Fatima: The Signs and the Traces of Hidden Things

Below is an excerpt from Part 11 in my book, "Fatima: The Signs and Secrets" (available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle readers). Numbers within brackets indicate the paperback book's footnote number.
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At Fatima, Our Lady’s distinct words provided counsel and admonition, while the accompanying signs and symbols fulfilled all seven purposes that authentic prodigies may hold. While scholars examine all the text from and about Fatima in regard to the Third Secret and the collegial consecration, we must also study the Fatima signs. That God wills the elect to understand His signs, at the proper time, is supported by inerrant Scripture: “For the Lord knoweth all knowledge, and hath beheld the signs of the world, he declareth the things that are past, and the things that are to come, and revealeth the traces of hidden things.”[364]

The Purposes of Signs 
Part 3 of this book stated, "Throughout salvation history, the signs of God indicate various purposes. A true sign can possess any one or more of the following seven functions: It confirms God’s Word, His goodness, authenticates prophesy, verifies God’s blessings and His intervention for the sake of the elect, strengthens the faithful with hope, insures or testifies to God’s Presence, or declares His judgment upon sin. [365] The signs of the world oppose the Catholic City, both in her human and eternal nature, leading souls to revolt against God, mimicking but falsifying God’s Word, undermining true prophecy, weakening or destroying the virtues by employing their imitators as replacements, and working contrary to God’s Will. [366] In sum, God’s signs and the world’s signs contradict each other. This explains why “the whole truth about Fatima,” [367] specific to the salvation of souls living in this era, remains contradicted by the world.

Fatima follows the pattern of Scriptural prophecy, which is given by visions, words, types and signs. In regard to Scripture, the usual course is to first study the text of its prophecy. As most Catholic biblical exegetes agree, “When the generations for whom it was chiefly intended would come into being, the true author of all true prophecy, the Holy Spirit, would in his own ways allow his elect to take from the text the knowledge that had from the beginning been concealed therein. In this, then, is to be found the reason why the magisterium of the Church, which is based directly on tradition in all matters of faith and morals, must depend largely on experience and the interpretation of signs when there is a question of unfulfilled or only partially fulfilled prophecy.” [368]

What St. Justin the Martyr said in relation to the Old Testament which prophesied Jesus as the Son of God can also be applied to the public revelation and prophecies of Fatima: We are “compelled to belief by those who prophesied before the events. With our own eyes, we are witness to things that have happened and are happening, just as they were predicted. And this, we think, will appear to you as the strongest and surest proof.” [369]

Fatima, judged by the Church as “worthy of belief,”[370] prophesied “things that have happened and are happening.” Above all, Fatima has proven to be in perfect accord with Church dogma and doctrine, which is the supreme test of any revelation. The validity of the Virgin’s merciful message and apocalyptic warnings – and, principally, the solution to avert the latter - was authenticated by miraculous signs, from the seemingly small to the stupendous.

The Mother of God vs. Modernism
The Virgin Herself is a sign: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.”[371] Our Lady is the same Woman foretold in Genesis who will crush the serpent and his plots: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.” [372]

This same Virgin, who came to Fatima, subtlely underscored dogma, doctrine, sacred history and Scriptural prophecy in the dates She appeared, the place She chose, the distinct dress and adornments She wore, the succinct words She uttered, the visions and secrets She revealed, and the many signs She gave. Together they form a consistent whole, fortifying the Secret given in three parts which concern the following: first, the salvation of souls; second, the salvation of the nations and of Christendom, the peace of the world; and third, the preservation of the Catholic Faith and the salvation of the Church. “These three themes, which are joined by an indissoluble bond, reveal to us the extraordinary mystical, moral, political, ecclesial, and dogmatic implications of the Secret of Fatima.”[373]

Not long before the first Fatima apparition, Pope St. Pius X had issued Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907) against the modernists and Our Apostolic Mandate (1910), in which the latter declared:

“We must repeat with the utmost energy in these times of social and intellectual anarchy when everyone takes it upon himself to teach as a teacher and lawmaker - the City cannot be built otherwise than as God has built it; society cannot be set up unless the Church lays the foundations and supervises the work; no, civilization is not something yet to be found, nor is the New City to be built on hazy notions; it has been in existence and still is: it is Christian civilization, it is the Catholic City. It has only to be set up and restored continually against the unremitting attacks of insane dreamers, rebels and miscreants. Omnia instaurare in Christo. (To restore all things in Christ.)” [374]

Because Modernism is insubordinate to Tradition and Scripture, it redefines everything pertaining to sacred dogma and doctrine, leaving no stone of the Catholic City unturned. It is especially defiant against Vatican I, which affirmed the “sacred dogmas must be perpetually maintained, which Holy Mother Church has once declared; and there must never be a recession from that meaning under the pretext of a deeper understanding." [375] As the prophetic Pascendi expounded, modernism pretends that dogmas are merely symbols instead of absolute truths. “Thus the way is open to the intrinsic evolution of dogma. Here we have an immense structure of sophisms [false reasoning] which ruin and wreck all religion.” [376]

