PART TWO: 1500AD to 1980AD “APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING”
(In this series source material is identified by way of a BIBLIOGRAPHY provided at the end of each article. Footnotes are used to define technical terms only.)
THE VIRGIN of GUADALUPE
THE 16th century was a turning point for history in more ways than one.
Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the doors of Wittenberg castle and triggered the reformation. At about the same time a counter reformation was initiated within the Roman Catholic Church, the
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If we are in that relationship with the Lord then we have all we need, and any other entity claiming those Divine powers for itself should immediately set alarm bells ringing in our spirit. But that was not the case with the simple Aztec Indians; to them here was a reincarnation of their own original pagan goddess Atop Tepeyee, and so naturally they flocked to join the Church. |
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main aim being the destruction of the fledgling Protestant Church. To achieve this a few superficial changes were made which on the surface seemed good, but in reality it was all an exercise to strengthen the Pope’s position, introduce more clergy, add new orders such as the Jesuits, and re-store the rigid rule of the Papacy through-out continental Europe.
Whilst all this was taking place, on the other side of the Atlantic Spanish explorers were claiming vast tracts of the Americas for the Church, butchering the locals, plundering all the riches they could lay their hands on and tearing down pagan statues of the local goddess Atop Tepeyee (Our Lady Mother), and in their place erecting small statues of Mary, Our Lady of the Remedy. Such actions did not go down too well with the indigenous populace and as a result conversions to the true faith even at the point of a sword were few and far between. In Mexico in particular things were not going smoothly. Aztecs resentful at the harsh treatment they received under the Spaniards were on the verge of revolt. Something had to be done to quell the bitter murmurings and bring them into the fold and thus under the Supreme Pontiff’s authority. Amazingly the answer came through one of the few converts, one Cuauhtlatohuc, or Juan Diego the name he was given at his baptism.
According to Catholic writers, on Saturday 9th December 1531 Juan had an en-counter with a ghostly figure on his way to mass. As he walked through the hill country he saw this beautiful lady who was surrounded by a ball of light and who spoke to him.
My dear little son, I love you. I desire you to know who I am. I am the ever-virgin Mary, Mother of the true God who gives life and maintains its existence.
Before departing the apparition told Juan to inform the bishop of what he had seen and heard. Apparently the bishop was unconvinced and demanded proof so Juan went back to get it.
Amazingly she appeared to him again and told him to go to the top of a nearby hill, which was frozen by the winter’s cold and pick some roses he would find blooming there.
This he apparently did, and when he returned with them, she rearranged them in his poncho. This seems a very touching act but one is left wondering how an immaterial phantom could carry out such an exercise.
He was then instructed to take them to the bishop with the message,
My son this is the sign I am sending to the bishop. Tell him that with this sign I request his greater efforts to complete the church I desire in this place.
When he showed the flowers to the bishop they fell on the floor, and, to the amazement of both, imprinted on Juan’s poncho was a perfect picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
So began a whole series of claimed appearances and miraculous events with words of encouragement.
To Juan she is claimed to have said,
Am I not here who is your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?
Am I not your fountain of life?
Are you not in the folds of my mantle?
In the crossings of my arms?
Is there anything else you need?
Sound like misuse of God’s Word?
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1).
How then is it possible for Mary to hold that position of protection?
In the same manner,
For with Thee is the fountain of life; In Thy light we see light (Psalm 36:9).
Back in Rome, still struggling with the rise of Protestantism, the news from the Americas must have been like a breath of fresh air to the Pope. Mary had saved the day.
They may be losing ground in Europe but they were gaining in the New World. As a result work was commenced on the building of a church on the spot were it was claimed the virgin Mary had appeared. Today the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city is the most popular Marian centre in the world, and among many Latino Catholics her feast is a bigger day than Christmas or Easter. Such is her influence that Episcopal and Lutheran churches in the Los Angeles area have started to include her in part of their liturgy. (
Refer Part 3.)
In 1998 some 10 million credulous faithful visited her shrine, almost as many as visit the Vatican itself. Those who wish to see and venerate Mary’s imprinted face on what is claimed to be Juan’s preserved poncho must mount a moving walkway, which takes them slowly past a glass case containing the relic.
Such is the awe with which this particular apparition of Mary is held that some 24 Popes have honoured her. The present one, Pope John Paul II has visited her sanctuary on three occasions, and on the last he said he “entrusted the cause of life to her loving protection, and placed under her motherly care the innocent lives of children, especially those in danger of not being born.”
