The Breaking of the Seals

FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS/
VIGIL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS

 

THERE is a word which has come to me, a rather strong word:

The seals are about to be broken.

That is, the seals of the Book of Revelation.

 

IT BEGINS

As I wrote in 7-7-7, I feel there is a great significance to the motu proprio (personal motion) of Pope Benedict which permits the Latin rite of the Mass to be said around the world without special permission required. That comes into effect today. In essence, the Holy Father has healed a wound whereby the “source and summit” of the Christian Faith, the Holy Eucharist, has been reconnected in a certain way to the Divine Liturgy of Heaven. This has cosmic ramifications.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

For where in many parishes confusion has reigned with Tabernacles removed from the sanctuary, kneeling removed from the worship, the Liturgy subjected to experimentation, and a devotion to the “People of God” replacing worship of Jesus’ Real Presence, Pope Benedict’s Summorum Pontificum begins to restore Christ to the center of our universe, rather than man.

Following the letters to the seven churches in Asia calling them to repentance, St. John is given a vision of the Divine Liturgy taking place in Heaven. There is grief at first because John does not see anyone who can bring to completion God’s plan for salvation, that is, anyone who can open the scroll with seven seals. Was John witnessing a time in the Church when Jesus was not the center of our Liturgies as He should be, either through abuse or lack of faith??

I shed many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or examine it… Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that seemed to have been slain… He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. (Rev 5:4, 6)

The scroll contains God’s divine judgment. And the only one truly righteous enough to open the scroll is the “Lamb that seemed to have been slain,” that is, Jesus Christ crucified and risen: the Holy Eucharist. When Jesus enters this Divine Liturgy, worship breaks out in Heaven.

And the Lamb is set to open the seals…

 

THE DAYS OF THUNDER

I kept hearing in my heart “six seals.” But in the Book of Revelation, there are seven.

As I pondered this, I sensed the Lord saying that the First Seal has already been broken:

Then I watched while the Lamb broke open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures cry out in a voice like thunder, “Come forward.” (Rev 6:1)

A voice like thunder…

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.

The appearance of Mary, Ark of the New Covenant, coincides, I believe, with the thunderous activity of the first seal:

I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories. (6:2)

[The Rider] is Jesus Christ. The inspired evangelist [St. John] not only saw the devastation brought about by sin, war, hunger and death; he also saw, in the first place, the victory of Christ.—POPE PIUS XII, Address, November 15, 1946; footnote of The Navarre Bible, “Revelation“, p.70

Mary is Christ’s chief instrument in our times to bring about the Triumph of His Sacred Heart. She has been appearing in unprecedented ways in this generation to prepare the way for her Son, Jesus, to enter our hearts in a profound way. Indeed, Mary’s apparitions have paved the way for the conversion of hundreds of thousands of souls. They have sparked renewed love for Jesus in the Eucharist. They have produced thousands of zealous apostles, souls consecrated to and dedicated to Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, victorious King, riding upon the white horse of purity, and piercing us with the arrows of His love and mercy.

But I believe the First Seal may not be fully disclosed; that the Rider of this white horse will manifest Himself to the world in a kind of “warning” in which everyone’s conscience will be revealed. It will be a victory of cosmic proportions.

A reader wrote about the following experience:

I was in adoration after Mass on Thursday, June 28, and as I was kneeling and praying, well, more listening I guess—all of a sudden a most magnificent, most beautiful powerful white horse that I have ever seen or imagined, engulfed in white light, appeared before me (facing me head on). My eyes were closed so I guess it was an illusion or something…?  It was only an instant and faded and then shortly after was replaced by a sword…  

 

SECOND SEAL:  THE RED HORSE AND THE SWORD

Revelation 6 speaks of a coming sword—that is, war:

When he broke open the second seal, I heard the second living creature cry out, “Come forward.” Another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And he was given a huge sword. (Rev 6:3-4)

There is no question that Heaven has warned us of this “red horse” and “sword” through modern apparitions such as La Salette and Fatima. Recently, Pope Benedict (Cardinal Ratzinger) made a sobering observation in his reflection on the vision of the Fatima seers:

The angel with the flaming sword on the left of the Mother of God recalls similar images in the Book of Revelation. This represents the threat of judgment which looms over the world. Today the prospect that the world might be reduced to ashes by a sea of fire no longer seems pure fantasy: man hi mself, with his inventions, has forged the flaming sword. —The Message of Fatima, from the Vatican’s website

Over the course of this past year, the Lord, through a series of inner words and warnings, has pointed me towards that red dragon of Communism. The dragon is not dead, and has found another way to devour the earth: through materialism (or the consequences of it).

