Only a Fool ....

As I tend to share some quotes from my work, I thought I would
 share this one from my latest novel, Vocation of a Gadfly 


It is a poem called 'Dixit Insipiens'.

Only a fool says in his heart

There is no Creator, no King of kings,

Only mules would dare to bray

These lethal mutterings.

Over darkened minds as these

The Darkness bears full sway,

Fruitless, yet, bearing fruit,

In their fell, destructive way.

Sterile, though proliferate,

A filthy progeny sees the day,

When Evil, Thought and Action mate:

Breeding sin, rebels and decay.

The blackest deeds and foul ideals,

Multiply throughout the earth,

Through deadened, lifeless, braying souls,

The Darkness labours and gives birth.

Taking the Lord’s abundant gifts

And rotting them to the core,

They dress their dish and serve it out

Foul seeds to infect thousands more.

‘The Tree of Life is dead!’ they cry,

‘And that of Knowledge not enough,

Let us glut on the ashen apples

Of Sodom and Gomorrah.’

Have pity on Thy children, Lord,

Left sorrowing on this earth,

While fools and all their kindred

Cast shadows with their murk,

And to the dwindling wise,

They toss their heads and wryly smirk.

The world daily grinds to dust

Virtue’s fair unicorns,

Rather, it would now beget

Vice’s mutant manticores.

Wisdom crushed, our joy is gone,

Buried under anxious fears

For lost rights and freedoms,

We shed many bitter tears.

Death is life, Life is no more,

Humanity buried in a tomb,

In a fatal prenatal world

Where tiny flowers

Are ripped from the womb,

Discarded, thrown away,

Inconvenient lives

That barely bloomed.

Our elders fare no better,

Their wisdom unwanted by and by,

Boarded out to end their days,

And forsaken are left to die.

Only the youthful and the useful,

In this capital age prosper and fly.

Yet, they too are quickly strangled,

Before their future plans are met,

Professions legally pre-enslaved

Held bound by mounting student debt.

Our leaders all harangue for peace

Yet perpetrate the horror,

Of economic greed shored up

Through manufactured war.

Our armies now welter

In foreign civilian gore.

How many of our kin are slain

For hollow martial honour?

As if we could forget, ignore,

The scourge of nuclear power,

Alas, victors are rarely tried

For their woeful crimes of war.

Hope and pray we never see

A repeat of Hiroshima.

No more!

Crimes are legion,

The deeds of devil-spawn!

What has happened to the souls

Your Divine Image was minted on?

They are now recast:

Crooked coins of Caesar and

The Whore of Babylon.

How often mankind shuts its ears

To Your music celestial,

Mankind would rather march

To the anthems of Hell.

If humanity cannot be reclaimed

By Your Mercy and great Love

Deservedly we should be struck

By Vengeance from above.

Many dread the Final Day,

And the Crack of Doom

For others the Apocalypse

Will never come too soon.

‘Lift up your heads, be glad’,

Fools shall bray no more

For at last the Master comes

To thresh His threshing floor.

More about the book VOCATION of a GADFLY, click here!

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To Love the Promised Great Monarch – A Sign of Predestination

For centuries several saints and mystics of the Catholic church have foretold that the world would enter a period of darkness, evil would abound, and that the practise of the true Faith would be eclipsed when an extravagant anti-church would arise had supplant for a time all the ancient traditions of the Catholic church as they were once practised.

However they also foretold this period of darkness would be put to flight by the arrival of a Great Catholic Monarch together with an Angelic Pontiff who would arrive amidst wars and tribulations to restore Christendom and establish an Age of Peace that would last for about 30 to 40 years. The Great Monarch will be crowned the Last Holy Roman Emperor and restore the downtrodden monarchies of Europe, republics will be wiped out. Heresies would disappear, mass conversions will take place, all Christians would be untied in the One True Church led by the Angelic Pontiff. It will be the greatest period the Catholic Church will experience before the final persecutions of the Antichrist followed by the Second Coming of Christ.  (Image: Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire.)

In fact, a few mystics have revealed that this plan of restoring the earth is so pleasing to God, that one could determine whether or not a person was in complete union with God's Will, and therefore a predestined soul, or a reprobate determined to follow Satan's path on how they accepted this plan or laughed it to scorn.

St. Francis of Paola the Wonder Worker (1416-1507) was adamant on this subject:

"I know that unbelieving and reprobate persons will scoff at my letters and will reject them (his prophecies of the Great Monarch) ; but they will be received by those Catholic souls who aspire to the possession of heaven. These letters shall infuse such sweetness of divine love in their hearts that they will be delighted in perusing them often and in taking copies of them because such is the will of the Most High. In these letters it will be found out who belongs to Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ and who does not, who is a predestinate or a reprobate. Much will this be known through the holy sign of the living God. He shall be a Saint of God who will take it, love it, and wear it.”

