``Where the
Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
Marian Apparitions
Deemed "Worthy of Belief"
The
Church takes Marian (and other) apparitions quite seriously, and only
after great care and study deems a particular apparition as "worthy of
belief." There are only a very few apparitions of Mary that
have been given this status -- and many false apparitions due to
psychosis, preternatural goings-on,
and fraud. In any case, no Catholic is ever bound to
believe in any Marian apparition --- even those deemed "worthy
of belief."
Until and unless a given claim of a "Mary sighting" has been
studied and approved by the Church by being given the status of "worthy
of belief," it should be ignored; the Evil One is the father of lies
and can use the apparently
miraculous to deceive.
Read on to find out more about some
of the approved apparitions.
Note: No matter what you may see in your diocese's newspaper and
otherwise orthodox Catholic websites and media outlets, the apparitions
at Medjugorje have not been deemed to be authentic -- quite the
opposite!While
some truly wonderful Catholics have had
nice experiences there and may have even experienced something at least
preternatural
and which may have seemed
miraculous, and in spite of Pope Francis okaying pilgrimages made
there, great and
scandalous controversy surrounds the whole Medjugorje phenomenon,
including allegations of profit-mongering, money-laundering, out and
out lying and hoaxes, and even that some of the messages attributed to
the Virgin are heretical, for example, her allegedly having said that
"all religions
are equally pleasing to God." A 1985 statement made by the bishops'
conference of Yugoslavia asserts that there is "no evidence whatsoever
of supernatural phenomena at Medjugorje" and that the visions are the
"fruit of fabrications, fraud, and disobedience to the Church.." See
Michael Davies's "Medjugorje After
Twenty-One Years" (pdf), one of the many books that can be found in
this site's Catholic Library. The
phenomena from Garabandal are also not
approved by the Church.
Our Lady
of Guadalupe
Date: 9-12 December 1531
Place: Tepeyac, Mexico
Visionary: Juan Diego
In 1531, a poor, 57-year
old widowed Indian named Juan Diego, né Cuauhtlatoatzin, meaning "Eagle
That Talks," saw a vision of Our Lady, clothed with the sun. She told
him that she was the Mother of the True God and asked him to have the
Bishop build a church at the site she appeared. The Bishop did not
believe Juan Diego, but the latter kept going back to the Bishop in
total persistence. The Bishop asked for proof that what he was saying
was true. The Virgin appeared to Juan again and told him to return the
next day (12 December) for the proof the Bishop wanted.
Now, Juan's Uncle, Bernardino, was seriously ill at that time, so Juan
went off to find a priest for him instead of going to where Our Lady
had appeared. She appeared to him anyway (also simultaneously appearing
to Juan's Uncle and curing him through the power of God) and told him
to go to the top of a hill. When he did, he found Castilian roses
blooming in the winter frost. These he gathered up into his tilma
(cloak) and went to see the Bishop. There, he opened his tilma,
revealing the flowers -- and an image of the Virgin "imprinted" (not
painted; noone can explain the original image
aside from reference to the miraculous) on the cloak itself, the
popular image we know today and as seen at left in the picture. That
tilma, made of a peasant-quality cloth, should have fallen apart around
20 years after the apparition if it is made like the typical tilma of
the time, but it and the miraculous image it bears remain today --
perfectly intact, with no signs of decay (if it is made of hemp, it
would last longer).
Mary's title with regard to this apparition comes from her having used
the Aztec Nahuatl word, coatlaxopeuh, which means "Who Crushes
the Serpent." The word when pronounced sounds much like "Guadalupe," a
village in Spain.
Because of her appearing to Juan Diego and the existence of the
miraculous tilma, millions of Indians converted to Christianity from
the barbaric Aztec religion that involved human sacrifice; Mexico
became a Christian nation.
Our Lady
of Good Success
Date: very early 17th c., first approved 1611
Place: Quito, Ecuador
Visionary: Venerable Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres
The story of Our Lady of
Good Success is a most fascinating one -- and incredibly important and
timely, as many of the prophecies of our Lady and our Lord given to
Mariana pertain explicitly to the 20th c. and thereafter.
Mother Mariana was a Spanish Conceptionist nun, blessed with the
charismata of discernment and prophecy, who ran a convent in Quito,
Ecuador. First, Our Lady told her to make a life-sized statue of her
holding the Infant Jesus under the title "Our Lady of Good Success."
The statue was begun by a local sculptor, but was miraculously
completed in 1611 by the Archangels.
Our Lady told her that at the end of the 19th Century and especially in
the 20th Century, Satan would reign almost completely by the means of
the Masonic sect. She told Mother Mariana that this battle would reach
its most acute stage because of various unfaithful religious, who,
"under the appearance of virtue and bad-spirited zeal, would turn upon
Religion, who nourished them at her breast."
"During this time, insomuch as this poor country will lack the
Christian spirit, the Sacrament of Extreme Unction will be little
esteemed. Many people will die without receiving it - either because of
the negligence of their families or their false sentimentality that
tries to protect the sick from seeing the gravity of their situations,
or because they will rebel against the spirit of the Catholic Church,
impelled by the malice of the devil. Thus many souls will be deprived
of innumerable graces, consolations and the strength they need to make
that great leap from time to eternity..."
"As for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of
Christ with His Church, it will be attacked and profaned in the fullest
sense of the word. Masonry, which will then be in power, will enact
iniquitous laws with the objective of doing away with this Sacrament,
making it easy for everyone to live in sin, encouraging the procreation
of illegitimate children born without the blessing of the Church. The
Christian spirit will rapidly decay, extinguishing the precious light
of Faith until it reaches the point that there will be an almost total
and general corruption of customs. The effects of secular education
will increase, which will be one reason for the lack of priestly and
religious vocations..."
"The Sacred Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed and
despised. ...The demon will
try to persecute the Ministers of the Lord
in every possible way and he will labor with cruel and subtle
astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation,
corrupting many of them. These corrupted priests, who will scandalize
the Christian people, will incite the hatred of the bad Christians and
the enemies of the Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church to fall upon
all priests. This apparent triumph of Satan will bring enormous
sufferings to the good Pastors of the Church...."
"Moreover, in these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury
which, acting thus to snare the rest into sin, will conquer innumerable
frivolous souls who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be
found in children, nor modesty in women, and in this supreme moment of
need of the Church, those who should speak will fall silent."
