A time of wrath or a Great Tribulation, as it is often described, is prophesied in the book of Daniel (Ch’s 10, 11,12). It begins with a period of wars leading up to: a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence (Daniel 12:1). Since the beginning of the 20th century there has been conflict somewhere in the world every year. It is estimated to have cost 187 million or more lives (https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/timeline-of-20th-and-21st-century-wars). It is prophesied by Daniel that at some point during this time of wrath, “forces” of the “wretch” (The Antichrist; Daniel 11:21-32) will profane the sanitary citadel; they will abolish the perpetual sacrifice and install the disastrous abomination there (ibid, 12:31). This is believed to be a prophecy about the Great Tribulation of the Catholic Church.
One might ask why does this have to be? The answer is also found in the Book of Daniel: For putting an end to transgression, for placing the seals on sin, for expiating crime, for introducing everlasting integrity, for setting the seal on vision and on prophecy, for anointing the Holy of Holies (Daniel 9:24). The plan of redemption ordains that scriptures (The Word of God) must be fulfilled.
As Our Lord said to Vassula Ryden in 1988: I love you, creation; My entire Church will be renewed; these elements (The Word of God that is overlooked and/or misunderstood) given back to you will embellish It and will perfect It, but first I will crown Peter, Peter-of-My-Lambs; I have given him this name which he will keep;
I will enter My Temple just as I had done whilst on earth and with My Belt-of-Integrity(emphasis added) strike all those impostors; I will enter with force and overthrow all the money-worshippers;
I will enter Jerusalem so that the New Jerusalem can begin to see the Light; I will sweep away those blocks and open the Way; this, My Vassula, will be known as the Great Tribulation of My Church; (True Life In God message May 16 1988). This is likely to be a very painful process.
The Betrayal of Our Lord Jesus Christ was also predicted in the Old Testament. He quoted from Psalm 41:9 when he said to His Apostles (including Judas): I am not speaking of you all; I know whom I have chosen; it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, (emphasis added) He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. (John 13:18) and When Jesus had thus spoken, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me (John 13:21). Jesus even indicated to His disciples who the traitor was, but they failed to get it! In our own times, Our Lord has indicated that the Body of Christ, The Church will be betrayed by one of its own. Are any of us listening.
The betrayal of Jesus prefigures what will happen to The Church. It will be “crucified”, but like Jesus, the Body of Christ will rise again as scriptures are fulfilled. At His discourse on eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood (i.e. the Eucharist), after some of His disciples declined to follow Him anymore He questioned the Twelve if they would do the same. Peter responded with his famous words “to whom shall we go” and his own profession of faith that Jesus was The Christ, “the Holy One of God”. But Jesus responded with: Did I not choose you, the Twelve, and one of you is a devil? (John 6:70). In other words: “I know who you all are”. Even those who ate at table with Jesus were apt to betray him. When Jesus was arrested, all his disciples deserted Him and fled. Peter denied Him at the Sanhedrin before His crucifixion. As has happened many times throughout Church history, there are those who continue to partake of the Eucharist at table (the Altar) with Jesus who continue to betray Him. In fact, whenever any of us sin, we betray Him. That means all of us!
The Apostle Paul tells us: Rebellion is at its work already, but in secret and the one who is holding it back has first to be removed before the Rebel appears openly (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Rebellion has been at work in the Church for a very long time. However, as Jesus also tells us: So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. (Mathew 16:18).
In the early 19th century Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich revealed a multitude of visions. She often saw The Catholic Church symbolised as St Peter’s Basilica. After seeing St Peter’s in a ruinous state, Jesus appeared to Blessed Anne Catherine in the following manner: Then I saw my Heavenly Spouse before me under the form of a youth. He spoke to me for a long time. He told me that this translation of St. Peter’s signified that the Church would apparently fall to total ruin (emphasis added): but that, resting on these supports, she would be raised up again. Even if there should remain but one Catholic Christian, the Church would again triumph since its foundations were not cast in the intellect or councils of men. (The Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich; 1976, Vol 2, page 300)
A Great Tribulation has been predicted for the Catholic Church for centuries. Just as Jesus had to go through His Passion and Calvary, so will His Body, The Church. Jesus tells us in Mathew Ch24: So when you see the disastrous abomination, of which the prophet Daniel spoke, set up in the Holy Place (let the reader understand) then those in Judea must escape to the mountains;….(Mathew 24:15-16). Further, Jesus tells us: For then there will be great distress such as, until now, since the world began, there never has been, nor ever will be again. And if that time had not been shortened, no one would have survived; but shortened that time shall be, for the sake of those who are chosen (Mathew 24:21-22).
