ILLUMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

"The first three chapters of Revelation

are essentially

an 'illumination of conscience.'"

REVELATION ILLUMINATION

by Mark Mallett (April 17, 2013)

THERE is a grace coming to the whole world in what may be the most singularly astonishing event since Pentecost.

THE ILLUMINATION IN PROPHETIC REVELATION

Mystic and stigmatist, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, who was revered by popes for the accuracy of her prophecies, referred to it as an “illumination of conscience.” St. Edmund Campion referred to it as “the day of change” when “the terrible Judge should reveal all men’s consciences.” Conchita, an alleged visionary in Garabandal, called it a “warning.” The late Fr. Gobbi called it a “judgment in miniature,” while Servant of God, Maria Esperanza, called it a “great day of light” when the consciences of all will be shaken” -- the “hour of decision for mankind.” [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2007/05/eye-of-the-storm/]

St. Faustina, who proclaimed to the world that we are living in a prolonged “time of mercy” based on revelations given to her directly by Jesus, may have witnessed in a vision the actual event:

Before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort:

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. -- Diary of Divine Mercy, n. 83

This vision is similar to what an American seer, who goes by the name of “Jennifer,” allegedly saw in a vision. She calls this event “the warning”:

The sky is dark, and it seems as though it is night, but my heart tells me it is sometime in the afternoon. I see the sky opening up and I can hear long, drawn out claps of thunder. When I look up, I see Jesus bleeding on the cross and people are falling to their knees. Jesus then tells me, “They will see their soul as I see it.” I can see the wounds so clearly on Jesus and Jesus then says, “They will see each wound they have added to My Most Sacred Heart.” To the left I see the Blessed Mother weeping and then Jesus speaks to me again and says, “Prepare, prepare now for the time is soon approaching. My child, pray for the many souls who will perish because of their selfish and sinful ways.” As I look up, I see the drops of blood falling from Jesus and hitting the earth. I see millions of people from nations from all lands. Many seemed confused as they were looking up toward the sky. Jesus says, “They are in search of light for it should not be a time of darkness, yet it is the darkness of sin that covers this earth, and the only light will be that of which I come with, for mankind does not realize the awakening that is about to be bestowed upon him. This will be the greatest purification since the beginning of creation.” -- see www.wordsfromjesus.com, September 12, 2003

A REVELATION ON REVELATION?

While preparing to go to Mass in Paray-le-Monial, France in 2011-- that little French village where Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart as a “last effort” to reach mankind -- I had a “word” suddenly enter my mind like lightning out of the clear blue. It was impressed interiorly upon my heart that the first three chapters of Revelation are essentially an “illumination of conscience.” After Mass, I picked up my bible to begin reading the Apocalypse in that new light to see what was meant by that…

The book of Revelation (or “apocalypse”, which literally means “unveiling”) begins with St. John greeting seven churches and quoting the prophet Zechariah:

Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes. Amen. (Rev 1:7)

John then describes the vision he had of Jesus appearing in the midst of these churches in a gleaming apparition where “his face shone like the sun at its brightest.” [Rev 1:16] John’s response was to fall down at His feet “as though dead.” [Rev 1:17] This scene invokes a similar illumination that St. Paul had. Before his conversion, he was persecuting Christians, having them put to death. Christ appeared to him in a bright light:

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:4)

Suddenly, Saul (who took the name Paul) was “illumined” and realized that he was not as righteous as he thought. His eyes were covered over with “scales,” a symbol of his spiritual blindness. Thus, his sight was turned inward as he came face to face with the light of truth.

After St. John’s powerful vision of Christ, he hears the Lord say…

Do not be afraid… (Rev 1:17)

…and immediately Jesus begins to illumine the conscience of the seven churches, calling them to repentance, praising their good works, and pointing out their spiritual blindness.

I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth… Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. (Rev 3:15-16, 19)

Then John is taken up to Heaven where he now begins to view things from a divine perspective.

