With the recent sudden escalation of significant world events that have taken place since the occurrence of the Great American Solar eclipse on 21st, August, 2017, it should be obvious to anyone paying close enough attention to the "signs of the times" that we have indeed entered into a 40-day period of repentance associated with the appearance of the sign of Jonah. The Latin phrase motus in fine velocior (which means "things accelerate towards the end") has proven correct. When I first noted this pattern of solar eclipses concentrated upon the site of ancient Nineveh, and how this may potentially tie into the significance of the Great American Eclipse on the feast of Our Lady of Knock (see the post The Sign of Jonah and the Binding of Satan), I had no idea what to expect, or even if I was correct in making these connections. It was a surprise to me when other people started pointing out that 40 days after this event brought us up to the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur, and that this was preceded by a 40-day period of repentance in Jewish tradition connected with the Hebrew month of Elul. This was made all the more important in the fact that on this exact year Yom Kippur coincides with the feast of Michaelmas, which is also preceded by a 40-day period of fasting and prayer in Catholic tradition during St. Michael's Lent, beginning on the Solemnity of the Assumption. Given the fact that the Jewish calendar is lunar based, while the Gregorian is solar, the coincidence of these feast days is a relatively rare event.
We have already noted that the Third Secret of Fatima itself alludes to the significance of the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur - when the blood of the sacrificial victim was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant by the Jewish High Priest to atone for the sins of Israel. This was symbolised in its description of the two angels gathering up the blood of the martyrs and sprinkling it upon those making their own personal ascent of Calvary during the final Passover of the Church. So the combination of the Day of Atonement with the description of St. Michael with the flaming sword in the Third Secret appears to be of especial significance in regard to a year when the feasts of Yom Kippur and Michaelmas collide - which just so happens to take place during the centenary of Our Lady of Fatima.
In the extremely short window of time since the eclipse, a series of phenomena has unfolded in locations associated with distinctly Catholic themes, either in apparition sites or occurring over places bearing names of singular Catholic relevance. This was made in conjunction with a sudden massive spike in tensions between North Korea and the United States. Just nine minutes after the eclipse ended on American soil, a 4.2 magnitude earthquake occurred in Ischia, off the coast of Naples in Italy, where the blood of St. Janurius is housed in the local Cathedral. Ominously, the blood of St. Januarius had failed to miraculously liquefy in the ceremony conducted on December, 2016 - which is thought to portend some form of disaster localised around the area of Naples. As well as being the site of ongoing alleged Marian apparitions, Ischia was also the birth place of St. John Joseph of the Cross - an extraordinary wonder worker who lived and died in the monastery of St. Lucia in Naples, where his relics are still held. This bears some relevance in that the young martyr St. Lucia of Syracuse would go on to lend her name to one of the seers of Fatima, Sr. Lucia dos Santos.
Four days after the eclipse, the coast of Texas was battered by Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall on Corpus Christi as a category four storm, causing widespread destruction. We then had North Korea's hydrogen bomb test on Sept 4th, and ICBM tests flying over Japan. On 2nd September, an earthquake swarm began in Idaho centred on Soda Springs, just south of the caldera of the Yellowstone supervolcano. On 10th September, we then had Hurricane Irma bearing down on the coast of Florida as a Category four storm, leaving behind a trail of destruction throughout several islands in the Atlantic. A powerful geomagnetic storm took place on 6th September, 2017, leading to a widespread occurrence of the Northern Lights. Dozens of wildfires were also raging across several states in America. As the official NASA site noted on August 28th:
The United States is the middle of an unfortunate spate of natural disasters. In Texas the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is causing widespread flooding, and in the western United States just the opposite--dry conditions and extreme heat--are causing widespread forest fires.
(See here)
All of this phenomena centred upon America - hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, etc. echoes the events which took place during the flight of the Prophet Elijah to Mount Horeb (Sinai) for forty days after the apostasy of ancient Israel during the reign of King Ahab and Jezebel:
The angel of the Lord came to him a second time. He touched him and said, “Get up and eat. Your journey will be long and hard.” So he got up. He ate and drank. The food gave him new strength. He traveled for 40 days and 40 nights. He kept going until he arrived at Horeb. It was the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.
A message came to Elijah from the Lord. He said, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”
He replied, “Lord God who rules over all, I’ve been very committed to you. The Israelites have turned their backs on your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They’ve put your prophets to death with their swords. I’m the only one left. And they are trying to kill me.”
The Lord said, “Go out. Stand on the mountain in front of me. I am going to pass by.”
As the Lord approached, a very powerful wind tore the mountains apart. It broke up the rocks. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire came. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. And after the fire there was only a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his coat over his face. He went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.
(IKings 19:7-13)
This in turn parallels the 40 days Moses spent on Mount Sinai following the idolatry of the Golden Calf, in order to make atonement for the sins of the Israelites - an event which is commemorated during the month of Elul.
On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written.” But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin.”
Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf—the one that Aaron made.
(Exod 32:30-35)
The Lord said to Moses: Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Exod 34:27-29)
Just before the stroke of midnight on 7th September, 2017, a huge 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck Mexico in Oaxaca, a few hundred miles south of Mexico City. The capital itself had felt this tremor, and there were various sighting of earthquake lights around the city itself. Mexico City is home to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which was built upon the site of the famous apparitions on Tepayac Hill. Our Lady of Guadalupe is also honoured as the patroness of America and protectress of the unborn, since she had appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531 in order to bring an end to the ritual of human sacrifice in the New World.