Even though it is apparent that the Great Apostasy and Rebellion against God are well underway, we must wait for scriptures to be fulfilled. In 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 Saint Paul prophesied the “one who is holding him (the Rebel) back has first to be removed”. There has been much conjecture about who the “one” is holding back the Rebel. Upon reflection, I say this is the Pope. Given that the Perpetual Sacrifice has first to be abolished, only a reigning Pontiff could give effect to this. This would fulfil the prophecy made by Jesus Himself in John 13:21 that one of His own would betray Him.
How then could the Pope be taken out of the way? History tells us we have had good and bad Popes over the centuries. Popes have also been attacked before as we saw with the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. However, a number of prophesies have foretold a Schism in The Church, and that it will be without a Pope for a while (e.g. Blessed Anne Catherine and Sister Agnes Sasagawa at Akita in Japan). Not long before the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Saint Pope Pius X foresaw:“one of my successors taking flight over the bodies of his brethren . He will take refuge in disguise somewhere: and after a short retirement (exile) he will die a cruel death.” (Antichrist and the End Times, 2005, Fr Joseph Iannuzzi)
As revealed in the third part of the secret of Fatima, given to the three children on 13 July 1917: …we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father’. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html
We have had Antipopes in The Church in the past who were not validly elected but claimed the Papacy. In view of more recent events with the invasion of Ukraine and current global insecurity, there may yet be another war beginning in Europe. As predicted by Blessed Elena Aiello in 1947, Rome is said to be ransacked and the Russians will raise their flag over St Peters. If the Poe escapes, it is very likely he will go into exile and reputedly later dies (as per Pius X) but another Pope would be elected. However, given the war torn circumstances, one would have to question the validity of this election. Either way, The Church could be without a Pope for a while.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel (Ch 34) prophesied against the “Shepherds” of the Church who were not “feeding” their “sheep” (the flock) like good shepherds are supposed too. The sheep were left as prey to wild beasts, they did not look after the sick or poor ones, nor did they bring back the lost. With the in-roads of “Modernism” since the late 19th century, this is now the sorry state of the Catholic Church today. Modernism is a theological movement that was viewed as heretical by Pope Pius X who promulgated “The Oath Against Modernism” in 1910 to combat this movement. It is conceivable that if the Pope, is forced into exile at some point in the future and later dies, the Modernists in the hierarchy of the Church may elect one of their own, but he will not be a true Pope.
It has also long been known that Freemasonry has infiltrated into the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and into the Vatican and they have steadily worked over many decades to undermine the Church and the practice of the Faith. . The Pope of the Catholic Church is the figure that, so far, has been holding up Tradition and “holding back” this rebellion. In 1820, Blessed Anne Catherine reported:-I have had another vision on the great tribulation everywhere reigning. It seemed as if something were exacted of the clergy, something that could not be granted. I saw many aged priests, some of them Franciscans, and one, in particular, a very old man, weeping bitterly and mingling their tears with those of others younger than themselves. I saw others, tepid souls, willingly acceding to conditions hurtful to religion. The old faithful in their distress submitted to the interdict and closed their churches. Numbers of their parishioners joined them; and so, two parties were formed, a good and a bad one. (ibid Vol 2, page 331). This suggests a schism in the Church.
I see new martyrs, not of the present but of the future, though even now they are oppressed. I saw the secret society [Freemasonry] undermining the great church and near them a horrible Beast that arose out of the sea. (ibid; Vol 1, page 290).
I saw the Holy Father surrounded by traitors and in great distress about the Church. He had visions and apparitions in his hour of greatest need. Isaw many good pious Bishops; but they were weak and wavering, their cowardice often got the upper hand. Isaw the black fellow [a lay person] plotting again, the destroyers [Freemasons]attacking the Church of Peter, Mary standing with her mantle over it, and the enemies of God put to flight. (ibid, Vol 1, page 131)
In another place Blessed Anne Catherine relates: I saw St. Peter’s. A great crowd of men were trying to pull it down whilst others constantly built it up again. Lines connected [lines of communication?] these men one with another and with others throughout the whole world. I was amazed at their perfect understanding. The demolishers, mostly apostates and members of the different sects, broke off whole pieces and worked according to rules and instructions. They wore white aprons bound with blue riband [Blue Lodge Freemasons?]. In them were pockets and they had trowels stuck in their belts. The costumes of the others were various. There were among the demolishers distinguished men wearing uniforms and crosses . They did not work themselves, but they marked out on the wall with a trowel where and how it should be torn down. To my horror, I saw among them Catholic priests. (emphasis added). Whenever the workmen did not know how to go on, they went to a certain one in their party. He had a large book, which seemed to contain the whole plan of the building and the way to destroy it. They marked out exactly with a trowel the parts to be attacked, and they soon came down. They worked quietly and confidently, but slyly, furtively, and warily. I saw the Pope praying, surrounded by false friends who often did the very opposite to what he had ordered, (ibid, Vol 2, page 565)
Blessed Anne Catherine also saw The Church being completely rebuilt and better than before with a new Pope: Soon the whole front of the church was down; the sanctuary alone stood. I was very much troubled and I kept thinking, where is the man with the red mantle and white banner whom I used to see standing on the church to protect it. (It is unclear who the missing man with “the red mantle and the white banner is, however, the traditional garb for the Pope is a red mozzetta, i.e. a small cape that sits around the shoulders, and a white cassock.)