"But know, beloved daughter, that when your name is made known in the
20th century, there will be many who will not believe, claiming that
this devotion is not pleasing to God...A simple humble faith in the
truth of My apparitions to you, My predilect child, will be reserved
for humble and fervent souls docile to the inspirations of grace, for
Our Heavenly Father communicates His secrets to the simple of heart,
and not to those whose hearts are inflated with pride, pretending to
know what they do not, or self-satisfied with empty knowledge..."
Our Lady said, "...the secular Clergy will leave much to be desired
because priests will become careless in their sacred duties. Lacking
the divine compass, they will stray from the road traced by God for the
priestly ministry, and they will become attached to wealth and riches,
which they will unduly strive to obtain. How the Church will suffer
during this dark night! Lacking a Prelate and Father to guide them with
paternal love, gentleness, strength, wisdom and prudence, many priests
will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger. This will
mark the arrival of My hour."
"Therefore, clamor insistently without tiring and weep with bitter
tears in the privacy of your heart, imploring our Celestial Father
that, for love of the Eucharistic Heart of my Most Holy Son and His
Precious Blood shed with such generosity and the profound bitterness
and sufferings of His cruel Passion and Death, He might take pity on
His ministers and bring to an end those Ominous times, sending to this
Church the Prelate who will restore the spirit of its priests."
She predicted a truly Catholic president of Ecuador who would dedicate
that country to the Sacred Heart and who would be assassinated by
Masons (this happened during the presidency of Gabriel Garcia Moreno,
1821-1875. Read more here).
She predicted that the Immaculate Conception and Papal Infallibility
would be strictly defined and declared dogma (these happened in 1854
and 1870, respectively).
She predicted that a Pope would be a prisoner in the Vatican and that
there would come to pass "the unjust usurpation of the Pontifical
States through the iniquity, envy and avarice of an earthly monarch"
(these things happened in the 19th c. during the pontificate of Blessed
Pope Pius IX).
Another prediction yet to come concerns the statue shown above left.
The Infant Jesus part of the statue isn't original: a Conceptionist
sister hid the original statue during a revolution and died before
revealing where she'd secreted it. Our Lady told Mother Mariana that
the original statue would be found after the restoration of the Church
had begun.
Mother Mariana predicted the day and exact hour of her death (she died
at 3:00 P.M. on January 16, 1635). After death, her body remained
flexible and lovely. A blind girl was cured at Mother's wake when a
flower that encircled Mother's head was touched to her eyes.
In 1906, Mother Mariana's casket was opened and her body was found to
be incorrupt, exuding the fragrance of lilies. One may view it by
visiting the convent in Quito.
On the night of 18 July,
1830, a "child" (angel?) awakened Sr. Catherine Labouré in her Parisian
convent, telling her to go to the convent's chapel. There she saw Mary,
who told her she was going to give her a mission.
On 27 November of that year, Catherine saw a vision of Mary holding a
globe that, Mary told her, represented the world -- especially France,
a country whose faithful had recently suffered horrible persecutions in
the Revolution's Terrors and was still going through "Enlightenment"
perfidy. The vision changed to Mary standing on a globe, rays of light
streaming from her fingers, enframed in an oval frame inscribed with
the words, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have
recourse to thee." The whole vision "turned" showing the back of the
oval inscribed with the letter "M" entwined with a Cross, and the
hearts of Jesus and Mary, the former surrounded with thorns, the latter
pierced with a sword. 12 stars circled this oval frame. Mary told her
to strike a medal in this form, and that all who wore it after having
it blessed would receive graces. This medal, seen below, has become one
of the most commonly worn sacramentals in the Western Church and is
known as the "Miraculous Medal."
St. Catherine Labouré's body remains incorrupt to this day.
Our Lady
of La Salette
Date: 19 September 1846
Place: La Salette, France
Visionaries: Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud
Melanie Calvat and Maximin
Giraud were two children from Corps, France, near the town of Grenoble
in the southeastern part of France. When Melanie was 14, and Maximin
was 11, they were watching cattle in a pasture when they saw a globe of
light that "opened" to reveal a most beautiful woman, clad in long
dress and apron, with a shawl that crossed in front and tied in back.
Around her neck was a Crucifix that depicted the instruments of the
Passion, and on her head were a cap and roses. She sat on a rock with
her face in her hands weeping. Melanie descbibed the woman like this:
The Most Holy Virgin was
tall and well-proportioned. She seemed so light that a mere breath
could have stirred her, yet She was motionless and perfectly balanced.
Her face was majestic, imposing, but not imposing in the manner of the
Lord’s here below. She compelled a respectful fear. At the same time as
her Majesty compelled respect mingled with love, she drew me to her.
Her gaze was soft and penetrating. Her eyes seemed to speak to mine,
but the conversation came out of a deep and vivid feeling of love for
this ravishing beauty that was liquefying me. The softness of her gaze,
the air of incomprehensible goodness made me understand and feel that
she was drawing me to her and wanted to give herself. It was an
expression of love which cannot be expressed with the tongue, nor with
the letters of the alphabet.
The clothing of the Most Holy Virgin was silver white and quite
brilliant. It was quite intangible. It was made up of light and glory,
sparkling and dazzling. There is neither expression nor comparison to
be found on Earth.
The Holy Virgin was all beauty and all love; the sight of her
overwhelmed me. In her finery as in her person, everything radiated the
majesty, the splendor, the magnificence of a Queen beyond compare. She
seemed as white, immaculate, crystallized, dazzling, heavenly, fresh
and new as a Virgin. The word LOVE seemed to slip from Her pure and
silvery lips. She appeared to me like a good Mother, full of kindness,
amiability, of love for us, of compassion and mercy.
The crown of roses which She had place on her head was so beautiful, so
brilliant, that it defies imagination. The different colored roses were
not of this Earth; it was a joining together of flowers which crowned
the head of the Most Holy Virgin. But the roses kept changing and
replacing each other, and then, from the heart of each rose, there
shone a beautiful entrancing light, which gave the roses a shimmering
beauty. From the crown of roses there seemed to arise golden branches
and a number of little flowers mingled with the shining ones. The whole
thing formed a most beautiful diadem, which alone shone brighter than
our earth’s sun.
The Holy Virgin had a most pretty cross hanging round her neck. This
cross seemed golden, (I say golden rather than gold-plated, for I have
sometimes seen objects which were golden with varying shades of gold,
which had a much more beautiful effect on my eyes than simple
gold-plate). On this shining beautiful cross, there was a Christ; it
was our Lord on the Cross. Near both ends of the cross there was a
hammer, and at the other end, a pair of tongs.
