{"id":5201,"date":"2015-11-08T00:00:55","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T06:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/after-the-illumination\/"},"modified":"2017-04-17T21:58:35","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:58:35","slug":"after-the-illumination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/after-the-illumination\/","title":{"rendered":"After the Illumination","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

All light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day<\/em><\/strong>. \u2014Divine Mercy in My Soul<\/em>, Jesus to St. Faustina, n. 83<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

AFTER<\/strong> the Sixth Seal is broken, the world experiences an “illumination of conscience”\u2014a moment of reckoning (see The Seven Seals of Revolution<\/em><\/a>). St. John then writes that the Seventh Seal is broken and there is silence in heaven “for about half an hour.” It is a pause before the Eye of the Storm<\/em><\/a> passes over, and the winds of purification<\/em><\/a> begin to blow again.<\/p>\n

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Silence in the presence of the Lord GOD! For near is the day of the LORD… <\/em>(Zeph 1:7)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It is a pause of grace, of Divine Mercy<\/em>, before the Day of Justice\u00a0arrives…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

THE DAY OF JUSTICE<\/p>\n

I\"\"n the Diary of St. Faustina, the Blessed Mother says to her:<\/p>\n

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…you have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge.<\/em><\/span><\/strong> \u2014Divine Mercy in My Sou<\/em>l, n. 635<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When posed a question recently as to whether or not we are “obliged to believe that,” Pope Benedict responded:<\/p>\n

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If one took this statement in a chronological sense, as an injunction to get ready, as it were, immediately for the Second Coming, it would be false<\/strong>. \u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, Light of the World, A Conversation with Peter Seewald<\/em>,\u00a0p. 180-181<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Following the teachings of the Early Church Fathers on the latter times, one can better understand why it is not an injunction to get ready “immediately<\/em> for the Second Coming,” but rather the preparations for the period leading to it. [1]<\/sup><\/a>see Wedding Preparations<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span>