Modernism, the “synthesis of all heresies,” [377] is an insidious sign of apostasy that lives in the souls of men, wherein should reside the kingdom of God. [378] It is the heresy of inversion, spawned by the same evil entity behind liberalism, which brought forth the “Enlightenment,” the French Revolution, and “The Age of Reason.” However, throughout salvation history, when the elect are (or soon shall be) insidiously besieged, God manifests His Divine Intervention in diverse ways – as did the Sacred Heart in the visions of Paray-le-Monial before liberalism and rationalism began to sweep Christian Europe.

The year 1830 initiated the prelude to “The Age of Mary,” in which the Virgin Mother of God herself began to earnestly entreat Her children, giving us a repeated message of prayer and penance, and sacramentals like the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, the Badge of the Immaculate Heart (the Green Scapular), and the miraculous water at Lourdes. Yet Fatima is the crown of all, with its message and its signs to the world, culminating in the Miracle of the Sun.

The First Sign: Immaculate Spouse of the Holy Ghost,
Figure of Israel and the Church

The smallest of the Fatima signs are two adornments of the Virgin. The ornaments, however, speak for themselves, if only we have the eyes to see: “For it is good to hide the secret of a king, but honourable to reveal and confess the works of God.” [379]

The first symbol was a waist-length yellow necklace, from which hung a luminous orb or ball of light; the orb shone even brighter than the radiating light of Our Lady’s risen and glorious body. [380] The second ornament was a small yellow star, suspended on Our Lady’s long gown between knee and hem. [381] There is no extant record that Our Lady or Sr. Lucia, the last surviving visionary who died in 2005, ever commented upon these two adornments.

Of the necklace and the shining orb, Fatima historian and expert Frére Michel of the Holy Trinity wrote, “… in the light of the liturgy, itself completely saturated with Holy Scripture, it seems to us that we can easily guess the symbolic meaning of this ornament. Does it not remind us of the ‘jewels,’ the traditional attribute of the spouse? Sicut sponsam ornatum monilibus suis – ‘As a bride adorned with her jewels,’ continues the canticle of Isaiah, which the Church places on the lips of the Immaculate One.”

“Is it not in this sense that we must look for the most profound significance of this mysterious jewel described by Lucy? Several verses of the Canticle seem to invite us to do so; thus the divine Spouse [is] speaking to the Bride, the figure of Israel and of the Church, personified in the Blessed Virgin: ‘You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride!’ (Cant. 4:9-10)” [382]

The Second Sign: The Mediatrix of All Graces
The meaning of the jewel and necklace is intertwined with the little yellow star. Known as “The Star of Esther,” it “points to a particular Old Testament history called The Book of Esther, which relates the story of a Hebrew queen whose intercession saved her people from annihilation…Just as the star adorning Our Lady of Fatima points to The Book of Esther, so does The Book of Esther point to all of the Fatima revelations. Esther’s theme centers on secrets and revelations, suggesting [it] is a figure type for The Apocalypse (Greek for Revelations)…The Book of Esther appears to encapsulate what Fatima highlights about both the Virgin’s and the Church’s singular office in salvation history.”

Centuries ago, St. Albert noted Queen Esther [383] as a figure type of the Virgin Mary. Since the Star of Esther was one of the Fatima Virgin’s adornments, it is clear that The Book of Esther calls for a thoroughly traditional, theological study. That said, it must also be noted that no Church Doctor ever attempted a complete examination of this canonical, historical book. For those of us living in the Fatima era, the proper interpretation of Esther is vital. The interpretation must be in accord with Church dogma and doctrine, the constitution of the Church, apostolic tradition, and study of history with a “Catholic conscience.” [384] Such a venture includes “studies into the spiritual, moral, social, political, educational, economic and cultural conditions of the times,” [385] employing the Scholastic method of faith and reason.

Both of the Virgin’s adornments reveal the “secrets” of Mary and about Mary, which are carefully hidden in the Old Testament and apocalyptic figure types. As to the method prescribed for the interpretation of Scripture (which, with Tradition, is one of the two sources of Revelation), Pope Pius IX clarified that “the rules which the holy Synod of Trent salutarily decreed concerning the interpretation of Divine Scripture in order to retrain impetuous minds, are wrongly explained by certain men. We, renewing the same decree, declare this to be its intention: that, in matters of faith and morals pertaining to the instruction of Christian Doctrine, that must be considered as the true sense of Sacred Scripture which Holy Mother Church has held and holds, whose office it is to judge concerning the true understanding and interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures; and, for that reason, no one is permitted to interpret Sacred Scripture itself contrary to the sense, or even contrary to the unanimous agreement of the Fathers…” [386] (All emphasis mine) In regard to the literal and mystical sense of Scripture, Pope Pius XII taught, “In this work, let interpreters keep in mind that their greatest care should be to discern and define what the so-called literal sense of the Bible is.” [387] In obedience to Trent’s decree, this examination of The Book of Esther will hold to the sense held by the Church and the Fathers, for as St. Augustine noted: "What lies hidden in the Old Testament, is made manifest in the New."  [388]