Such concern for the most vulnerable is touching but why place their well-being in the care of a created being (apparition) when their future can only be secure in the Creator’s hands?
The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow; But He thwarts the way of the wicked (Psalm 146:9).
Rome, it appears, disagrees preferring to endow the Virgin Mary with such divine powers, but as we shall discover in this article such heretical actions are very much the norm within the Roman Catholic Church.
THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
Following the Mexican event there were a small number of claimed apparitions, none of which gained church approval until in 1830 in Paris, one Catherine Laboure a 24 year old novice
*1 of the Sisters of Charity saw a vision of Mary. Apparently she was woken by an anonymous young child who said,
Come to the chapel; the blessed Virgin is waiting for you.
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As Catherine looked a voice told her to have a medal struck of this scene and she was given the promise,
Those who wear this medal will receive great graces, abundant graces will be given to those who have confidence |
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After about 30 minutes a beautiful young woman appeared in a sphere of light and told her,
The times are evil.
Sorrow will befall France; the throne will be overturned.
The whole world will be plunged into every kind of misery.
After this prophecy Catherine wrote in her diary these events would occur in 40 years time.
Five months later she had a second encounter with Mary, which was most spectacular. She appeared clothed in white holding a ball topped with a golden cross and stood upon a white globe with a serpent under her feet. After a few seconds an oval shape appeared around her and on it written in gold were the words,
O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.
As Catherine looked a voice told her to have a medal struck of this scene and she was given the promise,
Those who wear this medal will receive great graces, abundant graces will be given to those who have confidence.
As these words tapered off the oval image reversed and on it the letter “M” appeared surmounted by a cross, and below two hearts, one crowned with a crown of thorns and the other pierced by a sword. Catherine was so impressed by the beauty of the dazzling apparition and what she was told by it that she later stated:
This made me realise how right it is to pray to the blessed virgin and how generous she was to those who pray to her .
Just where in Scripture are we told to pray to Mary or where does it say that she has power to be generous?
But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you (Matthew 6:6).
In 1832 the first series of medals were struck in Paris and within four years 11 million had been sold throughout France to the faithful.
Stories abounded of the medals’ amazing powers including healings, protection from harm and conversions including that of a Jewish lawyer to the church.
Catherine died in 1876 and was buried, however 57 years later Pope Pius XI decided to beatify
*2 her,so her remainswere exhumed for the ceremony.
According to the church her body had not decomposed due to her uncorrupted life, so since then her remains have been on display at the Sisters of Charity headquarters in Paris, France, where further unspecified miracles have been claimed. In 1947 Pius XII canonized
*3 her into sainthood.
The effect was powerful and the medal became a huge success with an increased confidence in seeking the Virgin for answers to prayer.
What folly!
They have no knowledge, who carry about their wooden idol, and pray to a god who cannot save (Isaiah 45:20).
Even today the medal remains a strong favourite among Catholics.
One website encourages,
We should wear this medal of our Heavenly Mother and often turn to Her for help.
It will preserve you from evil thoughts, from evil words, and from evil actions.
Many have found in it their protection in this life and the pledge of their final meeting in Heaven.
Follow in their footsteps and you will not be disappointed. It has helped others to heaven; it will help you also.
Another site explains that the medal is a symbol that may, reveal the secrets of the unconscious, lead to the most hidden resources of activity, and open the spirit to the unknown and infinite.
These hidden resources revealed through wearing the medal cannot be from God as He denounced the women of Judah for wearing charms.
In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments,... headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets (Isaiah 3:18,20).
So who is this unknown and infinite that one’s spirit is opened up to?
It cannot be the Holy Spirit, He is “The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive” (John 14:17). It must therefore be the one who is the “father of lies” (John 8:44).
Such dangerous dabbling matters not to Rome.
The financial gain to the Church coffers through the sale of medals plus the further confirmation for the Papacy that Mary herself had been conceived without sin, were and are far more precious.
Thus in 1854 the immaculate conception of Mary was made an official article of faith to be accepted and believed by every church member without question.
THE LOURDES AFFAIR
Four years later in 1858 the most famous of all apparitions of Mary took place.
An illiterate fourteen year old French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, had a claimed series of encounters with Mary between 11th and 16th February in the obscure village of Lourdes.
The influence among Catholics has been profound resulting in further devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the development of a massive commercial enterprise that makes millions annually.