Below is St. Paola's lenghty letter to the Lord of Monalto:

“From your Lordship (i.e., addressing Simeon de Limena, Lord of Monalto) shall be born

the great leader of the holy militia of the Holy Spirit shall overcome the world, and shall possess the

earth so completely that no king or lord shall be able to exist, except that he belongs to the sacred

host of the Holy Ghost. These devout men shall wear on their breasts, and much more within their hearts, the sign of the living God, namely, the Cross. (…)

The first members of this holy order shall be natives of the city where iniquity, vice and sin abound. However, they shall be converted from evil to good; from rebels against God they shall become most fervent and most faithful in His divine service. That city shall be cherished by God and by the Great Monarch, the elect and the beloved of the Most High Lord. For the sake of that place all holy souls who have done penance in it shall pray in the sight of God for that city and its inhabitants. When the time shall come of the immense and most right justice of the Holy Spirit, His Divine Majesty wills that such city become converted to God, and that many of its citizens follow the great prince of the holy army. The first person that will openly wear the sign of the living God shall belong to that city, because he will through a letter be commanded by a holy hermit to have it impressed upon his heart and to wear it externally on his breast. (…)

That man will begin to meditate on the secrets of God, about the long visitation which the Holy Spirit will make and the dominion that he will exercise over the world through the holy militia. O! happy man, who shall receive from the Most High the greatest privileges! He will interpret the hidden secrets of the Holy Ghost, and he shall often excite the admiration of men by his revealed knowledge of the internal secrets of their hearts. Rejoice, my Lord, because that Prince above other princes, and King over other kings, will hold you in the greatest veneration, and after having been crowned with three most admirable crowns, will exalt that city, will declare it free, and the seat of the Empire, and it shall become one of the first cities in the world. (…)

 You and your consort desire to have children: you shall have them.  (Addressed to Lord Monalto) Your holy offspring shall be admired upon earth. Among your descendants there will be one who shall be like the sun amidst the stars; He shall be a first-born son; in his childhood he will be like a saint; in his youth, a great sinner; then he will be converted entirely to God and will do great penance; his sins will be forgiven him, and he will become a great saint. (…)

He shall be a great captain and prince of holy men, who shall be called "the holy Cross-bearers of Jesus Christ," with whom he shall destroy the Mahometan (Muslim) sect and the rest of the infidels. He shall annihilate all the heresies and tyrannies of the world. He shall reform the Church of God by means of his followers, who shall be the best men upon earth in holiness, in arms, in science, and in every virtue, because such is the will of the Most High. They shall obtain the dominion of the whole world, both temporal and spiritual, and they shall support the Church of God until the end of time. (…)

God almighty shall exalt a very poor man of the blood of Emperor Constantine, son of St. Helena, and of the seed of Pepin, (i.e, A French King) who shall on his breast wear a red Cross. Through the power of the Most High he shall confound the tyrants, the heretics, and infidels. He will gather a grand army, and the angels shall fight for them; they shall kill all God's enemies. (…)

From the beginning of the world, after the creation of man, and to the end of human generations, there have been and there shall be seen wonderful events upon the earth. Four hundred years shall not pass when his Divine Majesty shall visit the world with a new religious order much needed, which shall effect more good among men than all other religious institutions combined. This religious order shall be the last and the best in the Church; it shall proceed with arms, with prayer, and with hospitality. Woe to tyrants, to heretics, and to infidels, to whom no pity shall be shown, because such is the will of the most high! An infinite number of wicked men shall perish through the hands of the Cross-bearers, the true servants of Jesus Christ. They shall act like good husbandmen when they extirpate noxious weeds and prickly thistles from the wheat field. Those holy servants of God shall purify the earth with the deaths of innumerable wicked men. The head and captain of these holy servants of God shall be one of your posterity and he shall be the great reformer of the Church of God. (…)

 

 How spiritually blind are those persons who, having no thought about things of God, fix their end in earthly objects. Wretched men! by far worse than the very beasts which are guided by their sense, because they cannot reason, they become brutalized. Hence they shall ever be in confusion. Let, therefore, the princes of this world be prepared for the greatest scourges to fall upon them. But from whom? First from heretics and infidels, then from the holy and most faithful Cross-bearers elected by the Most High, who, not succeeding in converting the heretics with science, shall have to make vigorous use of their arms. Many cities and villages shall be in ruins, with the deaths of an innumerable quantity of bad and good men. The infidels also shall fight against Christians and heretics, sacking, destroying, and killing the largest portion of Christians. Lastly, the army, styled "of the Church," namely, the holy Cross-bearers, shall move, not against Christians or Christianity, but against those infidels in pagan countries, and they shall conquer all those kingdoms with the death of a very great number of infidels. After this they shall turn their victorious arms against bad Christians, and destroy all the rebels against Jesus Christ. These holy Cross-bearers shall reign and dominate holily over the world until the end of time... But when shall this take place? When crosses with the stigmas shall be seen, and the crucifix shall be carried as the standard. (…)

  The time is coming when His Divine Majesty will visit the world with a new religious order of holy Cross Bearers, who will carry a crucifix, or the image of our crucified Lord, lifted up on the principal standard in view of all. This standard will be admired by all good Catholics; but at the beginning it will be derided by bad Christians and by infidels. Their sneers shall, however, be changed into mourning when they shall witness the wonderful victories achieved through it against tyrants, heretics, and infidels. Many wicked men and obstinate rebels against God shall perish; their souls will be plunged into Hell. The punishment shall fall upon all those transgressors of the Divine

commandments who with new and false doctrines will attempt to corrupt mankind and turn men

against the ministers of God’s worship. The same chastisement is due for all obstinate sinners, but

not to those who sin through weakness because these being converted doing penance and amending the conduct of their life shall find the divine mercy of the Most High full of kindness towards them. O holy Cross Bearers of the Most High Lord, how very pleasing you will be to the great God much more than the children of Israel! God will through your instrumentality work more wonderful prodigies than he has ever done before with any nation. You shall destroy the sect of Mahomet (Islam) and all infidels of every kind and and of every sect. You shall put an end to all the heresies of the world by extinguishing all tyrants. You will remove every cause of complaint by establishing a universal peace which shall last until the end of time. You will work the sanctification of mankind. O Holy Men: People blessed of the Most Holy Trinity! Your victorious founder shall triumph over the world, the flesh and the Devil. (…)

