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BEFORE<\/strong> the Blessed Sacrament, I saw in my mind’s eye a coming time when our sanctuaries will be abandoned<\/em>. (This message was first published August 16th, 2007.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE PREPARED ARE PEACEFUL<\/p>\n Just as God prepared Noah<\/a> for the flood by bringing His family into the ark seven days before the flood, so too the Lord is preparing His people for the purification which is coming.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage. (Wis 18:6)<\/font> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Did not Christ say this Himself? <\/p>\n The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered\u2026 I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace<\/em>. (John 16:33)<\/font> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Are not our "oaths" our consecration to the Heart of Jesus, through Mary? Indeed. And she who is our sacred refuge, our Ark in the coming storm, tells us we do not need to be afraid. But we must stay awake<\/em>. Thus the word of the Lord came to me: son of man, turn toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them "Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys; See, I am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places." This scripture passage refers to the "high places", the hill tops where the people of Israel went up to worship idols, whenever they apostatized. Clearly the Lord is showing us, both in the Old Testament era and in the New, that whenever the household of the Faith degenerates into apostasy (either willfully or unknowingly), the fruit of this is death<\/em>. And now we see the evidence of this truth all around us. A disobedient generation of Christians embraced contraception and sterilization in astounding numbers, and just as Pope Paul VI warned in his encyclical Humane Vitae<\/em><\/a>, the generation that followed has inherited a culture of death<\/em><\/a>\u2014human life devalued not only at conception and in the womb, but all the way through to old age. Now we are battling a host of bio-ethical evils, including genetic engineering, euthanasia, and infanticide. <\/p>\n The fruit of error is sin, and<\/em> the fruit of sin is death.<\/em><\/p>\n The reign of Antichrist is approaching. The thick vapors which I have seen rising from the earth and obscuring the light of the sun are the false maxims of irreligion and license which are confounding all sound principles and spreading everywhere such darkness as to obscure both faith and reason.<\/strong> —Sr. Jeanne le Royer of the Nativity (18th century); Catholic Prophecy<\/em>, Sean Patrick Bloom, 2005, p. 101<\/font> The prophet Ezekiel continues:<\/p>\n Your altars shall be laid waste, your incense stands shall be broken… In all your dwelling places cities shall be made desolate and high places laid waste, so that your altars will be made desolate and laid waste, your idols broken and removed, and your incense stands smashed to bits. The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. I have warned you. (Ez 6:1-8)<\/font> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As I prayed recently before the Sacrament, I sensed that our buildings will be abandoned<\/em>, our sacred art destroyed<\/em>, and our sanctuaries desecrated<\/em>. The Church will be stripped and left naked<\/a>, that is, without the worldly comfort and security she has enjoyed… but which has lulled her to sleep. <\/p>\n Moreover, she will be persecuted<\/a>, and the guiding voice of the Holy Father temporarily silenced<\/a>…<\/p>\n Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate, says the LORD of hosts. Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be dispersed<\/a>… (Zec 13:7)<\/font> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I saw a great power rise up against the Church. It plundered, devastated, and threw into confusion and disorder the vine of the Lord, having it trampled underfoot by the people and holding it up to ridicule by all nations. Having vilified celibacy and oppressed the priesthood, it had the effrontery to confiscate the Church\u2019s property and to arrogate to itself the powers of the Holy Father, whose person and whose laws it held in contempt.<\/font><\/strong> <\/strong>—Sr. Jeanne le Royer of the Nativity (18th century); Catholic Prophecy<\/em>, Sean Patrick Bloom, 2005, p. 101<\/font> The apostasy of the city of Rome from the vicar of Christ and its destruction by Antichrist may be thoughts so new to many Catholics, that I think it well to recite the text of theologians of greatest repute. First Malvenda, who writes expressly on the subject, states as the opinion of Ribera, Gaspar Melus, Biegas, Suarrez, Bellarmine and Bosius that Rome shall apostatize from the faith, drive away the Vicar of Christ and return to its ancient paganism. …Then the Church shall be scattered, driven into the wilderness, and shall be for a time, as it was in the beginning, invisible hidden in catacombs, in dens, in mountains, in lurking places; for a time it shall be swept, as it were from the face of the earth. Such is the universal testimony of the Fathers of the early Church.<\/strong> —Henry Edward Cardinal Manning (1861), The Present Crisis of the Holy See<\/em>, London: Burns and Lambert, pp. 88-90<\/font><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The eclipse of Truth<\/em><\/a> which began many decades ago, will eventually become total<\/a><\/em> as the Sacrifice of the Mass becomes forbidden<\/a> under international law.<\/p>\n Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; I will snatch away my wool and my flax, with which she covers her nakedness. <\/font><\/p>\n THE DESERT OF TRIAL… AND BLOOM<\/p>\n This Great Sifting<\/em> will be an act of justice toward unrepented<\/em> and firmly rooted sin in the Church—like weeds among the wheat<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n For it is time for the judgment to begin with the household of God\u2026 (1 Peter 4:17)<\/font> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n But it is a merciful judgment, for God will sift evil from the Church and the world so as to bring forward a beautiful and purified Bride—purified in the desert of trial before leading her, like the Israelite So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. From there I will give her the vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope… On that day, says the LORD, She shall call me "My husband," and never again "My baal." …Bow and sword and war I will destroy from the land, and I will let them take their rest in security. (Hos 2:16-20)<\/font> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It is in the deprivation of those consolations—our buildings, icons, statues, and marble altars—which God will use to turn our hearts completely<\/em> toward Him. <\/p>\n In their affliction, they shall look for me: "Come, let us return to the LORD, for it is he who has rent, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds. (Hos 6:1-2)<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Church will be smaller, but more beautiful and holier than ever before. She will be dressed in white, her nakedness<\/a> clothed in virtue, and her eyes focused singularly upon her Groom… preparing to return in glory!<\/em> <\/p>\n I will make of the lame a remnant, and of those driven off a strong nation. (Micah 4:7) <\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits. (Amos 9:14)<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/font><\/p>\n <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n RELATED WEBCASTS:<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n\n
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THE PURIFICATION<\/p>\n\n
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So now I will lay bare her shame before the eyes of her lovers, and no one can deliver her out of my hand. I will bring an end to all her joy, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her solemnities. (Hos 2:11-13)<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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\ns, into the "promised land": an Era of Peace<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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