The apparitions occurred at the entrance to a shallow cave named the grotto of Massabiele.
This stinking place was so filthy that local people called it the pig sty, due to its regular use as a shelter for swine feeding in the area.
One cold February morning, as Bernadette was standing out-side, a bright light appeared which slowly revealed a young lady of 16 or 17 in white with a blue mantle, holding a rosary.
No words were spoken but the apparition smiled and beckoned Bernadette to come closer.
Recalling the event she said,
I saw a lady in white wearing a white dress and a blue sash and a yellow rose on each foot the colour of her rosary ... I said my Rosary the vision ran the beads of hers through her fingers but she did not move her lips, when I finished my Rosary, the vision disappeared all of a sudden.
Over the next five months Bernadette received numerous messages from this lady which included such statements as,
I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the next.
How can Mary make such a promise that by rights belongs to God alone.
David knew that,
In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11).
Yet this apparition persisted with arrogant lies and at its last appearance said,
I am the immaculate conception.
Sheer heresy!
That title can belong only to the Lord Jesus.
John tells us,
And you know that He appeared in order to take away sin: and in Him there is no sin (1 John 3:5).
Jesus put Mary into John’s care at the cross yet He makes no mention of her being untainted by sin.
But Rome is not concerned with the facts, only with extending it’s influence.
This can be seen in the main themes of the apparition of Lourdes.
Always they dealt with two areas — the necessity for prayer, in particular the reciting of the rosary, and the imperative of offering penance
*4 to God for the conversion of sinners. This call was apparently made clear by the lady’s demand that Bernadette walk through the stinking animal muck on her knees, eat the contaminated grass, and drink from a spring the apparition led her to in this polluted area.
One Catholic website says
The disgusting mud of the pig sty symbolizes penance.
Bernadette with her face smeared by the mud, becomes a symbol of the deep love that led Jesus to His passion.
She invites us to see the true nature of sin and observe the ugliness of evil. Tasting the bitterness of the grass in the grotto, she courageously sought penance and the conversion of sinners.
How sick can you get as to believe such evil is of God? Scripture says of the Lord,
“His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3)
yet such could not be said of this pernicious expectation put upon Bernadette. But, incredibly, millions accept it as from the Lord and as a consequence each year six million people make pilgrim- ages based on this demonic confidence trick, with the hope of healing or some other benefit.
Such is the popularity of the shrine that there is now a shortage of holy water and a form of rationing has been imposed.
Strangely no one, as yet, has questioned why it is that a spring that is claimed as a miracle of God should be running out of water. God says,
Behold I dry up the seas with My rebuke, I make the rivers a wilderness (Isaiah 50:2).
Maybe the Lord is behind the shortage.
Lourdes itself is a town of 18,000 people, which has some 600 hotels within its boundary and a similar number of shops devoted purely to religious objects and souvenirs ranging from soaps to perfumes to hourglasses shaped like Bernadette, giving the Virgin’s instructions on how to boil an egg.
This would all be rather comical if it were not for the fact that the whole sordid business preys upon the tragic tide of humanity, who in the main, come to the town desperately seeking a cure for their ailments.
An interesting article by
Mark C. Squire gives us insight into the daily activity of modern Lourdes:
[ The author of this article has paraphrased the original from Mark C. Squire's Web Site
- Ed ]
Commercialism is rife from the hotels aptly named Rosary and Passion to the innumerable gift shops with their touts inviting people to buy such wares as glow in the dark, crucifixes, St Bernadette ashtrays and drink mats, plastic snow scenes showing the miracle and much more all no doubt made in China, Taiwan or the Phillipines.
Passing the local cinema still showing the movie “The Passion of Bernadette” you join the tide of human misery heading for the famed grotto inhabited by a garish statue of the Virgin.
Row upon row of candles to purchase priced from 10 francs upwards confront you as you move forward behind a line of railings until you finally shuffle past the statue.
Many touch the moist wall, others stoop and kiss it whilst some just cross themselves and move to the row of brass taps to taste the unpleasant tasting waters or fill their little Virgin Mary shaped plastic flasks to take home with them.
Such, then is Lourdes, by any standards a highly profitable enterprise for Rome.
How profitable is hard to quantify but Avro Manhattan in his book The Vatican Billions indicates that in 1958 pilgrims spent a whopping 200 million US dollars.
What must it be today?
It’s impossible to calculate and as the Church doesn’t publish any figures we are left to guess.
