope not to reveal the secret but if he decided to do so then to be very careful how it was revealed. Sister Lucia wanted the Pope of the time in 1960 to read the secret but it was for him only and in his gift to reveal it to the world.
4. If the consecration of 1984 had not been done then a nuclear war would of broken out in 1985. This date also coincides with the vision that Pope Leo 13th in the 1880's of 100 year reign of Satan.
5. The pope asked all the bishops to take part in this consecration and most did. The fact that some did not doesn't matter. It was the pope asking them to take part that was the crucial factor.
God bless
Anthony
Mark, thanks for asking about the imagery of Aquarius, Leo, and the Eclipse. First the eclipse occurs on Regulus, "The King of the stars" which is remarkable in itself "the heart of the Lion". But, if during the eclipse you were on the moon looking at the Earth the backdrop of stars behind the Earth will be Aquarius, The Water Bearer, pouring out water with Neptune in the water jar! Neptune is the image of all the waters of the earth! The image you see is the Earth, blood red, with "He who tips the water jar of Heaven", pouring something on the Earth? I hate to speculate.
Sorry for those who dont see the connection to the Johnson administration. That was sarcasm couldnt help myself. Martin
MightyRighty,
I can assure you I'm a well adjusted human being. I'm 32 years old. College educated. A wife, mother, artist, AND a Catholic (not a so-called Catholic). My family and I love having discussions/debates about heavy topics. I can see how certain people, in person, would be uncomfortable venturing outside of small talk. But you're on a blog about eschatology! Jumping on people's backs, questioning their faith, calling them uneducated and mentally unstable because they expressed their opinion on a topic that's notoriously confusing and multilayered is extreme.
MightyRighty,
I feel you are being far too harsh and uncharitable by castigating the intelligence and mental stability of people you don't know in person, merely because they are offering opinions. I'm a business lawyer with two degrees, one undergraduate and the second postgraduate. I'm a well adjusted person, I should think, or else I wouldn't have any CEOs as clients.
Nevertheless, I do have to say that while I don't like you're wording and judgementalism, I have sympathy with your overall argumemt. Some folks are perhaps getting a little carried away on the speculative side of things, which is why I was trying to urge caution and scepticism earlier on.
But I don't think it suggests that any posters here are suffering from psychological illness and tbh that insinuation was below the belt on your part.
Kind regards,
Colin
Colin,
You're so right! I do tend to get carried away sometimes, but I think that's my creative/artistic side going into overdrive. :) I also tend to think (write) out loud. Whoops. That being said, if nothing significant comes to pass this year, my faith won't be shaken. I'll still go to Mass, say my prayers, go to Confession and overall just do my best to be nice to people and continue on with the daily grind without too much complaining. :)
Swinging in the opposite direction, hopefully the solar eclipse isn't a harbinger of doom and gloom. Maybe the most realistic take on it is that it's purely a symbol of the political divide in America. Nothing more. Just my thoughts! :)
I'm a contributor (though not as much as I used to be) that does have a mental illness, bipolar affective disorder. MightyRight, writing so flippantly and stigmatizingly about people's health is very hurtful to those of us who do struggle with mental illness and try to contribute constructive discourse here at Emmett's blog.
Reading between the lines (quite easily) your implication is that someone with a mental illness shouldn't be posting comments on Emmett's blog; that's not a very nice stance to take. Even though I'm mentally ill, I don't think that means I don't have anything to contribute that's worthwhile.
Comments like yours unfortunately do stigmatize, and the stigma around mental health and illness in the Western industrialized world in particular, contribute to people who are suffering in silence because of said stigma, and very often ending in suicide for them. I don't mean to lecture you, but please take these facts to heart before the next time you use mental illness as an insult. It's no different that if you, say, used cancer, or diabetes, as an insult, and I'm sure you recognize how foolish *that* would sound.
So, with the utmost sincerity, thank you very much if you could stop and think about how making comments like the ones you did above keeps those suffering often in the shadows, which will kill them.
That being said, on to my main topic. I recently re-read the small DuPont book again over the course of a day, and (again) I've gleaned:
(A) There will be a Muslim invasion at some point which will precipitate the appearance of the Great Monarch, and,
(B) There will be a sneak attack on Europe when it is least expected (at least relatively speaking as compared to the constant high alert of the Cold War) by Russia and Prussia (i.e. all the northern German provinces, leaving out places like Bavaria that are heavily Catholic), though Prussian involvement may come at a later time i.e. after being invade and controlled by Russia herself as with the GDR during the cold war.