The Central Figures in Esther
Almost five hundred years before Christ, God raised up a Hebrew virgin, an orphan adopted and educated by her uncle Mardochai, to save the Israelites from annihilation. Through an unusual series of events, she became the queen of ancient Persia, living in its capital city of Susan.

The very name of this Hebrew queen, who was loved by the king above all others, refers to “hidden things.” She was “named Edissa, ‘who by another name was called Esther.’” In the Old Testament of the Hebrew text, her name was Hádássah - meaning myrtle, a white, five-pointed, star-shaped flower. The Hebrew texts [also] relate that she gave her name as Hester (in Persian, Esther – which means ‘star’)…The alteration from Hádássah to Hester refers to a secret, because Hester translates to ‘hidden [meaning of the] star.’” In addition, the “Hebrew name for the Book of Esther is Megillat Esther – e.g., "revelation [of that which is] hidden.”

Intriguing as a figure type is Assuerus, Esther’s spouse, the Persian monarch apparently serving as a figure type of God. Modern-day Iran is the heart of ancient Persia, even to the city of Susan (Susa). Is it not possible that Our Lady’s choices to appear at Fatima, a village named after a Mohammedan woman who converted to Catholicism, and Her display of Esther’s Star provide many traces of the Third Secret’s hidden things? For The Book of Esther centers on secrets and revelations, a plot among nations against one kingdom and the elect, prayer and sacrifice, and the final triumph of the Queen.

 ---Continued in "Fatima: The Signs and Secrets"

Holy Thursday: Why the Lamb of God?

"Behold the Lamb of God, behold He Who taketh away the sins of the world."
~John 1: 29

Before Our Lord suffered, He celebrated the Jewish rite which, above all, foreshadowed His own sacred sufferings. The Paschal Lamb was an exact figure type of Him, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Almighty God, the Father, gave the Paschal lamb as the figure-type to the future Messiah and the means to deliver His people from their cruel bondage in Egypt. The lamb’s blood on the doorposts of the people’s houses caused the avenging Angel to “pass over” and leave those within unharmed…

The Jews annually remembered the night that God released them from the slavery of Egypt and spared their lives as the Angel of Death passed over the land. The Paschal lamb was drained of the last drop of its blood. With it, there were also bitter herbs, unleavened bread, wine and water.

The promise of the Jewish Pasch is completely fulfilled in Jesus, the Lamb of God, Who has released us from the bondage of sin with His Most Precious Blood. Like the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God gave His Life as a sacrifice, His Blood pouring and trickling from Him until He was drained of It. The last drops of His Most Precious Blood gushed forth with water when His Most Sacred Heart was pierced by a lance. How can we ever thank Him? How can we ever love Him enough?

The little lamb endures meekly. It never murmurs against its lot, or struggles against those who lead it here and there, unlike swine, who grunt and grumble at every attempt to control them. None was ever so submissive as the Lamb of God --- “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O my God.” Christ, Our Lord, was telling His Father: I am ready to do it – I long to do it! Can we echo those words?

The name by which St. John the Baptist first greeted Jesus was that of “Lamb of God.” From this we learn the prominent features of Our Lord’s character ---the gentleness, meekness, simplicity, and guilelessness of the Lamb. This is what made Him so attractive; His sweetness drew all to Him. Our Jesus is just the same now. In Heaven, He is still the Lamb: still gentle and loving as ever. With what confidence we ought to approach Him and tell Him of all our love, all our difficulties, and more.

All of the beautiful, winning gentleness and sweetness of the Lamb of God is not merely natural. It is the Divine Charity manifesting itself in the Sacred Humanity.

Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Mary – all of Mary’s children must excel in these virtues, since they are bound to be close imitators of Christ. God will give those virtues to us if we persevere in seeking them and practicing them. "Grace perfects nature;" God’s almighty Grace can make us gentle and meek.

The office of the Lamb of God – the work He was sent to do – was to “take away” the sins of the world. Meekness possesses a wonderful power – “the meek shall possess the land.” Meekness takes away sin. To bear reproaches meekly is one of the best means of expiating our own sins and those of others. Meekness wins for sinners the grace of repentance. Meekness obtains God’s peace for our souls.

When we contrast our hearts with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Lamb of God, do we find that we are trying to imitate Him to the best of our ability?

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine!

