It's Going to Be a Hot Week; Good Time to Think about Hell

The weather report for the next week is grim: in the 90s every day but feeling over 100. Fourth of July is expected to be a scorcher here in northwestern Virginia especially if the humidity is high. Thank God for it. Miserably hot weather invites us to reflect on the reality of hell. Despite the statement of Cardinal Fernandez that everyone will be saved, they won't. And no, Bishop Barron, we cannot have a reasonable belief that all will be saved. Why would God die on the cross for the salvation of souls if, in the end, He's the Candyman who welcomes everyone at the Pearly Gates with chocolate bars regardless of the way they lived. He didn't ignore the rebellion of the angels; why would He ignore ours? 

Sunday Meditation: How Can We Be Happy in Heaven if Our Loved Ones Aren't There?

Funerals turn the minds of the faithful to the four last things: death, judgment, heaven or hell. That's not too surprising when you think about it. Even those who have little or no relationship with God must think about "What's next!" when they attend a funeral. "Is this really all there is?... Where is my loved one, friend, acquaintance, colleague now?...What will happen to me after I die?" 

Was the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima a Warning for the End Times?

On October 13, 1917, Our Lady made her final visit to the Cova de Iria in Fatima, Portugal. She produced the promised miracle. Not only did the sun dance, but it appeared to plunge toward the earth. Many of the terrified witnesses dropped to their knees and began to confess their sins and make a fervent act of contrition. The sun did not hit the earth that day, it returned to its place in the sky. But was that solar event a warning that a future chastisement would come through the activity of the sun?

What Do You Want of Me Lord?

When the Blessed Mother appeared to the three little children at Fatima in 1917, Lucia asked, "What do you want of me?" The lady responded telling the children to pray the rosary every day and come to the cova on the 13th of the month. They were simple requests. She gradually led the children to become little victim souls suffering for peace and the salvation of "poor sinners." She showed them a vision of hell with the dying falling into the abyss "like snowflakes." Anyone who believes there is no one in hell, judges the Blessed Mother to be a sadistic monster who terrorizes children. Hell is real. Let's not go there and let's try to save as many "poor sinners" as we possibly can!

I Disagree With Dr Edmund Mazza on Two Points re Russia & Mary (& Fatima)

Great Coat of Arms
Russian Empire 1721 - 1917

I disagree with Dr Edmund Mazza on two points given in his five part presentation, Russia & Mary: War & Peace (& Fatima).

1) The first disagreement I have, or first point up for discussion, with Dr Mazza is that at Fatima Our Lady never said anything about Russia converting to the Catholic faith. She actually never said the words "conversion of Russia" at all. She said the "Consecration of Russia" and that if the Consecration were done Russia will be converted. 

I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the communion of reparations on first Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. 

In the first four of the five April-May 2023 sessions on Russia &Mary: War & Peace, Dr Mazza stated the Blessed Mother as saying the conversion of Russia. However during the fifth session he said conversion of Russia to the Catholic faith. At that point he admitted that the Blessed Mother never said the words "to the Catholic faith" but that's what she meant. She meant that, he said, because in 1917 the Catholic Church, when speaking of conversion, understood that conversion meant conversion to the Catholic Church. That's Dr Mazza's opinion, as well as the opinion of many others.

Nefarious and the Fatima Visiion of Hell

Ever since I saw Nefarious, the movie about the criminal possessed by the devil, I've been thinking about poor sinners. Jacinta, the little seer of Fatima, constantly reminded her brother and cousin, "We need to pray for poor sinners!" Horrified at the vision of souls falling into hell like snowflakes, she became a little victim soul trying to save all she could from the fires of hell. She accepted sufferings that would make an adult squirm. 

Guest Post: The Forgotten Message of Jesus to Sr. Lucy

 by Greg Diefenderfer 

"The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father to make, and to order that in union with him and at the same time, all the bishops of the world make, the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate heart, promising to convert it because of this day of prayer and worldwide reparation." The Blessed Virgin to Sr Lucy on June 13, 1929.