After this I had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpet-like voice that had spoken to me before, saying, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.” (Rev 4:1)

That is to say that the illumination that John just witnessed will now be placed in the context of not just the universal Church (symbolized by the “seven churches” where the number “7” denotes fullness or completeness), but of the entire world as it approaches the end of the age, and eventually, the end of time. Another way to put it is that the illumination of the Church culminates in a global illumination.

For it is time for the judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, how will it end for those who fail to obey the gospel of God? (1 Pet 4:17)

THE ILLUMINATION OF THE CHURCH…

Could we not say that the illumination of the Church has indeed already begun? Haven’t the forty years (today, 56 years!) since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (the “charismatic renewal”) [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/charismatic-part-i-2/] and release of the documents of Vatican II led the Church through a profound season of pruning, purification, and trial leading up to 2008, “the year of the unfolding”, [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2011/10/the-great-revolution/] forty years later? Hasn’t there been a prophetic awakening, led chiefly by the Mother of God, as to the threshold that we now stand upon?

Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)

Did not Blessed John Paul II, leading up to the new millennium, make a deep examination of conscience of the entire Church, apologizing to the nations for her past sins?

For a long time, we had been preparing ourselves for this examination of conscience, aware that the Church, embracing sinners in her bosom, “is at once holy and always in need of being purified” … This “purification of memory” has strengthened our steps for the journey towards the future… -- POPE JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millenio Inuente, n. 6

And are we not seeing come to light before us the once hidden and grave scandals that have taken the form of sexual abuse among clergy? [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2010/03/the-scandal/] Are not the religious orders that have abandoned the true faith now dying out in their apostasy? Have we not been sent many prophets and seers to call us back to true life in God? [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2009/01/the-prophecy-at-rome/] Is the Church not clearly being given the very warning that St. John penned in his apocalyptic scroll?

The judgment announced by the Lord Jesus [in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 21] refers above all to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. Yet the threat of judgment also concerns us, the Church in Europe, Europe and the West in general. With this Gospel, the Lord is also crying out to our ears the words that in the Book of Revelation he addresses to the Church of Ephesus: “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” Light can also be taken away from us and we do well to let this warning ring out with its full seriousness in our hearts, while crying to the Lord: “Help us to repent! Give all of us the grace of true renewal! Do not allow your light in our midst to blow out! Strengthen our faith, our hope and our love, so that we can bear good fruit!” -- POPE BENEDICT XVI, Opening Homily, Synod of Bishops, October 2nd, 2005, Rome.

So too, at the end of the Israelite’s forty years in the desert, a profound illumination came upon them that led them into a spirit of repentance, thereby ending their exile from the promised land.

…read aloud in the house of the LORD this scroll that we send you:

…We have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed him. We have not listened to the voice of the LORD, our God, so as to follow the precepts the Lord set before us… For we did not listen to the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets he sent us, but each of us has followed the inclinations of our wicked hearts, served other gods, and done evil in the sight of the Lord, our God. (cf. Baruch 1:14-22)

Just the same, the illumination that is here and coming is to prepare the Church to enter into the “promised land” of an era of peace. So too, the letters to the seven churches were written upon a scroll, publicly revealing their shortcomings. [Rev 1:11]

Study congresses helped us to identify those aspects in which, during the course of the first two millennia, the Gospel spirit did not always shine forth. How could we forget the moving Liturgy of 12 March 2000 in Saint Peter’s Basilica, at which, looking upon our Crucified Lord, I asked forgiveness in the name of the Church for the sins of all her children? -- POPE JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millenio Inuente, n. 6

And now, Pope Francis, in stunning fashion, has brought the seven letters of Revelation into a new prophetic light [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2018/11/19/the-five-corrections/].

“Afterwards,” St. John sees the Lamb of God take a scroll in His hands to begin unsealing the judgment of the nations. This includes a global illumination in the sixth seal.

….THE ILLUMINATION OF THE WORLD

I sensed in my heart a mysterious word in the autumn of 2007: [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2008/10/the-breaking-of-the-seals/]

The seals are about to be broken.