First off, I know I'll be personally attacked by the rabid-Putin fan who posts fairly regularly; I'm amazed at his take on Ukraine (I'm Ukrainian on my father's side, my grandparents are from Lviv, so I'm pretty well-versed with what's going on there, and especially who the actual "bad guys" are).
He ignores that Ukraine's "democratically-elected President" was ousted because he emptied the Ukrainian treasury for one, and was heavily involved in embezzling and graft, making his friends and acquaintances filthy rich on the backs of tax payers throughout Ukraine.
Also, claiming that Ukraine is run by a Fascist junta is just ridiculous and so easily proved wrong, The 2 neo-fascist parties did horribly in the last elections.
Finally, I just find it sad that a Catholic would take sides against fellow Catholics (Ukrainian Catholics concentrated in Western Ukraine) in a country being brutalized by an Orthodox country such as Russia.
cont...
...cont
Anyways, the only way I can see point (A) above happening would be under the guise of an Islamic super-state emerging, and I think the civil war to determine who will come out on top and form a new super-state, or a strong coalition of states, the beginnings of that civil war are already going on in Syria (and Pope Francis has made numerous references to the Syrian Civil War as the beginning of a Third World War, which makes the idea of an all-out war between Shia and Sunni all the more likely to me).
With President Trump abandoning American support for Sunni resistance fighters in Syria the battle has been basically conceded to Russia (and that's not just my take, Ha'aretz reported the same exact thing, and her Shia dependents... just to save me typing I'm going to copy & paste my comments made on a secular forum vis-a-vis Russian intentions at the very end of my post, but in any case their heavy support for the Shia (in Syria, as the ruling Alawites are an off-shoot of Shia, in Lebanon through Hezbollah, and as well even more significantly in Iran) doesn't bode well for the Sunni in any kind of general Shia vs. Sunni battle that could take place, with the emerging Islamic super-state, and its stranglehold on the most important energy reserves in the world, would make it extremely well positioned to invade Europe through the Balkans as a myriad of Catholic prophecy has alluded to. Lebanon is already dominated by the Shia parties, too, hence why Hezbollah fighers are fighting on the side of the Syrian state in the civil war.
So if some sort of pan-Islamic superstate, or even a strong coalition of Islamic nations spanning North Africa, the Middle East, and Iran (Persia), were to emerge the time would be ripe for the prophesied invasion of Europe... the civil war between Shia and Sunni is almost an essential step in a powerful enough superstate emerging from whichever side wins (and again, with Putin giving huge material support to the Alawite-run Syrian government, and their even greater support to Iran, it looks like the civil war is definitely tilting in favour of the Shia due to Russian interference or intervention, whatever you want to call Putin's military adventurism)... but who knows how it might all end? Since the prophesied invasion of the Balkans would have to take place through Turkey, perhaps it's the Sunni/Sufist side that will come out on top; its difficult to know at this point.
I'm one of those stubborn contrarians (haha) of the opinion that the 100 years of Satan's increased power on Earth began on the same day of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima. Thirty-three years *to the day* after Pope Leo's vision of Satan's increased power to the appearance of Our Lady at Fatima seems too much a coincidence to me, especially in light of the significance of the number 33 in Catholicism as the length of Our Lord's per-Resurrection life on Earth, and 33 years coming up time and again in other supernatural occurrences to do with the Church. As well, there was the huge slaughter of clergy not just in the Soviet Union, but also in Mexico that began to occur in earnest right after the last apparition of Our Lady appeared at Fatima. So all-in-all it makes October 13, 1917 a convincing candidate for me at least as the beginning of the 100 years.
cont...
...cont
And I also believe that at the centenary of the Miracle of the Sun the promised Marian Age of Peace may very likely begin to be ushered in, failing an even more major war breaking out. So if that is the case, if Satan is in his death-throes at least in regards to a period of increased power, it would make sense that he would pull out all the stops as that period of one hundred years is coming to a close. To me at least, and remember that at Fatima Russia was mentioned specifically, not the errors of Communism, so Russia could very much still be in play, with Putin (who is part of a global attempt at establishing a kleptocracy, if not *the*head ,with him being the richest man in the world by far, over twice that of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezo... *combined*) being Satan's main instigator of overall discord at an international level at this time.
That Putin's tens of billions of dollars of riches are being almost exclusively held in the west is not an insignificant factor by any means, so he had a very powerful interest in the outcome of the American election, with basically all of his money being at stake, and, remember, he is *the* hands-down not-even-close richest person on the planet, wealth obtained on the backs of the Russian public, by the shady deals made when the Soviet Union fell apart and were privatizing extremely valuable state assets for next to nothing, but only to a select few (which, aside Putin himself, included many of his former KGB bros).