The Christ was skin-colored, but He shone dazzlingly; and the light
shone forth from His holy body seemed like brightly shining darts which
pierced my heart with the desire to melt inside Him. At times, the
Christ appeared to be dead. His head was bent forward and His body
seemed to give way, as if about to fall, had He not been held back by
the nails which held Him to the cross.
The Holy Virgin was crying nearly the whole time she was speaking to
me. Her tears flowed gently, one by one, down to her knees, then, like
sparks of light, they disappeared. They were glittering and full of
love. I would have liked to comfort her and stop Her tears. But it
seemed to me that she needed the tears to show better Her love
forgotten by men.
I would have liked to throw myself into Her arms and say to her: “My
kind Mother, do not cry! I want to love you for all men on Earth.” But
she seemed to be saying to me: “There are so many who know me not!”
I was in between life and death, and on one side, I saw so much desire
by this Mother to be loved, and on another side, so much cold and
indifference . . . Oh! My Mother, most beautiful and lovable Mother, my
love, heart of my heart!
The tears of our sweet Mother, far from lessoning her air of majesty,
of a Queen and a Mistress, seemed, on the contrary, to embellish her,
to make her more beautiful, more powerful, more filled with love, more
maternal, more ravishing, and I could have wiped away her tears which
made my heart leap with compassion and love. To see a mother cry, and
such a Mother, without doing everything possible to comfort her and
change her grief to joy, is that possible?
Oh! Mother, who is more than good; you have been formed with all the
prerogatives God is able to make; you have married the power of God, so
to speak; you are good, and more, you are good with the goodness of God
Himself. God has extended Himself by making you His terrestrial and
celestial masterpiece.
The Most Holy Virgin had a yellow pinafore. What am I saying, yellow?
She had a pinafore more brilliant than several suns put together. It
was not a tangible material; it was composed of glory, and this glory
was scintillating, and ravishingly beautiful. Everything in the Holy
Virgin carried me firmly and made me kind of slide into the adoration
and love of my Jesus in every state of His mortal life.
The Most Holy Virgin had two chains, one a little wider than the other.
From the narrower one, hung the cross which I mentioned earlier. These
chains (since they must be given the name of chains) were like rays of
brightly shining glory, sparkling and dazzling. Her shoes (since they
must be called shoes) were white, but a silvery brilliant white. There
were roses around them. These roses were dazzlingly beautiful, and from
the heart of each rose there shone forth a flame of very beautiful and
pleasing light. On Her shoes there was a buckle of gold, not the gold
of this earth, but rather the gold of paradise.
The sight of the Holy Virgin was itself a perfect paradise. She had
everything needed to satisfy, for earth had been forgotten. The Holy
Virgin was surrounded by two lights. The first light, the nearer to the
Most Holy Virgin, reached as far as us. It shone most beautifully and
scintillatingly.
The second light shone out a little around the Beautiful Lady and we
found ourselves bathed in it. It was motionless (that is to say it
wasn’t scintillating) but much more brilliant than our poor sun on
earth. All this light did not harm nor tire the eyes in any way.
In addition to all these lights, all this splendor, there shone forth
concentrations or beams of light and single rays of light from the body
of the Holy Virgin, from Her clothes and from all over her.
The voice of the Beautiful Lady was soft. It was enchanting, ravishing,
warming to the heart. It satisfied, flattered every obstacle, it
soothed and softened. It seemed to me I could never stop eating up her
beautiful voice and my heart seemed to dance or want to go towards her
and melt inside her.
The eyes of the Most Holy Virgin, our sweet Mother, cannot be described
in human language. To speak of them, you would need a seraph, you would
need more than that, you would need the language of God Himself, of the
God who formed the immaculate Virgin, the masterpiece of His
omnipotence. The eyes of the majestic Mary appeared thousands of times
more beautiful than the rarest brilliants, diamonds, and precious
stones. They shone like two suns; they were soft, softness itself, as
clear as a mirror. In her eyes, you could see paradise. They drew you
to Her, She seemed to want to draw and give Herself.
The more I looked, the more I wanted to see; the more I saw, the more I
loved Her and I loved Her with all my might.
The eyes of the beautiful Immaculate One were like the door to God’s
Kingdom, from which you could see all that can elate the soul. When my
eyes met those of the Mother of God, I felt within me a happy
revolution of love and wanted to declare that I love her and that I am
melting with love. As we looked at each other, our eyes spoke to each
other in their fashion, and I loved her so much I could have kissed her
in the middle of her eyes, which touched my soul and seemed to draw it
towards them, making it melt into Hers. Her eyes set up a sweet
trembling in all my being; and I was afraid to make the slightest
movement which might cause her the slightest displeasure.
Just the sight of the eyes of the purest of Virgins would have been
enough to make the heaven of a blessed creature, enough to fill the
soul with the will of the Most High amid the events which occurs in the
course of mortal life, enough to make the soul perform continual acts
of praise, of thanksgiving, of atonement and expiation. Just this sight
focuses the soul on God, and makes it like a living-death, looking upon
all the things of this earth, even the things which seem the most
serious, as nothing but children’s playthings. The soul would want to
hear no one speaking unless they spoke of God, and of that which
affects His Glory.
Sin is the only evil She sees on earth. She will die of grief unless
God sustains Her.
The Lady said that unless
the people repented of working on Sundays and
of blasphemy, she'd be forced to let go her Son's arm because it had
grown so heavy. She said that crop blights and famine would follow if
her wishes weren't heeded. She then told each of the children a secret.
Maximin's secret as written down by him at the Bishop's palace on 3
July 1851, and delivered to Pope Pius IX:
On September 19, 1846, we
saw a beautiful Lady. We never said that this lady was the Blessed
Virgin but we always said that it was a beautiful Lady.
I do not know if it is the Blessed Virgin or another person. As for me,
I believe today that it is the Blessed Virgin. Here is what this Lady
said to me:
"If my people continue, what I will say to you will arrive earlier, if
it changes a little, it will be a little later.
France has corrupted the universe, one day it will be punished. The
faith will die out in France: three quarters of France will not
practice religion anymore, or almost no more, the other part will
practice it without really practicing it. Then, after [that], nations
will convert, the faith will be rekindled everywhere. A great country,
now Protestant, in the north of Europe, will be converted; by the
support of this country all the other nations of the world will be
converted.