One thing’s for certain it will be impressive.
As for healings, the Church lays down strict guidelines for such, including the expectation that the cure be instantaneous on site. Consequently they claim a mere 66 miraculous restorations and research has shown even these must be considered suspect.
This doesn’t seem to deter the faithful and some websites suggest the healings actually amount to thousands.
As for Bernadette well she died of Tuberculosis in 1879 (strange she did not place her faith in the waters, or that the apparition did not heal the one who served her so faithfully) and was buried in the convent of Nevers.
In 1909 her tomb was opened and allegedly her body was found to be uncorrupted after 30 years in the grave.
It was removed and placed in a specially constructed glass reliquary
*5 at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.
In 1933 she was canonized by Pope Pius 12th.
But what are we to make of the supposed lack of degeneration of Bernadette’s body and also Catherine Labours.
Well we do know that a French firm of Pierre Imans in Paris was engaged to overlay Bernadette’s hands and face with wax masks so it is possible the whole may be a very elaborate confidence trick involving clever embalming techniques.
But as the two ladies concerned are permanently encased in their caskets covered with glass, trimmed with silver and gold there is no way of ascertaining the truth.
However as Christians, we are called upon to check all things against the Word of God and in regard to biological death we are clearly told,
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:19).
Clearly then, corruption of the natural body to the earth is for all people including Bernadette and Catherine.
Consequently we must view the claims of Rome regarding these two ladies with the greatest suspicion.
FATIMA FROLICS
After Lourdes there followed a steady flow of claimed apparitions but none really captured the people’s imagination until in 1917 three little shepherds, two girls and a boy aged 10, 9 and 7 had the now famous series of meetings with an apparition of the Virgin Mary in the hills of central Portugal, just outside the town of Fatima. But the events of this centre really began in 1915 with an earlier series of mystical encounters wherein the children saw a translucent cloud which eventually revealed a male figure of about 14 who told them, “Don’t be afraid. I am the angel of peace. Pray with me”.
The children watched as he prayed and then he told them,
“Pray thus. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to your supplications.”
With that he apparently vanished.
A second visit followed in which he told them to pray, offer sacrifices to the Most High and accept whatever sufferings the Lord sent to them.
A third and final visit followed in which the angel carried with him a chalice
*6 and suspended above it a host
*7.
After praying he lifted the host before his eyes and said:
Take and drink the body and blood of Jesus Christ, horribly insulted by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.
With this the apparition gave the Host to Lucia and let the other two drink from the chalice.
I have to confess I have never quite grasped how a non physical apparition could appear with a material cup, literal bread and wine, go through the communion ritual and then pass it to the children to partake of.
Yet all this and more is accepted by the Roman Church as genuine and swallowed unchallenged by the faithful.
Be that as it may this episode must have seemed like manna from heaven to the hierarchy in the Vatican for here was further confirmation of Mary’s equal status alongside the Lord Jesus and further more proof of the false Roman Catholic teaching of Transubstantiation
*8.
The three children dutifully did as the angel had commanded until one fine day in May 1917 they saw what first seemed like flashes of lightning.
As they stared up a beautiful female figure appeared above a tree standing on a cloud and said to them
“Do not be afraid I am from heaven”.
Lucia asked her what she wanted and was told,
I come to ask you to come here for six months in succession, on the thirteenth day at this same hour. Then I will tell you who I am and what I want. And afterwards I will return here a seventh time.
After a few moments silence the vision spoke again,
Pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of the war.
This is the official version but according to the Orthodox Christian Information centre she also told the children that the first world war would end that day (in fact it was another 13 months before it finally came to an end).
With those parting words she rose slowly in an eastward direction and gradually disappeared.
But why all the secrecy here and why specific times and location laid down and yet at the same time tell the children she is from heaven.
Just a childish game?
I think not!
It smells of deception and thus danger.
As a result we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (Eph 4:14).
It’s trickery all right of a sinister variety that bears the stamp of the devil’s character.
Over the next six months the children came at the appointed hour and received instruction from the apparition including the specific instruction that the world could only be saved through daily recitation of the Rosary and by global devotion to the
“Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
God tells us very clearly,
I, even I, am the Lord; And there is no Saviour besides Me” (Isaiah 43:11).
Catholic Mary contradicts that, further- more implying she has the power to deliver from judgment and save the world.
Jesus said,
I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world (John 12:47).
Someone is lying here and it certainly isn’t our Lord.