As the website Santa.org states:
We read in the Book of Leviticus how the Lord tells Moses about the serious crime of offering children to be immolated to Molech, referring to the Canaanite custom of sacrificing children to the god Molech. The little victims were first slain and then cremated. (Leviticus 20,1-5 and 18,21).
In the Americas, five centuries ago, cruel human sacrificing rituals were performed on a scale never approached, even remotely, by another peoples. Never before or after in human history a more open, long running, ritualized and institutionalized public showcase of the Culture of Death has been manifested... (Read the full article here)
The practice of human sacrifice would not be manifested again in America until the legalisation of abortion in 1973.
On the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on 8th September, 2017, just a few hours after the earthquake in Mexico on the 7th, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck the prefecture of Akita in Japan, which is the site of another Marian apparition which has been approved by the Catholic Church. Akita is significant in the fact that it occurred at time when America was in the midst of legalising abortion during the Roe vs Wade court action in 1973. Here, Our Lady issued one of the most stark warnings against humanity when the Christian West began to adopt laws that would ensure the slaughter of millions of innocent unborn children.
...if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity...the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son.
(Our Lady of Akita to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa)
It is significant that the date of Michaelmas on 29th September crops up in the bleeding statue phenomena associated with Our Lady of Akita. As the EWTN webpage on Akita notes:
"The statue was carved from a single block of wood from a Katsura tree and is three feet tall. On the same day, a few of the sisters noticed drops of blood flowing from the statue's right hand. On four occasions, this act of blood flow repeated itself. The wound in the statue's hand remained until September 29, when it disappeared. On September 29, the day the wound on the statue disappeared, the sisters noticed the statue had now begun to "sweat", especially on the forehead and neck."
A second earthquake struck Mexico on 19th September, 2017, this time much closer to the home of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, almost like a pilgrimage path being traced out along the line of a seismic fault. This occurred on the feast day of Our Lady of La Salette, which ties us back into the significance of the apparition of Our Lady of Knock - which appeared at the exact moment of the ceremony of the canonical crowning of Our Lady of La Salette on 21st August, 1879. This earthquake took place exactly 32 years to the day after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck Mexico City on 19th September, 1985 (the year Sr. Lucia said the world was saved from nuclear war). On the same day as this second earthquake near Mexico City, a hurricane named Maria was battering the islands of Guadeloupe, the Virgin Islands (at a place called St. Croix or "Holy Cross"), the islands of St. Lucia and Dominica (after St. Dominic, who instituted the Holy Rosary), while another hurricane called Jose (Joseph) was still swirling about in the Atlantic. Hurricane Maria then made its way to Puerto Rico, and ominously threatened its capital San Juan.
As the Wikipedia article on the island of Guadeloupe states:
"Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Guadalupe in 1493 after the Virgin Mary, venerated in the Spanish town of Guadalupe, in Extremadura. Upon becoming a French colony, the Spanish name was retained though altered to French orthography and phonology."
(See here)
When the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531, she specifically stated that she wished to be referred to as Our Lady of Guadalupe - a title she was already being revered under in Extremadura, Spain. As the Wikipedia article on the original devotion of Our Lady of Guadalupe states:
The shrine [of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extremadura] houses a statue reputed to have been carved by Luke the Evangelist and given to Saint Leander, archbishop of Seville, by Pope Gregory I. According to local legend, when Seville was taken by the Moors in 712, a group of priests fled northward and buried the statue in the hills near the Guadalupe River in Extremadura. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Virgin appeared one day to a humble cowboy named Gil Cordero who was searching for a missing animal in the mountains. Cordero claimed that the Virgin Mary had appeared to him and ordered him to ask priests to dig at the site of the apparition. Excavating priests rediscovered the hidden statue and built a small shrine around it which evolved into the great Guadalupe monastery.
(See here)
King Alfonso XI of Castile had ascribed the victory secured at the Battle of Río Salado over the Islamic Moors in 1340 to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extremadura, which was in effect a Spanish Lepanto moment. King Alfonso had visited the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extremadura on several occasions, requesting the intercession of the Blessed Virgin there, and publically acknowledged that the victory was won due to this pious devotion. After the success of the Spanish and Portuguese armies at the Battle of Río Salado, the forces of Islam would never again be able to invade the Iberian peninsula, which would go on to enable the total defeat of Islam in Spain during the Reconquista - which was finally completed in the year 1492 - the exact year Columbus discovered America. A land which the Blessed Virgin would go on to claim for herself during her apparitions to St. Juan Diego under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, winning the conversion of almost an entire continent, and simultaneously vanquishing the rampant practice of human sacrifice.
A practice which was then reinstituted in 1973, prompting the Blessed Virgin to issue a dire warning to humanity during her apparitions at Akita in Japan - the land that first felt the scourge of nuclear warfare when the United States detonated atomic bombs over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War.
So the various earthquakes happening in these precise locations appear to be a further warning to America of the fate which lies in store for it if it continues on its path of devouring its own children by allowing the sin of abortion - a new ritual of human sacrifice deigned to allow the self-interests of ego-centric individuals to continue at the costs of the lives of their unborn offspring. As we noted in the previous post The Third Secret of Fatima and the Children of the Apocalypse, it is the destruction and corruption of innocent children which invokes the great millstone judgement to be meted out on the eschatological Babylon, when the huge mountain burning with fire is thrown into the sea. It will be worth covering some of this material again below.
