Two days ago I was sent several Facebook messages alerting me about 'The Great Warning to Humankind' from an anonymous Facebook account of religious nature and apparently Catholic, solely identified by the well-known image of Jesus of Divine Mercy, with three 'likes' and with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, photograph of Pope Francis and Zamora Diocese. Zamora Diocese! (Spain). I don't give it much importance when I come across things of this kind.I had already checked the messages, when yesterday I was given flyers announcing "the Great Warning of God"
with the same internet address making clear those notices are related to 'new prophecies' about 'the Second Coming of Jesus' and found... in the streets of Zamora! 'It must be a new cult', the boy who gave me the sticker told me, 'Take a look'. That is, from virtual, we now move to real world, so we have to stop and think a little and clarify a few things.
A great warning of God is what is being advertised. Apparently, as I said before, it is Catholic and can be found on the Internet as well as Facebook. Headlines make it clear: "God's messages given to Maria 'Divine Mercy'. Everything under the name of this supposed lady, Maria Divine Mercy. It sounds more like a name of a cloistered nun.
I do say 'supposedly' because nowhere can we find information about who she is, or what she looks like. It must be for the reason of protecting her identity, but I do not know. The information about her is 'Roman Catholic European prophet and visionary who is hidden for the time being.' She assumes the messages have been given to her 'by the Holy Trinity and the Mother of God' since November 2010, which means she had delivered more than 650 messages. A new seer? Is it true that she received them from Heaven?! What is the Church's position?! Let us take a look step by step.
As regards the content of messages, the summary is simple, we are living in the times before the Second Coming of Christ (an issue nobody denies, obviously). God the Father, Jesus (no word about the Holy Spirit) and the Virgin Mary, presumably tell the lady, about 'world events to come'. Original messages are written in English and translated into many languages on the internet.
But who is behind it? Nothing can be found on the website about the seer. Absolutely nothing. The virtual display of personal and economical resources are noticeable on the Internet, flyers on doorsteps (remember we are in Zamora, Spain). As for the doctrines, some contents of these revelations are in agreement with Christian faith and do not pose any problems: the Divine Mercy, the need of conversion, wickedness of sin, reality of the Final Judgement of God...
But then we start to see weird things. The focal point of the above consists of 'The Grea
t Warning', also called 'Illumination of Conscience'. What is this? It is reportedly 'an act of God's mercy'. The same was said in Garabandal. What is really strange is what MDM says it will occur during this Warning that not only will lead to repentance and sorrow for sins committed, but much more. We read on: 'all people above seven years of age will experience a mystical personal encounter with Jesus that will last no more than fifteen minutes. Two comets will collide in heaven. People will believe that is a catastrophe worse than an earthquake. But, it will not be. It's a sign of Christ's coming. Sky will turn red, and fire will be seen, then a great Cross will appear in the sky for you to be prepared. Atheists will say that it is a delusion. Scientists will search for a logical explanation, but will find none.'
It is made clear that 'it will be spectacular but nobody will be hurt because it is an act of love and mercy of Jesus. The catastrophic and negative nature cannot be missed, as in all prophecies of this kind. 'predictions of near global disturbances, including wars, earthquakes that will increase so that people will come back to having Faith in God.¨The messages clarify also 'that 2011 will be the year of Purification, since ¨climate changes by the end of 2011 will be more and more violent, and that sadly in places where this didn't happen before.
Of course there are many things that attract our attention, and are signs of, even arrogance, starting from the name chosen by this alleged lady and considering herself to be chosen by Jesus Christ above other seers and witnesses of apparitions, and ending with calling the the revelations: 'The Book of Truth¨. Does It complement the Bible?! Or even better, does it replace the Bible?! The title of this book seems imply that it was foretold in the Scriptures. As if this was not enough, Maria Divine Mercy implies that 'she is the seven angel of the Apocalypse.'