At the third visit they were given a vision of hell and at the fourth, instructions that a chapel be built on the site of her appearances in her honour.
Such worldly ambition is more demonic than divine,
Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God (2 Thess 2:4).
This very pattern can be seen in what’s happening here.
The final sixth appearance is the most famous firstly, because she reveals her identity —
“I am the Lady of the Rosary” she told the children — and secondly, because it is claimed a miracle took place that day.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia reports the occasion as follows:
It was a wet and dismal morning ... then the sun appeared began to rumble, rotate violently and fall, dancing over the heads of the throng before it returned to normal. Many of the crowd reported having seen this ‘miracle of the sun’ that was repeated twice more.
What can we make of this event, miracle or make-believe?
Professor F.J. Ayers, an atheistic philosopher, was asked if 100,000 claiming to have seen the sun spinning was enough evidence for the truth of a statement replied,
No it would not, for the simple reason that the phenomenon was reported nowhere else in the world, so we must conclude that the sun stayed in its proper place and that 100,000 people were subject to some sort of mass hallucination.
Is he right?
Well I have to say that this claimed miracle reminds me very much of the gold dust and gold fillings of the Toronto blessing period.
Even though it was all shown to be total nonsense multitudes continue to believe it was a miraculous touch of God giving His stamp of approval on this false revival.
The people who went to Fatima were eagerly looking for a miracle
They were preprogrammed to see it and likewise at Toronto and Pensacola it was expected.
Please don’t get the idea that I do not believe in the miraculous.
I do, but I am also painfully aware of how credulous we human beings can be. Hence the imperative need to be Bereans,
For they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).
Credulity at Fatima reached new heights, with the claim that certain other secrets had been revealed to Lucia with the explicit instructions they not be revealed before 1960. Three Popes apparently read the document yet refused to broadcast its contents.
The present Pope did however eventually take that step, which is not surprising, as he is a keen devotee of the Virgin and firmly believes that part of the contents of the prophecy referred to the attempted assassination on his life.
In 1981 he was shot by a Turkish nationalist exactly 64 years after the first apparition of Mary occurred at Fatima, a coincidence that impressed the Pope.
On top of that he actually believes that because of her divine intervention the third message was thwarted from being fulfilled in his life.
Such is his attachment to the Virgin that throughout the attempted murder and subsequent journey to hospital he was heard praying,
“Mary, my mother! Mary, mother”.
One year later, after his recovery, he made a special pilgrimage to Fatima to thank Our Lady of Fatima for saving his life and to consecrate the entire human race to her.
It is not surprising then that he should be the one to open the letter, but just what did it say that required its secrecy for so long a period?
Speculation was rife that it was an apocalyptic
*9 revelation and thus too terrible for human consumption but the truth was somewhat different.
In essence it contained a warning that there would be future martyrdom and suffering, where specifically the Pope “a bishop clothed in white” is seen falling to the ground, apparently dead under a hail of gunfire.
Not a very comforting prospect if you see yourself as a future Pontiff, but not exactly hair raising stuff or prophetic insight for the future. In fact it all smacks more of a quatrain
*10 from the pen of Nostradamus than a genuine word from the Lord.
Yet we are told there is more to come
which is being kept under wraps until an
appropriate time.
The plot thickens still
further however when we discover that not
all those in the Church of Rome accept
the official published version of the third
secret.
Men such as Rev Dr Gommar A.
De Pauw founder of the Catholic
Traditionalist Movement.
This Belgian born
priest claims to have seen a full copy of
the text and he reports that a portion
dealing with the fall of the modern Catholic
Church is missing from the official version.
He states the Holy Virgin predicted, “an
unbelievable, total doctrinal and moral...
spiritual...collapse of the establishment
Catholic Church” which he suggests the
Vatican officials “are not going to admit”.
Such thinking is to be expected from a
traditionalist but he does have a point.
You begin to wonder if Fatima is a bit of a failure that will be detrimental to the Holy See
*11, but I think not.
Every year millions of
pilgrims still make their way to the Basilica
of our Lady via the Cova Da Iria (Way of
Penance) many in misguided sincerity
inching their way over the hard surface of
the esplanade on their knees, swollen, cut
and covered with bloodstained bandages
as a sign of penance to the Virgin they
worship.
And worshipped she definitely is.