The destruction of Babylon is symbolized by the angel throwing a huge millstone into the sea, which as well as being derived from the actions of the prophet Jeremiah in Jer 51, is also based on a passage in the Gospels, where Christ warns of the punishment that awaits those who attack the innocent:
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more"...
(Rev 18:21)
"When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, and they shall become exhausted.’”
(Jer 51:63-64)
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more"...
(Rev 18:21)
"When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, and they shall become exhausted.’”
(Jer 51:63-64)
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
(Matt 18:5-6)
The angel with the flaming sword, who is charged with protecting the Tree of Life, acts in response to the cries of the blood of innocent children from the ground for Divine justice. Jesus compares the innocence of children to His own believers, and uses this imagery as a warning against anyone who leads them into sin, causing them to fall away from the faith. Indeed the equation between the persecution of innocent children and Christians being led into apostasy is also used in Rev 12, which equates King Herod's slaughter of the innocents to the Devil sending out a flood in an attempt to sweep away the Woman Adorned with the Sun during the Great Apostasy, who represents the Church as well as the Virgin Mary:
The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. (Rev 12:15)
It is no coincidence then that the legalisation of abortion in the Western hemisphere soon followed the start of the modern apostasy, which found its roots in the cultural revolution of the 1960's. And as we have already discussed at some length elsewhere, the legalisation of abortion in Europe, with the implementation of the UK Abortion Act (which in turn would pave the way for the legalization of abortion in America, following Roe Vs Wade in 1973), directly coincided with the apparitions of Our Lady of Zeitoun in Egypt in April 1968 - the most widely witnessed Marian apparitions in human history. These appearances of Our Lady took place at a site traditionally associated with the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt to escape from King Herod's slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and given the apocalyptic nature of modern Church approved apparitions, they bear an incredible parallel to the vision of the flight of the Woman Adorned with the Sun into the desert in Rev 12. The implication here is that apostasy and abortion go hand-in-hand, and that a nation which falls away from the faith will ultimately begin to devour its own young - an unspeakable transgression which calls down vengeance from heaven.
As of today, on 22nd September, 2017, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has threatened to respond to President Donald Trump's threats to destroy his country by launching a nuclear missile into the Pacific Ocean as a "warning shot" - a brazen act which, if carried out, could potentially spill over into a full-scale nuclear conflict. As the BBC news website states:
The prospect of a hydrogen bomb being tested in the Pacific raises a terrifying spectre - one that North Korea-watchers have mulled for some time, but which did not seem realistic until this year.
Kim Jong-un could conduct an atmospheric nuclear detonation in the Pacific Ocean.
There are two mechanisms for a test like this. One is for Kim Jong-un to mount the nuclear device he showed the world before his 3 September nuclear test and fire it over Japan, into the Pacific Ocean, and demonstrate a credible thermonuclear capability.
Presumably, witnessing this feat would "tame" Trump into accepting the "equilibrium" that North Korea alluded to earlier this week - a state of stable nuclear deterrence.
Given the inadequacy of existing US and Japanese ballistic missile defence systems, it is far from a sure thing that such a test could be intercepted.
The risks are immense. Civil aviators and mariners in the target area may perish, given that North Korea does not offer international warning of its missile launch plans - unlike other states that routinely test ballistic missiles.
The environmental damage and fallout could be catastrophic. Moreover, should the missile fail over Japan - or prematurely detonate - the consequences would effectively guarantee a nuclear war in retaliation.
(See here)
The world is now standing on a precipice, being threatened with the fire which issues forth from the flaming sword held by the angel of the Third Secret. We can now only be spared through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The fact that the angel with the flaming sword is seen calling out three times for the repentance of humanity in the midst of these trials of the Church appears to symbolise three separate periods in which the world would be spared from nuclear destruction to allow for a period of conversion and penance. We already know that the world was brought back from the brink of nuclear self-annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and Sr. Lucia herself said that the world was spared a nuclear war that would have broken out in 1985 by the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984 (leading to the downfall of the Soviet Union). As Cardinal Ratzinger famously stated in his theological commentary in The Message of Fatima:
The angel with the flaming sword on the left of the Mother of God recalls similar images in the Book of Revelation. This represents the threat of judgement which looms over the world. Today the prospect that the world might be reduced to ashes by a sea of fire no longer seems pure fantasy: man himself, with his inventions, has forged the flaming sword. The vision then shows the power which stands opposed to the force of destruction—the splendour of the Mother of God and, stemming from this in a certain way, the summons to penance.
We must now fervently pray that the Mother of God will intercede for us in a last act of salvation to stay the hand of the angel with the flaming sword, in order to allow for a period of conversion and penance before we undergo the trial of the Antichrist.