Before all that arrives, great disorders will arrive, in the Church,
and everywhere. Then, after [that], our Holy Father the Pope will be
persecuted. His successor will be a pontiff that nobody expects.
Then, after [that], a great peace will come, but it will not last a
long time. A monster will come to disturb it.
All that I tell you here will arrive in the other century, at the
latest in the year two thousand."
Maximin Giraud
(She told me to say it some time before.)
My Most Holy Father, your holy blessing to one of your sheep.
Grenoble, July 3,1851.
Melanie's secret as written
by her on 6 July 1851 in Corenc, at the Sisters of Providence, and
delivered to Pope Pius IX:
J.M.J.
secret which the Blessed Virgin gave me on the Mountain of La Salette
on September 19, 1846
Secret.
Mélanie, I will say something to you which you will not say to anybody:
The time of the God's wrath has arrived!
If, when you say to the people what I have said to you so far, and what
I will still ask you to say, if, after that, they do not convert, (if
they do not do penance, and they do not cease working on Sunday, and if
they continue to blaspheme the Holy Name of God), in a word, if the
face of the earth does not change, God will be avenged against the
people ungrateful and slave of the demon.
My Son will make his power manifest! Paris, this city soiled by all
kinds of crimes, will perish infallibly. Marseilles will be destroyed
in a little time. When these things arrive, the disorder will be
complete on the earth, the world will be given up to its impious
passions.
The pope will be persecuted from all sides, they will shoot at him,
they will want to put him to death, but no one will not be able to do
it, the Vicar of God will triumph again this time.
The priests and the Sisters, and the true servants of my Son will be
persecuted, and several will die for the faith of Jesus-Christ.
A famine will reign at the same time.
After all these will have arrived, many will recognize the hand of God
on them, they will convert, and do penance for their sins.
A great king will go up on the throne, and will reign a few years.
Religion will re-flourish and spread all over the world, and there will
be a great abundance, the world, glad not to be lacking nothing, will
fall again in its disorders, will give up God, and will be prone to its
criminal passions.
[Among] God's ministers, and the Spouses of Jesus-Christ, there will be
some who will go astray, and that will be the most terrible.
Lastly, hell will reign on earth. It will be then that the Antichrist
will be born of a Sister, but woe to her! Many will believe in him,
because he will claim to have come from heaven, woe to those who will
believe in him!
That time is not far away, twice 50 years will not go by.
My child, you will not say what I have just said to you. (You will not
say it to anybody, you will not say if you must say it one day, you
will not say what that it concerns), finally you will say nothing
anymore until I tell you to say it!
I pray to Our Holy Father the Pope to give me his holy blessing.
Mélanie Mathieu, Shepherdess of La Salette, Grenoble, July 6, 1851.
J.M.J.+
After
this, the story gets confused and controversial, just as did the
secrets told at Fatima (see below). Some years later, after having read
a lot of "end of the world" literature, Melanie is said to have written
a much longer
version in which she said that part of what Our Lady told her was that
Rome was to become the seat of the antichrist. This is how the secret
was published in 1879, with an Imprimatur
from the Bishop of Lecce, Italy:
The Message of Our lady of La Salette:
"Mélanie, what I am going to tell you now will not always be a secret;
you can publish it in 1858.
"Priests, my Son's ministers, priests, by their evil life, by their
irreverences and their impiety in celebrating the holy mysteries, love
of money, love of honor and pleasures, priests have become sewers of
impurity. Yes, priests call forth vengeance, and vengeance is suspended
over their heads. Woe to priests, and to persons consecrated to God,
who by their infidelities and their evil life are crucifying my son
anew! The sins of persons consecrated to God cry to heaven and call for
vengeance, and now here is vengeance at their very doors, for no longer
is anyone found to beg mercy and pardon for the people; there are no
more generous souls, there is now no one worthy of offering the
spotless Victim to the Eternal on the worlds behalf.
"God will strike in an unparalleled manner. Woe to the inhabitants of
the earth! God will exhaust His anger, and no one will be able to
escape so many evils at once. The heads, the leaders of the people of
God, have neglected prayer and penance, and the devil has darkened
their minds; they have become those wandering stars which the ancient
devil will drag with his tail to destruction. God will permit the
ancient serpent to sow divisions among rulers, in all societies and in
all families; both physical and moral punishments will be suffered. God
will abandon men to themselves and will send chastisements one after
the other for over 35 years.
"Society is on the very eve of most terrible scourges and greatest
events; one must expect to be governed by a rod of iron and to drink
the chalice of God's wrath.
"Let not my Son's Vicar, the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX leave Rome after
the year 1859; but let him be steadfast and generous, let him do battle
with the weapons of faith and love; I shall be with him.
"Let him beware of Napoleon; his heart is double, and when he will want
to be both Pope and emperor at the same time, God will soon withdraw
from him; he is that eagle who, desiring always to rise, will fall on
the sword he wanted to use to force the peoples to exalt him.
"Italy will be punished for its ambition in wanting to shake of the
yoke of the Lord of lords; thus she will be handed over to war; blood
will flow on all sides; Churches will be closed or desecrated; priests,
religious will be driven out; they will be put to death, and to a cruel
death. Many will abandon the faith, and the number of priests and
religious who will separate themselves from the true religion will be
great; even Bishops will be found among these persons.
"Let the Pope beware of miracle workers, for the time has come for the
most astonishing wonders to take place on the earth and in the air.
"In the year 1864 Lucifer, together with a great number of devils, will
be loosed from hell; little by little they will abolish the faith, and
that even in persons consecrated to God; they will so blind them, that
without a special grace, these persons will take on the spirit of these
evil angels; a number of religious houses will lose the faith entirely
and cause many souls to be damned.
"Bad books will abound over the earth, and the spirits of darkness will
everywhere spread universal relaxation in everything concerning God's
service: they will have very great power over nature; there will be
churches to serve these spirits. People will be transported from one
place to another by these evil spirits, and even priests, because they
will not have lived by the good spirit of the gospel, which is a spirit
of humility, charity and zeal for the glory of God. The dead and the
just will be made to rise."
[Mélanie interpolated here: "That is to say, these dead will assume the
prospect of righteous souls who once lived on earth, in order to seduce
men more easily; these so-called resurrected dead, who will be nothing
other than the devil under these faces, will preach another Gospel
contrary to that of the true Christ Jesus, denying the existence of
heaven, if these be not in fact the souls of the damned. All these
souls will appear joined to their bodies."]