One of your posterity shall achieve greater deeds and work greater wonders than your lordship (your Lordship: Simeon de Limena, Lord of Monalto). That man (the leader of the Crucifers) will be a great sinner in his youth, but like St. Paul he will be drawn and converted to God. He shall be the founder of a new religious order different from all the others. He shall divide it into three classes, namely: (1) Military knights, (2) Solitary priests, (3) most pious hospitalliers. This shall be the last religious order of the Church, and it will do more good for our holy religion than all other religious institutes. By force of arms he shall take possession of a great kingdom. He shall destroy the sect of Mahomet, extirpate all tyrants and heresies. He shall bring the world to a holy mode of life. There will be one fold and one shepherd. He shall reign until the end of time. On the whole, in the whole earth there shall be only twelve kings, one emperor, one pope. Rich gentlemen shall be few, but all saints. (…)

 May Jesus Christ be praised and blessed for He has vouched to grant to me a poor unworthy sinner the spirit of prophecy not in an obscure way as to His other servants, but has enabled me to write and to speak in a most clear manner. I know that unbelieving and reprobate persons will scoff at my letters and will reject them; but they will be received by those catholic souls who aspire to the possession of heaven. These letters shall infuse such sweetness of divine love in their hearts that they will be delighted in perusing them often and in taking copies of them because such is the will of the Most High. In these letters it will be found out who belongs to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ and who does not, who is a predestinate or a reprobate. Much better will this be known through the holy sign of the living God. He shall be a saint of God who will take it, love it and wear it.” (Rev R. Gerald. Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, Tan books and Publishers, 1941. pp. 157-162)

Some doubt the authenticity of the letter, however, the prophecies attributed to St. Paola align completely with the prophecies of Marie-Julie Jahenny, a stigmatist and prophetic mystic approved by her local bishop in 1875. (Image right, Marie-Julie Jahenny)

She foretold that the Great Monarch, Henri V, Henry of the Cross, the one then called the 'Miracle Child', would deliver France in the midst of wars. He would enter France under the Sign of the Cross with his armies, it would be the Sign of Victory. Throughout the kingdom the famous phrase given to Emperor Constantine would be proclaimed once again: "In hoc signo vinces" A great Sanctuary to the Cross will be established at La Fraudais exactly where her cottage stands, which will be visited by the King. He will give thanks to God there for all her prophecies that have foretold his reign, which sounds very similar to St. Paola's predictions of the Militant Red Cross Cruciferi order that will be founded by the Great Monarch. (Image left: Emperor Constantine and the Vision of the Cross.)

Most important, she had a telling version about this sign of predestination in accepting God's plan of restoring the monarchy through the Great Monarch.

During an ecstasy dated December 26, 1877, Marie-Julie Jahenny saw that Satan hated God's plan to restore the monarchy of France through the promised Great Monarch. Satan admitted in so many words that the Great Monarch would put an end to much of his evil on earth for he raged at Marie-Julie, "It is necessary to crush the lily!”

The 'lily' represents the fleur de lis of France, the symbol of the French monarchy, and is also referred to a symbol of the Great Monarch in many of her visions. (Image: Royal Coat of Arms of the Fleur de Lis, from a ceilling at Versailles).

However, Marie-Julie Jahenny was not afraid of the demon's threats against the Great Monarch but rejoiced in that she was not like the Evil One, exclaiming: "Satan does not love the King. Ah! I am not like him (Satan) because I love him! (The Great Monarch.)”

Therefore, those who refuse to be like Satan will love the Great Monarch and will rejoice in the restoration of the monarchical regime.

In fact, April 20, 1874, Heaven warned Marie-Julie that democracy was from Hell itself:

“The Blessed Virgin told me we have to pray much to deflect the evils that must fall upon France. It will unfortunately atone for two centuries of political and social system of atheism, two centuries of a non-Christian régime. Democracy is indeed the Luciferian régime par excellence. The sole régime of a divine origin never comes from below, but only from above. Without making a pun, let us say in its very name, recognizes that it is the devil that guides demo-cracy: the devil is the master.” (Image: France under the Masonic Eye of democracy after the Revolution).

Marie-Julie then announced the return of the white flag, the fleur de ly. That is, the Royal Standard of the Kings of France. The fleur de lys was the royal symbol, and also a symbol of purity. (Image left: the Royal Standard of the French Kings. White Flag with Fleur de Lis)

Of interest, allegedly the Holy Souls of Purgatory also gave a similar message to the mystic Maria Simma of Austria. They told her democracy was not a God-given right. (Get Us Out of Here! An Interview with Maria Simma by Nicky Eltz.)