The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. (Rev 12:15)
It is no coincidence then that the legalisation of abortion in the Western hemisphere soon followed the start of the modern apostasy, which found its roots in the cultural revolution of the 1960's. And as we have already discussed at some length elsewhere, the legalisation of abortion in Europe, with the implementation of the UK Abortion Act (which in turn would pave the way for the legalization of abortion in America, following Roe Vs Wade in 1973), directly coincided with the apparitions of Our Lady of Zeitoun in Egypt in April 1968 - the most widely witnessed Marian apparitions in human history. These appearances of Our Lady took place at a site traditionally associated with the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt to escape from King Herod's slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and given the apocalyptic nature of modern Church approved apparitions, they bear an incredible parallel to the vision of the flight of the Woman Adorned with the Sun into the desert in Rev 12. The implication here is that apostasy and abortion go hand-in-hand, and that a nation which falls away from the faith will ultimately begin to devour its own young - an unspeakable transgression which calls down vengeance from heaven.
As of today, on 22nd September, 2017, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has threatened to respond to President Donald Trump's threats to destroy his country by launching a nuclear missile into the Pacific Ocean as a "warning shot" - a brazen act which, if carried out, could potentially spill over into a full-scale nuclear conflict. As the BBC news website states:
The prospect of a hydrogen bomb being tested in the Pacific raises a terrifying spectre - one that North Korea-watchers have mulled for some time, but which did not seem realistic until this year.
Kim Jong-un could conduct an atmospheric nuclear detonation in the Pacific Ocean.
There are two mechanisms for a test like this. One is for Kim Jong-un to mount the nuclear device he showed the world before his 3 September nuclear test and fire it over Japan, into the Pacific Ocean, and demonstrate a credible thermonuclear capability.
Presumably, witnessing this feat would "tame" Trump into accepting the "equilibrium" that North Korea alluded to earlier this week - a state of stable nuclear deterrence.
Given the inadequacy of existing US and Japanese ballistic missile defence systems, it is far from a sure thing that such a test could be intercepted.
The risks are immense. Civil aviators and mariners in the target area may perish, given that North Korea does not offer international warning of its missile launch plans - unlike other states that routinely test ballistic missiles.
The environmental damage and fallout could be catastrophic. Moreover, should the missile fail over Japan - or prematurely detonate - the consequences would effectively guarantee a nuclear war in retaliation.
(See here)
The world is now standing on a precipice, being threatened with the fire which issues forth from the flaming sword held by the angel of the Third Secret. We can now only be spared through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The fact that the angel with the flaming sword is seen calling out three times for the repentance of humanity in the midst of these trials of the Church appears to symbolise three separate periods in which the world would be spared from nuclear destruction to allow for a period of conversion and penance. We already know that the world was brought back from the brink of nuclear self-annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and Sr. Lucia herself said that the world was spared a nuclear war that would have broken out in 1985 by the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984 (leading to the downfall of the Soviet Union). As Cardinal Ratzinger famously stated in his theological commentary in The Message of Fatima:
The angel with the flaming sword on the left of the Mother of God recalls similar images in the Book of Revelation. This represents the threat of judgement which looms over the world. Today the prospect that the world might be reduced to ashes by a sea of fire no longer seems pure fantasy: man himself, with his inventions, has forged the flaming sword. The vision then shows the power which stands opposed to the force of destruction—the splendour of the Mother of God and, stemming from this in a certain way, the summons to penance.
We must now fervently pray that the Mother of God will intercede for us in a last act of salvation to stay the hand of the angel with the flaming sword, in order to allow for a period of conversion and penance before we undergo the trial of the Antichrist.
"...in the plans of the Divine Providence, when God is going to chastise the world He always first exhausts all other remedies. When He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever, then, as we say in our imperfect way of talking, with a certain fear He presents us the last means of salvation, His Blessed Mother.
If we despise and reject this last means, Heaven will no longer pardon us, because we will have committed a sin that the Gospel calls a sin against the Holy Spirit. This sin consists in openly rejecting – with full knowledge and will – the salvation that is put in our hands."
If we despise and reject this last means, Heaven will no longer pardon us, because we will have committed a sin that the Gospel calls a sin against the Holy Spirit. This sin consists in openly rejecting – with full knowledge and will – the salvation that is put in our hands."
(Sr Lucia to Fr. Fuentes, 1957)
243 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 243 of 243Emmett isn't "adding" or "taking away" and he doesn't claim to be a prophet. I appreciate his hard work and I'm sure God will not smite him for putting thought into Scripture.
(This is a reply to an anonymous comment that I don't see anymore)
I think Stephen Walford is incredibly busy writing his book on AL, and also several articles RC.
I'll attempt a brief answer myself when I have more time.
Didn't Catherine of Siena rebuke a pope for remaining in Avignon?
And St. Columbanus rebuked one of the Bonifaces for inciting schism (my, how those Irishmen get around!).
And from the Vatican website, the section on "THE OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS OF ALL THE CHRISTIAN FAITHFUL (Cann. 208 - 223)":
Can. 212 §1. Conscious of their own responsibility, the Christian faithful are bound to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church.
§2. The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.
§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PU.HTM
And this Correction strikes me as being in conformity with §3 above, and is far, far less dramatic than a rebuke from a saint.
"We now have a situation in the church where for example the Argentinean bishops allow people..."
And this is largely my point all along. We're reliving the implementation of Vatican II. It's not the document that's in error or the papal teaching (finding flaws in Ed Peter's writing is a difficult task), but it's the implementation of it that's causing so much trouble.
"Stephen Walford's and Steve Skojec's various debates on this subject on twitter..."
Not helpful for those of us who shun the likes of Twitter.
