The Wearing Down of the Saints

I am weary, O God, and I am exhausted.
(Proverbs 30:1)

 

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So many of us are tired at what seems an explosion of evil, division, and uncertainty in the world. There is a sense of weariness as darkness gathers like a Great Storm, something John Paul II was frank to admit:

It is precisely at the end of the second millennium that immense, threatening clouds converge on the horizon of all humanity and darkness descends upon human souls.  —POPE JOHN PAUL II, from a speech, December, 1983; www.vatican.va

Yes, I feel weary too. Which has led me to reflect today on a mysterious passage in the book of Daniel that, I think, explains much of the present trial through which we are passing. What gives me true hope is precisely the fact that God foretold long ago both the trial and the victory that would come for His people. Recall what Jesus said to His Apostles:

I have told you before it comes to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. (John 14:29)

 

The Rise of the Fourth Kingdom

The prophet Daniel saw in visions the rise of various kingdoms that would wage war against God’s people. But one night, a vision left him deeply disturbed:

I saw a fourth beast, terrifying, horrible, and of extraordinary strength… The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. (Daniel 7:7, 23)

What is this “fourth kingdom”? I’ll try to answer this as succinctly as I can… 

Daniel’s earlier description of this beast is directly echoed in St. John’s Apocalypse (cf. Rev 13:1-10; 17:12-15). Both Daniel and St. John speak of this beast having a “little horn” or “mouth” that speaks arrogantly and boastfully (cf. Dan 7:8, Rev 13:5-6). The Early Church Fathers understood this little horn/mouth to represent the “son of perdition”, lawless one”, or Antichrist — all titles for the same literal man ^[1]“…that Antichrist is one individual man, not a power — not a mere ethical spirit, or a political system, not a dynasty, or succession of rulers — was the universal tradition of the early Church.” —St. John Henry Newman, “The Times of Antichrist”, Lecture 1 who would rule for three and a half years.^[2]Dan 12:7, Rev 13:6 For example:

Daniel too, looking forward to the end of the last kingdom, i.e., the ten last kings, amongst whom the kingdom of those men shall be partitioned, and upon whom the son of perdition shall come… —St. Irenaeus (c. 180 AD), Against Heresies, Book V, Ch 25:3

Daniel also says (in the words), “I considered the beast, and lo, there were ten horns behind it, among which shall rise another (horn), an offshoot, and shall pluck up by the roots the three (that were) before it.” And under this was signified none other than Antichrist… —St. Hippolytus of Rome (early 3rd century), On Christ and Antichrist, n. 25

According to Sts. Hippolytus and Jerome, this fourth kingdom was the Roman Empire. 

Now the fourth empire, which clearly refers to the Romans… —St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel

“A fourth beast, dreadful and terrible; it had iron teeth and claws of brass.” And who are these but the Romans? —Hippolytus (early 3rd century), On Christ and Antichrist, n. 25

St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, our newly minted Doctor of the Church, wrote in his sermons on Antichrist:

I do not grant that the Roman empire is gone. Far from it: the Roman empire remains even to this day… And as the horns, or kingdoms, still exist, as a matter of fact, consequently we have not yet seen the end of the Roman empire. —St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890), The Times of Antichrist, Sermon 1

In a message that bears the Church’s Imprimatur to Servant of God Fr. Stefano Gobbi, Our Lady allegedly said of Daniel’s and St. John’s beast:

The seven heads indicate the various masonic lodges, which act everywhere in a subtle and dangerous way. This Black Beast has ten horns and, on the horns, ten crowns, which are signs of dominion and royalty. Masonry rules and governs throughout the whole world by means of the ten horns. —To the Priest, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons, n. 405

Now, I can’t help but think right now of my friend Ted Flynn who wrote extensively on Freemasonry. He said:

…few people are aware how deep the roots of this sect actually reach. Freemasonry is perhaps the single greatest secular organized power on earth today and battles head to head with the things of God on a daily basis. It is a controlling power in the world, operating behind the scenes in banking and politics, and it has effectively infiltrated all religions. Masonry is a worldwide secret sect undermining the authority of the Catholic Church with a hidden agenda at the upper levels to destroy the papacy. —Ted Flynn, Hope of the Wicked: The Master Plan to Rule the World, p. 154