Sr. Marie Lataste (1822-1847) a mystic in France was told by Our Lord that His royal friendship lies on France:

 Our Lord: "The first king, the first sovereign, of France is I Myself. I am the Lord of all peoples, nations, kingdoms, empires, dominions; but I am specially the Master of France. I give her prosperity, greatness, power, above all other nations, when she is faithful in hearkening to My voice. I raise her princes above all other princes of the earth when they are faithful in hearkening to My voice. I have chosen France, to give her to My Church as her daughter of predilection. (...)    Well, My daughter, I say it to the honour and the glory of your country, for ages France defended and protected My Church ; she was My instrument, full of life, the visible and indestructible bulwark which I gave to My Church to protect her against her enemies. From the height of Heaven I protected her, herself, her kings, and their subjects"

Our Lord continues, saying  France refused God's choice for a king and picked evil rulers of her own choosing.  However, Our Lord promised that what has been rejected will one day be accepted again - an indication that Christ will restore the abosolute monarchy in France and that it will fulfill its mission -- to defend the Church.  (See Sr. Marie Lataste's revelations about France, click here.)

No wonder Satan hates 'The Lilly', the Great Monarch of France!

As requested by Heaven through Marie-Julie Jahenny, please pray for the coming of the Great Monarch and the restoration of the throne of France.  As we can see, the Church and the True Faith cannot be restored without them and the promised Angelic Pontiff.

Find out more: 

The Great Catholic Monarch and 'Angelic' Pontiff Prophecies: A general timeline of what we can expect and includes the prophecies of the saints, mystics, doctors of the Church, approved apparitions and generally accepted sources.  I'm also finding out which prophecies are fake.  (Blog is a work in progress, check back for new updates.)

"We Are Warned: The Prophecies of Marie-Julie Jahenny": Free e-book. Contains all the Great Monarch prophecies of the other mystics in addition to Marie-Julie Jahenny's visions.

“Marie-Julie of the Crucifix: Stigmatist and Prophet”: Free e-book, a concise version. Also explores the identity of the 'Miracle Child', Henri V of the Cross, the Great Monarch.

“Lord of the Rings: Apocalyptic Prophecies”, Free e-book: explores how JRR Tolkien may have been influenced by these prophecies. Also includes sections why modern democracy is abhorrent to God, and why the French monarchy is important.

"Marie-Julie Jahenny: Prophecies for Our Times--a Blog"  - you can also read her propheches here. (Texts can be explored through searchable tags, also some posts contain history and background info not found in the book "We Are Warned".  Ths too is a work in progress, so check back for updates.)

 

Fatima's Gradual Descent into Darkness – the Altar of the World has become a blasphemous mockery

May 13, 2017 marked the 100^th Anniversary of the miraculous apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three shepherd children of Fatima, Portugal.

On that day, Pope Francis canonised two of the little seers, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, which makes them the youngest non-martyred saints of the Catholic Church.

However, what was supposed to be a joyous celebratory canonisation Mass was filled with sombre omens. (Image: AP Photo/Armando Franca)

The official canonisation pictures of the two children are dark, disturbingly so, and they are holding lamps, a reference to the parable of the wise virgins waiting for the Master to come, who will also “search Jerusalem with lamps” during a time of disbelief. (Sophonias 1:12) It is a passage of the coming Judgement. Is this a sign to be vigilant, a sign of Dark Days ahead when the Master visits the earth unexpected with His Justice? (Right image: more official images unveiled May 8 by the Sanctuary during a news conference for the canonisation 2017, which are even darker than the ones on the basilica.)

The statue of Our Lady above the altar on the Holy Rosary Basilica never gets blackened like the other statues, (since mould is a big problem in Portugal), but at the Mass, it was clear for all to see the top and outer edge of her right hand has turned black, (notice the close up),  while the rest of the statue was perfectly white. All my years in Fatima, I've never seen the statue like this, it always stays white especially as it was cleaned not too long ago for the Anniversary. As she has said to other visionaries and mystics of the Church, she is getting tired of holding up the arm of her Son from visiting the earth with His Justice. (Close up below, thank you to Tigga Wild on Twitter for use of the photo.)

The most shocking element is the new outdoor altar specially built for the occasion of the Anniversary: a huge black /brownish stone block surrounded by six black stone candle holders and black seat for the main celebrants. The candles are set so low it appears as though black candles were burnt for the Mass.  The strange thing: the original plans showed a white altar, white podium and white seats, but this was changed, a 3D model had it in gold, but this switch to a 'Black Cube' altar is startling.  It was as if they were hiding what they planned to do regarding the altar itself and unleashed it on an unsuspecting public at the last minute. we cannot help but see a strange connection with the Illuminati 'Black Cube of Saturn' cult.  Yes, occultists believe in such a thing. (Read more about it here.)

Pope Francis himself also wore a very dark pallium with black crosses, and this for the joyous occasion of the Fatima Anniversary and the canonisation of two children? The whole ceremony was so dark and sombre, compared with the outdoor canonisations that take place in Rome! (Image below: Paulo Novais/Pool Photo via AP)

The 'crucifix' above the altar has an ugly 'floating' modern figure of Christ completely detached from the cross as though He were 'resurrecting' or ascending already. Christ is not crucified on the cross, they have depicted Our Lord levitated in mid air away from the cross,  and as Bishop Fulton J. Sheen so ominously predicted, one of the signs of the last times will be the rise of a 'church without a cross', a false church emptied of all Divine content, Christ's sufferings will be eliminated. (Image below, notice again the black altar and the black candles down the sides. AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Interesting how all the votive Masses at the Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima contain the 'Woman Clothed with the Sun' reading from the Apocalypse, and so did the Anniversary Mass. Right now, this exact sign is occurring in the sky, which foretells a time of punishment is coming. (Read more about that here in "The Lord Says: Look tot he Sky for the Signs of the Times".)