But one who is not an equal can reprove privately and respectfully. Hence the Apostle in writing to the Colossians (4:17) tells them to admonish their prelate: "Say to Archippus: Fulfil thy ministry [Vulgate: 'Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.' Cf. 2 Timothy 4:5." It must be observed, however, that if the faith were endangered, a subject ought to rebuke his prelate even publicly. Hence Paul, who was Peter's subject, rebuked him in public, on account of the imminent danger of scandal concerning faith, and, as the gloss of Augustine says on Galatians 2:11, "Peter gave an example to superiors, that if at any time they should happen to stray from the straight path, they should not disdain to be reproved by their subjects."
Since, however, one's conscience should be preferred to a good name, Our Lord wished that we should publicly denounce our brother and so deliver his conscience from sin, even though he should forfeit his good name. Therefore it is evident that the precept requires a secret admonition to precede public denunciation.
We must also remember that when a man reproves his prelate charitably, it does not follow that he thinks himself any better, but merely that he offers his help to one who, "being in the higher position among you, is therefore in greater danger," as Augustine observes in his Rule quoted above
Obedience is certainly a virtue, and one of those most beloved by the Lord. However, and this is a big BUT, true obedience does not apply if one is told to do something that is a sin.
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To sin against this virtue is certainly an area where nearly every single one of our mystic saints have been powerfully tempted. When told to keep silent regarding what they had seen, each went through that agonizing period of wondering whether they should, in that case, obey God or man. On the one hand they had God telling them He wanted the message He had given them spread to all mankind, and on the other, they had their lawful superiors telling them to tell no one. In each case, Our Lord, or His representative (Mary, an angel, a saint, whoever...) had to appear to the mystic and tell him to obey his superior.
.
It's come to be regarded as one of the marks of a true Catholic mystic, as opposed to one who has been deceived, or is even a fraud: the true mystic or visionary always, without exception, has obeyed the instructions of his superiors. When told to keep quiet, they keep quiet. God Himself always sees to it that the message is disseminated when it is time, and that is the faith we must hold to now.
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It is not for most of us to say whether the Pope is right or wrong. We don't know everything about his situation. It's for those who do have that knowledge, and who do have that access. It's for the rest of us to simply pray and wait for the Lord. That doesn't stop us from having our opinions. There certainly has been plenty of confusion surrounding AL, just as there was plenty of confusion around the implementation of Vatican II. Many things were put in place in the Church "in the spirit of Vatican II," which, over time, we all learned meant they were about to do something that was never mandated by that Council. The Novus Ordo Missae was one of them, but that doesn't make it invalid, as some - largely the sedevacantists - believe. In fact, for all the liturgical abuses we've seen in the "Ordinary Form," I've been told by a priest that only one of them actually invalidates the Mass and the Eucharist confected therein, and that is the use of so-called "liturgical dancers," a practice which was specifically condemned by the Vatican years ago, with the sole exception of the Coptic Catholic Church, where dancing has always been a part of their sacred tradition. For the rest of us, dancing is, and always has been, a profane activity (as in simply "not sacred").
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We are all deeply concerned. But for all the confusion surrounding everything concerning Pope Francis, and AL in particular, no layman is being commanded to do anything that is contrary to what we've always been taught. For us, it's a simple matter of when in doubt, stick to the traditional teachings. God does not change; what he said was a grievous sin 2,000 years ago, is still a grievous sin today, and not even a Pope has the authority to change that.
Keep an eye on the situation, certainly, as we're clearly all doing here, and pray for the Pope and for the Church. Leave the judgment to those whose duty it is, and to God.
RC, start with Pope Benedict XVI's letter stating that some of the divorced and remarried may be capable of receiving spiritual communion. I think Pope Francis' decision stems largely from the implications of this teaching. And it is most certainly not a case of "communion for all"
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_14091994_rec-holy-comm-by-divorced_en.html
Sorry, wrong link. It was in the apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, I think. As I say, I'm not the expert here in this regard, it's Stephen Walford. But basically, if you are going to blame anyone for this situation, blame Pope Benedict XVI.
http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis.html#Actuosa_participatio
Adultery is a mortal sin. AL doesn't change anything in that regard, contrary to popular opinion. It just takes into account that there are some people who are in canonically invalid marriages who haven't received an annulment for unjust reasons who may seek an internal forum solution behind closed doors. As far as I'm aware, communion for D&R is only possible in very specific individual cases, and it can only ever apply when someone is "convinced of the nullity of their previous marriage, although unable to demonstrate it in the external forum" (Cardinal Ratzinger).
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_14091994_rec-holy-comm-by-divorced_en.html
Does that make any sense?
Sorry Emmett but please pardon my ignorance which of my posts or opinions does the spiritual communion reference refer to? My mind is absolutely swirling with all of this? I maybe mistakenly thought actual communion and spiritual communion are worlds apart?? I was under the impression spiritual communion was available to people in mortal sin as they couldnt receive physically?
Remember my friend my intellect isn't the sharpest! I understood that anyone who remarried then took confession and lived chastely was able to receive?? My head is swimming!!
What then Cardinal Ratzinger states in that document is very different from how AL is being interpreted and applied in Germany, Argentina, Malta, etc. His document is consistent with Church teaching; the latter AL interpretations and applications are not.