Then I saw a most majestic lady floating over the great square before the church. Her wide mantle fell over her arms as she arose gently on high, until she stood upon the cupola and spread it over all the church like golden rays. The destroyers were taking a short repose, and when they returned they could in no way approach the space covered by the mantle. On the opposite side, the repairs progressed with incredible activity. There came men, old, crippled, long-forgotten, followed by vigorous young people, men, women, children, ecclesiastic and lay, and the edifice was soon restored. Then I saw a new Pope coming in procession, younger and far sterner looking than his predecessor. He was received with pomp. He appeared about to consecrate the church. But I heard a voice proclaiming it unnecessary as the Blessed Sacrament had not been disturbed. (ibid, page 566) Anne Catherine also does not identify who the “majestic lady” is floating over the great square. However, it could be interpreted allegorically as a representation of Our Holy Mother Mary who does her utmost to protect The Church.
The same voice said that they should solemnly celebrate a double feast, a universal jubilee and the restoration of the church. The Pope, before the feast began, instructed his officers to drive out from the assembled faithful a crowd of the clergy both high and low, and I saw them going out, scolding and grumbling. Then the Holy Father took into his service others, ecclesiastic and lay. Now commenced the grand solemnity in St. Peter’s. The men in white aprons worked on when they thought themselves unobserved, silently, cunningly, though rather timidly.(ibid, page 566).
Anne Catherine goes on to describe a great battle (spiritual?) overseen by St Michael (ibid, Vol 2, page 567-568). In the battle, Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared in the sky on a great shining cross with rays proceeding from His wounds all over the world (note: by his stripes we are healed, Isaiah 53:5) . The Immaculate Heart of Our Lady also appeared in the sky and attracted numerous souls who, by her Immaculate Heart and the current of light between the Heart and the Cross entered into the Side of Jesus (ibid, page 567-568). This image strengthens the impression of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the Great Sign appearing in the sky as predicted to Fr Gobi of the Marian Movement of Priests.
In 1973, Our Holy Mother Mary predicted to Sister Sasagawa at Akita in Japan in 1973 that: The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres…churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord: The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them (https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/message-from-our-lady–akita-japan-5167) (Message to Sr Agnes at Akita October 13 1973). Since Vatican II (1963 to 1965) devotion to Our Holy Mother has been discouraged. Also, the loss of consecrated souls (i.e. priests, nuns and religious) from the service of The Lord since the late 1960s has been enormous. Vocations to the religious life have also declined markedly. In some respects, the Great Tribulation of the Catholic Church is well underway.
Our Lord told Vassula Ryden in the True Life In God Messages (TLIG) that: alas! for those stubborn souls who shut their ears on these last warnings, what will you do on My Return? I am known to be Faithful and Trueand I tell you: Justice shall prevail; do not be bewildered, My child, do not stand mystified with what I have given you to write, for it has been foretold that in your days, My Church would be betrayed, by one who was My very own, just like Juda[s], and Her apostasy would come from within Her;[emphasis added] I would be betrayed by those who shared My Meals, who had bonds with Me, who drank and ate with Me; (TLIG Message August 05 1990).
This particular message also makes it clear that the False Prophet is alive and active in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church today, as Jesus also stated: I weep, I do; he is lodging in My House and instead of offering Me fragrant offerings and sacrifices, he is replacing these by all sorts of evil forms offered to him by the evil one: impurity, promiscuity, injustice, disobedience to My Law, debauchery and drunkenness with the blood of My prophets, My very Own…(ibid). We only have to cast our minds over the multitude of sexual abuse scandals that have occurred in ALL the Christian Churches, that have come to light ever since the 1960s to get some idea of the extent to which the “smoke of satan” has entered The Church (and Christianity in general).
Finally, Our Lady predicted to Melanie at La Salette in 1846 that Rome will become the “seat of the Antichrist” (Sister Mary of the Cross, Shepherdess of La Salette, by Abbe Gouin, Expanded Edition 2015). As indicated above, an Antipope is likely to cause a schism in the Church and drag legions of “the elect” into error. Those who remain true to the faith will be without a Pope for a while. We will know this for sure when the Perpetual Sacrifice, the Eucharist, is abolished. This was also predicted by St Michael to Vassula Ryden: “look here, for over three years the Perpetual Sacrifice will be trampled; for this reason of incredible blasphemy, a third of your inhabitants shall die of iniquity; the Lord swore this by His Holiness; prepare yourself to meet God now….” (see TLIG Message dated October 14, 1994)
May Jesus and Mary be loved by all hearts
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