In all, it looked like a 'Black Mass' was being offered, or at the very least, a 'Death Mass' for the Church as we once knew it.

Other ominous signs in Fatima:

The Trinity 'Church' ~ the 'Bull Ring' as one local disgruntled vandal described it on a poster here in the parish church. You don't need me to tell you this building looks nothing like a Catholic church. It's one huge spiritless community hall without a Tabernacle, complete with blasphemous depictions of a fleshy Christ on the cross inside, and I think a statue of Our Lady, no one seems to know what it is. Outside, there is a huge, featureless 'matchstick Christ', while the traditional Penitential Pathway that pilgrims make on their knees was also cut exactly in half when this 'church' was built, it is half the length it once was.   Remember, Bishop Sheen warned of church without a suffering Cross or penance, a sign of the last days. (Picture of the 'Fleshy' Christ and the 'Match Stick' Christ.)

The Fatima Sanctuary took about 47 million Euros of a grant from the European Commission to build the Trinity Church, so they were 'indebted' to the Socialist Regime: it is no surprise the Trinity Church turned out the way it did. There were plans to include ecumenical chapels in the new building so "All Faiths" could worship there, but that was scrapped.

I bet most people don't know that the Sanctuary Committee had planned to knock down the original Holy Rosary Basilica after the Trinity Church monstrosity was built, but the people complained and that was dropped. They also had planned to move the children's bodies to a modern chapel underground at the Trinity Church, but the people also protested and this too was dropped for now.

The underground chapels connected with the Trinity Church are a scandal, completely devoid of edifying decorations save a tiny modern crucifix, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima (the only pretty holy object there), and a box in the corner for a Tabernacle. The walls are dead plain, these chapels are more clinical than a hospital ward, and let's not get into the horrible monstrance used in the Perpetual Adoration chapel ~ a steel square suspended from the ceiling, while the giant jewelled monstrance donated by the Irish is stuck in a museum along with all the other beautiful chalices and ornaments for the altar donated from around the world. They've all become museum pieces while the most plain insipid chalices I wouldn't stick on my kitchen table are used for all the Masses. (Images: the steel square monstrance in the modern Adoration Chapel.  All the underground chapels look like this, white and clinical.)

 

 And here is the paganish plain silver modern monstrance that was used at the Blessing of the Sick and Benediction during the Canonisation Mass May 13, 2017 compared with the giant solid gold and jewelled Irish Monstrance now in a museum, (image below):

It seems they cannot find enough ways to introduce as much ugly modern art into the Sanctuary as they can, the perpetual Nativity scene is horrific, and so is the one they trot out for Christmas at the Trinity Church. (Image Right: Trinity Church nativity scene. Image below, perpetual Nativity scene in the outdoor Sanctuary).

UPDATE: This is the most recent 'Nativity Scene' in the Holy Rosary basilica (December 2017): giant stick figures carved from tree trunks that look like something out of a primative pagan cult.   On top of that, the basilica was practically left undecorated!  You would never know it was Christmas in there.  Before, they used to do 'something', hang a few curtains over the doors and a large 'photograph nativity' with the baby Jesus that looked slightly more traditional, but this year was a right flop. 

Another shocker, after the Holy Rosary Basilica was restored for the Anniversary, the beautiful mosaic Stations of the Cross were removed from inside, and they have not been returned. We have no idea where they are, or if they will be put back. The marble altar rails were also taken out last year and a red string was put in its place, not even a decent looking 'theatre rope' was used. The modern altar featuring the Last Supper was taken out, now there is nothing but another stone block. At least it's not black, but dark brown, close enough.  UPDATE: Thanks to Catholic Sat on Twitter who reminded me that two original altars of the fifteen dedicated to the Holy Rosary have been removed, also, in order to put new name plaques near the seers' burial places, they have covered over the CHI-RHO of Constantine on the old altars, those extra name plaques were not necessary as the graves already had clear markings right on them.  So yes, another set of traditional crosses removed!   (Images, the Holy Rosary Basilica before and after the restoration process.  The stations of the Cross are now missing. UPDATE. Dec. 2017: they're still missing, see the new nativity scene above.)

 

 

Here is a comparison of the Former versus the New altar inside the Holy Rosary Basillica. Does this look like an 'improvement'?

UPDATE: the most worrying thing I've seen about this brown altar in the Holy Rosary Basilica: Currently there are only three candlesticks shaped out in a triangle pattern around the altar (see the picture above): which looks almost exactly like the arrangement around a Masonic Altar.   Three candles are Masonic symbolic imagery.  Compare with the  pictures of a Masonic Lodges below:

        

 








 What are the bishops thinking?!  When the Holy Rosary Basilica in Fatima begins to look more like a Masonic Lodge than  a Catholic church, you know the chastisements are coming soon. 