The quote you excerpt, Emmett, is not what Cardinal Ratzinger advocates. It is a pastoral proposal that he addresses and ultimately rejects further down.
Catherine
My sense is that Emmett will be proved right on this. Pope Francis believes in a 'God of Surprises' and I've an inkling there could be a big one coming soon. It may just be wishful thinking on my part - I've certainly no evidence for it - but I've had the impression for a while that he's more invested in building bridges (possibly to the point of reunification) with the Orthodox world than most pundits imagine. He's a shrewd political operator, as his years in Argentina show, and I wouldn't put it past him to have deliberately kept the Amoris Laetitia pot stirring as a way of deflecting media attention from his true goal.
I'm not sure if this East/West reunification theme fits into Catholic prophecy anywhere, but St. John Paul spoke often about the 'two lungs' of the Church and Pope Benedict followed a similar line, so there's a fair degree of Papal pedigree there. Amidst much current talk of schism, therefore, it would cast the Pope in a totally different light to be seen playing a role in the healing of a schism that (needlessly, in my view) has divided and weakened Christ's Church since 1054.
Let us watch and pray and wait and see!
John, the reunification of the East and West is the sole hinge of the Angelic Pope prophecy, stemming from Roger Bacon.
Emmett, if you read AL, and take it at its word, it is heretical. If you listen to the pope's statements, they bear out the heresy. Now, actually a very strange priest ghost-wrote the encyclical. But Francis signed it. And, yes, there is much misunderstanding of the doctrine of infallibility. Not least by Stephen Walford. He says:
The question is therefore: can a Pope teach error in his ordinary magisterium in matters of faith and morals? St John Paul’s answer is a definite no: “Alongside this infallibility of ex cathedra definitions, there is the charism of the Holy Spirit’s assistance, granted to Peter and his successors so that they would not err in matters of faith and morals, but rather shed great light on the Christian people. This charism is not limited to exceptional cases” [3].
But he shows great ignorance here. Not only does he leave out the 5 qualifications stated by Vat I and II (LG), he considers the ordinary magisterium as always infallible. The ex cathedra definitions are exercises of the extraordinary universal magisterium. The ordinary universal magisterium is also infallible: it is what has always and everywhere been taught, and when the pope teaches that he is infallible. The point with AL is that it deviates from what has always been taught, and gravely. The ordinary magisterium per se is not infallible, (though walford says it is). The ordinary magisterium is infallible only when it is universal. The ordinary non-universal magisterium consists of the non infallible statements on faith, morals, and other things made by bishops or the pope. Walford is very confused (and this is not the place to lay it out, read LUmen Gentium).
There is also deceptive citing of JPII in AL, utterly disgraceful.
AL goes further than what you say.
The miracle is that none of the heresies in AL were stated in an infallible form or context. That is the Holy Spirit at work.
Some great to-ing adn fro-ing here on the matter at hand: Francis and the predictions of Schism/Apostasy.
As I have warned before there are an awful lot of right-wing types producing all sorts of theories of late - sede vacantis and V2 deniers among them.
I hold little faith with them other than to wish them well in their recovery.
However there are some logical inconsistencies in the 'faithful' position which (if he doesnt mind!!) I will ascribe to Emmett without giving credence to any other position. I also acknowledge that none of these sources alone lend weight to any position but taken together they form a basis for questioning the current orthodoxy.
1. We are - according to to St Malachy - at the last or second last Pope.
2. The Lady of Salette said the "Church will be eclipsed" and we will "not know the true Pope."
3. Our Lady of Akita said in a message described by Benedict as 'essentially the same as Fatima 3' - that "the Church will be full of those who accept compromises" - a clear indication that compromising Catholic values is NOT 'The way'.
4. Again La Salette warns “Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of Antichrist.” (Of course it does not mention or suggest that the Pope will be antichrist, a politician perhaps?...)
My difficulty, in knowing these predictions, is that in order for the La Salette predictions not to be true - that is, they occur in the future - the Papal prophecies must be untrue.
(Granted, as unapproved prophecy thats entirely possible but......)
So either the apostasy/schism has already happened or it is about to happen.
Either way, we are about to be without a Pope; the much mentioned '3 days of darkness'.. after that, (and this is what I worry about) I really dont know.
In the final analysis, while I have serious, serious doubts about Francis and his Papacy I must agree with Emmett in that we owe - on Christs own word - unswerving fealty and loyalty to his Papacy.
What happens on his passing, if Benedict is still alive, I dont know.
If, for example, we were in the middle of a war and a full conclave couldnt be mustered, would his successor be valid?
...Emmett?
Amen Emmett!
As for Mount Mellary RC, I find it very interesting that the phenomena there began during 1985 - the year that Sr. Lucia said there would have been a nuclear war, if St. John Paul II had not consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984. Mount Mellary was apparently the location of the first abtal blessing in Ireland since the Reformation in 1833. There was definitely something happening there. There were constant bus runs being organised down to them from our locals, and I heard many personal testimonies from neighbours who saw the statue moving, shaking, making gestures, etc. This phenomenon broke out all around Ireland, at Ballinspittle, Bessbrook, etc. Very interesting.