But I was hearing “six seals,” and yet in Revelation Ch. 6 there are seven. Here is the first:

I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories. (6:2)

[The Rider] is Jesus Christ. The inspired evangelist [St. John] not only saw the devastation brought about by sin, war, hunger and death; he also saw, in the first place, the victory of Christ. -- POPE PIUS XII, Address, November 15, 1946; footnote of The Navarre Bible, “Revelation”, p.70

That is, the first seal appears to be the beginning of the illumination of the Church that John foresaw at the beginning of Revelation. [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2009/01/the-coming-transfiguration/] This Rider upon the white horse [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2007/10/look-to-the-east/] prepares the remnant to cross the threshold of hope into the “promised land,” an era of peace and justice that St. John later denotes symbolically as a “thousand year” rule with Christ. [Rev 20:1-6] Can we not describe the quiet and often hidden formation of this little army of God, [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2009/10/our-ladys-battle/https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2008/03/the-battle-cry/] especially the laity, [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2011/07/the-hour-of-the-laity/] as the furthering of Christ’s victory and triumph over evil? Indeed, we see later in Revelation that this Rider upon the white horse is now followed by an army. [Rev 19:14] This is all to say, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary has already begun in the hearts of those who heed her messages.

The approach of a universal “illumination of conscience” is signaled by the hard labor pains that follow the first seal: peace is taken away from the world (second seal); [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-hour-of-the-sword/] food shortages and rationing (third seal); pandemic and anarchy (fourth seal); and a minor persecution of the Church (fifth seal). [I say “minor” because the “major” persecution comes later under the reign of the “beast” (Rev 13:7)] Then, in the midst of global chaos, as the sixth seal is broken, it seems the entire world experiences the vision of the “lamb of God”, the paschal sacrifice, the crucified Lamb (though clearly, this is not the Final Return of Christ in glory):

Then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth and the whole moon became like blood. The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind. Then the sky was divided like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags. They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come and who can withstand it?” (Rev 6:12-17)

Just as in the vision of Faustina and others, the sky is darkened, and the ensuing vision of the Lamb announces that “the great day of their wrath has come.” [https://www.markmallett.com/blog/faustina-and-the-day-of-the-lord/] There is a "great shaking," spiritually and even literally. [https://www.markmallett.com/embracinghopetv/archives/473] It is the hour of decision for the world to either choose the path of darkness or the path of light, which is Christ Jesus, before the earth is purified of wickedness. [Rev 19:20-21] Indeed, the seventh seal marks a period of silence -- the calm in the storm -- when the wheat is to be separated from the chaff after which the winds of judgment will begin to blow again.

The world at the approach of a new millennium, for which the whole Church is preparing, is like a field ready for the harvest. -- POPE JOHN PAUL II, World Youth Day, homily, August 15th, 1993

For we read that those who choose to follow the Lamb are sealed upon the forehead. [Rev 7:3] But those who refuse this moment of grace, as we read later, are marked with the number of the beast, the Antichrist. [Rev 13:16-18]

The stage will then be set for the final confrontation between the last armies of this age…

https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2013/04/17/the-illumination-revelation/

_______________

JUBILEE OF MERCY

There are many alleged prophets in the Church today. Mark Mallett is the only one I support.

THE GREAT LIBERATION

By Mark Mallett, a prophetic voice in the Catholic Church
Spiritual Food for Thought, March 24, 2015

MANY feel that Pope Francis’ announcement declaring a "Jubilee of Mercy" from Dec. 8th, 2015 to Nov. 20th, 2016 bears greater significance than may first appear. The reason being is that it is one of numerous signs converging all at once. That hit home for me this past weekend as I reflected on the Jubilee and a prophetic word I received at the end of 2008, seven years ago…


THE UNFOLDING…

I will repeat it here for those who have not read it. On the eve of the Feast of the Holy Mother of God (New Year’s Eve) of 2007, I sensed the presence of Our Lady in my room and heard in my heart the words:

This is the Year of The Unfolding...

[http://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-year-of-the-unfolding/]

Those words were followed in the spring of 2008 by these:

Very quickly now.

The sense was that events around the world were going to unfold very rapidly. I saw, as it were, three "orders" collapse, one upon the other like dominoes: The economy, then the social, then the political order.