Pope of Surprises: The Rosary and His First Homily

The Pope who prays the 15 decades of the Rosary
(properly called the Psalter) said in his first papal homily to the
 College of Cardinalsand others attending the Mass:
 "When we walk without the Cross, when we build
without the Cross, and when we confess Christ
without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord:
we are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes,
but not disciples of the Lord."

 

Pope Francis once said that he prays “the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary every day” and began the practice around 1985, following the late Pope John Paul II's lead. As Cardinal Bergoglio, he prayed with John Paul II, later stating: “That testimony did not get forgotten in an instant. From that time on I recite the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary every day.”

 

That is a very pleasant and edifying surprise. A few more surprises were in store when, during his first Mass celebrated with the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on March 14, 2013 at 5 p.m., Pope Francis gave a spontaneous seven-minute homily.  Although he had no prepared text, the theme of his homily (which follows the Gospel) was three-fold: camminare, edificare, confessare (to walk, to build, to confess  - as in “confess the glory of Jesus Christ and His Cross”).

How remarkable are the ways of God when one considers the two following readings and the Gospel of “Missa pro Ecclesia” (“Mass for the Church”) are excerpts from the Book of Isaiah (2:2-5), from the First Letter of Peter (2:4-9), and from the Gospel according to Matthew (16:13-19). These three selections speak of the last days, “the mountain of the house of the Lord” and the “top of mountains” (in Scriptural symbolism, a mountain is a kingdom; either earthly or spiritual, and Jerusalem – like Israel – are figure types for the Catholic Church), the judgment of God, the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and Christ’s establishment of the papacy. They are included below and come from the Douay-Rheims translation of the Holy Bible.

Isaiah 2:2-5: And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Peter 2: 4-9: For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but delivered them, drawn down by infernal ropes to the lower hell, unto torments, to be reserved unto judgment: And spared not the original world, but preserved Noe, the eighth person, the preacher of justice, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. And reducing the cities of the Sodomites, and of the Gomorrhites, into ashes, condemned them to be overthrown, making them an example to those that should after act wickedly. And delivered just Lot, oppressed by the injustice and lewd conversation of the wicked. For in sight and hearing he was just: dwelling among them, who from day to day vexed the just soul with unjust works. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly from temptation, but to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be tormented.

Matthew 16:13-19: And Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

Francis’ First Papal Homily: Spontaneous

In these three readings, I see that there is something in common: it is movement.

In the first reading, movement in walking; in the second reading, movement in the building up of the Church; in the third, in the Gospel, movement in confession.

To walk, to build up, to confess.

To walk. “House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”

This is the first thing that God said to Abraham: Walk in my presence and be without reproach. To walk: our life is a journey and when we stop it is no good. To walk always, in the presence of the Lord, in the light of the Lord, seeking to live with that irreproachability which God asked of Abraham, in his promise.

To build up. To build up the Church. Stones are spoken of: the stones have substance; but living stones, stones anointed by the Holy Spirit. To build up the Church, the bride of Christ, on that cornerstone which is the Lord himself. This is another movement of our lives: to build up.

Third, to confess. We can walk as much as we wish, we can build many things, but if we do not confess Jesus Christ, it is no good. We will become a humanitarian NGO, but not the Church, bride of the Lord.

When one does not walk, one halts. When one does not build on stone what happens? That happens which happens to children on the beach when they make sand castles, it all comes down, it is without substance. When one does not confess Jesus Christ, I am reminded of the expression of Léon Bloy: "He who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil.” When one does not confess Jesus Christ, one confesses the worldliness of the devil, the worldliness of the demon.

To walk, to build/construct, to confess. But the matter is not so easy, because in walking, in building, in confessing, at times there are shocks, there are movements that are not properly movements of the journey: they are movements that set us back.

This Gospel continues with a special situation. The same Peter who has confessed Jesus Christ says to him: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I will follow you, but let us not speak of the Cross. This has nothing to do with it. I will follow you with other possibilities, without the Cross."

When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we confess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord: we are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.

I would like that everyone, after these days of grace, should have the courage, truly the courage, to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Cross of the Lord; to build up the Church upon the Blood of the Lord that was shed upon the Cross; and to confess the only glory: Christ crucified. And in this way the Church will move forward.

I hope for all of us that the Holy Spirit, through the prayer of the Virgin Mary, our Mother, may grant us this grace: to walk, to build up, to confess Jesus Christ crucified. So may it be.

Although the Pope's homily was brief, a great part of it serves as a reminder of these words by St. Peter: “Be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (First Epistle of Peter 2:5) and the inspiring Apostolic Exhortation to the Clergy in Pope St. Pius X’s Haerent Animo (1908).