Concerning communion for D&R in AL, it is only allowed within the internal forum solution for those who are absolutely convinced that the previous union was canonically invalid, and that it can't be proven for some reason, such as, one partner who doesn't believe steadfastly refuses to obtain an annulment, leaving the believing party in an absolute quandary, as they cannot in good conscious abandon their spouse and family in order to receive Holy Communion in the species of bread and wine. If they aren't absolutely convinced that their previous union was invalid, then they would simply be drinking and eating judgement upon their own head. Why would anyone want to do that, unless they were completely sure in their own mind? Withholding communion from the D&R is simply a pastoral discipline designed to prevent the sinner from heaping even greater judgement upon their own head. The pope is free to amend the application of pastoral discipline. No doctrine was changed in AL. Anyone who is not entirely convinced about the validity of the previous union should content themselves to spiritual communion. Although, in reality, if one is capable of spiritual communion, then they should be worthy enough for full communion, and the accompanying graces. Withholding it was a pastoral discipline to avoid scandal and confusion.
It could be that Pope Francis is in some way influenced by the Peter the Roman prophecy in St. Malachy's list of popes. His papal secretary Archbishop Ganswein more or less came out with this admission in 2016.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/will-the-papacy-end-with-francis-a-rare-interview-with-archbishop-gaenswein
Peter the Roman "feeds his flock amidst great tribulations" at the end of the world, which of course alludes to John 21:15-19, which also contains the prophecy of the crucifixion of St. Peter.
"Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The end."
It is a distinct possibility that Pope Francis knows that he is the bishop in white seen in the Third Secret of Fatima, and is at pains to gather in as much of his flock as possible in order to give them nourishment before the trials we have to face at the end of the world. Stephen Walford compares Pope Francis with the Good Shepherd who leaves behind the 99 sheep in search of the one lost sheep, in order to bring it home safely.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”
That version of the La Salette secret remains unapproved, Mighty Righty. Even if we are to give it credence (which I do to some extent) La Salette said that Rome would lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist, not the Vatican. Rome has lost its faith, just as much as Belfast and Dublin has here, or the various cities throughout the world. Blessed Elena Aiello said she saw Russian flag-staffs flying above the dome of St. Peter's. This would explain the man of sin taking his seat in the Temple of God. Only Protestants and Francisican Spiritual heretics equate this portion of Scripture with an evil pope. The Antichrist will be a political leader from Russia who will emerge after its conversion and falling away from the faith again, and overrun Europe after the fall of the United States. He might chose to move his political seat temporarily to Rome, explaining the man of sin entering the Temple of God.
If Pope Francis were the man of sin/False Prophet as is suspected by many, he would be doing a lot more damage than allowing some of the divorced and remarried to communion behind closed doors, so long as they were fully convinced that their first marriage was canonically invalid, but either can't prove it before a marriage tribunal, or the other party refuses to obtain an annulment. He would be throwing a wrecking ball through several doctrines of the faith and denying the Real Presense, not amending the application of pastoral discipline to a form similar to what was practiced in different periods of the Church. There has always been changing attitudes to the application of pastoral discipline. Pope Francis didn't even go with the Kasper approach, which would have been much worse.
I have concrete evidence in Daniel's prophecy of the 2,300 days that the False Prophet was Hitler - a forerunner of the Antichrist styled after the Jewish persecutor Antiochus Ephiphanes. Not a well-intentioned saintly pope, running around trying to get as many souls as possible into the Ark before the Flood. Pope Francis is the Good Shepherd.
Pope Benedict XVI's abdication is permanent Mighty Righty. There would have to be a new conclave before a new pope could be chosen.
I concur with Emmett. Myself, after studying Fatima and its connection to the number 13 made by God, noted with some wonder Francis arriving on 3/13/2013. And then my jaw dropped a bit more when he, by personal request to Cardinal Jose Polycarp, the Patriarch of Lisbon, had his papacy consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima on her feast day.
My jaw fell completely open when he had the statue of Our Lady of Fatima brought to Rome from Fatima for his October 13, 2013 consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-consecrating-the-world-to-mary-culminates-fatima-celebration
'In his address, the Holy Father stressed that the Virgin Mary leads Christians to the mercy of God, who can untie “all knotted hearts” caused by sin. “These knots take away our peace and serenity,” he said, and he urged the faithful not to give up hope that God can untie these knots. Mary, he said, “takes us with the hand of a mother to the embrace of the Father, to the Father of mercy.”'
Pope Francis focused then, as now, on God's Mercy for us - He is our Father Who does not want any of His children lost - the Father waiting with welcoming arms for the return of the one lost prodigal son or daughter.
And then I felt wonderment again when the Holy Father opened the Holy Door of Mercy during his extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, focused as it was around the Divine Mercy devotions given to St. Faustina. 'Before I come to Judge, I come as the King of Mercy, opening my Door of Mercy.'
When friends asked about that Year of Mercy, I said it all makes we wonder what does the Holy Father know; I said I suspect he might have mystical inclinations that we are at the end, and thus he is striving very hard to save as many of us as possible before it comes.
I still hold to that. Jesus said God's greatest attribute is His Mercy. Of those divorced (and anyone for that matter), what joy is their in their judgement? In seeing others suffer loss? Some seem willing to throw that first stone, forgetting so quickly their own sinful state.