In the autumn of 2008, as we all know, the financial "bubble" burst, and economies built on illusions began to crumble, and continue to. All the talk in the mainstream media of "recovery" is nothing but sheer nonsense, if not propaganda. The only reason that the world’s economy has not completely cratered is that nations are printing money out of thin air.

 "We are in a world that is dangerously unanchored," said William White, the Swiss-based chairman of the OECD’s Review Committee… He said the global elastic has been stretched even further than it was in 2008 on the eve of the Great Recession. The excesses have reached almost every corner of the globe… "We are holding a tiger by the tail." _ "Central bank prophet fears QE warfare pushing world financial system out of control", January 20th, 2015 [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11358316/Central-bank-prophet-fears-QE-warfare-pushing-world-financial-system-out-of-control.html]

That is to say that what began in 2008 continues to unfold.


THE SHEMITAH JUBILEE

There are only a handful of books that my spiritual director has asked me to read over the years and The Harbinger was one of them. It’s author, Jonathan Cahn, makes a compelling case that the attacks of 9/11, the collapse of 2008 and the pattern of biblical "jubilees," which occur every seven years, are providing a warning to this generation of impending judgment in the absence of repentance. Cahn draws from several Scriptures that show a pattern leading up to judgment that remarkably follows a pattern unfolding today, particularly in the United States.

I find confirmation in Cahn’s work for two reasons in particular: one is the significance of the United States in these times that I wrote about in Mystery Babylon [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/mystery-babylon/] and The Fall of Mystery Babylon [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-fall-of-mystery-babylon/]. The second is that it is now seven years since I heard Our Lady speak of 2008 as the Year of the Unfolding. And Cahn believes that this coming jubilee, or "shemitah" as the Jews call it, is significant.

The reason, he says, is that these seven year cycles have, in the past, been connected to major events ‘including the rise of America to superpower status, World Wars I and II, the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, the Six-Day War, etc… He also noted a pattern of judgments at seven-year intervals in September 2001 and 2008 marked by the greatest crashes in Wall Street history, up to that time. The first occurred on Sept. 17, 2001, just a few days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the second occurred on Sept. 29, 2008. Both occurred on the biblical day of Elul 29, the very day appointed to wipe out the financial accounts of a nation. The next one occurs on Sept. 13, 2015.’ 

In that regard, Cahn has issued a warning without gluing himself to dates.

Whether it comes in this time parameter of the Shemitah or the year following or not, I believe a great shaking is going to come to this land and to the world that will involve the collapsing of the American economy … and the removal of its blessings and prosperity… The shaking doesn’t have to take place in the Shemitah (year), but I believe we need to be ready._ "The Shemitah Unraveled: What 2015-2016 Could Bring", March 10th, 2015 [http://www.charismanews.com/world/48667-the-shemitah-unraveled-what-2015-2016-could-bring]

But one doesn’t have to be a prophet to recognize that the world is beset by serious instability at this time, most especially economically [see 2014 and the Rising Beast (http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2014-and-the-rising-beast/).


FRANCIS AND THE SHEMITAH

On top of all this, Pope Francis declared an "extraordinary" Jubilee year starting this December. [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/opening-wide-the-doors-of-mercy/] In the Old Testament, the jubilee (and it’s debated whether it occurred in the seventh year, or following it) was intended to be a time when debts were released, slaves were set free, and the land would rest. It was essentially a time of mercy.

As the world creaks under the weight of its sins, Francis’ declaration of a Year of Mercy at this hour has not been lost on those who are aware of St. Faustina’s writings where Jesus declares:

…before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice… I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of [sinners]... _ Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary of St. Faustina, #1146, 1160

Pope Francis acknowledged that we are indeed living at this moment in a time of mercy.