A faithful follower of Our Lady of Fatima
says the rosary at least once per day,
permanently wears a brown scapular next
to the skin (see part one) as a sign of
personal consecration to Mary, goes to
Holy Communion every Saturday and
spends at least one hour per week in
adoration of her.
Such is undeniable
idolatry,
But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, ‘Deliver me, for you are my god’ (Isaiah 44:17).
Fatima is booming and the worldly fruit
from this series of supposed visions and
indeed all Marian apparitions have been
extremely effective in furthering the cult
of Mary worship.
Magazines dedicated to
Our Lady of Fatima abound full of warnings
of the approaching fulfilment of the secrets
from the hand of the Virgin, hoards of
websites offer everything from pilgrimage
details to accommodation and flight
information.
If you’re too sick to travel there
you can always buy some miraculous holy
water drawn directly from a conveniently
discovered spring in the area.
It is claimed to have healing powers and for a suggested minimum donation of US$6 per tiny half-ounce bottle it will be shipped to your home.
Fatima is very big business. And now its prestige may grow still further as it is set to take on a multifaith flavour with visits by such famous characters as the Dalai Lama and the development of an interfaith shrine (more on this later).
MARY ON THE MOVE
After Fatima, the Blessed Virgin used
some of her frequent flyer points and
travelled to the town of Beauraing in
Belgium arriving in 1932.
(Must have been
a slow flight).
There the familiar pattern
followed and she revealed herself to five
young children as a luminous figure
dressed in white initially levitating above
the ground.
But as the children watched
she appeared to walk in mid air, her feet
hidden by a cloud over a railway bridge.
As
the appearances occurred, words were
spoken and, as usual, stating who she was
and asking for a chapel to be built, but the
real bombshell came on her last
appearance.
To one of the children she
said,
“I am the Mother of God, the Queen
of Heaven, pray always, goodbye.”
More jumping for joy in the Vatican! Here
is extra confirmation of all the titles the
church has given her.
No wonder the
papacy approve of this one.
But it’s
appalling when you realize the Queen of
Heaven was the name given to a mother
goddess figure, (probably identified with
Ishtar of Babylon and Ashtoreth an Assyrian
cult goddess), worshipped by Judah
centuries past in Jeremiah’s day.
We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her
(Jeremiah 44:25).
The true Heaven is the dwelling place
of the Lord and it is arrogant folly to claim
that Madonna is queen over it .
Thus says the Lord, Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool
(Isaiah 66:1).
Twelve days after her last appearance at Beauraing, Mary popped up sixty kilometres away in the village of Banneux introducing herself to a young girl called Mariette Beco.
She appeared outside a window in the usual manner except she had a golden rose on her foot and a golden chain and cross on her right arm.
To cut a long story short after several visits the vision led Mariette to a spring of water telling her to put her hands in the water and told her,
I am the Virgin of the poor......This spring is reserved for all the nations, to relieve the sick.
Now this bears similarities to Lourdes
and is pretty handy don’t you think in the
light of the water shortages now being
experienced at that place.
The final words
given were,
I am the Mother of the Saviour, Mother of God, Pray much. Adieu.
It’s interesting to note the smattering
of Belgium to finish off her words, a nice
touch that.
From Belgium after some globe trotting for thirty six years with stopovers in Ireland, Russia, Italy, Netherlands, USA, India, Philippines and other pleasant locales, the Virgin arrived in Japan and showed herself to Sister Agnes Sasagawa of the Order of the Handmaids of the Eucharist
*12 in 1969.
An unusual bleeding (stigmata)
*13 shaped like a cross had mysteriously started from Agnes’s right hand and whilst changing the bandage she heard a voice directing her to the chapel.
There she experienced a series of
apparitions of Mary and heard messages,
which is strange since she was apparently
deaf.
Also intriguing is that according to
Agnes the messages appeared to come
from the mouth of a wooden statue of Mary
in the chapel, which was bathed in brilliant
light.
Exactly what kind of act do we have
here then,
“The Papal puppet show or the
Marian Marionettes.” The mind boggles.
In the final words she was told,
The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, and bishops against other bishops.
The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres.
Churches and altars will be 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.
What can we make of this?
vSurely this
is an apocalyptic statement out of the
mouth of the enemy himself telling of the
very destruction he will reek upon the
future false church which paradoxically he
detests.
And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire (Rev 17:16).
It’s all very intriguing to say the least.
