“Extinguish not the spirit. Despise not prophecies. But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5
This is not a topic that I frequently write about, but I am absolutely fascinated by this particular prophecy. I first read about these events and prophecies some 12 years ago and I remember being struck by them. I happened to be re-reading a book in my library this past weekend when I read the prophecy detailed below and I was struck momentarily dumb. Reading it again just ten years later made the clarity of this prophecy leap off the page. I suppose a little background may be in order.
Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres (1563-1635) was a Spanish Nun who helped found a convent in early 17th century Ecuador. Our Lady appeared to Mother Mariana and commissioned the creation of a statue. The statue, Our Lady of Good Success, has a fascinating miraculous story of its own that is well worth reading about, but that is not today’s topic. Mother Mariana was given a series of prophecies specifically for the late 20th century. She even prophesied that these would not become well known until the late 20th century. Some additional writings of Mother Mariana were not discovered until the 1980’s. That discovery made her prophecies more well known, as anticipated.
St Paul tells us “not to despise prophecy, but to prove all things.” I want to present to you a 400 yr. old prophecy from Mother Mariana and ask you, does it prove itself trustworthy? Mother Mariana tells us about the situation the Church and the world will find itself in during the late 20th century. Emphases mine.
“As for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with His Church, it will be attacked and deeply profaned. Freemasonry, which will then be in power, will enact iniquitous laws with the aim of doing away with this Sacrament, making it easy for everyone to live in sin and encouraging the procreation of illegitimate children born without the blessing of the Church. The Catholic spirit will rapidly decay; the precious light of Faith will gradually be extinguished until there will be an almost total and general corruption of customs. Added to this will be the effects of secular education, which will be one reason for the dearth of priestly and religious vocations.
“The Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised, for in this Sacrament, the Church of God and even God Himself is scorned and despised since He is represented in His priests. The Devil will try to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every possible way; he will labor with cruel and subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation and will corrupt many of them. These depraved priests, who will scandalize the Christian people, will make the hatred of bad Catholics and the enemies of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church fall upon all priests.
“This apparent triumph of Satan will bring enormous sufferings to the good Pastors of the Church, the many good priests, and the Supreme Pastor and Vicar of Christ on Earth, who, a prisoner in the Vatican, will shed secret and bitter tears in the presence of his God and Lord, beseeching light, sanctity, and perfection for all the clergy of the world, of whom he is King and Father.
“Further, in these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury which will ensnare the rest into sin and conquer innumerable frivolous souls who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women. In this supreme moment of need of the Church, the one who should speak will fall silent.”
I don’t think any modern commentator could do a better job describing the evils of our time. Further, the description of the effect that a small group of “depraved priests” would have on the Church and on the good priests made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
All genuine prophecy is about hope and this is another aspect of this particular story. There is hope.
Our Lady told her that in our lamentable times, heresies would abound, the corruption of manners and customs would be almost complete, and the light of the Faith nearly extinguished. To atone for the many profanations, blasphemies, and abuses and to hasten the day of the triumphant restoration, this 17th century sister was asked to become an expiatory victim for our times.
But Our Lady promised Her intercession at the very moment “when the evil will appear triumphant and when the authority abuses my power.” This would “mark the arrival of my hour, when I, in a marvelous way, will dethrone the proud and accursed Satan, trampling him under my feet and fettering him in the infernal abyss.” These words harmonize perfectly with the message of hope Our Lady delivered to the three children at Fatima in 1917: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
While obviously no one is obliged to believe in this or any other private prophecy, we are cautioned by St. Paul not to despise and to test. What do you think, does this pass the test?
June 4, 2008 at 3:19 am
Not yet. I’ll wait to see it parsed in depth and detail by someone other than Tradition in Action sources.
Besides, Fatima is enough prophecy for all of us to take seriously enough to consecrate ourselves and start cooperating with Heaven, and making reparation.
(Carol)
June 4, 2008 at 3:25 am
Carol,
I linked to Tradition in Action because it had the entire quote I was looking for in its entirety. The quote I have seen in books that have nothing to do with that site. The fact that I linked there should have no bearing on anything.
Fatima is wonderful I agree, but that shouldn’t me we close ourselves off to anything other than Fatima.
June 4, 2008 at 3:36 am
Has anyone else noticed that among the traditional minded (among whom I count myself) when it comes to the subject of apparitions or prophecy there is a knee-jerk Fatima ONLY response. Everything else is the work of the devil. Has anyone noticed this besides me?
As for the above prophecy, it does truly capture the mess we have made.
June 4, 2008 at 4:32 am
I don’t resist the Pope to the face, nor support anyone (TIA, VOTF) who does–one Pope-to-be pulled that malarkey on Jesus, and got called satan for it. As for Fatima-only, no, but there’s a need –for the Church’s sake (more and moreso)–for caution. Anyway, sorry, I didn’t mean to upset anyone.
June 4, 2008 at 5:02 am
It’s funny you bring this up, I ran across this out of the blue the other day as well. It sent chills up my back, and is an interesting bit of info.
June 4, 2008 at 5:13 am
I’m so glad you shared this! I think it is very profound, and has so far shown the marks of a true prophecy.
June 4, 2008 at 5:37 am
Reading the prophecy, I was getting a bad feeling. The hackles did go up!
Carol (anon), I’m with you; an authoritative source is always the preferred one, and the source (TIA, VOTF) can be as important as the content.
No luck finding a complete text yet. Patrick, what book were you reading?
Many Thanks — and let us PRAY!