Anyways, in summary, I believe that an Islamic super-state could emerge from the Syrian Civil War over-spilling its boundaries and sucking every North African, Middle Eastern, and the Iranian states into the conflict. This super-state would invade Europe through the Balkans as prophesied by so many. And, as another aside, remember, from the Bible itself, describing Damascus (the world's longest continuously inhabited city, making it very symbolic in its own right) being destroyed in such away that it would make it uninhabitable forever after (e.g. if Israel used a nuclear weapon against Damascus... with the power of a single thermonuclear weapon as opposed to the mere atomic bombs as used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a nuclear strike on Damascus could very well make it uninhabitable forever due to the left-over radiation
But the events playing out before our eyes day-by-day fit in perfectly with that of what the many, many Catholic saints outlined in the DuPont text prophesying about a Muslim invasion of Europe, possibly preceded by (or followed by) an attack by Russia (and although the prophecies didn't mention their specific opponents, Russia making a grab for the Baltic countries is a real possibility this September, cutting it as close as you can almost get to the centenary of the Miracle of the Sun.
cont...
...cont
Here is my commentary from another site (that's why it's so secular in its outlook):
"One of the biggest war games to ever take place is starting in September in Belarus, including the famed and re-constituted 1st Guards Tank Army, fully equipped with the latest Russian MBTs, which are a generation ahead of anything NATO has on the ground.
Almost every surprise attack in industrialized history (if not all of them) have come under the guise of a military exercise, otherwise the intent of a huge assembly of military units being mobilized would be readily apparent. This is why the Soviets always went on high alert when the REFORGER exercises took place during the Cold War.
With the Russian population shrinking day-by-day (their demographic outlook as far as a rapidly declining population is the worst in the industrialized world, perhaps even the entire world... before long even their MBTs won't be able to put enough bums-in-seats because there won't be enough Russians left to man their huge array of military equipment), their basket-case of an economy, and Putin's well-documented desire to bring back all the former republics of the former-USSR back under Russian control (especially those with a significant minority of Russian speakers in that nation, with Putin seemingly intent on creating a Greater Russia), the window of Putin's time to strike is shrinking dramatically each year.
"Russian exercise in September could number more than 100,000 troops and involve nuclear weapons training, the biggest such exercise since 2013."
The Baltic republics have large Russian-speaking minorities (just as Eastern Ukraine has, concentrated in two large cities, with the Eastern rural areas being Ukrainian-speakers as much as in Western Ukraine) as a result of a plantation of Russian Soviets in the days of Stalin (something very akin to the plantation of Ulster that took place in N. Ireland by Presbyterian Scots [NOTE: Something I'm sure you're familiar with Emmett]).
cont...
...cont
If Putin is going to make a move on the Baltic Republics, counting on a NATO without sufficient support from the US not having the political will or manpower to stop him (not to even mention Germany's increasing capital invested in Russia and how much of its export economy is starting to rely on the Russian market), it will happen soon. The former satellite states in Eastern Europe (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria) are all very nervous. Even perennial neutral Sweden is seriously considering joining NATO for the first time in direct response to these supposed war-games in September.
Watch for this real possibility of an invasion of any or all of the Baltic Republics on some made-up pretense that the Russians need to be there as "Peace-keepers" to protect the Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltic counties during the Russian military exercise in Belarus this September. I hope I'm wrong...
EDIT: As an aside, with the US pulling their support of a Sunni opposition force in the Syrian Civil War, Alawite dominance is again all but guaranteed, and additionally Russia's huge financial and military support of Iran is tilting the balance of power definitely to the Shia as opposed to the Sunnis if the region turned into a huge Middle East-wide Islamic civil war between the two major fractions in Islam; Saudi Arabia and Turkey just wouldn't be able to stand up against Shia with the full weight of Russia behind them..
I know this is more than a little off-topic, but it pulls back the curtains a little on true Russian intent and belligerence; spreading their influence to the most critical area for the world economy was a very huge and dangerous geopolitical move for Putin, but with the US pulling support in Syria it seems the gamble has paid off."