Pope Francis did, however, make one reference to the extremely controversial Leon Bloy, who was a French poet, essayist, convert, a man who refused to work, and an eccentric with a passion for prostitutes (co-habiting with two prostitutes in succession - after his supposed conversion to the Faith, Bloy planned to marry both - not simultaneously, of course - but never did. Yes, Leon Bloy was capable of writing a few truthful things -  but even a broken clock is right twice a day.)

Surprising? Yes. Perplexing? Definitely. This is only conjecture on my part, but perhaps that is why Pope Francis made a brief yet direct reference to Bloy, a man who could at times write eloquently of the Faith but during his lifetime refused to accept the Cross. Be that as it may, there is no doubt whatsoever that the new Pope gently yet firmly admonished the entire hierarchy when he said:

“When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we confess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord: we are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.”

May we pray much for the Holy Father.

 

The Great Comet: Will a Pope Flee in December?

Nostradamus warned that the next-to-last pope would "flee Rome in December when the great comet is seen in the daytime." That's the latest news spreading over the net, and it seems it may have started with NBC's World News. If that prophecy (not to mention others about which I've been writing) is accurate, the next-to-last pope is either Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, or the one who will be elected in the conclave, which officially opens tomorrow, March 12.
 
Readers of this blog know that the topics of my most recent articles have included "a bishop dressed in white" who is described in the Third Secret of Fatima (a Vision),  the lightening that struck St. Peter's dome hours after Benedict XVI announced his resignation, the earthquake near Rome three days after the official abdication, and prophesies like the alleged St. Malachy "Petrus Romanus" prophecies. My latest article, Comets and Coincidences, made the connection between the upcoming November 2013 Comet ISON and another Nostradamus prophecy.  
 
While the most recent prophecy excerpt about a pope fleeing in December (while a great comet lights the daytime sky) is certainly intriguing, I'm not certain if the news writers got this one right. In the World News article, no further information on this particular Nostradamus prophecy is offered -  not the quatrain number, not even the entire prophecy. All we have is an excerpt.  (Meanwhile, I've already conducted a search. So far, every website or blog simply repeats the exact excerpt of a sentence (to wit, "flee Rome in December when the great comet is seen in the daytime"), and nothing more. I f I may, I would like to invite my readers to look it up. If anyone has any success finding the entire prophecy, I would appreciate a heads-up, accompanied by a link. Thanks so much!)
 
Here's the thing: If Nostradamus did indeed prophesy with those words, he indicated that December is the month of the "great comet." The NBC World News article makes a brief reference to the calendar difference of Nostradamus' time to ours, but the article again offers no specifics. The facts are that Nostradamus died in 1566 A.D. and the Gregorian calendar was instituted on October 4, 1582 - advancing the calendar by 10 days (but during a leap year, 11 days). Now that's a bit uncanny if Nostradamus did prophecy about a December comet, and here's why:

1.) Comet ISON will enter the sun's orbit on November 28, 2013 A.D.  If it survives, astronomers are predicting it could become so bright that it will be seen in the daylight hours - and, indeed, that would be a "great comet."  
 
2.) As I noted in Comets and Coincidences, Nostradamus did predict that "the great star will burn for seven days" and a cloud will cause two suns to appear. He concludes the prophecy: "The [Great] Mastiff will howl all night, and the Pontiff will flee to another country." In his book, Catholic Prophecy, Yves Dupont mused that the "Great Mastiff" could be "Arab powers."

3) If we can take Nostradamus literally, and if Comet ISON is the "great comet," it will begin to burn brightly on or around November 28th, and continue to burn through Wednesday, December 4th or Thursday, December 5th. If such is the case, Nostradamus was right about a "great comet," down to the very month.

Speaking of comet prophecies, here is another one from St. Hildegard of Bingen (d. 1179 A.D.):

"Before the Comet comes, many nations, the good excepted, will be scoured with want and famine. The great nation in the ocean that is inhabited by people of different tribes and descent by an earthquake, storm and tidal waves will be devastated. It will be divided, and in great part submerged. That nation will also have many misfortunes at sea, and lose its colonies in the east through a Tiger and a Lion."

"The Comet by its tremendous pressure, will force much out of the ocean and flood many countries, causing much want and many plagues. All sea coast cities will be fearful and many of them will be destroyed by tidal waves, and most living creatures will be killed and even those who escape will die from a horrible disease. For in none of these cities does a person live according to the laws of God."
 

It is very amazing when these "coincidences" of lightning strikes, minor earthquakes, comets, and papal prophecies are getting the attention of secular news sources. Meanwhile, many Catholics who are making inquiries to their priests about these signs are usually being told to calm down, relax, and simply live a life of sanctifying grace.

Frankly speaking, if more people were living a life of sanctifying grace, we wouldn't be receiving these warning signs from God. I've said this before but will say it again, quoting Fr. Bernard Kramer, who was an biblical exegete, especially on the Apocalypse: "In the Septuagint, the word [sign] is used for celestial phenomena." (The Septuagint is the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament.)