 
Elsewhere, the red Sanctuary lamps have been taken away, the red candle outside the Chapel of Apparitions has been gone for several years now. There is one inside where the Tabernacle is closed away, but nobody sees it, so there is no public indication the Blessed Sacrament is present at the Apparition Chapel. In the Holy Rosary Basilica, little white tea light candles are now next to the Tabernacle, but that is not a clear indicator to visitors that the Blessed Sacrament is present.   People wander past and don't genuflect.  Lack of proper Sanctuary lamps leaves the Sanctuary open to more blasphemous disrespect, which was bad enough to begin with. (See the Before and After pictures.)

People are no longer respectful in the Sanctuary grounds like they used to be way back in 1997 when I first visited Fatima. People were quiet once they entered the Sanctuary let alone one of the churches, but that is long gone. As I type this, I have been living here for fourteen years now, and things have steadily become much worse. Talking, yakking, shouting, walking about, even when Mass is going on the the Chapel of Apparitions. People answer a call on their mobile phones during Mass and run out! Others sit and send texts waiting for Mass. Prayer? What is that? I remember seeing a young woman reading the 'Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown during the Blessed Sacrament Procession. Yes. I did.

Apparently, ignorance of the faithful has now also deprived us of the Blessing of the Candles before the nightly Rosary procession.  As the candles are lit, the priest used to bless them before the procession began, but we discovered people were throwing their candles into the garbage when the procession was over!  I don't know how many blessed candles we fished out of trash cans after the night processions.  Now, the last few times we've been to the processions, no blessings were done on the candles. Perhaps that has been removed, or the priests forget, BUT if it was stopped to prevent a sacramental being thrown out, a blessing has been deprived because of indifference to holy objects.

(UPDATE August 15 2018- the priest blessed the candles for the evening Rosary procession, so, it can be hit and miss.  Hopefully enough people compalined and they've started doing it again, but the Shrine shouldn't be managed on a 'hit or miss' basis!)

Still ongoing, in the Holy Rosary Basilica and the Trinity Church, the ignornace on how to act in a church and the complete lack of respect is appalling.

All the code of conduct signs around the Sanctuary are ignored. People dress half naked as though they were at the beach, or wear see-through or skin tight clothes, and no one corrects them or keeps them from entering like they do in Rome.

Rarely any genuflections before the Blessed Sacrament when people enter the church, they troop right on through. No calm or order when receiving Communion, people pile out of pews on top of each other like a cattle drive, which is a complete nightmare in the huge open air Masses, you have to elbow your way for Communion, and then pray you don't get skipped by the priests or that a Host is dropped. (And yes, hosts have been dropped.  No act of reparation done.)

Then, priests might skip you if you were kneeling for Communion in the Apparition Chapel, espeically if you're a lady with your head covered in the traditional lace mantilla.  I've been denied Communion on several occasions, it still happens, which discourages anyone from kneeling for Communion or keeping your head covered.  Once, I even had to flag down the priest and keep him from passing me! This is how they treat Catholics, but have no problems letting Hindus come in that one infamous time May 2004 and dance around right in the Sanctuary of the Apparition Chapel, to 'honour' Our Lady as a manifestation of one of their goddesses. (Read more about that here. Note, I don't know who runs this site, I'm only sharing the news about the Hindu sacrilege / blasphemy.)

Visitors may not be able to see all the changes that have been done gradually bit by bit, but living here and watching as it happened these last fourteen years, it's one heartbreak after another.

The Austrian mystic Maria Simma, who allegedly had visitations from the souls of Purgatory, said they revealed to her that Heaven does not approve of modern images in churches for they are a mockery of what they're supposed to represent.

What an ominous warning. It appears Fatima, the Altar of the World, has become one giant blasphemous mockery, and as we all know, God will not be mocked.  Truly the lack of CATHOLIC celebration displayed for the canonisation and Anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions in Fatima is a frightening revelation of the sign of our times.

UPDATE: For those who think these observations about Fatima are over the top, that I'm making a 'big deal about nothing', I'm including below only PART of a vision Blessed Catherine Emmerich received about Our Lord's terrible Agony in the Garden showing one manner of torment He received from the devil:

“Among the throng of apparitions typical of the outrages offered to Divine Mercy, I saw Satan under various abominable forms, each bearing reference to the guilt then exhibited. (From sin committed.) … At first I saw the serpent but seldom, but towards the last I beheld it in gigantic form, a crown upon its head. With terrible might and leading after it immense legions of humans prepared to attack Jesus. …

Upon this I received an instruction that these multitudes that were thus tearing Jesus to pieces represented the countless number of those that in divers ways ill-treat Him who, in His Divinity and Humanity, Body and Soul, Flesh and Blood under the forms of bread and wine in the Most Blessed Sacrament, dwells ever present in that Mystery as their Redeemer.

Among these enemies of Jesus, I recognized offences of all kinds committed against the Blessed Sacrament, that living Pledge of His uninterrupted presence with the Catholic Church. I saw with horror all the outrages springing from neglect, irreverence, and omission, as also those of abuse and the most awful sacrilege. …

… I notice in particular many badly instructed, badly reared, and irreverent acolytes, (altar servers) who do not honour Christ in the Holy Mass. Their guilt falls partly upon their teachers and the careless sacristans.