/end
p.s. Mark W., I always enjoy your commentary, including on this blog entry. Next to what Emmett writes, you comments are the 2nd most looked-forward-to thing on the blog for me. Keep 'em coming! :-)
Jason R,
With regard to Putin invading NATO, you must be delusional. If anything, it would be the armies of the Freemason-Beast NATO invading Christian Russia. NATO currently has Russia encircled with offensive missile bases and air and naval assets. NATO has nearly twenty aircraft carriers in the combined forces. Russia has one. NATO has hundreds of military bases around the world, many of them surrounding Russia; Russia has less than a dozen. Russia is keenly aware of the fact that they would never win a conventional war against NATO's superior conventional forces. This is why Russia's stated military doctrine is to use overwhelming nuclear force when faced with a superior NATO conventional force, such as the one that is currently buidling on Russia's borders.. The Western-sponsored coup against the Russia-friendly Yanukovych in Ukraine was an act of aggression against Russia' interests and national security. The Polish-Romanian missile "shield" is an act of aggression against Russia's national security. Everywhere you look you see the demonization of and aggression towards Orthodox Russia by the Freemasons who run the West. This is Fatima playing out in realtime before our eyes.
Jason R,
You are severely misinformed over the situation in Ukraine. Viktor Yanukoych was democratically elected. He is still the legitmate President of Ukraine in exile. It is a lie that the majority of Ukrainians opposed him. That was just slick propaganda put out by Obama's State Department. The Western-sponsored coup against Yanukovych was evil and criminal. The ongoing punitive war of genocide (with full US backing and full US taxpayer support) against the Donbass is a war crime and crime against humanity. Shame on Trump for not disavowing the Junta currently occuyping Kiev.
So, what happened in Ukraine? The democratically-elected Yanukovych decided to cancel the EU economic agreement and instead signed a deal with Russia that would have provided Ukraine with cheaper Gas than that stipulated in the EU austerity agreement. Once Yanukovych signed this deal with Russia, Team Neocon decided that he had to be deposed. Victoria Nuland and John McCain were the architects of the violent coup that brought Yanukovych down. The mainstream media was also complicit and on networks 24/7 pushed the State Department narrative that "Yanukoych was oppressing his people." This was the original Fake News. Nuland is on tape admitting we spent 5 billion of US tax dollars in order to affect regime change ("democratic initiatives" is the politically-correct term I believe) in Ukraine and her role in the coup was also leaked in her phone conversation with U.S. ambassador to Kiev Geoffrey Pyatt just before the putsch in early February 2014. Mercenaries were brought into Kiev and homegrown neo-Nazi militas were deployed against Yanukovych's Berkut. It quickly turned violent with many Berkut and protesters being assassinated by snipers who we now know were firing from a builing controlled by pro-Maidan forces. CNN and the other State Department outlets pushed the big lie in realtime. Eventually, the violent militas and mercenaries gained the upper hand and they continue to occupy Kiev to this day. Ordinary Ukrainians do not and did not support the violent overthrow of their governmnet by Team Neocon, no matter how corrupt Yanukovych was alleged to have been. That's like saying and American should support the violent overthrow of the US Government by Russia because our government is corrupt. Only Ukrainians can decide their own fate and they were never given that chance because Yanukovych was violently removed. The Junta that currently rules Ukraine is a a fake government and Poroshenko is a fake president. Russia was entirely justified in annexing Crimea because Crimea was what Nuland and the Neocon warmongers had their sights on from the very beginning. Yanukovych's alleged corruption served merely as a diversion. The real goal was Crimea. The coup occurred because the Freemason-run U.S. State Department and Pentagon hoped to replace the democratically elected administration with one that would push for Ukraine’s entry into NATO, a military alliance designed from its inception in 1949 to challenge Russia. The ultimate intent was to evict the Russian Black Sea Fleet from the bases it’s maintained on the Crimean Peninsula for over 230 years. Thankfully, Putin was on to their schemes. Putin's takeover of Crimea was a direct response to the West's violent coup in Kiev. Had their been no coup, there would have been no takeover of Crimea. The West was the aggressor in the Ukraine conflict and only the West can end the conflict and atone for the thousands of innocent lives that have been lost in Ukraine due to Western intervention. But I don't see that happening anytime soon. There was hope that Trump would disavow the Junta in Kiev, but that hope has already fizzled. The Freemasons who run the West are hell-bent on confrontation with a converted, Christian Russia. This confrontation will end in one thing and one thing only: Chastisement.
Anonymous
you don't understand.. These people get their information from tv, and mag, and mainstream media. All owned/controlled by the us government. Americans Still believe they are the good guys.
Any news on bad guys since watergate?????