"There will be extraordinary wonders every place because the true faith
has been extinguished and false light illumines the world. Woe to the
princes of the church who will be occupied only with piling up riches
upon riches, with guarding their authority and lording with pride!
"My Son's Vicar will have much to suffer, because for a time the Church
will be handed over to great persecutions: it will be the time of
darkness; the Church will undergo a frightful crisis.
"With God's holy faith forgotten, each individual will want to direct
himself and rise above his peers. Civil and ecclesiastical authority
will be abolished , all order and justice will be trampled underfoot.
Only murders, hatred, jealousy, lying and discord will be seen, with no
love of country or family.
"The Holy Father will suffer greatly. I shall be with him till the end
to receive his sacrifice.
"The wicked will make a number of attempts on his life without being
able to harm him; but neither he nor his successor will see the triumph
of God's Church.
"Civil governments will all have the same objective, which will be to
abolish and make every religious principle disappear, to make way for
materialism, atheism, spiritism and vices of all kinds.
"In the year 1865, the abomination will be seen in the holy places; in
the convents the flowers of the Church will putrefy, and the devil will
establish himself as king of all hearts. Let those who are at the head
of religious communities be on their guard concerning the persons they
are to receive, because the devil will use all his malice to introduce
into religious orders persons given to sin, for disorders and love of
carnal pleasures will be widespread over the whole earth.
"France, Italy, Spain and England will be at war, blood will flow in
the streets; Frenchmen will fight Frenchmen, Italian with Italian; then
there will be a general war which will be appalling. For some time God
will no longer remember France or Italy, because the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is no longer known. The wicked will unleash all their malice;
even in homes there will be killing and mutual massacres.
"With the first lightning blow of His sword, the mountains and all
nature will tremble with dread, because the disorders and crimes of men
are piercing the vault of the heavens. Paris will be burned and
Marseilles swallowed up; a number of large cities will be shattered and
swallowed by earthquakes; all will seem lost; only murders will be
seen, the clash of arms and blasphemies heard. The righteous will
suffer greatly; their prayers, their penances and their tears will rise
to heaven and all God's people will ask pardon and mercy and will ask
my help and intercession. Then Jesus Christ, by an act of His justice
and His great mercy toward the righteous, will command His angels to
put all His enemies to death. At one blow the persecutors of the Church
of Jesus Christ and all men given to sin will perish, and the earth
will become like a desert.
"Then there will be peace, the reconciliation of God with men; Jesus
Christ will be served, adored and glorified; charity will flourish
everywhere. The new kings will be the right arm of Holy Church, which
will be strong, humble, pious, poor, zealous and imitative of the
virtues of Jesus Christ. The Gospel will be preached everywhere, and
men will make great strides in the faith, because there will be unity
among Jesus Christ's workers and men will live in the fear of God.
"This peace among men will not last long: 25 years of abundant harvests
will make them forget that the sins of men are the cause of all the
woes which happen on earth.
"A precursor of the Antichrist, with his troops drawn from many
nations, will wage war against the true Christ, sole Savior of the
world; he will shed much blood and will seek to annihilate the cult of
God so as to be regarded as a god.
"The earth will be struck with plagues of all kinds;" [Mélanie added
here: "Besides pestilence and famine, which will be widespread"] "there
will be wars up to the last war, which will then be waged by the ten
kings of the Antichrist, kings who will all have a common design and
will be the sole rulers of the world. Before this happens, there will
be a sort of false peace in the world; people will think only of
amusing themselves; the wicked will indulge in all kinds of sin; but
the children of Holy Church, children of the true faith, my true
imitators, will grow in the love of God and in the virtues dearest to
me. Happy the humble souls lead by the Holy Ghost! I shall battle along
with them until they reach the fullness of maturity.
"Nature begs vengeance on account of men, and she shudders with dread,
awaiting what must happen to the crime-stained earth.
"Tremble, earth, and you who profess to serve Jesus Christ, while
interiorly you adore yourselves, tremble; for God will hand you over to
His enemy, because the holy places are in a state of corruption; many
convents are no longer houses of God, but pastures for Asmodeus and his
own.
"It will be at this time that the Antichrist will be born of a Hebrew
nun, a false virgin who will be in communication with the ancient
serpent, master of impurity; his father will be a bishop (Ev.). [We
spell out the word "bishop" here. In the French text appear only the
first two letters of évèque, the French word for bishop, but there is
little doubt that this is the word they stand for, because in Mélanie's
first draft of the message the whole word is spelled out.]
"At birth he will vomit blasphemies, he will have teeth; in a word,
this will be the devil incarnate; he will utter terrifying cries, he
will work wonders, he will live only on impurities. He will have
brothers who, although not incarnate devils like himself, will be
children of evil; at the age of twelve, they will be noted for the
valiant victories they will win; soon they will each be at the head of
armies, assisted by legions from hell.
"The seasons will be changed, the earth will produce only bad fruits,
the heavenly bodies will lose the regularity of their movements, the
moon will reflect only a feeble reddish light; water and fire will lend
convulsive motions to the earth's sphere, causing mountains , cities,
etc., to be swallowed up.
"Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of the Antichrist.
"The demons of the air, together with the Antichrist, will work great
wonders on the earth and in the air, and men will become ever more
perverted. God will take care of His faithful servants and mend of good
will; the Gospel will be preached everywhere, all peoples and all
nations will have knowledge of the Truth.
"I address a pressing appeal to the earth: I call upon the true
disciples of the God living and reigning in the heavens; I call upon
the true imitators of Christ made man, the one true Savior of men; I
call upon my children, my true devotees, those who have given
themselves o me so that I may lead them to my Divine Son, those whom I
bear as it were in my arms, those who have lived in my spirit; finally,
I call upon the Apostles of the Latter Times, the faithful disciples of
Jesus Christ who have lived in contempt of the world and of themselves,
in poverty and humility, in contempt and silence, in prayer and
mortification, in chastity and in union with God, in suffering, and
unknown to the world. It is time for them to emerge and come enlighten
the earth. Go, show yourselves to be my dear children; I am with you
and in you, provided your faith is the light enlightening you in these
evil times. May your zeal make your famished for the glory and honor of
Jesus Christ. Do battle, children of light, you, the few who see
thereby; fir the time of times, the end of ends, is at hand.