…hear the voice of the Spirit speaking to the whole Church of our time, which is the time of mercy. I am sure of this. _ POPE FRANCIS, Vatican City, March 6th, 2014

There are several other writings of mine converging at this moment as well. I wish to draw them together as simply as possible because they all point to a divine "jubilee," as I’ll explain. I am not suggesting that they are going to occur in the aforementioned time frame, but nonetheless, perhaps all of this is preparation for these coming events that seem to point toward a great liberation of souls…


THE GREAT LIBERATION

I have written about a coming "Illumination of Conscience" or "warning" or "mini-judgment" or "great shaking." They all mean essentially the same thing, as confirmed by several mystics and saints in the Church:

I pronounced a great day… wherein the terrible Judge should reveal all men’s consciences and try every man of each kind of religion. This is the day of change, this is the Great Day which I threatened, comfortable to the well-being, and terrible to all heretics. _ St. Edmund Campion, Cobett’s Complete Collection of State Trials, Vol. I, p. 1063.

St. Faustina experienced this "illumination" herself:

Suddenly I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it. I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God. I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for. What a moment! Who can describe it? To stand before the Thrice-Holy-God! _ St. Faustina; Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary of St. Faustina

Blessed Anna Maria Taigi (1769-1837), known and respected by popes for her astoundingly accurate visions, also spoke of such an event.

She indicated that this illumination of conscience would result in the saving of many souls because many would repent as a result of this "warning"… this miracle of "self-illumination." _ Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi in Antichrist and the End Times, P. 36

In the approved messages to Elizabeth Kindelmann, Our Lady says:

It will be the Great Miracle of light blinding Satan… The torrential flood of blessings about to jolt the world must begin with the small number of the most humble souls. _ Our Lady to Elizabeth, www.theflameoflove.org

And more recently, Servant of God Maria Esperanza (1928-2004) said,

The consciences of this beloved people must be violently shaken so that they may "put their house in order"… A great moment is approaching, a great day of light… it is the hour of decision for mankind. _ Ibid, P. 37 (Volumne 15-n.2, Featured Article from www.sign.org)

As I wrote in The Seven Seals of Revolution [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-seven-seals-of-revolution/] regarding the sixth chapter of the Book of Revelation, following the collapse of world peace (second seal) and the economy (third seal), etc. there comes what sounds very much like a "great shaking" of consciences in the sixth seal after a "great earthquake":

They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come and who can withstand it?" (Rev 6:12-17)

Now, here is where a "jubilee" and the Illumination begin to come together. In Revelation 12, we read of an event where St. Michael the Archangel casts out of the "heavens" the dragon. (Rev 12:7-9) It is an exorcism of Satan. [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/exorcism-of-the-dragon/] But St. John’s vision is not referring to the ancient expulsion of Lucifer from Heaven, for the context is clearly with regard to the age of those who "bear witness to Jesus" (Rev 12:17). Rather, "heaven" likely refers to a spiritual realm over the earth -- the firmament or heavens (cf. Gen 1:1):

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. (Eph 6:12)

Here, St. John seems to be speaking of an incredible breaking of Satan’s power over the world. For if we are speaking of an "illumination" of consciences, what does light do when it comes? It scatters the darkness. I believe we are going to see incredible healings, powerful deliverances, huge awakenings, and profound repentance as an ocean of mercy washes over the world -- as the door of mercy is opened wide. In other words, what Matthew wrote in his Gospel:

"…the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen." From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt 4:16-17)

The culture of death will see a great light, the light of truth, and from that time on there will be a great evangelization resulting in a great liberation of many, many souls. Indeed, next St. John sees the marking of foreheads with the "seal of the living God." It’s as though this great shaking is the last opportunity to choose sides, which is why, perhaps, we read that the seventh seal is a kind of divine pause [Rev 8:1] -- the "eye of the Storm" passing over the world before the last half of divine judgment.


BEING PREPARED

This rescue, this "jubilee of mercy," is what I believe you, dear reader, are being prepared for -- whenever it comes. I want to repeat a powerful word that came to me five years ago while I was with my spiritual director: [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/hope-is-dawning/] 

Little ones, do not think that because you, the remnant, are small in number means that you are special. Rather, you are chosen. You are chosen to bring the Good News to the world at the appointed hour. This is the Triumph for which my Heart awaits with great anticipation. All is set now. All is in motion. The hand of my Son is ready to move in the most sovereign way. Pay careful attention to my voice. I am preparing you, my little ones, for this Great Hour of Mercy. Jesus is coming, coming as Light, to awaken souls steeped in darkness. For the darkness is great, but the Light is far greater. When Jesus comes, much will come to light, and the darkness will be scattered. It is then that you will be sent, like the Apostles of old, to gather souls into my Motherly garments. Wait. All is ready. Watch and pray. Never lose hope, for God loves everyone.