It's way too late for the USA until the coming civil war. McCain, HIllary and Obama are still in the wings to run play and WILL RETURN.
chris
I too see Oct 13, 2017, as the end date of the 100 years of more power for Satan. As stated above, 33 years from the time of Pope Leo XIII
Vision (I hadn't completed post above)... But yes, this is significant.. Read Luke 1:33, should explain this end of the rein of evil...
Also, in regards to the above scepticism, the one thing no one was coming back with, is: What about the 33 days from the great solar eclipse, across the USA? That is significant! Go back to all your past Rev 12 in the Heavens, and check to see if there was a full solar eclipse that happened exactly 33 days prior..
Also all of you, remember this: It is not flesh and blood that we do battle with, you know the rest... There is something coming. Does not matter from what country, from which political party, or who's fault it is (actually, all of ours)...
As our Blessed Mother tells us, stay close to Jesus, and pray, pray, pray... Thats the only way 😊🌹✝️
William,
Ezekial 33 describes a watchman assigned to give warning of a sword strike to the country (the eclipse bisects 12 states) Read vs 1-3 and the last vs 33 which states "and it is coming". The woman of Rev 12 has never come together like this before I know you can run the software back a thousand years and find four similar ocurrances
but none with the planets perfectly equidistant from one another over the head of the Virgin and topped by Regulas which was eclipsed 33 days prior. It also occurs on the Jewish feast of Shabbat Shavaz, "The Feast of Returning"! This hasnt happened before!
Martin
I agree 100% with you Martin. Are you confirming what I was thinking? Or did I fail to communicate my thoughts correctly?
I know Ezekiel 33.3 & 33:33... These 33's are Gods way of showing us the way... Anyone here familiar with Nancy Fowler, Conyers, GA?
There was a sceptic fallin away Catholic Doctor, that assembled a team of doctors and scientists, to try to prove Nancy to be a hoax..
He ended up becoming a daily communicant, and wrote a book: In His Living Presence 333.. I met him, I read his book.. They set up a machine of some sort, and every time Jesus was present, the machine displayed the number 333... Quite interesting..
Just before I met him, I heard not once, but 3 different times (in the course of a week or so) that Jesus' first coming, is mentioned 333 times, in the Old Testament.. The Doctor was quite amazed when I shared that with him...
I could go on and on, but I'll spare you all the agony 😊
Oh, but one more thing, Jesus's 2nd coming, is mentioned 318 times, in the New Testament 😊
Pax
William
Thanks, Jason. Much appreciated. I wish I had more time to spend here.
Honestly, I think now we just wait and prepare - both spiritually and physically. I don't know that there are too many other options now. Watch. Wait.
A few years ago, I was in church for First Friday, praying a rosary. The sanctuary was largely empty, just a few people...Mass had ended 20 minutes earlier, and I think there were only four or five people in a room that seats 1000 on Sundays.
A woman knelt next to me. She approached from behind, so I didn't see her coming. I'd seen her before, though I didn't really know her. She's considered a kind of quasi-mystic by most in the parish. Personally, I think she's really has a mystical element to her, but most of the people in the parish think she's a loon. She always wears a chapel veil and kneels to receive.
What she said was rather startling. I had been actively praying for a sign for about a week. (Why I was praying for such a thing is not something that I'm prepared to share here.) And I had been praying for that intention with my rosary, just as she walked up to me. She said, "I looked at you just now, praying here, and felt a very strong need to tell you something. I think it's important. It was just one word: Trust".
That message was reinforced during confession yesterday. A priest that I'd never met hit on the same subject in persona Christi. He even used some of the same words from this woman a few years ago.
So that's my message to you lot, here and now, just before all these potentially great and marvelous events of the next few months: Trust. Trust in Christ. Trust that we'll get through this. Trust that we're prepared. Trust that we do what we need when the time comes. I've been tested a lot since 2008, and even more in the past year. So far, I've failed every test. So I realize that such a level of trust in God is not an easy thing, given that I've failed so many times myself, but here we are - with very few other choices but to trust at that level.
St. Faustina is my patron in religion. St. Jude is my patron from confirmation. It's an odd combination sometimes - the prophet of Divine Mercy and the patron saint of things despaired of. But I have read St. Faustia's diary cover-to-cover, and this is what she was talking about. We're here, folks. Even if the final event isn't until 2029 (or whenever), we're here. So...
JESUS, I TRUST IN THEE
Pray the rosary. Read Psalm 90/91 (new numbering system 91, old numbering system 90)
http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/91
And I have a much better translation, if anyone's interested.