In the Old Testament, God said, "Let there be lights made in the firmament of Heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years." (Gen. 1:14-16, Douay-Rheims Bible) In Hebrew, the word 'season' is 'moed' and and signifies an appointed or fixed time (which means it does not indicate the seasons of spring, summer, fall, or winter.) 

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, said: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves; Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be moved." (Lk. 21: 25-26) That is an infallible prophesy. It will happen. What's more, this infallible prophecy seems to have a connection to St. Hildegard's, mentioned above. Moreover, the word "heavens" could mean the skies above, but it could also mean "the Church" since in biblical prophecy, the word "heaven" or "heavens" usually indicates the Church.  Again, if that is the case, Our Lord could have meant "For the powers of the Church shall be moved" - indicating a Pope and perhaps also the hierarchy.
 
For these reasons, let's pay very respectful attention to the signs so far given. Is it really a coincidence that lightning struck the dome of St. Peter's, just before 6 p.m., on the same day Benedict XVI announced his resignation? How about the "light" earthquake that struck near Rome, three days after the pope's official resignation? Perhaps they were small but remarkable "coincidences" (the news about both certainly received attention), but let's also consider that in the Bible, God uses lighting and earthquakes as signs.

Finally, let's also look at this year's comets and the timing of their appearances. The comet that blazed through Russia did so on the first Friday in Lent, Comet Pan-STARRS is appearing at its brightest during Lent, and Comet ISON (if it successfully passes through the sun) will burn brightly during the first week of Advent 2013. Both Lent and Advent are penitential "seasons" of the Church.  The common sense of a faithful Catholic would say it is highly likely these comets are signs from God.  Pay attention and respond as we should.  Pray and do penance for our own sins and for the conversion of sinners.

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Keeping It Catholic at Christmas

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. (Lk. 1: 13-14)

In the Church, there is a pattern to what is called “the ecclesial year” – the array of Church seasons and feasts, which purposely place “the various events of the life of Our Lord before us in order that we may ponder over them and imitate the virtues presented.”[1] In a coincidental and stark contrast to the secular calendar which nears its close, the Catholic City always opens each new Church year on the first Sunday of Advent, the penitential season leading up to the joyful celebration of Our Lord’s Nativity.  Throughout the centuries and in all cultures, there developed in Catholic churches and homes customs and traditions which intentionally keep in mind “the reason for the season.”

Symbolism of the Advent Wreath

The usual four weeks [2] of Advent (from the Latin “ad-venio” – to come to [3]), recall the four thousand years [4] that elapsed from the Fall of our first parents until the birth of Jesus Christ. During this brief penitential season of the Church, we strive to “make straight for Christ the way to our souls, and behold, Our Lord will come at Christmas.”[5]Likened to a “mini-Lent,” the season of Advent possesses a two-fold purpose of spiritual preparation – first, to commemorate the Lord’s “coming to” the world as a humble Infant and second, in anticipation of His Second Coming, when He shall judge the living and the dead.

The symbolic elements of the traditional Advent wreath, a circle of real evergreen boughs in which are set four candles (three of purple and one of rose) serve a dual purpose. The evergreen wreath itself represents God (the Alpha and Omega, Who has no beginning and no end) and His faithful promise in Genesis 3:15. The four (blessed) candles signify the four thousand years of mankind’s sufferings and sorrowful anticipation of the Savior, as well as the four Advent weeks. Predominating the wreath are three candles of purple, the liturgical color of the somber penitential seasons (Advent and Lent). Rose, the liturgical color of joy, is the third candle in the wreath. [6] 

Of these four candles, it is said that the first candle recalls Adam and Eve and the Original Sin brought upon all mankind. The second candle reminds us of Isaiah’s prophecy of Christ’s Birth and Passion. The third candle (of rose) represents the Virgin Mary – the “Cause of Our Joy” and salvation, the Mystical Rose who brought Christ into the world. The fourth candle denotes St. John the Baptist, the immediate forerunner of Christ, and his message of repentance.

Traditionally, on each Sunday of Advent, a new candle is lit in the following order: purple, purple, rose, and purple. In other words, on the first Sunday of Advent, only one purple candle is lighted. On the second Sunday of Advent, two purple candles are kindled. However, on the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete or “Joyful” Sunday), the rose candle is lit along with the first two purple candles. This day is called Gaudete Sunday because the Feast of the Nativity approaches and we remember that God’s Promise of the Redeemer is fulfilled. As the 1962 Roman Catholic Missal explains, “On this day, the Church urges us to gladness in the middle of this time of expectation and penance…Now is the time for fervent prayers and for imploring Jesus to remain with us by His mercy.” [7] Finally, on the fourth Advent of Sunday, all four candles are set alight.