It was Masonry that hatched the philosophical groundwork of Communism.^[3]Few realize that Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Karl Marx, who wrote the Communist Manifesto, were on the payroll of the Illuminati. See: “She Shall Crush Thy Head” by Stephen Mahowald, p. 100; 123 Remarkably, we are watching Western leaders, who inherited this ancient Roman Empire, now working to establish a neo-communist beast under the moniker of a “Great Reset” — a combination of both Communism and Capitalism.^[4]cf. The New Beast Rising Perhaps, this is symbolized by the “iron teeth” (Communism) and “claws of brass” (Capitalism). They call it “stakeholder capitalism,” whereby “You will own nothing and be happy,” so goes their propaganda. How apt that St. Irenaeus describes the Antichrist as an “apostate and a robber.”^[5]Against Heresies, Book V, Ch 25:1 (See The Great Theft).

The point is that this global beast comes to trample upon the world as we know it…

You are aware indeed, that the goal of this most iniquitous plot is to drive people to overthrow the entire order of human affairs and to draw them over to the wicked theories of this Socialism and Communism… —POPE PIUS IX, Nostis et Nobiscum, Encyclical, n. 18, DECEMBER 8, 1849; read Isaiah’s Prophecy of Global Communism.

However, it’s what Daniel says next that I want to address in particular… 

 

The Wearing Down of the Saints

The prophet says of this beast and the Antichrist:

As I watched, that horn made war against the holy ones and was victorious… He shall speak against the Most High and wear down the holy ones of the Most High… (Daniel 7:21, 25)

This was also observed by St. John:

It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling and those who dwell in heaven. It was also allowed to wage war against the holy ones and conquer them, and it was granted authority over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation. (Revelation 13:6-7)

This beast tramples upon everything, forcing all to submit to its authority. Many of us are watching as our civilization moves rapidly toward a cashless society that will force everyone to have a Digital ID, which will eventually be required to access services, travel, and to buy or sell.^[6]Rev 13:17 The COVID “vaccine passport” was a mere rehearsal of that system.

We see that religious freedom is evaporating at the same time that violence against Christians is exploding around the world. Freedom of speech is being crushed in the West as a “dictatorship of relativism”^[7]“…a dictatorship of relativism that recognizes nothing as definite, and which leaves as the ultimate measure only one’s ego and desires. Having a clear faith, according to the credo of the Church, is often labeled as fundamentalism. Yet, relativism, that is, letting oneself be tossed and ‘swept along by every wind of teaching’, appears the sole attitude acceptable to today’s standards.” —Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI) pre-conclave Homily, April 18th, 2005 rises like a beast out of the sea to become its own religion. 

A new intolerance is spreading, that is quite obvious… a negative religion is being made into a tyrannical standard that everyone must follow.  —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Light of the World, A Conversation with Peter Seewald, p. 52

Finally, Daniel says the beast breaks the world “into pieces” (7:23). Without elaborating further at this time, think two words: “open borders.”

 

The False Church

What is perhaps most difficult is seeing the other part of St. John’s vision of a “beast with two horns like a lamb” (Rev 13:11) seemingly emerge before us:

If the task of Masonry is to lead souls to perdition, bring them to the worship of false divinities, the task of ecclesiastical Masonry on the other hand is that of destroying Christ and his Church, building a new idol, namely a false christ and a false church. —Our Lady allegedly to Fr. Stefano, To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons, n. 406, g

According to many saints and mystics (eg. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich), this false church will be a conglomeration of religions, believing in everything and yet believing in nothing.