The Russian Orthodox Perception of the Fatima Message

"The Reigning Icon" of the Mother of God
(see below)

1) I like to look at things from "the other side" every once in awhile. 2) This is merely an article from one Russian Orthodox Priest Outside Russia (ROCOR) 3) I assume that the Orthodox look at the Roman Catholic Church today the same way they currently look at the Collective West. 4) I thought this perspective interesting and agreed with statements highlighted in yellow. 5) I'm sick of being lied to. Perhaps the Orthodox interpretation of Fatima is closer to the truth than the lies we're told to believe. The True Message of Fatima? Introduction In six visions over a period of six months in 1917 three peasant children from a Portuguese village were told by the Mother of God of the destiny of a country called Russia. These shepherd children, who had never been to Lisbon, let alone heard of Russia, came to hear of this at the most important turning-point in the history of that country. Coincidence?

Will America Survive the All-Out Attack? Step One: Know the Enemy!

We are under attack as surely as if a line of tanks, a fleet of warships, and a squadron of fighter jets were all heading our way manned with tens of thousands of enemy troops. Sadly, the enemy is within our borders. It was predicted by the Soviets years ago. The way to victory was infiltration. Subvert the institutions and destroy from within. 

The Commies in China are Calling Us a "Failed Country."

Tiananmen Square 1989 

Chinese state propaganda claims the US is a 'failed state' ruled by a 'racist president'

Seriously? 

This from a commie country that's murdered millions of its own children under the one child policy? 

A country that quelled the 1989 peaceful student-led Tiananmen Square protest with tanks and guns?

A country that deliberately unleashed COVID-19 on the global population?

17 Have Died in Riots around the Country. Do These Lives Matter?

Retired police officer, David
Dorn murdered in St. Louis

List of the dead from the Epoch Times

Do these lives matter? Do blue lives matter? I posted on Facebook last night about three young blacks who traced two police officers to their homes to firebomb their cars. (Source) Our police officers have wives and families. Do their lives matter?

My brother was a Baltimore County cop. 

The Papacy Suspended - A Secret of Colossal Importance for the Church

The papacy suspended above time
will resume - or not - after the deluge.

This article is a collaborated effort between Chriss Rainey and Susan Matthiesen after reading Antonio Socci's book The Secret of Benedict XVI: Is He Still Pope?

Antonio Socci's two epigraphs:
If the Church were to be removed from the world, in a short time the world would end. - John Henry Newman

They call to me from Seir: Watchman, how much longer the night? Watchman, how much longer the night? Isaiah 21:11

(Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary says: Night. Instead of joy, I must announce dreadful things.)

Part One - The Mystical, Economic, and Political Origin of the Drama
And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great upon the earth and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times, it repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart he said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man to even beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noe found grace before the Lord. Genesis 6:5-8

Don't Miss These Headlines! And Excerpts from the Articles

fashion statement for the well-dressed deaconette

"Catholicism is in the throes of the worst crisis in its entire history"

Burke identified the fact that the suffering of the faithful "is greatly increased by the betrayal of the truth by those who claim to follow Christ and to be members of His Church, even bishops, priests and consecrated religious." 

He also identified three forms of martyrdom — namely the martyrdom of blood, of persecution and of witness. The martyrdom of witness being the most common, Burke noted that it was found in those who were firm believers "in the Church's teaching authority: the devoted servant of the papacy; the convinced pastor who insists on sound doctrine to his flock; the dedicated religious who want to remain faithful to their vows."

Who is Muhammad's Angel Gabriel?

The Angel of Peace - Fatima

The Story of Muhammad 

and Gabriel the Genie

Could those who blindly follow Muhammad as their heaven-sent prophet and leader and adhere to Islam as the one divinely revealed religion and the only true way to salvation possibly be deceived by Satan?

City Journal, Spring 2004, published an article by Theodore Dalrymple, titled When Islam Breaks Down. Dalrymple said, “No Muslim in an Islamic society would dare to suggest that the Koran was not divinely dictated through the mouth of the Prophet but rather was a compilation of a charismatic man’s words, and incorporating, with no very great originality, Judaic, Christian, and Zoroastrian elements.”

To be sure, Muslims believe that the Koran is of divine origin, eternal and co-existing in the very essence of Allah and is his sacred and direct word dictated in Arabic by the Angel Gabriel to Muhammad, containing Islamic revelations and doctrine. They believe that through Muhammad’s visions of the Archangel Gabriel, the Koran was revealed by installments, some at Mecca and some at Medina, over the span of twenty-three years. As the words flowed from Gabriel to the inspired lips of the Prophet Muhammad, they were written down upon palm leaves, leather or wood by his secretaries Zeid and Abdullah. 

#Lucia-of-Fatima: The Whole World will be Communist!