When the Advent wreath and its candles are blessed by a Catholic priest, it becomes a sacramental.  In the Catholic home, the wreath is set up on the first Sunday of Advent, and it is best placed where it will serve as a beautiful daily reminder to all family members that this is a season of penance and hope, of prayer and work. On each Sunday, the family can gather together, with the mother lighting the candles as the father reads a short blessing, asking God “to prepare all hearts for the coming of Christ” [8] and sprinkles the wreath with holy water. The candles remain alight throughout dinner, after which evening prayers may be said.

The Lady Candle and the Christ Child Candle

In the Advent wreath, there is sometimes seen the addition of a fifth, all-white candle, set in the wreath’s middle to symbolize Jesus, the Light of the World; it appears to be an organic adaption of the Christ Child Candle. Usually a pillar, the Christ Child Candle may be decorated with a symbol of Jesus, like a tiny baby or a small lamb. Although on display during the Advent season, the Christ Child Candle is not lit until Christmas Eve (the Vigil of the Nativity) or Christmas Day.

At the beginning of Advent, the same white pillar candle could be used to honor the Virgin Mary by sewing elastic to a tiny piece of stiff veiling or solid fabric, either in white or blue (traditionally known as Our Lady’s colors).The veil or cloth, covering the symbol of Jesus on the Christ Child Candle, is removed either after Christmas Eve’s midnight Mass or early Christmas morning. Beginning on Christmas, the Christ Candle is lit every day, either throught January 1st (commemorating the first eight days of Jesus' life, for on the eighth day, He was circumcised and first shed His Precious Blood), or through Epiphany (the day the Holy Infant allowed His identity to be made known to the Magi). Families might even light the Christ Child Candle through February 2 (Feast of the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple, when the prophet Simeon called Him "a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and a glory for thy people Israel." [9]).

Other families prefer a separate “Lady Candle” (today, it is often called a “Mary Candle”). A simple but loving custom which commemorates the Virgin on one of her greatest solemnities (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8), the “Lady Candle” is either a white pillar candle with blue or white veiling, or a tall white pillar candle, adorned with tiny blue roses or a simple blue ribbon. In either case, the “Lady Candle” could be placed in front of a statue of Our Lady or near the Nativity Set and lit each night, beginning December 8 through Christmas as the family prays the Rosary. Within the octave (eight days) of the Immaculate Conception, many families still retain the custom of beginning a nine-day Christmas Novena to the Infant Jesus (starting on December 16 and completed on Christmas Day).

The Nativity Set and the Virtue of Charity
The Advent season is the perfect time to refocus on practicing the virtue of charity, which first means love of God and His laws above all things and second, love of neighbor. The highest virtue is charity, even above obedience, for all good things are founded upon charity. After all, it is God’s own charity toward men that gave us His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world; and from this charity also issued Christ’s obedience, even to His death on a cross.  The humble little Nativity set, all by itself, tells a story about charity, and the lack thereof amongst those who would not give shelter to Our Lady and St. Joseph.

Parents and children can prepare themselves for the celebration of Jesus’ Birth by renewing the offering of “daily duty” in silent sacrifice to God, but making those sacrifices “visible” in a unique way with the family’s Nativity set. Setting up the Nativity set on the first Sunday of Advent, parents remind the family that everyone (adults included) is responsible for preparing the stable and the Divine Child’s manger. The manger itself is covered with a small cotton ball (to cover the Infant Jesus) and outside the crèche is set a tiny bundle of clean straw (available at craft stores). Each tiny straw piece represents a “little work” done in the spirit of pleasing God and preparing for Christ’s Coming – like a prayer or an act of self-denial.

Through the whole of Advent, the miniature stable and the manger are slowly built up, as every person who makes a sacrifice quietly adds one small piece of straw (just one) in the stable.  Each person’s daily goal is to add as many little pieces of straw as possible, but these acts are not meant to breed a family competition or self-congratulation, because such things are not the spirit of Christ. The practice of adding straws represents the entire family’s many hidden acts of love for Christ. When one thinks about it, the tiny pieces of straw are reminders of the littleness of our actions, which only become meritorious in God’s eyes when they are done with love and in union with Christ.

Supernaturally speaking, parents can help their children “set the tone for the day” by gathering the family together, praying the Morning Offering, and reminding each family member to place one small piece of straw into the manger (representing their morning prayers). After that, each person keeps track of any good deeds offered to God by adding another tiny straw piece to the manger or inside of the stable.

There are countless ways to make acts of charity and offer them in reparation to God for sins - morning and evening prayers, giving alms, exercising patience, practicing good manners (which is so sadly lacking in our modernist culture), giving up something which one prefers (a favorite activity or food, a social gathering, the company of people whom one particularly likes), and doing our best to think and speak well of others (and very little of ourselves). The offering of even little things is consistent with the Church’s teachings, exemplified through St. Therese the Little Flower and what she called the “Little Way.”