Ecclesiastical Masonry… develops the plan of founding a universal ecumenical Church, formed by the fusion of all the Christian confessions, among which, the Catholic Church. —Our Lady allegedly to Fr. Stefano, To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons, n. 406

…they thereby teach the great error of this age — that a regard for religion should be held as an indifferent matter, and that all religions are alike. This manner of reasoning is calculated to bring about the ruin of all forms of religion… —POPE LEO XIII, Humanum Genus, n. 16

Consider the words of a Cardinal, no less, published recently in Vatican News:

Everyone has the right to seek God according to their own conscience. Religions, for their part, have the responsibility to offer paths of meaning and truth, not of domination. We must abandon the false paradigm of “true religion, false religion.” No religion can appropriate the truth, as if it were its sole owner. No religion possesses the truth; if anything, it is the truth that possesses us all, and in every religion there are glimmers of truth. —Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, Vatican News, October 28, 2025

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”^[8]John 14:6 He then said to the Apostles, “When He comes, the Spirit of truth, He will guide you to all truth.”^[9]John 16:3 He then commanded them before His Ascension to teach the nations “all that I have commanded you.”^[10]Matthew 28:20 The Catholic Church, established by Christ,^[11]cf. Matthew 16:18 possesses the fullness of the means of salvation and continues to be guided ‘in all truth’,^[12]CCC, n. 830; 1 Timothy 3:15: “the church of the living God, [is] the pillar and foundation of truth.” because He willed it so. 

In a remarkably prescient interview on September 29th, 1978, with Fr. Francis Benac, S.J., Garabandal seer, Mari Loli, spoke of the now famous statement Our Lady allegedly made to fellow seer Conchita Gonzalez in the 1960’s: “When Communism comes again everything will happen.” ^[13]from Garabandal – Der Zeigefinger Gottes (Garabandal – The Finger of God), Albrecht Weber, n. 2

Our Lady spoke several times about Communism. I don’t remember how many times, but she said that a time would come when it would seem that Communism had mastered or engulfed the whole world. I think it was then that she told us that priests would have difficulty saying Mass, and talking about God and divine things… When the Church suffers confusion, the people are going to suffer too. Some priests who are Communists will create such confusion that people will not know right from wrong. —Mari Loli; from The Call of Garabandal, April-June, 1984

 

A Call to Perseverance

If you are feeling tired and weary, confronted by the “signs of the times”, I hope this reflection helps you understand better why. The Lord, in His permissive will, is allowing His Bride to “follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.”^[14]Catechism of the Catholic Church, 677; cf. The Passion of the Church He has not abandoned us; He is leading us like a Good Shepherd through this “valley of the shadow of death.”

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. (Psalms 23:4)

Note: it says through the valley, not past it. Those who believe that the Church will simply be raptured away from all suffering, or that every faithful Christian will end up in a refuge while the world goes to Hell, need to reflect deeper on God’s Word so they do not fall into a trap of despair when times get tough. For St. John writes:

Anyone destined for captivity goes into captivity. Anyone destined to be slain by the sword shall be slain by the sword. (Revelation 13:10; cf. Jeremiah 15:2)

As Our Lord himself said, “‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” ^[15]John 15:20 This is precisely why Our Lord said “watch and pray for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” ^[16]Matthew 26:42 And thus Our Lady has appeared all over the world to implore us to “pray, pray, pray.”  

But aren’t we Christians victors armed with spiritual weapons to destroy every stronghold?^[17]cf. 2 Cor 10:4 Didn’t Jesus say, “I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you”? ^[18]Luke 10:19 And doesn’t He say in Revelation 3:10: “I will keep you safe in the time of trial that is going to come to the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth”?

Terry Law once said, “The safest place to be is in the will of God.” The “safety” Christ promises is not that we won’t suffer in our bodies, for He did himself. Rather, He will protect us from falling away from the faith and eternal damnation if we but persevere in trust and obedience. This is why St. John writes that the victory we experience as Christians is not one of escaping every trial and suffering, rather:

…whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. (1 John 5:4)

We are entering the Hour of Pure Faith. The hour when, like Jesus in Gethsemane, we must give our entire fiat to the Father. We may be tired. We may be weary. We may feel as though the enemy is treading us down… but the Lord will never abandon us:

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. (Isaiah 49:15)

My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. —Our Lady of Fatima, June 13, 1917, www.ewtn.com

 

Related Reading

When Communism Returns

Isaiah’s Prophecy of Global Communism

The Great Theft

The Spectre of Global Communism

Prophetic Fatigue

 

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Thank you!

 

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