{"id":28254,"date":"2015-09-11T02:19:41","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T08:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=20677"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:48:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T06:48:46","slug":"the-triumphs-in-scripture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-triumphs-in-scripture\/","title":{"rendered":"The Triumphs in Scripture","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The<\/i> Triumph of Christianity Over Paganism<\/i>, Gustave Dor\u00e9, (1899)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n“W<\/span>hat do you mean that the Blessed Mother will \u201ctriumph\u201d?\u201d asked one puzzled reader recently. \u201cI mean, the Scriptures say that out of the mouth of Jesus will come ‘a sharp sword to strike the nations\u2019 (Rev 19:15) and that ‘the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming\u2019 (2 Thess 2:8). Where do you see the Virgin Mary \u201ctriumphing\u201d in all of this??”<\/p>\n

A broader look at this question may help us understand not only what the \u201cTriumph of the Immaculate Heart\u201d means, but also, what the \u201cTriumph of the Sacred Heart\u201d is as well, and when <\/i>they occur.<\/p>\n

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THE CLASH OF TWO KINGDOMS<\/p>\n

The past four hundred years since the birth of the \u201cElightenment\u201d period has seen, in essence, a growing confrontation between the Kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Satan, with the Kingdom of God to be understood as Christ\u2019s reign in His Church<\/i>:<\/p>\n

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The Church \u201cis the Reign of Christ already present in mystery.\u201d<\/b><\/span> \u2014Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/i>, n. 763<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The kingdom of Satan has subtly and stealthily grown into what can rightly be understood as the secular \u201cState\u201d. \"\"And hence, today, we see the increasingly volatile \u201cseparation\u201d of Church and State that began with the French Revolution. The recent Supreme Court Decision in Canada to legalize assisted-suicide and the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in the United States to redefine marriage being just two examples of the divorce between faith and reason. How did we get here?<\/p>\n

It was in the 16th century, at the beginning of the Enlightenment, that Satan, the \u201cdragon\u201d (cf. Rev 12:3), began to sow lies in the fertile soil of discontent. For Jesus told us precisely how the enemy of souls operates:<\/p>\n

He was a murderer from the beginning\u2026 he is a liar and the father of lies.<\/strong> (John 8:44)<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, through lies, the dragon began the long process of building a culture of death. <\/i><\/p>\n

But also, at that very same time, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in what is now modern-day Mexico. When St. Juan Diego saw her, he said…<\/p>\n

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\u2026her clothing was shining like the sun, as if it were sending out waves of light, and the stone, the crag on which she stood, seemed to be giving out rays.<\/b> \u2014Nican Mopohua<\/i>, Don Antonio Valeriano (c. 1520-1605 A.D,), n. 17-18<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This “Woman clothed in the sun\u201d appeared in the midst of a veritable culture of death where human sacrifice was teeming. Indeed, through her miraculous image left on St. Juan’s tilm\"\"a (that remains hanging in a Basilica in Mexico till this day), millions of Aztecs converted to Christianity thereby crushing <\/i>the culture of death.<\/i> It was a sign <\/i>and foreshadowing <\/i>that this Woman had come to triumph<\/i> over the dragon\u2019s ultimate assault on humanity.<\/p>\n

The stage was set for a tremendous battle between the \u201cWoman\u201d and the \u201cdragon\u201d over the following centuries (see A Woman and a Dragon<\/a><\/i>) that would see errant philosophies such as rationalism, materialism, atheism, Marxism, and Communism gradually move the world toward a veritable culture of death. Now, abortion, sterilization, birth control, assisted-suicide, euthanasia, and \u201cjust war\u201d are considered \u201crights\u201d. The dragon, indeed, is a liar and <\/i>a murderer from the beginning. Hence, St. John Paul II boldly announced that we had entered into the biblical apocalyptic era recorded \"\"in Revelation:<\/p>\n

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This struggle parallels the apocalyptic combat described in [Rev 11:19-12:1-6, 10 on the battle between\u201d the woman clothed with the sun\u201d and the \u201cdragon\u201d]. Death battles against Life: a \u201cculture of death\u201d seeks to impose itself on our desire to live, and live to the full\u2026 <\/b> \u2014POPE JOHN PAUL II, Cherry Creek State Park Homily, Denver, Colorado, 1993<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It is the apocalyptic clash of two kingdoms.<\/p>\n

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We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through\u2026 We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel and the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of divine providence. It is a trial which the whole Church\u2026 must take up\u2026 a test of 2,000 years of culture and Christian civilization, with all of its consequences for human dignity, individual rights, human rights and the rights of nations.<\/b> \u2014Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (JOHN PAUL II), reprinted November 9, 1978, issue of The Wall Street Journal from a 1976 speech to the American Bishops<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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THE FIRST TRIUMPHS<\/p>\n

Just weeks before the birth of Communism, Our Lady of Fatima appeared announcing that, when Russia would be consecrated to her, it would lead to the \u201cTriumph of the Immaculate Heart\u201d and that the world would be granted a \u201cperiod of peace.\u201d What does this mean? [1]<\/sup><\/a>for a detailed explanation of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, see the The Triumph<\/i> – Part I<\/a>, Part II<\/a>, and Part III<\/a><\/span><\/span>