Think too of those words given at Rome in the presence of Paul VI in St. Peter’s Square on Pentecost Monday of May, 1975: [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-prophecy-at-rome/] 

A time of darkness is coming on the world, but a time of glory is coming for my Church, a time of glory is coming for my people. I will pour out on you all the gifts of my Spirit. I will prepare you for spiritual combat; I will prepare you for a time of evangelism that the world has never seen…. _ given by Ralph Martin

Is this why, after the exorcism of the dragon, St. John hears a loud voice in Heaven cry out…

Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night… (Rev 12:10) 

But as you read on in that chapter, you’ll see that, while Satan’s power is broken, it is not chained -- yet. [The chaining of Satan for an era of peace occurs in Rev 20:1-3 after the death of "the beast."] Instead, it is concentrated in "the beast." This is why it is perhaps very appropriate to say that the coming Illumination is a "warning" -- the Storm is not over.

But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized, though they had a sign of salvation, to remind them of the precept of your law. For the one who turned toward it was saved… (Wis 16:6-7)

As an important sidenote, if Medjugorje [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/on-medjugorje/] is authentic -- and the Vatican continues to discern it -- the "secrets" of the alleged seers seems related to the above as well. I quote again here the interview of American attorney Jan Connell with alleged seer, Mirjana:

Concerning this century, is it true that the Blessed Mother related a dialogue to you between God and the devil? In it… God allowed the devil one century in which to exercise extended power, and the devil chose these very times.
The visionary answered "Yes", citing as proof the great divisions we see particularly among families today. Connell asks:

J: Will the fulfillment of the secrets of Medjugorje break the power of Satan?
M: Yes.
J: How?
M: That is part of the secrets.
J: Can you tell us anything [regarding the secrets]?
M: There will be events on the earth as warning to the world before the visible sign is given to humanity.
J: Will these happen in your lifetime?
M: Yes, I will be a witness to them.
_ p. 23, 21; Queen of the Cosmos (Paraclete Press, 2005, Revised Edition)

The Hour of Medjugorje when the secrets are revealed, then, may also be drawing nearer.


THE CONVERGENCE COMES

Brothers and sisters, as I wrote this morning in the Now Word [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/gods-timing/] the essential thing is to live in the present moment, faithfully and attentively, so that God can do in us everything He wants to. My intention above is not to speculate on a time-frame, but to simply underscore the convergence of many prophetic words [see also Opening Wide the Doors of Mercy (http://www.markmallett.com/blog/opening-wide-the-doors-of-mercy/) to read how Fatima and Pope Leo XIII’s vision are converging at this hour also]. All these things could simply mean that we are entering a period of time whose limits are known to God alone. You know, I used to panic for the first five years of this writing apostolate, terrified that I would mislead my readers, terrified that the words coming to me were delusional. Then one day my spiritual director said to me, "Look, you’re already a fool for Christ. If you’re wrong, then you’ll be a fool for Christ with egg on your face." I can live with that. I can’t live with being silent when the Lord has asked me to speak.

Certainly, one could say that another "sign of the times" is the exponentially increasing sense among the faithful (and even unbelievers) that we are headed toward great upheaval. The coming Jubilee may very well come and go like any other year. However, economists, war strategists, those following infectious diseases, the rise of ISIS, the power shift to China, the military muscle of Russia, and the war against freedom in the Western world… seem to paint a picture that looks an awful lot like the breaking open of the seals of Revelation. [http://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-seven-seals-of-revolution/]

And the sixth seal has to be opened at some point…

 

-End-

_______________

TEMPTATIONS OF THE DEVIL

Dictated by St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) during a state of ecstasy while in dialog with God the Father.

 

Of the use of temptations, and how every soul in her (his) extremity sees her (his) final place either of pain or of glory, before she (he) is separated from the body.