A great post, Emmet, thank for these wonderful ideas. I think there is a connection also with St Pius X, whose feast is Aug 21 here in the USA. Padre Pio used to visit his shrine by bilocation. Also Pius X started liturgical renewal on Church music, and Knock is about the liturgy. The earthquake mentioned at the opening of the seal might refer symbolically to the great crisis of Modernism. There are other connections I'm thinking of and will write when I have more time.
Hi Sister Marianne, that is a very interesting connection, 33 days from St Pius X, to St Pio (Pius also)... 8/21 to 9/23...
During Mass today (Feast of the Transfiguration) I thought about this day in history. Hiroshima, 1945, prayer for the lives lost. Blessed Pope Paul VI came to mind also, passed away on this day, 1978... Then that number of Jesus popped up again, there's 33 years there between Hiroshima, and Pope Paul VI.... to the day... God is amazing!
Blessed Pope Paul VI, is the one who said "The smoke of Satan has entered the church"..
Blessed Pope Paul VI, pray for us...
Thank you,
William
PS: I'm on the west coast, it's still the 6th here...
Indeed, Maranatha! Come, O Lord!
August 2 of this month Our Lady strongly hinted Jesus Who is Love is coming in the near future, which as I have said before is what I have always suspected Medjugorje is about - preparing us for the Second Coming of Him Who will come (expression used by Our Lady to St. Faustina in the 1930s).
For any who missed it, in an (alleged) message Our Lady at Medjugorje spoke at length of Love (she used the word love 15 times in the message), and at one point said, "Redemption is love, and love has no end.
When my Son comes to the earth anew, He will look for love in your hearts."
Our Lady is the one Jesus spoke about when He said "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things." (Matthew 17:11) Our Lady - "Elijah" - is now appearing to us as one crying out in the wilderness of Medjugorje and the world to make ready the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight. Our Lady began today's message with: "According to the Will of the Heavenly Father, as the mother of Him who loves you, I am here with you to help you to come to know Him and to follow Him. My Son has left you His foot-prints to make it easier for you to follow Him." We follow on a path of course, the pathway of the Lord.
continued
"Elijah" has come, "Elijah" is here:
"The old woman groaned as she straightened from a long period bending over to prune the young tobacco plants. She wiped her brow and glanced down the row of plants where an equally aged companion doing the same task worked her way towards her. It was mid-morning in early May 1981, yet another hard day of work in one of the tobacco fields that dotted the landscape of the village of Medjugorje. The weathered faces of the women bore evidence of years of such labor.
The monotony and physical stress of the women's work was offset by their constant praying of the rosary in a steady, low-pitched monotone as they made their way toward each other. This mixing of labor and devout prayer was a way of life among the older women of the village and had been so for generations.
Suddenly, the woman stopped still and stared. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes and looked again. There, in a clear vision out of a flash of light, floating eerily in her direction above the row of tobacco plants, was what appeared to be an ancient chariot drawn by two white horses. It moved steadily but silently, slowly passing over her. As it did, she saw that the chariot contained a very old man with long white hair and beard. The vision then slowly faded as the woman, sensing something spiritual in the mysterious phenomenon, acknowledged what her eyes had seen by reverently making the sign of the cross. She then numbly returned to her work.
When she met her companion in the middle of the row, they paused and looked at each other. Hesitatingly, the woman gestured in the direction where the vision had faded away and asked, 'Did you see?'
'Yes,' her companion answered in a whisper, nodding slowly, 'yes, I saw it.'
After an extended silence, each again made the sign of the cross and resumed working the tobacco plants.
Several weeks later, in the parish of Medjugorje, with its twin-towered Saint James Church, the image of a beautiful young woman identifying herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary made her first appearance on a hillside to six Croatian youths...
By no mere coincidence, the most dazzling and powerful apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in history began on the 24th of June, recognized in the Roman Catholic Church as the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist, the great precursor of Christ."
from Final Harvest, by Wayne Weible
So at Medjugorje we have the vision of Elijah in his chariot coming to Medjugorje just prior to the apparitions.
From The Final Hour, by Michael Brown of Spiritdaily website, writing about his first visit to Medjugorje:
"When I visited the village in 1989 I was startled the first night to_see the full moon split and form two orbs. Fearing I was encountering an illusion, the result of jet lag, I called to another pilgrim and asked what she saw. The woman witnessed the same thing without my telling her what I was seeing. In the orb to the left was what both of us swore was the profile of a veiled woman. We both knew who that symbolized, but in the right I saw the profile of what looked like a bearded man…the next day visiting a church in nearby Tihaljina, I encountered two large statues in front of the altar, one of the veiled Virgin to the left, and at the other side, as in the other orb, a statue of a bearded man who I learned was the prophet Elijah." Michael H. Brown, The Final Hour. (Milford, OH: Faith Publishing Company, 1992), 251–252.