But with terror I saw that many of the priests themselves, both of high and low degree – yes, even some that esteem themselves full of faith and piety – contribute their share toward outraging Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 

Of the many whom, to my great sorrow, I thus saw, I shall say a word of warning to one class in particular, and it is this:

I saw numbers that believe, adore, and teach the Presence of the Living God in the Most Blessed Sacrament, yet who do not sufficiently take it to heart. They forget, they neglect, the palace, the throne, the canopy, the seat, the royal adornments of the King of Heaven and Earth, that is, the church, the altar, the tabernacle, with all its vessels, the furniture, the decorations, the festal robes, and all that is used in His worship, or the adornment of His house. All things were ignominiously covered with dust and rust, mouldering away, and through long years of neglect, falling to ruin. The service of the living God was shamefully neglected, and where it was not inwardly profaned, it was outwardly dishonoured. Nor did all this arise from real poverty, but indifference and sloth ... from preoccupation of mind with vain, worldly affairs, and often too from self-seeking and spiritual death. I saw neglect of this kind in rich churches and in other tolerably well off. Yes, I saw many in which a worldly love of splendour and tinselled finery had replaced the magnificent and appropriate adornments of a more devout age. What the rich in ostentatious arrogance do, the poor foolishly aim at in their poverty and simplicity. This recalls to me our poor convent chapel in which the beautiful old stone altar had been covered with wood veined to imitate marble, a fact that always gave me sorrow. (I.e. a real stone altar had been covered with a cheap 'tinselled finery' of fake marble veneer. )

These visions of the outrages offered to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament I saw multiplied by innumerable church wardens who were totally deficient in their sense of equity, who failed to share at least what they had with their Redeemer present upon the altar, although He had delivered Himself to death for them, although He remains

(Extracts from The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations from the Vision of Venerable Ann Catherine Emmerich, Vol 4, Tan Publishers, 1986, pp. 96-99)

Blessed Emmerich does say God does not need riches, but considering she has warned priests in particular to take care to give the best at the Altar, it shows Christ, who died for us and continues to remains on earth for us inthe Blessed Sacrament, demands respect and deserves the very best ~ "magnificent and appropriate adornments of a more devout age" ~ not showy tinsel, the mocking modernity of the world that is an outrage.

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UPDATE NUMBER TWO:   It seems that in Fatima they know when to bring out the 'good stuff' when it suits them, so it is not alway completely downhill here -- last week at the public Benediction at 5:30 PM in the Chapel of Apparitions (Sept. 24, 2017) they used a gorgeous gold and silver adoration monstrance in the statue-shape of Our Lady of Grace, the Sacred Host placed directly where her heart is, then, the Host was reverently taken out and placed in a proper 'Blessing' monstrance when the time of the public blessing was to occur.  If they have items like this for the service of the altar in such a special place like Fatima, why don't they use them instead of the blasphemous trash we see all the time? Of course, a visiting bishop was present, so this beautiful monstrance may have been a concession for him.  Still, it was good to see this, there's hope yet. 

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UPDATE NUMBER THREE: (November 10, 2017) Then, we have bright moments, like when a Latin Mass Society visits, or a pilgrim group from a society that upholds Roman Catholic orthodoxy arrives, and somehow receive permisson to decorate the modern altars into something befitting the Sacrifice of the Mass, like this, which just happened recently:


BEFORE: 

AFTER:

 
YES! What a difference! I love it when this happens! Too bad they couldn't do something about the ugly crucifix, but the properly decorated altar is a breath of fresh air.  This particular group also did the same with one of the altars in the little ugly bare white underground 'nothing' chapels and it made such a big difference. You can see it on the site at: http://blog.messainlatino.it/2017/11/pellegrinaggio-dellicrss-per-il_23.html

Too bad this doesn't happen more often.

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February 13th ~ Hell's Birthday?

Two years ago, I came across an interesting piece of Medieval trivia ~ that scholars once believed God created Hell on February 13^th.

(Image: Painting depicting Hell, c. 1516) 

 

 This was news to me.  The bafflement was mighty!  After studying the Faustian legend  and writing about it in-depth to the point of severe academic obsession, starting with the historical Faust in the late Medieval Period who allegedly sold his soul to the devil and working my way up to Goethe’s epic closet drama published in the 19^th century,  I wondered how come I never heard about this before?

Naturally, I had to do so digging and satisfy my curiosity, and lately have decided this might make an interesting blog post.

I began my information treasure hunt with Google, (where else?), and discovered a post dated February 13, 2014 on a Benedictine website stating that this hellish event was marked in medieval calendars.  Considering we are looking into the Medieval Period, we must not forget that in those days theological scholars believed they had also pinpointed the First Day of Creation according to their Biblical calculations based on the Julian calendar, which is currently 13 days behind ours. (So, 'Hell Day' would be the 26th of February in our modern calculation of time assuming my online source hasn't already adjusted the date.)

My theory is, if you can understand how they calculated the First Day, it should be fairly simple to see where ‘Hell Day’ originated.  Right?

Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with too much history. (Hopefully!)

We already know that the early and Medieval Christians believed the First Day began on March 25, the day Julius Caesar set forth as New Year’s Day on the calendar he instituted, yes, the Julian Calendar.  He chose that day as it was the Spring Equinox, however, as his calendar was not astronomically accurate, the equinox shifted over the centuries.  

 In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII instituted a new way of reckoning the year to correct the astronomical discrepancies they crept in, changing New Year’s Day to January 1.  We continue to use the Gregorian calendar to this day, which as mentioned, has skipped forward almost two weeks due to the Julian discrepancies.