The Holy Father is trying to get as many as possible to return to the love of Christ, to return to the sheepfold; many divorced Catholics feel rejected and taste bitterness in how they have been treated in the past by the Church - he is reaching out to them with open arms as the Father awaiting with hope for the return of His prodigal children before the great, final storm arrives. He is helping them find their way into the Ark before the door closes and the storms come and wash them away. Even now the dark clouds are gathering, and the thunder is clapping, so he has no time to waste, hence he moves quickly, pushing those who are hindering him out of the way, no matter how good their intentions - such as Cardinal Muller. He means him no arm, no ill will; he just has no time to lose.
If one is blogging but has not been to confession, stop blogging and go, and go often these days. The time is now. Be ready.
God bless you.
Greg J Cring
That's amazing Greg! And thank you very much for your support! You might like to know that I had the entire theme of this pontificate pegged in the only post I have ever written about Medjugorje - that of the Christ-child (represented on earth by his Vicar) among the doctors of the law in the Temple. I made this connection since the Worthy Shepherd Prophecy indicated that the Angelic Pope would be elected during the millennial anniversary of the Finding in the Temple. This post was first published in January 2013, one month before the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI, and remains unaltered. I took it down for a while because it was so heavily connected with Medjugorje, but I have now put it back up, in light of the Vatican commission findings.
http://unveilingtheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/a-heavenly-annunciation.html
The starving people in St. Jacinta's vision must be the millions of devout D&R being denied Holy Communion in the age of the unbinding of Satan, when the Devil had already completely undermined the Sacrament of Marriage. There are not that many canonically valid marriages anymore, since most people don't believe in its indissolubility, or openness to life, as Pope Francis teaches.
"One day, (Lucy says) we spent our siesta down by my parents’ well. Jacinta sat on the stone slabs on top of the well. Francisco and I climbed up a steep bank in search of wild honey among the brambles in a nearby thicket.
«After a little while, Jacinta called out to me: “Didn’t you see the Holy Father?” “No.” “I don’t know how it happened, but I saw the Holy Father in a very big house, kneeling by a table, with his head buried in his hands, and he was weeping. Outside the house, there were many people. Some of them were throwing stones, others were cursing him and using bad language. Poor Holy Father, we must pray very much for him.”
«One day, (Lucy continues) two priests recommended us to pray for the Holy Father, and explained to us who the Pope was. Afterwards, Jacinta asked me: “Is he the one I saw weeping, the one Our Lady told us about in the Secret?” “Yes, he is.” “The Lady must surely have shown him also to those priests. You see, I wasn’t mistaken. We need to pray a lot for him.”»
Another time, (Lucy writes) we went to the cave called Lapa do Cabeço. As soon as we got there, we prostrated on the ground, saying the prayers the Angel had taught us.
«After some time, Jacinta stood up and called to me: “Can’t you see all those highways and roads and fields full of people, who are crying with hunger and have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And so many people praying with him?”
«Some days later, she asked me: “Can I say that I saw the Holy Father and all those people?” "No. Don’t you see that that’s part of the Secret? If you do, they’ll find out right away.” “All right! Then I’ll say nothing at all.”»
So they didn't actually name Francis? Could easily have been Pius XII then? Or St John Paul II? Didn't they consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart?? In Portugal the dogma of the faith will always be kept? Logically then elsewhere it won't?
For our present Holy Father, May the Holy Spirit guide him to serve God not man with fidelity
Immaculate Heart Of Mary who will crush all heresies, pray for him.
St Michael the Archangel pray for him.
St Athanasius pray for him.
St Paul pray for him.
St John Vianney pray for him.
St Thomas More pray for him.
Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!
https://onepeterfive.com/popes-new-book-features-preface-by-lgbt-gender-theory-activist/
Pope’s New Book Features Preface by LGBT & Gender Theory Activist
It appears that when it comes to the ideological colonization of children he condemns, his actual philosophy is a far more familiar one: “Who am I to judge?”
chris
Well,well this didn't take too long at all, Cardinal Parolin Secretary of state is caling for dialogue over the correction!! Parrahesia here we come!
May have spoken to soon about dialogue, a terribly upsetting read over on Fr Blake blog 😞
http://marymagdalen.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/to-sign-or-not-to-sign.html?m=1
Priest's in fear, another example of the 'merciful' treatment dished out by the junta ala Fransican Friars of the Immaculate 😞
Peter has no need of our lies or flattery. Those who blindly and
indiscriminately defend every decision of the supreme Pontiff are the very
ones who do most to undermine the authority of the Holy See -- they
destroy instead of strengthening its foundations. --Melchior Cano,
Theologian of the Council of Trent
The Holy Father will have much to suffer..... What happens on Oct 13 or will it be June 13, 2029 before divine retribution is imposed on Rome and the world? Lord Jesus come quickly! Amen
Does anyone ever worry about self-fulfilling prophecy?
At least 50 dead, 200 injured in shooting on Las Vegas Strip - The Washington Post
https://apple.news/A0gApio4oS-m0qAtxa4K7pw
Worst mass shooting in U.S. history. I don't know the gunman's beliefs, but my first thought was "oh no...what if this is some crazy person who KNEW about the 40 days of repentance/day of atonement and sought out "Sin City" taking the chastisement into his own hands??? :(
Again, don't know the details. But I worry about that scenario!
So, 8 months later and we're all still here. American cities rapidly rebuilding - as they always do - from hurricanes. Seasonal wildfires out. Koreas stumbling toward peace. Care to revise this prophecy?
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