"The Church will be eclipsed, the world will be in consternation. But
there are Enoch and Elias, they will preach with the power of God, and
men of good will will believe in God, and many souls will be comforted;
they will make great progress by virtue of the Holy Ghost and will
condemn the diabolical errors of the Antichrist.
"Woe to the inhabitants of the earth. There will be bloody wars, and
famines; plagues and contagious diseases; there will be frightful
showers of animals; thunders which will demolish cities; earthquakes
which will engulf countries; voices will be heard in the air; men will
beat their heads against the walls; they will call on death, yet death
will constitute their torment; blood will flow on all sides. Who could
overcome, if God doesn't shorten the time of trial? At the blood, tears
and prayers of the righteous, God will relent; Enoch and Elias will be
put to death; pagan Rome will disappear; the fire of Heaven will fall
and consume three cities; the whole universe will be struck with
terror, and many will allow themselves to be seduced because they
didn't adore the true Christ living in their midst. It is time; the sun
is darkening; Faith alone will survive.
"The time is at hand; the abyss is opening. Here is the king of the
kings of darkness. Here is the beast with its subjects, calling itself
the savior of the world. In pride he will rise skyward to go up to
Heaven; he will be stifled by the breath of St. Michael the Archangel.
He will fall and the earth -which for three days will be in constant
change- will open its fiery bosom; he will be plunged forever with all
his followers into hell's eternal chasms. Then water and fire will
purify the earth and consume all the works of men's pride, and
everything will be renewed; God will be served and glorified."
As
to the second version of the alleged secret, the Catholic Encyclopedia
has this to say:
A lively controversy followed as to whether the secret
published in 1879 was identical with that communicated to Pius IX in
1851, or in its second form it was not merely a work of the
imagination. The latter was the opinion of wise and prudent persons,
who were persuaded that a distinction must be made between the two
Mélanies, between the innocent and simple voyante of 1846 and the
visionary of 1879, whose mind had been disturbed by reading apocalyptic
books and the lives of illuminati. As Rome uttered no decision the
strife was prolonged between the disputants. Most of the defenders of
the text of 1879 suffered censure from their bishops.
Our Lady
of Lourdes
Date: 1858
Place: Lourdes, France
Visionary: Bernadette Soubirous
On February 11, 1858, when
she was 14 years old, the
poverty-stricken, asthmatic Bernadette Soubirous saw a vision of a
beautiful Lady in a grotto on the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes,
France.
The woman did not reveal her identity, but asked Bernadette to return.
Bernadette did, and the Lady revealed to her that she is "the
Immaculate Conception," and that a church should be built there.
Bernadette was a faithful Catholic, but a simple one, and she didn't
understand what the Lady meant by the title "Immaculate Conception"
even though it had been formally and dogmatically declared four years
ealier by Pope Pius IX. She went to her priest and related what she'd
been told by the beautiful Lady.
Bernadette was disbelieved and harrassed by
local French authorities, and crowds began to gather when news spread
and
when she wouldn't recant the story of her vision.
On 25 February, Bernadette was told to dig in the earth, which she
did to much mockery, but there, the healing waters of the now famous
Lourdes shrine were discovered where the Lady had appeared. Today,
millions of pilgrims visit the shrine to
bathe in its waters, and many miracles have taken place.
Bernadette
became a nun at Nevers, France and, suffering much from physical
ailments, died young. Her body remains incorrupt
at her convent to this day. St. Bernadette's story can be seen in the
1943 movie, "The Song of Bernadette," starring Jennifer Jones, who won
an Oscar for her portrayal of the Saint.
Our Lady
of Pontmain
Date: 1871
Place: Pontmain, Mayenne (formerly Maine/Anjou), France
Visionary: Many children, including one who grew up to be Fr. Joseph
Barbadette
In January of 1871, France
was in the middle of the Franco-Prussian war. The country had been
invaded by Prussians who were making their way to Brittany, which
borders Mayenne. The people in this northwestern part of France are the
most faithful Catholics in all of France, and their prayers went up as
Prussian troops prepared to attack the city of Laval -- with Pontmain,
a tiny hamlet, standing in the path of the oncoming enemy.
In that little town, on Janary 17, two boys - Eugene and Joseph
Barbadette --
were helping their father in their barn. Eugene stopped to look out the
window and saw, in the sky, a beautiful woman whom he later described
like this:
In the air, seven or eight
metres above Augustin Guidecoq’s house, I saw a woman of extraordinary
beauty. She appeared to be young about eighteen or twenty years of age
and tall of stature. She was clad in a garment of deep blue. When we
were told to describe exactly the shade of this blue, we could only do
so by comparing it to balls of indigo such as laundresses use for
rinsing linen.
Her dress was covered with gold stars, pentagonal in form, all of the
same size, and brilliant, but without emitting rays. They were not very
numerous, and seemed to be scattered over the blue without regard to
method.
The blue garment was ample, showing certain strongly-marked folds, and
without girdle or compression of any kind from the neck to the feet.
The sleeves were ample and long, falling over the hands. On the feet,
which the dress left uncovered, were chaussons of the same blue as the
dress and ornamented with gold bows.
On the head was a black veil half covering the forehead, concealing the
hair and ears, and falling over the shoulders. Above this was a gold
crown resembling a diadem, higher in front than elsewhere, and widening
out at the sides. A red line, from five to six millimetres wide,
encircled the crown at about the middle.
The hands were small, and extended towards us as in the miraculous
medal, but without emitting rays. The face was slightly oval.
To the freshness of youth was added the most exquisite delicacy of
feature and of tint, the complexion being pale rather than otherwise.
Smiles of ineffable sweetness played about the mouth. The eyes, of
unutterable tenderness, were fixed on us. I give up further attempting
to describe the beautiful figure of her who looked down upon us and
smiled. Like a true mother, she seemed happier in looking at us than we
in contemplating her.
His brother could see her, but his father couldn't. Their mother
couldn't see her either, but called the boys' teacher to come take a
look. The teacher couldn't see her, but intuited that perhaps only
children could see the Lady, so brought two girls to see. Without
having told the girls what to look for, the girls described the lady
exactly as the boys had.
A crowd gathered, but it was only children who were able to see the
Virgin; adults could only see a triangle of stars where the Lady stood
-- a triangle of stars which were only seen that night. Then a red
Cross appeared over the Lady's breast, and her face became sad.