With the 100th anniversary of Fatima less than two years away, I'm reading every book I can get my hands on about Our Lady's messages to the three little shepherds from the "beautiful lady." This morning, reading Sister Lucia: Apostle of Mary's Immaculate Heart, written by Mark Fellows and published during the 90th anniversary year (2007), I came across an interesting item. In 1946, Lucia, the only surviving seer of Fatima, was interviewed by American historian Professor William Thomas Walsh. During the questioning, she told him several times:

What Our Lady wants is that the Pope and all the bishops in the world shall consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart on one special day. If this is done, She will convert Russia, and there will be peace. If it is not done, the errors of Russia will spread through every country in the world.

Professor Walsh asked her if she believed that all the countries throughout the world, without exception, would succumb to Communism.

Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, and Mary's Peace Plan

Read Pat Buchanan's article here.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we can't afford to continue being the world's policeman. Besides, we're not doing a very good job. As a matter of fact, we have a record of taking a bad situation and making it worse, often much worse. What happened in Iraq after we pitched out Hussein? The Christians have almost disappeared. The neo-cons said we were bringing western democracy to Iraq, but where is the evidence they want democracy? The country continues to be rocked by violence and chances are we have left them to duke it out in a civil war.

So what did we get for our billions? A more stable Middle East? Hardly. A more democratic Iraq? Not likely. But there are some results. Civilians killed: over 100,000; Military deaths: several thousand; Wounded and disabled vets? Several hundred thousand; Cost of the war? Over $800 billion and that's only a fraction of the true costs when you consider medical and disability expenses that will be ongoing for years.

So let me ask again -- how did the Iraq war benefit the taxpayers of the U.S.? Does anyone actually believe that Iraq represented a threat to the U.S.?................. Anyone?.............Anyone?............I'm waiting...........(sigh).

But have we learned anything? Watch for the big push to go after Iran next. The Neo-Cons never rest in their imperialistic goal to create a secular World Democracy. They're delusional!

Pray the rosary for peace as the Blessed Virgin asked at Fatima.  And consecrate yourself and your family to her Immaculate Heart. That is our only hope for a real and lasting peace.

The Clergy Who Authorized This Monstrosity Should be Defrocked!

Remember Fatima? When the Blessed Mother appeared to the little shepherd children and asked for a basilica to be built there? Well, she obvious didn't authorize the new basilica shown in the video below. In fact, no real Catholic could have authorized this monstrosity. It must have been an atheist imposter working to destroy the Church. How many pilgrims want to visit this...what exactly do you call it?...a bunker?...a fortress?...hardly a church. What a way to treat a sacred shrine!

Mary said the faith would never be lost in Portugal. Now in the parish office at Fatima -- that's another story. This building could have been designed by the evil mayor of Ourem who threatened the children. This must be his revenge.

The 13th Day: the Story of Fatima

I watched The 13th Day last night with DH (shorthand for "dear husband" for the uninitiated). It's a 2009 film about the miracle of Fatima and I think it is superb. I've read Lucia's memoirs and the movie is true to the events. Choosing to shoot primarily in black and white and sepia tones, with color saved for the vision of hell and the miracle of the sun, the cinematographers made a good choice. It gives a sense of the historical period when things happened. Since the newsreel shots of World War I are also in black and white it also provides a consistency that was effective. The technical aspects of the film are fine and well done although the nighttime sky with the moon and stars looks fake as does some of the rain in the miracle sequence. Those are small criticisms in an overwhelmingly effective presentation which was shot mainly on location in Portugal.

One of the things I especially appreciated about the film was the screenplay. Often anachronisms creep into modern films about older events (Check out the ridiculous dialogue in the Richard Burton/Liz Taylor extravaganza Anthony and Cleopatra), but these writers avoided that. All the conversations are stamped with the historical time without being stilted.

The opening scene shows Lucia as an adult and now a nun writing her memoirs at the direction of her superior. She sits at a desk by candlelight telling the story as she writes. Occasionally, she appears again as a third person narrator. The switch between present and past is effectively done.

The children are wonderfully portrayed by the little actors as are the parents, especially Lucia's mother played by Jane Lesley. In her book about the events, Fatima in Lucia's Own Words, Lucia describes how severe her mother was. You see that throughout, but without the woman becoming a stereotyped "mommie dearest." Her mother's gradual softening culminates in a tender scene near the end when Momma tells Lucia she will attend the October 13th apparition and "die" with her. Jacinta and Francisco's father was also well-portrayed. He never doubted the children and the exchange with Lucia's dad about "acting like a father" was played in an understated, not macho, way. I found it touching. In a culture where fatherhood has been so denigrated, it is refreshing to see a man played with quiet strength and dignity. He made me think of St. Joseph.