Moses is a type for Christ. And we now understand that Elijah is a type for Blessed Mary.
Moses delivering the Chosen People from bondage to the promised land is a type for Christ delivering His people from the bondage of slavery to Heaven. And Elijah's calling down fire so the people would believe in God and returned to Him? That, it turns out, is a type for Blessed Mary calling down the fiery sun so the people would believe in God and return to Him. Elijah triumphed over the false prophets of Baal - Satan's minions; Our Lady will triumph over Satan and his minions once and for all through Fatima and Medjugorje.
One of many links exploring the relationship of Our Lady and Elijah:
https://www.americaneedsfatima.org/Our-Blessed-Mother/the-origins-of-devotion-to-our-lady-of-mount-carmel.html
Our Lady did not say her Son is coming today, or tomorrow, but she is hinting that it is soon - in our lifetimes, perhaps.
Be ready! We must ennoble ourselves (go to confession).
God bless you,
Greg J Cring
The Church says no on Medjugorge we have no right to an opinion on this.
Thank you for the very timely reminder Mark W. I have a tendency to fret over stuff completely out of my control and forget that everything that happens is part of Our Lord's plan or He simply wouldn't allow it to occur; I'm going to really work on trusting on whatever's currently happening and that to follow to be part of that plan of God's that is so intricate that is can at times be beyond all human compreshension. I guess my worries stem a lot from the world my 4 daughters (aged from 10 to 26) will be living in, but that their individual paths and potential hardships are also part of the grand plan.
Again, thank you very much for pointing out that Trust in Our Lord's plan in conjunction for the role Our Lady continues to play right since her initial Fiat, and to remember "... and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ." Which isn't to say it isn't a bad idea to watch for the signs of the times and specific potential flashpoints, but always with trust rather than anxiety. ♥
To Anonymous, sorry my world-view, which I believe is solidly backed up by facts, clashes so much with yours, but I'll continue to call them as I see them. Only time will tell which one of our points of view turns out to be correct I suppose. Pax Christi.
Dear William,
Thanks for all the supplemental information on the importance of the number 33, and how it seems to connect itself to prophecy being fulfilled specifically (and going back to a post's of Bridget's from March:
" As Emmett mentioned in the post, we have the 33 year connection between Our Lady of Knock and La Salette. Now we have the centenary of Fatima occurring 33 years after the consecration. Pointing back to Scripture, Mary had to wait 33 days after Jesus's circumcision before presenting him in the temple. So my question is... what does that all mean"
But above all, thank you for this reminder"Also all of you, remember this: It is not flesh and blood that we do battle with, you know the rest... There is something coming. Does not matter from what country, from which political party, or who's fault it is (actually, all of ours)...
As our Blessed Mother tells us, stay close to Jesus, and pray, pray, pray... Thats the only way 😊🌹✝️".
This reminded me of a secular message (not that the Holy Scripture needs any bolstering from secular sources, but what you wrote brought this old quotation to mind), one that still resonates with me, and I had to go back and look up because it had been a while (from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956):
"Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains ... an unuprooted small corner of evil.
Since then I have come to understand the truth of all the religions of the world: They struggle with the evil inside a human being (inside every human being). It is impossible to expel evil from the world in its entirety, but it is possible to constrict it within each person.”
I'll try to do better to keep this in mind!
p.s. From another site, more 33s:
"The August eclipse occurs exactly 33 days before the Revelation 12 Sign, beginning in the 33rd state (Oregon), and ending in South Carolina at the 33rd parallel. I've personally verified each of these details (see here, here, and here). Can you really chalk up the significance of this to pure coincidence or confirmation bias? It's been noted that an eclipse like this hasn't happened in 99 years. That would be 3 x 33 years. What might God be communicating? One of our readers noticed Ezekiel 33..."
spokaneslingshot it is good for one to endeavor to speak accurately. If one does not know the facts of a matter, one would be best to remain silent lest one look foolish; another option is to become fully knowledgeable about a matter without relying on hearsay from others. We are all entitled to our own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts.
The Ruini Commission, charged by the Vatican with investigating Medjugorje, has stated that at least the first 7 apparitions at Medjugorje are authentic, and this report has been given to the Pope.