 

“The Devil, dearest daughter, is the instrument of My Justice to torment the souls who have miserably offended Me. And I have set him in this life to tempt and molest My creatures, not for My creatures to be conquered, but that they may conquer, proving their virtue, and receive from Me the glory of victory. And no one should fear any battle or temptation of the Devil that may come to him, because I have made My creatures strong, and have given them strength of will, fortified in the Blood of My Son, which will, neither Devil nor creature can move, because it is yours, given by Me. You therefore, with free arbitration, can hold it or leave it, according as you please.

 

It is an arm, which, if you place it in the hands of the Devil, straightway becomes a knife, with which he strikes you and slays you. But if man do not give this knife of his will into the hands of the Devil, that is, if he do not consent to his temptations and molestations, he will never be injured by the guilt of sin in any temptation, but will even be fortified by it, when the eye of his intellect is opened to see My love which allowed him to be tempted, so as to arrive at virtue, by being proved. For one does not arrive at virtue except through knowledge of self, and knowledge of Me, which knowledge is more perfectly acquired in the time of temptation, because then man knows himself to be nothing, being unable to lift off himself the pains and vexations which he would flee; and he knows Me in his will, which is fortified by My goodness, so that it does not yield to these thoughts. And he has seen that My love permits these temptations, for the devil is weak, and by himself can do nothing, unless I allow him. And I let him tempt, through love, and not through hatred, that you may conquer, and not that you may be conquered, and that you may come to a perfect knowledge of yourself, and of Me, and that virtue may be proved, for it is not proved except by its contrary.

 

You see, then, that he is my Minister to torture the damned in Hell, and in this life, to exercise and prove virtue in the soul. Not that it is the intention of the Devil to prove virtue in you (for he has not love), but rather to deprive you of it, and this he cannot do, if you do not wish it. Now you see, then, how great is the foolishness of men in making themselves feeble, when I have made them strong, and in putting themselves into the hands of the Devil. Wherefore, know, that at the moment of death, they, having passed their life under the lordship of the Devil (not that they were forced to do so, for as I told you they cannot be forced, but they voluntarily put themselves into his hands), and, arriving at the extremity of their death under this perverse lordship, they await no other judgment than that of their own conscience, and desperately, despairingly, come to eternal damnation. Wherefore Hell, through their hate, surges up to them in the extremity of death, and before they get there, they take hold of it, by means of their lord the Devil.

 

As the righteous, who have lived in charity and died in love, if they have lived perfectly in virtue, illuminated with the light of faith, with perfect hope in the Blood of the Lamb, when the extremity of death comes, see the good which I have prepared for them, and embrace it with the arms of love, holding fast with pressure of love to Me, the Supreme and Eternal Good. And so they taste eternal life before they have left the mortal body, that is, before the soul be separated from the body. Others who have passed their lives, and have arrived at the last extremity of death with an ordinary charity (not in that great perfection), embrace My mercy with the same light of faith and hope that had those perfect ones, but, in them, it is imperfect, for, because they were imperfect, they constrained My mercy, counting My mercy greater than their sins. The wicked sinners do the contrary, for, seeing, with desperation, their destination, they embrace it with hatred, as I told you. So that neither the one nor the other waits for judgment, but, in departing this life, they receive every one their place, as I have told you, and they taste it and possess it before they depart from the body, at the extremity of death -- the damned with hatred and with despair, and the perfect ones with love and the light of faith and with the hope of the Blood. And the imperfect arrive at the place of Purgatory, with mercy and the same faith.”

 

The Dialog of St. Catherine of Siena

A Treatise of Discretion (pp. 47-48)

 

_______________

HELL EXISTS!

“For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?” (Mark 8:36)

Souls of the Damned in Hell being Tormented by Demons

I remember thinking:

“A fire that consumes without destroying.”

And then the Holy Spirit responded,

“Like the burning bush.”