The only jarring note I found in the film was the scene when the children are taken by the mayor of Ourem and put in the jail cell with the male prisoners. One of the men, the most menacing in fact, dances with Jacinta. I couldn't help thinking about the child sex abuse scandals as he picked her up and held her in his arms. But that is putting a modern interpretation on a past event, one that really happened. Here's how Lucia described it in her first memoir:

Among the prisoners, there was one who played the concertina. To divert our attention, he bgan to play and they all started singing. They asked us if we know how to dance. We said we knew the [fandango] and the [vira]. Jacinta's partner was a poor thief who, finding her so tiny, picked her up and went on dancing with her in his arms! We only hope that Our Lady has had pity on his soul and converted him!

As I watched the film there were several times I noticed a resemblance between my grandson Ryan, who is sweet and tender-hearted, and Francisco, the little shepherd boy. It made me smile and reminded me how similar children can be even separated by generations and an entire way of life.

I reread a portion of Lucia's memoirs after seeing the movie and found lines that were directly incorporated into the script. Obviously, Ian and Dominic Higgins the producers, directors, and scriptwriters for the film, as well as the main catalyst for everything else, had great respect for the story and wanted to portray it accurately. In an interview on The 13th Day website, Ian pointed this out saying:

The 13th Day is a dramatization of actual events and most of the characters that appear in the film actually existed, so research was crucial from that point of view and from day one, everyone on the team was committed to realizing this film in such a way that it kept as true to the actual events as possible. As filmmakers we’re also very big believers in the value of research as inspiration too. We’ve found so many great ideas for a scene, hiding away in the pages of an old book while researching the script. It’s like digging for gold, there are so many fantastic nuggets of information buried away, just waiting to be re-discovered, it’s a really exciting part of the process.

If you have wondered about Fatima and what happened there, you don't want to miss this movie. It would make a great addition to any Catholic familiy's film library giving a glimpse into extraordinary events that occasionally happen to ordinary people. I found it an inspiration to the soul and satisfying proof that it doesn't take big bucks to tell a great story. This was the first feature-length film from this talented pair which gives one great hope for the future. Hollywood no longer has a stranglehold on the industry, praise God. I highly recommend The 13th Day!

A prophecy -- pray it does not come to pass

Prophets in the Old Testament warned the Israelites about future catastrophes if they did not repent and turn back to God. The warnings were always conditional.

"If my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land." (2 Chronicles 14)

In mid October James Dobson wrote a prophetic letter, Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America. It is a sobering document. I urge you to run it off, read it, and save it in a safe place. Is Dobson's vision of what's coming for our country true? Will we lose free speech? Will doctors and nurses be forced to participate in abortions or lose their jobs? Will churches be forced to hire homosexuals and allow same-sex weddings? Will teachers be fired if they refuse to teach that homosexuality is good? Will homeschooling be restricted or even banned? Will elderly Americans be denied healthcare under a nationalized system? Will Christian books be removed from libraries and book stores as hate speech? Will the U.S. become a nation tried by a world court of the U.N.? Will her sovereignty disappear? Will guns be, not only regulated, but confiscated?

Dobson's letter raises many questions. Will his scenario of lost freedoms come to pass? I have no idea. But I will print out his letter and watch and see what happens. All those who wanted change may get it. Whether it will be a change for the better or a nightmare repetition from the past remains to be seen. Prophetic warnings are conditional. Embrace the message of Fatima because that promise is filled with hope. If we pray the rosary daily Mary promises that in the end her Immaculate Heart will triumph. That is a promise and a prophecy we can count on.

More Desecration of the Eucharist

Desecrating the Holy Eucharist is getting to be epidemic. YouTube is filled with videos of poor deluded individuals finding mindless ways to treat the Body of Christ with disrespect and blasphemy. I think it's pointless to comment on these things. As Jesus said, don't cast your pearls before swine. A priest explained that reading to me one time. He said swine will tear to pieces anything cast into their pens. Placing the truth before someone who essentially has identified himself with swine will just see him tearing into the truth while it has no effect on his state of soul. Pray for these poor deluded individuals. Put YouTube on notice about this by visiting America Needs Fatima and joining their petition to YouTube.