In
part three, the finale, we will dig a little further at another shrine Medjugorje, then consider the impact the Madonna is having on non-Catholic churches and other groups, assess the broad picture for the future as against the Living Word, and then conclude by asking just what believers can do to reach those so bound by this malevolent spirit and point them to the Lord.
“Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time” (1 Tim 2:6).
God bless you.
Footnotes:
*1 Novice: a candidate for admission into a religious order.
*2 Beatify: preliminary first stage toward canonization in the Roman Catholic Church.
*3 Canonised: to be placed on the official church list of saints.
*4 Penance: the specific act of suffering as an atonement for sins, either for your own or for others.
*5 Reliquary: a depository or casket in which relics of saints or martyrs are preserved.
*6 Chalice: a large wine cup for holy communion.
*7 Host: the consecrated bread or wafer used in Holy Communion
*8 Transubstantiation: the doctrine that the bread and wine is changed into the literal body and blood of Christ by the priest at holy communion.
*9 Apocalyptic: appertaining to future revelation.
*10 Quatrain: a stanza or poetic verse usually of four lines.
*11 Holy See: from Latin Sancta Sedes (holy chair). Term denoting the papal residence and administrative centre of the Vatican.
*12 Eucharist: term denoting Holy Communion.
*13 Stigmata: marks resembling five wounds of Christ miraculously impressed on the body of an RC saint.
All Scripture quotes from the NASB.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The Vatican Billions, Avro Manhattan.
Salvation: The Bible & Roman Catholicism,William Webster.
Counterfeit Miracles, B.B.Warfield.
Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Stanley M. Burgess. & Gary B. McGee.
MORE...
WEBSITE ARTICLES:
GUADALUPE Our Lady of Guadalupe: Sancta.org
Our Lady of Guadalupe: Catholic.org
Our Lady of Guadalupe: Apparitions.org
Aztec Empire: Ahtg.net The apparitions and the miracle: Netgate.net
The Maria Bambina: Sacramentals.com Pope celebrates Mass at Mexico’s most celebrated shrine: Christusrex.org
The Feast of Coatlaxopeuh: Sxws.com
The Aztec Goddess Tonantzin and the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe: Aloha.net
Guadalope devotion crossing to Protestant denominations: Focus.com
THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, Miraculous Medal.
The Miraculous Medal: Geocities.com
Our Lady of Miraculous Medals: Immaculate heart.com
Catherine Laboure: Pitt.edu Catherine Laboure: Catholic-forum.com
Saint Catherine Laboure: Miraclerosarymission.org
Catholic Miracles are Fabricated: Angelfire.com
The Apparitions of the Virgin Mary: Members.aol.com
THE LOURDES AFFAIR
Have Theology Will Argue: Pub18.ezboard.com
Feb 11: Our Lady of Lourdes: Udayton.edu
Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes: Angelfire.com
Lourdes Springs Infernal: Angelfire.com
Saint Bernadette Soubirous: Kwl.com
Lourdes & Fatima endorsed by Hinn:Torontoblessing.com
The incorrupt body of Saint Bernadette: Geocities.com
Our Lady of Lourdes: Cathworld.org
Affected but not converted: Translate.google.com
The Appearances of the Holy Virgin at Lourdes: World-sos.net
The Miracle joint at Lourdes: Skeptical-Christian.net
The Investigation: Catholicpilgrims.com
Lourdes a den of Thieves: ctdevs.com/lourdes.htm
Our Lady’s Messages: Elysiumgates.com
False visions that followed Lourdes: Theotokos.org
Christian Research Journal (Mary apparitions):Iclnet.org.
FATIMA FROLICS
Update from Fatima: Remnant of God Apparitions of Mary: Remnantofgod.org
Fatima-Contradicts the Gospel: Bereanbeacon.org
Epistles of Straw: Ship-of-fools.com
Apparitions at Fatima: Catholicism.about.com
Lecture on 3 secrets of Fatima: Home.iprimus.com
Fatima-miracles and Prophecy: Members.aol.com
The Message of Fatima: Vatican.va Fatima to become interfaith shrine: Fatima.org
The Fatima apparitions and messages: Conyers.org
The Dalai Lama at Fatima: Traditioninaction.org Our Lady of Fatima: Christusrex.org
Inter-religious pilgrimage for peace: Kronzer.org/news
Fatima: do you want peace: Catholictradition.org
Also visit: www.skeptics.com.au/journal/app-shrine.htm
MORE...
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Appeared in Issue CETF NR 29 2004
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3
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-Last revised-
Monday, October 09, 2006