Everyone began to pray the Rosary, and as they did, more and more stars
appeared on the Lady's gown until it appeared to be made of gold. The
Magnificat followed the Rosary, and then a white banner appeared under
the Lady's feet; its golden letters read, "Mais priez mes enfants, Dieu vous exaucera
en peu de temps. Mon fils se laisse toucher." (But pray, my
children, God will soon answer your prayers. My Son allows Himself to
be touched (moved by compassion).
Then they began to sing the hymn Mère
de l'Espérance (Mother of Hope):
Fr. Barbedette relates what happened next:
A red cross of about fifty
centimetres long appeared suddenly in front of the Blessed Virgin, who
lowered her hands to take hold of it, and then held it before her.
There was upon it the figure of Jesus Christ, also red, but of a
brighter hue. The head of the Crucified was neither thrown back nor
thrown forward, but slightly leaning to the left.
Near
the top of the cross there was a second cross-bar, smaller than the one
to which the arms were fastened; it was from seven to eight centimetres
wide, and white; upon it, in capital letters of bright red, were the
words: Jesus Christ.
The
Blessed Virgin clasped the cross a little below the feet of the
Crucified.
She
held it with both hands, these being at about the height of the waist,
and the left higher than the right. The lower extremity of the cross
could hardly be seen. The top of it was slightly bent forward.
The people began to sing Mon doux
Jesus (My Sweet Jesus) and Parce
Domine -- "Spare Thy People." Then they began Ave Maris Stella. A sort of veil
appeared at the feet of the Virgin and began to slowly unfold itself
upward until she was gone from view.
That same night, the Prussian suddenly and inexplicably retreated. The
next morning, the Prussian General -- General Schmidt -- is reported to
have said, "We cannot go farther. Yonder, in the direction of Brittany,
there is an invisible 'Madonna' barring the way." A few days later, on
January 23, an armistice was signed, and the war was over.
Our Lady
of Knock
Date: 21 August 1879
Place: Knock, Ireland
Visionaries: 15 people
Our Lady appeared in the
rain outside Saint John the Baptist Church, Knock, County Mayo, Ireland
with St. Joseph at her right, and with St. John the Evangelist at her
left. They appeared in a blaze of light and all dressed in white.
Mary
wore also a golden crown with a golden rose at her brow, and St. John
wore a mitre as a Bishop would, and held a large book in his hands.
Mary stood praying with her eyes and
hands raised toward Heaven. Behind them all was an altar with a Cross,
lamb, and adoring angels.
The vision was first seen by a woman who'd gone to lock up the church
and who ran into a friend. They saw what they thought at first were
statues, but wondering at them and moving closer, they saw they were
alive and were very much Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John!
Others
came, and altogether, the vision was witnessed by fifteen people of
various ages and both sexes, and lasted two hours, all during a
torrential rain. The vision was
followed by miraculous healings, and many healings are granted to this
day.
Our Lady
of Fatima
Date: 1917
Place: Fatima, Portugal
Visionaries: 3 children -- Lucia, Jacinta, Francisco
In the Spring of 1916, on
the back edge of WWI, before the Russian Revolution and when the world
was beginning to spin even more wildly out of control, an angel
appeared to three shepherd children -- Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta --
at Fatima, Portugal. The angel, who
called himself the Angel of Portugal, appeared three times, taught the
children various prayers and entreated them to penance and to offering
sacrifices to the Lord.
After these three appearances, a lull of eight months went by. Then, in
1917,
when Lucia was 10, Francisco was 9, and Jacinta was 7, Our Lady
appeared to the children, asking them to return to that site on the
13th day of each month for the next six months. (She would come six
times
to all the children, and also later to Lucia alone.)
During the first apparition, on 13 May 1917, Our Lady answered
questions from
the children about their fates. She said that they would all go to
Heaven (but Francisco would have a few Rosaries to say first). She told
them that of two of their friends who'd died, one was in Heaven and
another was in Purgatory. She then mentioned the war in Europe and told
the children to pray the Rosary for peace.
During the second apparition, she told the children to pray what has
become known as the "Fatima Prayer" during their Rosaries. When asked,
she said that Francisco and Jacinta would be in Heaven soon, but that
Lucia would stay to help bring people to Christ.
During the third apparition, three secrets were given to the children.
First, they were shown a vision of Hell.
Second, they were told of the "errors of Russia" and how they would
spread throughout the world unless the world mended its ways. To that
end, she called for penance and said that Russia should be consecrated
to her Immaculate Heart by the Pope and the Bishops in union with him,
and that the faithful should receive Communion of reparation in
atonement for the sins of the world on the first Saturday of each month
(the "First Saturdays" devotion). If these things aren't done, Russia's
errors would spread, the Church will be persecuted, various nations
will be annihilated, and the Holy Father will have much to suffer. The
children were told, "If men do not refrain from offending God, another
and more terrible war will begin during the pontificate of Pius
XI. When you see a night that is lit by a strange and unknown
light, you will know it is the sign God gives you that He is about to
punish the world with war and with hunger, and by the persecution of
the Church and the Holy Father."
Our Lady
said, though, that in the end, her Immaculate Heart would
triumph.
Lucia, warned by her Bishop that the apparitions could be demonic,
asked the Lady if she would tell them who she was and if she would
perform a miracle to help prove to others that the visions were real.
The Lady said she would.
During the fourth apparition, Our Lady gave the children instructions
concerning the chapel which was to be built and reassured them of the
miracle that would take place.
During the fifth apparition, she said that the promised miracle that
all
could see would take place during her next visit.
During that last apparition common to all the children, on October 13,
1917, crowds gathered;
around 70,000 people sloshed through the mud caused by the heavy rains
that had fallen all night to see the promise fulfilled. Mary referred
to herself as the "Lady of the Rosary," mentioned again the chapel that
would be built, and said the war would end soon. Suddenly, the dark
clouds that obscured the sky parted, revealing the sun as a softly lit
disk of spinning silver or an opalescent pearl shade. Thousands and
thousands saw the sun spin, dance, throw off many different rays of
color -- red, yellow, purple, blue light coloring all they saw. Some
swore they saw the sun crashing toward the earth. Even secular
newspapers reported what happened with the sun and that one could
witness the phenomenon without hurting one's eyes. People who'd gone to
the site to mock the children and the faithful found themselves in
tears, staring at the sky in amazement, converted to Christ. Then Our
Lady disappeared, and St. Joseph, holding the child Jesus, appeared to
the children, blessing the world by signing the Cross in the air. This
apparition went away, and then Christ and Mary (as Our Lady of Sorrows)
appeared, Christ blessing the world as his step-father had done. Then
Our Lady appeared alone again, only to Lucia's eyes, as Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel. After the miracle of the sun, the crowds saw that the
muddy,
wet fields and their clothing had dried.