To analyze all the messages I would need many days. I will go into a recent one, posted a few months ago, to get an idea about the tactic used in the alleged revelations the alleged lady received. on 17 Feb 2013: Jesus Himself says: "The schism within the Catholic Church, as forewarned, will be seen, made visible for the whole world. The departure of my beloved Saint Vicar, Pope Benedict XVI, proves the beginning of the end. Through you, my chosen prophet in the last two years I have tried to prepare my Church on Earth for this regrettable event." Jesus continues, "Masonic forces have taken possession and have control over my Church and will use the most perverse means to deceive Catholics." The result is obvious:¨The False Prophet will take charge of the Holy See in Rome and My Words will be considered heresy as it was during My time on Earth."
After this awful revelation, we all know what happened: March 13: "fumata bianca" and "Habemus Papam": Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Bishop of Rome under the name of Francis. So the words presumably said by Jesus keep on attacking the Holy See and the new pastor: ¨The Crown of thorns has descended on the head of my Church in Rome." This is what we read in the March 20 message (one day after the Pontificate began). On March 29 we had not one, but three different messages.
In one message, these words are put into Jesus' mouth: "Today my church is being crucified", thus pointing to the beginning of the transformation. And Jesus says to the faithful, "You should persevere and remain loyal to Me, and you should ask my guidance in a time when "the man who seats in the seat of Peter", who refuses to follow his steps or wear his shoes "will destroy your allegiance to God." How appalling!!! and not only that, but "the reign in the Peter the Roman will be short and soon my beloved Benedict will guide the children of God from His exile."
It is a private revelation that has every appearance of being fraudulent. Do we need to examine more passages?! We cannot judge the alleged lady nor her intentions. Yes, the supernatural nature of her perceptions are arguable, if it is not a sheer fraud. Some critics have pointed to the fact that being anonymous would prevent the local Bishop to give negative judgement, as she presents herself to be 'Catholic.'
All Catholics, as far as I know, live in some particular diocese (or whatever canon law grants), under as Apostolic Vicarage, territorial Prelature, all of which take for granted the judgement in of the local Church and included in the universal Catholic Church. This lady has no diocese, no name and no face. Even though she publishes on the internet, and many of her messages seemingly may appear traditionally Catholic, even The Year of Faith or other subjects related with the Holy See. However, her messages are spread all over the world and it is necessary that what is written in them comes to light to clarify them from the point of view of the Catholic Church, since messages are presented as if they were actually Catholic.
Conclusions? There are strict rules in the Church to discern Marian Apparitions, even more so for private revelations. I had thought to comment on this subject, but this article is already rather long and including "a string of horrific lies that come from the lips of Jesus Himself" I hope this short piece will be clear enough, though the backstage remains dark. Some day we will know who is behind and why. In the meantime, we shall live in Faith, trusting the Divine Providence, with Hope and LOVE IN CHIRST!
Padre Luis Santamaria Montenegro. RIES (Red Iberoamericana Estudio Sectas)
Translated by Maria, former MDM Crusader Prayer Coordinator for Argentina.
PS.
Maria Divine Mercy might no longer be anonymous. Ron Conte reveals her true identity on his blog
Other articles in Spanish by Father Luis Santamaria about Maria Divine Mercy
Other articles in Spanish by Father Luis Santamaria about Maria Divine Mercy
Fr. Santamaria wrote about the 1978 Norms in his article "Que tenemos que pensar . . ." I post the following quotation from the preface. The entire article "Norms Regarding the Manner for Proceeding in Discernment of Presumed Apparitions or Revelations" is available in English or Latin on the EWTN website:
ReplyDelete"He who ‘has made God known’ (Jn 1:18) is the one, definitive word given to mankind.’ Saint John of the Cross expresses this truth magnificently: ‘Since he has given us his Son, his only word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything at once in this sole word – and he has no more to say… because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has spoken all at once by giving us this All who is his Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely on Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty’"
Our faith is not built on novelty. Jesus told St. Thomas, after he had put his finger in His wounds, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." Jn. 20:29
St. Peter in his epistle proclaimed, "Although you have not seen him, you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1:8-9)