Moses and the Burning Bush

Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. (Matthew 5:22,29;10:28;13:42,50 / Mark 9:43-48) Jesus solemnly proclaims that He “will send His angels, and they will gather… all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,” (Matthew 13:41-42) and that He will pronounce the condemnation: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!” (Matthew 25:41)

The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of Hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, “eternal fire.” The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in Whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

… Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with Him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where “men will weep and gnash their teeth.” (Matthew 22:13; 25:13,26,30,31-46 / Hebrews 9:27)

[Catechism of the Catholic Church: 1034 - 1036]

THE “LAKE OF FIRE” IN REVELATION

IS “SYMBOLIC” OF GOD’S PUNISHMENT

And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one’s name was not found written in the book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15)

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

ONE TORTURE IN HELL IS

A PURELY “SPIRITUAL” FIRE

THAT CONSUMES WITHOUT DESTROYING

St. John Paul II - Divine Mercy image - St. Faustina

Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska
“Divine Mercy in My Soul”
(Notebook 2, Paragraph 741)

Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of Hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw: the first torture that constitutes hell is the loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one’s condition will never change; the fourth (torture) is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it -- a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; the fifth torture is continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and, despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own; the sixth torture is the constant company of Satan; the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like.

I, Sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence. I cannot speak about it now; but I have received a command from God to leave it in writing. The devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell. When I came to, I could hardly recover from the fright. How terribly souls suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of sinners. I incessantly plead God's mercy upon them. O my Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, than offend You by the least sin.

“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins,

save us from the fires of Hell,

lead all souls to Heaven,

especially those who are in most need of 
Thy mercy.”

Prayer requested by the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima

_______________

FOUR PRINCIPAL TORMENTS IN HELL

 

Dictated by St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) during a state of ecstasy while in dialog with God the Father.

 

Of the four principal torments of the damned, from which follow all the others; and particularly of the foulness of the Devil.

“My daughter, the tongue is not sufficient to narrate the pain of these poor souls. As there are three principal vices, namely: self-love, whence proceeds the second, that is love of reputation, whence proceeds the third, that is pride, with injustice and cruelty, and with other filthiness and iniquitous sins, that follow upon these. So I say to you, that in Hell, the souls have four principal torments, out of which proceed all the other torments. The first is, that they see themselves deprived of the vision of Me, which is such pain to them, that, were it possible, they would rather choose the fire, and the tortures and torments, and to see Me, than to be without the torments and not to see Me.

This first pain revives in them, then, the second, the worm of Conscience, which gnaws unceasingly, seeing that the soul is deprived of Me, and of the conversation of the angels, through her (his) sin, made worthy of the conversation and sight of the devils, which vision of the Devil is the third pain and redoubles to them their every toil. As the saints exult in the sight of Me, refreshing themselves with joyousness in the fruit of their toils borne for Me with such abundance of love, and displeasure of themselves, so does the sight of the Devil revive these wretched ones to torments, because in seeing him they know themselves more, that is to say, they know that, by their own sin, they have made themselves worthy of him. And so the worm of Conscience gnaws more and more, and the fire of this Conscience never ceases to burn. And the sight is more painful to them, because they see him in his own form, which is so horrible that the heart of man could not imagine it. And if you remember well, you know that I showed him to you in his own form for a little space of time, hardly a moment, and you chose (after you had returned to yourself) rather to walk on a road of fire, even until the Day of Judgment, than to see him again. With all this that you have seen, even you do not know well how horrible he is, because, by Divine justice, he appears more horrible to the soul that is deprived of Me, and more or less according to the gravity of her (his) sin. The fourth torment that they have is the fire. This fire burns and does not consume, for the being of the soul cannot be consumed, because it is not a material thing that fire can consume. But I, by Divine justice, have permitted the fire to burn them with torments, so that it torments them, without consuming them, with the greatest pains in diverse ways according to the diversity of their sins, to some more, and to some less, according to the gravity of their fault. Out of these four torments issue all others, such as cold and heat and gnashing of the teeth and many others. Now because they did not amend themselves after the first reproof that they had of injustice and false judgment, neither in the second, which was that, in death, they would not hope in Me, nor grieve for the offense done to Me, but only for their own pain, have they thus so miserably received Eternal Punishment.”

The Dialog of Saint Catherine of Siena

A Treatise of Discretion (pp. 42-43)

 

_______________