We see this power, the force of the red dragon… in new and different ways. It exists in the form of materialistic ideologies that tell us it is absurd to think of God; it is absurd to observe God’s commandments: they are a leftover from a time past. Life is only worth living for its own sake. Take everything we can get in this brief moment of life. Consumerism, selfishness, and entertainment alone are worthwhile. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Homily, August 15th, 2007, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Indeed, it was Russia’s Lenin who once said,

The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.

It is the money of the “Capitalists” which has in fact empowered the red dragon once again in Communist China.  If this dragon were to merely flex its muscles, the shelves of department stores in North America would essentially be emptied. The consumerism of everything “Made in China” has consumed the West.

And the knot tightens.

I wrote here some time ago of a reoccurring dream in which I saw…

…stars in the sky begin to spin into the shape of a circle. Then the stars began to fall… turning suddenly into strange military aircraft. —see Visions and Dreams

One day last year, I asked the Lord what this dream meant, and I heard in my heart:  “Look at the flag of China.” So I looked it up on the web… and there it was, a flag with stars in a circle.

Of note is the rapid build-up of military force in China and Russia, as well as recent Russian military exercises and a strengthening of relations with Venezuela and Iran (but of more importance is the incredible growth of the underground Church in China!)

It is also legitimate to ask the question if, in some way, the Second Seal began to be broken with the destruction of the World Trade Center and the “pre-emptive war” on Iraq—events which have led to a global “war on terror” with violence escalating in many nations and which may culminate in a new, world war…?

 

THE LAST SEALS

The following five Seals begin to unfold very much like “after-effects” of a world-war or global chaos—and the opportunity for a New World Order:

• A food shortage occurs (Third Seal).

• Plagues, famine, and chaos spread due to the break down of civilization (Fourth Seal)

• Persecution of the Church (Fifth Seal), perhaps in a preliminary form of removing the right to preach Christian morals and charitable tax exempt status, and imprisonment for those who refuse to obey.

• A massive earthquake possibly caused by cosmic disturbances… possibly the universal Illumination itself (Sixth Seal)

• Silence ensues, perhaps a pause for repentance, before the final woes (Seventh Seal leading to the Seven Trumpets) 

The Seventh Seal is significant. I believe it will mark the end of the Time of Grace (in so far as every exhaustible means has been extended to unbelievers in this present time of preparation; note, I say Time of Grace, not necessarily Time of Mercy.) Yes, even as the Seals are broken, God will be reaching out to souls, drawing them to His merciful heart even as they draw their last breath in repentance. God desires with a burning passion that each of His creatures live with Him in Paradise. And the chastisements of the Seals will be as the firm hand of a Father, using discipline as a last resort to call the lost Prodigal sons of the world to Himself.

The Seventh Seal represents the time when God commands His angels to “put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of God” before a major purification of the earth ensues. Then will come the sound of the Seven Trumpets, and the final Days of Justice before the Era of Peace will begin. Woe to those who refuse to open their heart at that time.  

I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy. (Diary of St. Faustina, 1588)

It is important to remember that we should not necessarily read the seals as linear events, nor as events confined to one particular time in history or one region. Certainly, we are already seeing an explosion of violent persecutions against Christians in places such as Iraq and India among others. I believe, however, that we will see a more definitive breaking of these seals, if not a completion of them, perhaps very soon… And that is really what I feel the Lord is preparing us for: the end of an era, and beginning of a new Era of Peace long prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments and spoken of by the early Church Fathers. 

 

MESSAGE OF HOPE 

It is clear the Holy Father perceives that we are living in remarkable times. But we must not lose perspective: these are not the times of defeat, but the days of victory! Mercy triumphing over evil.

We see of course that today too the dragon wants to devour God who made himself a Child. Do not fear for this seemingly frail God; the fight has already been won. Today too, this weak God is strong: He is true strength.  —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Homily, August 15th, 2007, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand. (Luke 21:28)

 

REFERENCE:

• 7-7-7
• The Seven Year Trial: a series of writings which tie in Revelation with Church Teaching, the early Church Fathers, and approved private revelati on. 
  
• The Sixth Seal and the “Illumination of Conscience”: The Seven Year Trial-Part II