June 4, 2008 at 5:43 am
The one note that rings false is calling the Pope “a prisoner in the Vatican.” This cannot be reasonably applied to any pope since, maybe Pius XII, and especially not the pope who served during most of the “late 20th century,” the globetrotting John Paul II.
That said, much of this is a surprisingly apt description of our age.
June 4, 2008 at 6:13 am
“The one note that rings false is calling the Pope “a prisoner in the Vatican.” This cannot be reasonably applied to any pope since, maybe Pius XII,”
Well, with the way Italy and the rest of Europe is Islamicizing, the Vatican could someday end up the only Christian bastion left on the Continent.
I’m not saying that is what is meant but that’s what popped into my head when i read that portion of the prophecy.
Also, how would this 17th Century nun have even known the term “prisoner of the Vatican” since that did not occur until the 1870’s. At the time of these prophecies the Papal States still existed.
June 4, 2008 at 6:33 am
“…prisoner of the Vatican” might perhaps be better understood in the rather non-literal sense of a Pope’s being ignored, even contradicted, by his own cardinals, bishops, and priests. A clearer reading of history 30 years or so after the fact would seem to indicate that Paul VI’s “reading” of the Council was far different than the ways in which it came to be implemented. In fact, he seemed rather helpless in stemming that renegade tide. That might certainly make him a prisoner, in a sense.
Just a thought…
June 4, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Were these apparitions approved? Let’s not forget that events happening even in Jesus’ day were similar to what we see now, although perhaps not to the extent that we witness them. These prophecies could very well have been appropriate for the situations of this woman’s time. That we can apply them so readily today only means that sin is still sin.
June 4, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Once again (TIA) whoever they are, is not the source for this. They conveniently had the quote I was looking for so I linked it. Ignore it if you wish.
As for these apparitions be “approved”, not that I am aware. But as I mentioned, since these prophecies were in some part not even discovered until recently, that is not surprising.
Saints and others have had many mystical experiences throughout the centuries that have never received official acceptance. It is not, however, axiomatic that they are thus not worthy of consideration.
It is also worth pointing out that the prophecies state that they center around events at the end of the 19th century and again at the end of the 20th century. It is also worth noting that conditional prophecies are just that, conditional. Elements can be modified by our response to grace. Further, it is of note that when reading this, it is possible that not every element of the prophecy has come to its full fruition yet.
As for the book I was reading, that would be “Trial, tribulation, and triumph” by Desmond Birch. I have other sources for these particular events as well, but that is the book I was reading. (Once again, nothing to do with the TIA)
June 4, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I cannot believe how spot on this prophecy is…my mind went to Phleger and of course to the priests and Bishops who hid all the child abuse….in both instances God’s word was thrown away for the “feel good” moment of evil.
Jaded
Freedom of Religion NOT
Freedom from Religion
June 4, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Forgive me, but I’m skeptical about this so-called “prophecy.”
Whenever I hear the claim that a prophecy will be “discovered” once it begins to take place, I start wondering whether it will be “discovered,” or whether it will be forged.
I will not accept this prophecy as anything but worthy of suspiscion, until someone can offer me reliable evidence that verifies it was indeed written 400 years ago.
June 4, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Eo,
In the interest of brevity I may have muddied the waters a bit. I did not mean to suggest that the above prophecy was only recently discovered.
My understanding is that the bulk of her writings and and a contemporary biography date from and were known since the early 17th century. What was prophesied is that they would become more well known late in the 20th century.
When additional writings were discovered in the 1980s, the writings and the devotion to Our Lady of Good Success became more well known. Hope this clears things up.
June 4, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Has any one here read the locutions of Fr. Gobbi?…they are very much the same as these…he mentions freemasonry and this is also mentioned here… a chief cause of the scandels…they were a planned attack from the enemy within…JESUS warned the CHURCH that there are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
June 4, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Dear Patrick,
It would still be helpful if you pointed to the place in her writings where these prophecies can be found. Also, I would be extremely grateful to know the manner in which these “new” writings of hers were discovered, as well as whether the prophecies you have quoted belong to the already known or recently found literature.
Until I have these details in hand, I can do nothing but consider these prophecies to be forgeries.
My apologies, but they look fake to me. The whole “believing in private revelation is not obligatory” simply does not hold water with me. If a prophecy was given, then it was given. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. If a prophecy is false, then no matter who gives the “okay” on it, the prophecy must be condemned as a most depraved fabrication intended to do evil to untold numbers of innocent people.
Pax Christi,
Geoffrey
June 4, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Eo Nomine,
With all due respect, I don’t give a flying fig whether you consider them to be the work of God, Disney / Pixar or the devil. Believe it, don’t believe. I don’t care.
I presented it to the readers as interesting, not as fact. Take it, leave it, whatever.
As far a the “obligatory” issue goes, that is the way it works. No one is obliged to believe in any private prophecy. Even Fatima. You can say Fatima was hooey and still be a good Catholic. You may be an idiot, but not a sinner.
As far is it “looking like a forgery” to you and needing to be condemned. Have a ball making your case, but do your own research.
June 4, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Wow! Interesting stuff. This definitely warrants further investigation on my part.
June 4, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Patrick,
Can you please provide a 30 page dissertation, footnoted, and with a bibliography detailing all the specific issues that I may have a problem with. I would like you to submit that to me no later than Thursday at noon.
If you cannot provide the above requested dissertation by the requested date and hour, I will have no choice but to scoff at the prophecy and assume it is the work of the devil.
Just so we are on the same page.