The Christmas Season Continues
Over forty years ago, Mary Reed Newland wrote, “There is only one reason in all the world to feast and be merry at Christmas: because we are redeemed, and Christmas is the feast of the beginning of our Redemption. In this bewilderingly beautiful season, in a most mysterious and beautiful way, God became a Baby.”[10]

The true season of Christmas – traditionally known as Christmastide, the season of joy in which we celebrate events of Our Lord’s “child life,”[11] - only begins on Christmas Day. In the traditional ecclesial calendar, the length of this period was regulated by the position of Septuagesima Sunday, which occurred any time between January 16 and February 22.[12]

In the days and weeks after Christmas, we might remember the first forty days of Jesus’ life, hidden away in a stable, tended by the Virgin Mary and guarded by St. Joseph. On the Feast of the Holy Family (traditionally falling on the first Sunday after Christmas), parents should lead their children into asking God for the graces needed to be a holy family, too. Husbands should look anew to St. Joseph, his trust in God, his purity of body and soul and, above all, his sacrificial love for the Virgin Mary and Jesus. Wives may look to Our Lady, who is the model of all virtues. Children should be encouraged in emulating the Christ Child in His attitude toward God, His Virgin Mother, and His foster-father, St. Joseph. 

On January 1, which once commemorated the Circumcision of the Lord, the Church celebrates the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. This is the perfect time for religious resolutions, to continue what we practiced in the Advent recently passed, and to consecrate ourselves (or renew our consecrations) to Jesus through Mary.

At this time of year, there is also the Catholic custom of “marking” the house doors with the initials CMB intertwined with the numbers representing the new year.  For example, the marks for the Year of Our Lord 2012 would be written in the following manner: 2 + 0 + C + M + B + 1 + 2. The initials “CMB” have two meanings – “Christus
Mansionem Benedicat,” which translates to “Christ, bless this home” and they are also the first initials of the traditional names given to the Magi - Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. These marks are written in chalk at the tops of doors or over the main entrance. Another option is to write the year and the initials on a small hand-held chalkboard, which can be nicely decorated around the frame, easily fitting in the space above the front door.

Jesus – Light of the World

In some Catholic countries, small gifts are given to children on each of the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” beginning on Christmas Day and ending on January 6, the traditional Feast of the Epiphany. Originating in the third century, the Epiphany commemorates the Magi’s finding of the Christ Child “with Mary His Mother” – the day the wise men offered their symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Tradition relates that these gifts represent the mysteries of Our Lord’s life – gold (signifying His holy, temporal life), frankincense (a gift reserved only for kings), and myrrh (a rare and bitter healing herb, signifying the future Passion of Christ and the Redemption).

There is no doubt that, by early January, the world considers the Christmas season to be over. In contrast, families in the Catholic City might renew the tradition of keeping the Nativity set on display and the Christmas lights burning for 40 days, up to and including Candlemas (February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple). In so doing, we declare our belief that the “Light of the World” has come.

[Copyright Marianna Bartold, 2010. All Rights Reserved World-wide. This article was originally published in Catholic Family News and was updated only in regard to the year 2012.)

Notes

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[1] Most Rev. Louis LaRavoir Morrow, D.D., Bishop of Krishnagar, My Catholic Faith: A Manual of Religion [Kansas City, MO: Sarto House, 2003. Reprinted from the 1954 edition]:  pp. 240-241.

[2] Advent usually begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30), with the last Advent week coinciding with the Sunday preceding Christmas Eve. Depending on the calendar dates in a given year, there are rare occasions in which Advent is observed during the course of three Sundays, not four.

[3] Francis Mershman, "Advent," The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. [New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907] at

[4] According to the Hebrew and Vulgate chronology, as noted by Dom Gueranger’s Liturgical Year, cited by “Advent Overview” on Fisheaters website [http://www.fisheaters.com/customsadvent1.html]

[5] Roman Catholic Daily Missal, 1962 [Kansas City, MO: Angelus Press, 2004. Newly retypeset, based on The Ideal Missal, 1962]: p. 136.

[6]“A Catholic Encyclopedia” in The Family Rosary Edition of the Holy Bible [Chicago, IL: The Catholic Press, Inc., 1953 Imprimatur): p. 27.

[7] Roman Catholic Daily Missal, op. cit., p.147.

[8]Mary Reed Newland, The Year and Our Children [San Diego, CA: The Firefly Press, reprinted with permission from the 1956 edition. Copyrighted by the estate of Mary Reed Newland]: p. 15.

[9] Lk. 2: 32 (The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version, with Challoner Revisions 1749-52; 1899 Edition of the John Murray Company).

[10]Newland, op. cit., p. 33.

[11]Most Rev. Morrow, op.cit., p. 241.

[12] Ibid., p. 241.