 However, it is the Julian Calendar that still is of interest to us, and indeed, is still used by Orthodox Christians.  Despite the shift in the spring equinox, March 25^th continued to be regarded as the First Day of Creation in both the east and west during the Medieval period:  it seemed logical that Creation had to have taken place sometime within the life-giving season of springtime. The day was also mystically significant as it was the Feast of the Annunciation, the day of Christ’s conception.

Our information digging doesn’t stop there; the majority of the earliest Christians up until the Middle Ages believed that Creation began circa 5500 BC give or take a few years.  Yes, there were various calculations proposed, but for some time, this was the basic accounting of years according to calculations of the Septuagint.

Okay, enough of calendar history! 

According to the Medieval way of thinking, we have March 25 as the Day of Creation and also the year c. 5500 BC as the Anno Mundi to work with.  Some theologians believed that Hell had to have been created for the evil angels that fell before God turned to work on the rest of Creation, although there is Biblical evidence God had already created the physical earth already before Satan fell.  However, for those scholars who believed Hell was created first, it is logical to assume they thought Hell must have been created around or slightly before this date in March and about the same year ~ so that would be from February to March.

Curiously, we find that in Dante’s time it was  believed the First Day of Creation took place when the sun was in the constellation Aries, a belief he recorded in his poetic classic ‘The Divine Comedy’ (1308-1320):

“The hour was morning’s prime, and on his way

Aloft the sun ascended with those stars (Aries)

That with him rose when Love Divine first moved

Those fair works: (...)”

          ~ Canto I, The Divine Comedy, (Harvard Classics, Vol. 20)

 

(Image: Dante holding a copy of The Divine Comedy next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above.  Fresco by Michelino, 1465)

Thanks to modern astronomy technology, we can now test out this information with some stellar experimentation!

Looking at the sky with the Stellarium app, we find that around 5500 BC the sun was indeed in Aries, right in sync with Dante’s fine verses.

Using this year, we can also see why theologians and scholars thought Hell was created in February.

Not only is the sun in Aries in 5500 BC, it is above the constellation Cetus ~ right over the head of the evil sea monster of Greek mythology that was destroyed by Perseus.  Remember the movie Clash of the Titans? 

 (Image: 12 PM screenshot of the sun Cetus, 5500 BC, from the Stellarium App.   Assuming the date February 13^th is according to the Julian calendar, I’ve set the date in the App to the 26^th, taking into account that we are now 13 days ahead in the Gregorian Calendar.)

 

Now, get this...

Cetus is also called the ‘Whale’ ~ a beast that was considered a symbol of Hell.

How did they come up with that?

In the Gospel of Matthew 12: 38-40 we find the following:

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying: Master we would see a sign from thee. Who answering said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.  For as Jonas was in the whale' s belly three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” (Bible: Douay-Rheims edition.)

Using the symbol of Jonah and the whale, Christ was foretelling His death, his following decent to the Underworld and His resurrection that would happen three days later. 

In those days it was taught that both the Limbo of the just souls and the Inferno of the damned were part of ‘Hell’. 

 Christ descended to free the just souls, and it is also believed He entered Hell, commanding Satan and all the demons to bow before Him and acknowledge Him as the Lord God ~ the 'Harrowing of Hell'.  Of interest, when St. Jerome translated this passage of the Sacred Vulgate, he used the word ‘cetus’, the same word as the whale constellation.

(Image: the constellation Cetus as a fish-tailed monster published in 'Urania's Mirror', 1825)

I also found a Biblical Astronomy site online edited by Robert Scot Wadsworth that states the name Mira for the bright star in Cetus is from the ancient Hebrew ‘marah’ meaning ‘rebel’, ‘rebellious’, ‘disobedient’ ~ a fitting star to be found in the constellation representing Hell where Satan the rebel angel and all his followers are doomed to remain for all eternity.

In ancient texts it is common to see the gates of Hell depicted as a monster or whale swallowing up the damned.  You can find some incredible examples in the following  post published in the British Library Medieval Manuscripts blog: “Prepare to Meet You Doom”.  Oh heck, I'm borrowing one of their images... here it is:

 (Image: detail of demons throwing sinner in to the mouth of hell from the 'Taymouth Hours', Yates Thompson MS 13, f. 142 r.)

Detail of a bas-de-page scene showing the casting of souls into Hell, from the ‘Taymouth Hours’, - See more at: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2014/02/prepare-to-meet-your-doom.html#sthash.4K2slu3g.dpuf

Detail of a bas-de-page scene showing the casting of souls into Hell, from the ‘Taymouth Hours’, Yates Thompson MS 13, f. 142r. - See more at: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2014/02/prepare-to-meet-your-doom.html#sthash.4K2slu3g.dpuf

There we have it!  So, if we use the theory that Hell was created for the devil and his angels before God turned His attentions to creating the physical cosmos, (although there is evidence in the Bible the devil actually fell to earth as well), and if we take 5500 BC and observe the sun’s position in Cetus in February, we can see how the scholars of those times arrived at their calculation, February being before March, the month some theologians believed God began his Great Work of Creation.  Even when adjusting the 5500 BC assumed date of Creation back and forth a decade or two, the sun is still in Cetus, the Mouth of Hell.  How they arrived at the date, the 13^th, I’m not sure: that’s another mystery to unravel, which I shall leave to the experts in biblical astronomy.


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