Ilustração
Portuguesa, October 29, 1917
Click to enlarge
Then, some twenty years
after the first apparition to all the children, on the night between
the 25th and 26th of January, 1938, the strange sign in the sky that
Our Lady foretold would appear and signify God's punishment was seen
all over world, focused on Europe. This strange light was described by
the New York Times as "two magnificent arcs rising in the east and
west, from which radiated pulsating beams like searchlights in dark
red, greenish blue and purple." All transatlantic radio communication
was interrupted, and even landlines in Canada were affected. The
crimson light was so intense that many in England thought there were
great fires, and fire brigades were dispatched all over the country.
New York Times,
January 26, 1938
Click to enlarge
Not long thereafter, World
War II began.
Francisco and Jacinta died very young, as Our Lady said. They
were
beatified in 2000. Lucia joined the Carmelite Order as a nun where, as
of 2002, she still lives. In 1944, Our Lady appeared again to Lucia and
asked her to write down the Third Secret given to her at Fatima -- but
not to reveal it until 1960 because "it will be much clearer then."
On July 7, 1952, Pope Pius
XII consecrated Russia to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart in an apostolic
letter known as "Sacro Vergente anno."
1960 came and went, but the third secret was not revealed; instead, Sr.
Lucia
was ordered to never speak to anyone about Fatima.
In the year 2000, the Vatican released a version of the "Third
Secret"; that text appears below.
THIRD PART OF THE “SECRET” AS RELEASED BY THE VATICAN, MAY 2000
"I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through
his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother
and mine.
"After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our
Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his
left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they
would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the
splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand:
pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a
loud voice: "Penance, Penance, Penance!"
"And we saw in an immense light that is God: "something similar to how
people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it" a Bishop
dressed in White "we had the impression that it was the Holy Father."
"Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep
mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn
trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy
Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with
halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls
of the corpses he met on his way;
"Having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of
the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets
and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the
other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people
of different ranks and positions.
"Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a
crystal aspergilium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of
the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way
to God."
The
given
interpretation of this
"Third Secret" is that it referred to the assassination attempt on John
Paul II's life in 1981 and that all of its relevance is in the past.
This interpretation is a matter of great controversy, with many arguing
that the real secret or full secret was not released. Many argue,
too, that Russia
has never been truly consecrated to Our Lady since only Pope Pius XII
consecrated Russia even though the Virgin asked
that the Pope and all the Bishops in
union with himdo so. Then
there is controversy centered around the idea that Lucia was replaced
by an imposter, etc. It's all a very deep rabbit hole of conspiracy
that shouldn't affect a Catholic's life one way or another, but you
should know that such controversies exist. And then avoid them and
focus on becoming holy.
Our Lady of Akita
Date: 1973 - 1979
Place: Akita, Japan
Visionary: Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa
Sister Agnes Katsuko
Sasagawa, a sister of the Handmaids of the Holy Eucharist, witnessed
rays of light streaming from the tabernacle at the chapel of her
convent. A few weeks later, a Cross-shaped wound appeared on her left
hand.On the 6th of July, she heard a voice coming from a three-feet
tall statue of the Virgin, made of single block of wood. On four
different occasions, drops of blood would emanate from the statue's
right hand between that day and September 20 of the same year. In
January of 1975, the statue began to weep, and continued to do so 101
times over the next six and a half years. Then came three messages.
On July 6, 1973, the following message was given:
My daughter, my novice, you
have obeyed me well in abandoning all to follow me. Is the infirmity of
your ears painful? Your deafness will be healed, be sure. Does the
wound of your hand cause you to suffer? Pray in reparation for the sins
of men. Each person in this community is my irreplaceable daughter. Do
you say well the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist? Then, let us
pray it together.
The Virgin and Sister Agnes prayed the prayer together, then the Virgin
said:
Pray very much for the
Pope, Bishops, and Priests. Since your Baptism you have always prayed
faithfully for them. Continue to pray very much...very much. Tell your
superior all that passed today and obey him in everything that he will
tell you. He has asked that you pray with fervor.
On August 3, 1973, the following message was given:
My daughter, my novice, do
you love the Lord? If you love the Lord, listen to what I have to say
to you.
It
is very important...You will convey it to your superior.
Many
men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to
soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls
who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners
and ingrates.
In
order that the world might know His anger, the Heavenly Father is
preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind. With my Son I
have intervened so many times to appease the wrath of the Father. I
have prevented the coming of calamities by offering Him the sufferings
of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood, and beloved souls who
console Him forming a cohort of victim souls. Prayer, penance and
courageous sacrifices can soften the Father's anger. I desire this also
from your community...that it love poverty, that it sanctify itself and
pray in reparation for the ingratitude and outrages of so many men.
Recite
the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist with awareness of its
meaning; put it into practice; offer in reparation (whatever God may
send) for sins. Let each one endeavor, according to capacity and
position, to offer herself entirely to the Lord.
Even
in a secular institute prayer is necessary. Already souls who wish to
pray are on the way to being gathered together. Without attaching to
much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to
console the Master.
Is
what you think in your heart true? Are you truly decided to become the
rejected stone? My novice, you who wish to belong without reserve to
the Lord, to become the spouse worthy of the Spouse, make your vows
knowing that you must be fastened to the Cross with three nails. These
three nails are poverty, chastity, and obedience. Of the three,
obedience is the foundation. In total abandon, let yourself be led by
your superior. He will know how to understand you and to direct you.
On October 13, 1973, the following message was given:
My dear daughter, listen
well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior.
As I
told you, 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 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. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary,
pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.
The
work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way
that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against
bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by
their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full
of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests
and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.
The
demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God.
The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If
sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for
them
With
courage, speak to your superior. He will know how to encourage each one
of you to pray and to accomplish works of reparation.
It
is Bishop Ito, who directs your community.
You
have still something to ask? Today is the last time that I will speak
to you in living voice. From now on you will obey the one sent to you
and your superior.
Pray
very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you
from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in
me will be saved.