Further, the commission has endorsed the end of the ban on OFFICIALLY organized pilgrimages to Medjugorje, and has endorsed the transformation of the parish into a pontifical sanctuary.
God bless you,
Greg J Cring
The thoughts of a commission do not constitute Church approval.
The Church also does not grant us the right to an opinion of an apparition under investigation either for or against. To this day there is still no absolute word on this matter.
You end your post with, "To this day there is still no absolute word on this matter."
Interesting. Earlier you said, "The Church says no on Medjugorge..."
The fact remains the Vatican Commission has reported the first 7 apparitions are authentic, and recommended official Church pilgrimages be allowed.
But I don't want to belabor the point. "Elijah" is here; we need to work on being ready; that is most important at this time.
God bless you.
Thank you, William, those are some interesting connections with the number 33.
I hadn't thought about the 33 years from Hiroshima to Paul VI...
God bless you!
I didn't realize that we should be concerned about the northwest coast as well!
https://youtu.be/Vwxd5rfa248
theflyingnun
‘Confusion and error’ from Catholic leaders may be sign of end times: Cardinal Burke
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/confusion-division-in-church-shows-we-may-be-in-the-end-times-cardinal-burk?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=b0bc271377-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S.&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-b0bc271377-401426125
chris
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-leaders-sign-petition-to-consecrate-russia?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=b0bc271377-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S.&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-b0bc271377-401426125
Catholic leaders sign petition to consecrate Russia
chris
"The Church also does not grant us the right to an opinion of an apparition under investigation either for or against."
Until something is decided, one can have an opinion one way or another, even in doctrine. I think what you mean is that we are not allowed to put absolute faith in an apparition, but we may not put faith in an apparition in any case, because private revelation is not a subject for faith. When the Church approves of an apparition, it means that we may regard it as true and have devotion to it, but even then we are not obligated to do so. I think you are confusing "believe" and "have an opinion", which in common parlance are used the same way.
And the bishops concerned condemned the apparitions. From the beginning. That's powerful.
Mary P,
"...one can have an opinion one way or another, even in doctrine."
Canon 212, "Christ's faithful ...are bound to show christian obedience to what the sacred pastors who represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith and prescribe as rulers of the faith."
Canon 753, Bishops...are the authentic instructors...of the faith. The faithful are bound to adhere, with a religious submission...
You have the freedom to err, but never the right. Maybe you mean "freedom of opinion" not the "right to an opinion".
Emmett,
You mentioned much earlier in the thread that you were not aware of the connection between Fatima and the Moslems. A good place to begin is in Fulton J Sheen's book The Worlds First Love, Ch 17 P. 204. This is amazing and worth looking up.
Thanks for the tip on such a great book spokaneslingshot. I found a free-to-download .pdf version here for anyone else who's interested in reading chapter 17 (or the entire book for that matter):
https://archive.org/download/TheWorldsFirstLove/sheenTheWorldsFirstLoveedited.pdf
Very nice resource, spokaneslingshot, and thanks for the pdf, Jason.
I suggest people look at the pdf that Jason posted, but to CTRL-F scan for Fatima. It's mentioned in many more places than just page 204.
SPokaneslingshot, you quoted me badly, leaving out something the fact that I said that one can have an opinion "until something is decided." There is legitimate differing of opinions on matters theological and moral, unless and until the Church teaches otherwise. Yes, the pastor and the bishop are teachers of the faith, but not inventors, and their teachings are reiterations or applications of the eternal faith. The Church does teach that there is never an obligation to believe a private revelation, not even Lourdes or Fatima (though one would be foolish not to believe these), as they are not doctrines of the faith. They are not part of divine revelation. However, if a bishop proscribes a devotion, it should be avoided. If he recommends one, it MAY be followed and accepted, but one is not obliged.
Ive noticed the sign of Jonah mentioned a few times in this thread. Maybe someone here can help me discern. A number of years ago I found where ancient astronomers called the three days of the winter solstice the "Belly of the Whale". What I discovered was "Cetus the Whale", a southern constellation, is an image of the Leviathin that guards the gates to hell. He rises above the southern horizon, seemingly, out of the sea each year, and is at its highest point during the solstice. What I conclude from this is that Jonah entered hell during the solstice (21-23 Dec)and was spit out on dry land on Christmas eve or Christmas day! When the light comes back to the world, and the days begin to lengthen. There was no fish involved "The belly of the Whale" was an astronomical term indicating the time this occured. So the story of Jonah is an advent story. A prefigurement of both the Resurrection and Christmas.
Mary P,
Maybe I misread, sorry
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