Special Edition Enewsletter - The
Feast of the First Holy Martyrs of the Holy Roman
Church
Due to recent misrepresentations and
distortions of the truth in the local secular media in the
Emmitsburg Maryland area, it seems appropriate to review how
the Roman Catholic Church has acted in the past in explaining
the purpose of private revelation as well as reference a
sample of relatively recent alleged apparitions which the
Church has deemed as reliable and worthy of belief.
Regrettably, the recent reporting demonstrates an obvious and
apparent lack of understanding of the matters related to
Marian apparitions both by the reporters and some of the
principal interviewees. Thus, each of the items in this
enewsletter are selected to provide very pertinent
information to better understand to these matters of grave
concern.
Pope
John XXIII on Private Revelation
Pope John XXIII refers to the purpose of
authentic private revelation in his 1959 address as the close
of the Marian Year (Feb. 18, 1959):
“The Roman Pontiffs….also have the duty, when
after mature examination, they deem necessary for the common
good of bringing to the attention of the faithful those
supernatural lights which it pleases God to dispense freely to
certain privileged souls, not for the purpose of presenting
new doctrines, but rather to guide us in our conduct.”
Lumen
Gentium
In Lumen
Gentium, (Vatican II, Section 12), the Council Fathers urged
the faithful to be open and attentive to the ways in which the
Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church, including private
revelations. We hear:
“Whether these charisms be very remarkable or
more simple and widely diffused, they are to be received with
thanksgiving and consolation since they are fitting and useful
for the needs of the Church. Extraordinary gifts are not to be
rashly desired, nor is it from them that the fruits of
apostolic labor are to be presumptuously expected. Those who
have charge over the Church should judge the genuineness and
proper use of these gifts through their office, not indeed to
extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to
what is good.” (cv. Thessalonians 5:12 & 19-21).
Pope
Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI, in his commentary on the
Third Secret of Fatima in June, 2000, said that private
revelation can be a genuine help in understanding the Gospel
and living it better at a particular moment in time;
“therefore it should not be disregarded. It is a help which
is offered, but which one is not obliged to use.”
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church
“Throughout the ages, there have been
so-called ‘private revelations,’ some of which have been
recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong,
however, to the deposit of the faith. It is not their role to
improve or comlete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help
live more fully by it in a certain period of history.” (CCC,
Ch. 2, III, 67)
Apparitions, Visionaries, Messages
& the Church's Response
LaSalette,
France, 1846 - Apparition to Melanie Calvat
“The
Church would be severely attacked and the monster (communism)
would be unleashed at the end of the Nineteenth or beginning
of the Twentieth Century. Rome will lose faith and become the
seat of Antichrist, and the Church will be in eclipse. Many
chastisements are predicted, the Antichrist will be defeated,
fire will purge the earth and consume all the work of mens’s
pride, and all will be renewed.” LaSalette was approved
by the Church in 1851.
The
Apparitions of LaSalette...
Fatima,
Portugal, 1917 - The Third Apparition of Our
Lady
“If
my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there
will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout
the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The
good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to
suffer, several nations will be annihilated. In the
end, my Immaculate Heart will Triumph.” Fatima was
approved by the Church in October, 1930.
The
Third Apparition of Fatima...
Akita,
Japan - The Third & Last Message to Sr. Agnes
Sasagawa, October 12, 1973
“…if
men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will
inflict terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a
punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never
have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe
out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad,
sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find
themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only
arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign
(the Cross) left by my Son.” The Akita events and
messages were pronounced as reliable and worthy of by belief
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect, Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican City, June, 1988, after Most
Rev. John Ito, Bishop of Niigata, Japan, after years of
extensive investigation declared the events to be of
supernatural origin in April, 1984.
Our Lady of
Akita...
A New
Beginning
Some might
regard the above Church-approved messages from Our Lady as
“doom and gloom.” Others might consider them serious, somber,
and yet, hope-filled, and an accurate assessment of what may
be needed for God to bring all His children home to Him for
eternity. Certainly, none of them prophesied the “end of the
world,” nor did the great flood in Noah’s time bring about the
end of the world.
In June,
2008, at the Center of Her Immaculate Heart in the Emmitsburg
area, both Our Lady of Emmitsburg and God the Father addressed
these same serious matters.
Our
Lady of Emmitsburg - June 1, 2008:
“When
you see the ‘two suns’ on the horizon, you must know that this
is a time of change, a time of this new beginning about which
I have spoken to you before….After a while, you will see a
time when there is another body in orbit around your solar
system, coming between Earth and the Sun and leading to
tremendous devastation. Approximately 60-70% of the world’s
population, as you know it, will cease....Prayer is the
answer!...So prepare, spiritually prepare….God has a special
plan, a new beginning!”
Our
Lady of Emmitsburg June 1, 2008 (Full Text)...
Words
of God the Father, through Gianna Sullivan - June 8,
2008:
“As
the God of your fathers and forefathers, I am your God of
Light, always there to be by you, to protect you and to
intervene.... In all My messages to you, whether they be
warnings or challenges, I am still a compassionate Father,
full of Mercy and Love.... Let us celebrate and know, with all
of your hearts and with love a great new
beginning awaits you, one where I will be with
you!”
The
apparitions of Our Lady to Gianna Sullivan in Emmitsburg, MD,
and the other fruits of these events that began occurring
after the 2001 Archdiocesan Commission,
including the “Hidden Life of Our Lord,” the Words of God the
Father, many of the prophetic words of Our Lord and Our Lady,
as well as the sophisticated scientific testing of Gianna
during ecstasy in 2004 by a team of independent, international
researchers, done at a major East Coast medical center, have
yet to be evaluated or reviewed by any formal Church
investigative commission.
Words
of God the Father, June 8, 2008 (Full Text)...
What
Does the Bible Say?
It would
be difficult for many of the faithful to call the above
messages from Our Lady of Emmitsburg and God the Father “doom
and gloom,” and even more inaccurate to label them as “end of
the world prophesy,” and those who believe them to be true as
“doomsday cultists.” Unfortunately that is what has been
done.
Still
others may chide that if it is not in the Bible, Sacred
Scripture, it cannot be from God. However, all may want to
pray and ponder the words of the Prophet Zechariah:
“In
all the land,” says the Lord, “two-thirds of them shall be cut
off and perish, and one-third shall be left. I will bring the
one-third through fire, and I will refine them as silver is
refined, and I will test them as gold is tested. They shall
call upon my name, and I will hear them.” (Zech
13:8-9)
End of
an Era
To the
dismay of the learned and the elite and to the consolation of
the “little” children, much of what has been revealed by God,
both in His Public Revelation as well as in private
revelation, remains a “mystery.” Some things humanity will not
know in this world. However there are other things that God
has allowed us to attempt to understand, even with our limited
intellects. Two of these are provided below:
The
Purification...
The
Mysteries of the End Times...
Thoughts of Marian Theologians and
Scholars
A brief 20-minute 2007 video documenting what
several of the leading Marian theologians and scholars in the
world believe about these mystical events involving Gianna
Sullivan in Emmitsburg, MD, can be seen at:
Our
Lady of Emmitsburg June 1, 2008 (Full Text)...
Pope
Paul VI
Since the abolition of Canon 1399 and 2318 of
the former Cononical Code by Pope Paul VI in AAS 58 (1966)
1186, publications about new appearances, revelations,
prophecies, miracles, etc., have been allowed to be
distributed and read by the faithful without the express
permission of the Church, providing that they contain nothing
which contravenes faith and morals. This means no imprimatur
is necessary.