February 2 is the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. This ends the Christmastide cycle of Liturgy. This is one of the oldest fest of Our Lady. Mary, wishing to obey the Mosaic law had to go to Jerusalem forty days after the birth of Jesus to offer a sacrifice. Mothers offered a lamb, or if poor, two doves. This is also called "Candlemas Day." A procession recalls the jorney of Mary and Joseph to the temple. Beeswax candles are blessed on this day for church and home. The wax signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine Infant. The wick figures His soul and the flame of His Divinity. Simeon, who has been waiting into his old age for the Savior, sees Christ as the one who "shall illumine the Gentiles with His light and shall be the glory of the people of Israel."(Luke's Gospel 2:22-32).
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While this is mainly for my Catholic family and friends, the prophesies, in general show the state of our world today. At the end of the list is an explanation of their origin and the other feast day celebrated February 2.
"At the end of the nineteenth century and throughout a great part of the twentieth, many heresies will be propagated in these lands... (and they continue into the 21st century)
"Unbridled passions will give way to a total corruption of customs because Satan will reign.....targeting the children in particular to insure general corruption. Unhappy, the children of those times! Seldom will they receive the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. As for the sacrament of Penance, they will confess only while attending Catholic schools, which the devil will do his utmost to destroy by means of persons in authority (my emphases).
"The same will occur with Holy Communion. Oh, how it hurts me to tell you that there will be many and enormous public and hidden sacrileges!
"The sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with the Church, will be thoroughly attacked and profaned. ......... will implement iniquitous laws aimed at extinguishing this sacrament. They will make it easy for all to live in sin, thus multiplying the birth of illegitimate children without the Church's blessing...
"Secular education will contribute to a scarcity of pristly and religious vocations.
"The holy sacrament of Holy Orders (priesthood) will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised, for in this both the Church and God Himself are oppressed and reviled, since He is represented by His priests. The devil will work to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every way, working with baneful cunning to destroy the spirit of their vocation and corrupting many. Those who will thus scandalize the Christian flock will bring upon all priests the hatred of bad Christians and the enemies of the One, Holy, Roman Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
":Unhappy times will come wherein those who should fearlssly defend the rights of the Church will instead, blinded despite the light, give their hand to the Church's enemies and do their bidding. But when evil seems triumphant and when authority abuses its power, committing all manner of injustice and oppressing the weak, their ruin shall be near. They will fall and crash to the ground.
"Then will the Church, joyful and triumphant like a young girl, reawaken and be comfortably cradled in the arms of my most dear and elect son of those times. If he lends an ear to the inspirations of grace - one of which will be the reading of these great mercies that my Son and I have had toward you - we shall fill him with graces and very special gifts....heedless of men, he will have fought for truth and ceaselessly defended the rights of the Church, deserving to be called 'martyr."
"The small number of souls who will secretly safeguard the treasure of Faith and virtues will suffer a cruel, unspeakable and long martyrdom. many will descend to their graves through the violence of suffering and will be counted among the martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the country and the Church.
"To be delivered from the slavery of these heresies, those whom the merciful love of my Son has destined for this restoration will need great will-power, perseverance, courage, and confidence in God. To try the faith and trust of these just ones, there will be times when all will seem lost and paralyzed. It will then be the happy beginning of the complete restoration...
"In those times the atmosphere will be saturated with the spirit of impurity which, like a filthy sea, will engulf the streets and public places with incredible license...Innocence will scarcely be found in children, or modesty in women.
"There shall be scarcely any virgin souls in the world. The delicate flower of virginity will seek refuge in the cloisters...Without virginity, fire from heaven will be needed to purify these lands...
"Sects, having permeated all social classes, will find ways of introducing themselves into the very heart of homes to corrupt the innocence of children. The children's hearts will be dainty morsels to regale the devil...
"Religious communities will remain to sustain the Church and work with courage for the salvation of souls...The secular clergy will fall far short of what is expected of them because they will not pursue their sacred duty. Losing the divine compass, they will stray from the way of priestly ministry mapped out for them by God......
"Pray constatnly, implore tirelessly, and weep bitter tears in the seclusion of your heart, beseeching the Euharistic Heart of my most holy Son to take pity on His ministers and to end as soon as possible these unhappy times by sending to His Church the Prelate who shall restore the spirit of her priests."
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A holy nun in Quito, Ecuador, heard these words from the Blessed Virgin Mary over 400 years ago, predicting what would be happening in our times. She specifically said the nineteenth and twentieth centuries would see these things appear. Mariana of Jesus Torres y Berriochoa was born to a wealthy family in Spain. She begged to come to the New World with her aunt, who was to form a religious order in South America. She was only nine, but had already shown the signs of immense holiness. She, in time, became head of her congregation of nuns, and is revered as Mother Mariana. While still a young nun, in 1582, as she was in prayer she heard an awful rumble. The church was suddenly dark with smoke. Only the main altar was lit. The tabernacle door swung open and our crucified Lord came forth, nailed to a life-size cross. Also appearing to her were the Virgin Mary, St. John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalen. Our Lord seemed in agony.
She heard a voice: "This punishment is for the twentieth century." She saw 3 swords hanging over Our Lord's head, each with an inscripition. "I shall punish heresy," "I shall punish blasphemy," and "I shall punish impurity." The devotion of this young nun was what we today would call over the top. However, she cared for the salvation of souls so much that she became what we call a "victim soul." She willingly offered to suffer for the sins of others, for their salvation and deliverance. She did suffer, more than any one of us could possibly imagine, even suffering the pains of hell, and was often attacked by the devil. Like St. Francis and Padre Pio, she received the stigmata. Her life reads like something out of a fantasy novel. It was so fraught with setbacks, with persecution, imprisonment, and yet her faith never failed. Her love for souls and her determination to offer herself for their eternal life never waivered.
We celebrate on February 2, the Feast of Our Lady of Good Success. The Virgin Mary appeared to Mother Mariana in 1594,clothed in queenly robes, carrying the Child Jesus. She told Mariana that she was Mary of Good Success, Queen of Heaven and Earth. Under this title she made the predictions above and others. Mother Marian died in 1635. Her body is, to this day, incorrupt.
How long do we ignore the warnings that Our Lord has been merciful enough to send us through His beloved mother? At Fatima, Portugal, and Akita in Japan, she gave the same warnings in the 20th century, and told us that God is increasingly angry with our world. In Garabandal, Spain, she said that the cup of Our Lord's anger was filling up, and finally, that it was spilling over. Christ Himself had appeared to Mariana, and to Sister Lucia while in her convent, the last remaining of the Fatima children.
God gives mankind every chance to turn to Him and repent; to return to His commandments and keep His laws. Our punishments are already taking place with a world, and our own country and the Church, wracked with dissentions, scandals, wars, persecutions, threats to Christianity itself. It will get worse. It IS getting worse. When do we wake up? When will we turn our faces to God so that He will hear His people and save their land?
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