Heaven is stirring with extraordinary warnings and graces. Even the most lethargic of Christians know something is afoot. Lately, stories in Life, Time and Newsweek have covered the flood of heavenly phenomena: visions of The Blessed Mother, heavenly messages and warnings, miraculous healings, weeping statues and icons. There is no longer any excuse for someone to plead ignorance. Something is definitely up. Precisely "what" is up is the subject of this book. If the visionaries in this book prove correct, it is the most amazing and important subject ever written about. This book does what few books on Marian apparitions have done. It provides a comprehensive overview of the phenomena - from Our Lady's appearances in Guadeloupe, Mexico, in 1531, to her flood of visits around the world today. The book also analyzes the many apparitions, searching for a common theme to the messages. It finds one.
It is a theme enunciated by such diverse and unlikely persons as housewives in Ireland and Arizona; teenagers and young people in Ecuador, Italy, Medjugorje, and Garabandal; a converted pagan in Africa; a political prisoner in Ukraine; a factory foreman in Canada; and a disabled laborer in New Jersey. Through visionaries separated from each other by thousands of miles, scores of different languages, and in some cases hundreds of years, the Blessed Mother speaks with one voice.
The world, she warns, increasingly has given itself to sin and debauchery. The time of God's Justice is at hand. Signs and wonders increasing in power and frequency will be given to us, emphasizing the urgency of the need for man to return to God. These are acts of God's ultimate mercy. These calls from God will culminate in what seers call the Warning, a revelation to man that will reveal the state of every single soul. One of Satan's greatest weapons is ignorance. The Warning will allow one to actually understand how God sees the state of his or her soul. Following the Warning will be what visionaries call the Great Miracle - an event that will somehow manifest the power of God more publicly and visibly than ever before. Both of these events will allow mankind to return to God.
Following these events will be the final act of God's Justice. Those who refuse to convert will be dealt with by the only means left - a tremendous Chastisement that will purify the earth.
The messages are so powerful, so extravagant in their promise and warning, that one might be inclined to dismiss them as fantasy or science fiction. Indeed, serious Catholics must be very cautious and prayerfully discerning when investigating reports of such phenomena. It is true that no Catholic need commit himself to any apparition or message. In fact, the authors emphasize that even with "church approved" apparitions, those who choose to believe in them do so only with human faith. The messages are not new. They call us back to the essential message of the gospel: prayer, fasting, conversion, sacrifice, penance, joyful service to our neighbor and reverent worship of God.
For those of us who have tarried at God's call, those who have dallied in the world and put off conversion, the messages and events compiled in this book will serve as a wake-up call. The world is a dangerous place. Time is short, and the stakes are high. Through and unprecedented outpouring of graces and apparitions, God is calling us back to Himself, shouting at us to listen, humbling Himself to tug on our sleeves - desperately trying to get our attention before the Thunder of His Justice strikes.
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