Anthony Mullen (1956 – 2018)
The late National Coordinator
for the International Movement of the Flame of Love
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
“HOW can you help me spread the message of Our Lady?”
Those were among the first words Anthony (“Tony”) Mullen spoke to me over some eight years ago. I thought his question was a little bold since I’d never heard of the Hungarian seer Elizabeth Kindelmann. Moreover, I frequently received requests to promote a certain devotion, or some particular apparition. But unless the Holy Spirit put it on my heart, I wouldn’t write about it.
“It’s hard for me to explain,” I responded, “You see, this isn’t my blog. It’s Our Lady’s. I’m just the courier. I hardly ever get to express my own thoughts let alone what others want. Does that make sense?”
My words seemed to fly below Tony’s radar. “Would you just read the messages and let me know what you think?”
“Alright,” I said, slightly annoyed. “Can you send me a copy of the book?”
Tony did. And when I read the Church-approved messages that Our Lady had imparted over a 20-year span to Kindelmann, I knew in a second that they would become part of The Now Word that the Holy Spirit is speaking to the Church at this hour. There are several writings here, thanks to Tony’s boldness, on the extraordinary gift of the “Flame of Love” that Heaven is going to increasingly pour out on mankind, like the beginning of a “new Pentecost” (see for example: The Coming Effect of Grace and The Convergence and the Blessing).
Through the Flame of Love of the Blessed Virgin, faith will take root in souls, and the face of the earth will be renewed, because “nothing like it has happened ever since the Word became Flesh.” The renewal of the earth, although flooded with sufferings, will come about by the power of intercession of the Blessed Virgin. —The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary: The Spiritual Diary (Kindle Edition, Loc. 2898-2899); approved in 2009 by Cardinal Péter Erdö Cardinal, Primate and Archbishop. Note: Pope Francis gave his Apostolic Blessing upon the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Movement on June 19th, 2013.
I also knew that Tony would become part of my life. Over the months and years ahead, we would exchange dozens of phone calls and emails, speak together at conferences, and strategize as to how we could more effectively help Our Lord and Lady.
Every phone call or voice message from Tony began the same way: “Praised be Jesus Christ, and blessed be the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen?”
“Amen.”
“Then let’s begin with prayer…” Tony wanted every word and action to be done in and through the presence of Jesus, and with Our heavenly Mom.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
Whenever I talked with Tony over the phone or in person, whether we were walking or driving, he was always thinking about the Kingdom of God. There was rarely ever idle chitchat, and he would hardly ever talk about himself—except for his family and his wife, whom he dearly loved and missed after her untimely death five years ago.
One day as we prepared to speak at a conference, I walked into his living room on a Sunday afternoon, and the TV had been left on by one of his kids. It was a football game.
“Do you watch football, Tony?”
“I don’t mind it. But I don’t watch it on Sunday’s, not on the day of the Lord.” That’s just the kind of man Tony was, utterly preoccupied with serving Jesus in any way he could and as faithfully as possible—and helping others to do the same. Although in his secular career he became one of the foremost experts in developing senior living projects, it was apparent Tony was not about building his own kingdom, but Christ’s.
Several days ago, I finished posting a writing of mine on Facebook and happened to see a live streaming broadcast of Tony giving a talk. I tuned in for a few moments—the last time I would hear his voice. He was talking about venial sin, and how often we compromise with the “little ones.” He was gently but boldly calling his audience to authentic repentance. I chuckled to myself thinking how he sounded like John the Baptist, and how Tony has always been radical about living the Gospel since his conversion—radical about doing exactly what Heaven asks. But “radical” is what we are all to be.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)
One day, Tony said to me again, “How can you help me spread the message of Our Lady?” I explained to him that I do in my own way, and again, that my website wasn’t my own; and that if Our Lady wanted me to 
promote more than that, well, he’d just have to talk to her. We laughed. But then a thought came to me: “Tony, why don’t you just start your own blog? It’s not that hard.” I pointed him in the right direction, and off he went. The Divine Antidote is Tony’s online legacy of the urgent thoughts that were burning in his heart: how to help others grow in union with God by responding to Heaven’s words.
And few are aware that Tony helped edit The Triumph of God’s Kingdom in the Millennium and End Times by Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi—a book which has been pivotal in recovering the proper understanding of the Twentieth Chapter of the Book of Revelation, and a coming “era of peace.”
In my public talks, I often say to people that the Mother of God is not appearing on earth to have tea with her children. I think few have taken the messages of the Marian apparitions of the past two centuries more seriously than Tony. “We need to quit talking about it and just do what she’s telling us,” he would often say. It became the theme of so many of our conversations. He rightly perceived that Our Lady’s words were a “divine antidote” to these increasingly dark times. She has been giving us a path back to Jesus, a way to peace… and we’ve been mostly ignoring it.
But not Tony. He lived what he preached. He fasted three times a week and often awoke at night to pray. Whenever we were together, we were either praying or working on the “Lord’s business.” Anthony’s zeal became for me and so many others a sobering light in which our own deficiencies and complacency were revealed. Moreover, one could see materializing in him the words of the Gospel:
If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Luke 9:23-24)
Tony was losing his life for the sake of Jesus; his journey, you could say, was cruciform. But on March 10th, 2018, he saved it. That morning, Tony phoned his son and said, “Call 911… I think I’m having a heart attack.” They found him lying on the floor, his arms spread open wide as if he were stretched out upon a cross—a symbol, now, of how this brother in Christ lived his life among us: abandoned to the Divine Will.
I was sitting in a hotel room reading an email from Daniel O’Connor who was asking if I’d heard about Tony’s passing. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Daniel, Tony and I had just spoken at a conference on the Divine Will only months before. Then I received a voice message from Tony’s sister-in-law who called to share the heartbreaking news.
Only hours before he passed away, Tony had sent me an email quoting St. Faustina’s diary:
Desiring the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit So All May Know Christ…
“With great longing, I am waiting for the Lord’s coming. Great are my desires. I desire that all mankind come to know the Lord. I would like to prepare All Nations for the coming of the Word Incarnate. O Jesus, make the fount of Your Mercy gush forth more abundantly, for humankind is seriously ill and thus has more need than ever of Your infinite mercy.” [Diary, n. 793]
Only in and by the Holy Spirit can people repent and say… “Jesus is Lord”… and we were given a prayer to fulfill St. Faustina’s desire by our Lady at Amsterdam to Ida Peerdeman, which is approved by the Church: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, send now Your Spirit over the earth. Let the Holy Spirit live in the hearts of All Nations, that they may be preserved from degeneration, disaster and war. May the Lady of All Nations, the Blessed Virgin Mary, be our Advocate, Amen!”
That day, the Lord came for our brother. Tony’s voice is now joining the multitudes in the heavenlies who are crying out: Jesus is Lord!
Last night after a hard day of grieving the loss of my dear friend, I sat by my bed and stared down at a single book on my night table. Echoes of a conversation returned from several years ago…
“Have you ever heard of the book Divine Intimacy?” Tony asked.
“No, I haven’t.”
“You’ve got to get it, Mark,” he said. I went online, and the only copy I could find at the time was over a hundred dollars.
“I can’t afford it, Tony.”
“No problem. I’ll send you one.”
That was just the kind of heart Tony had. In fact, the day he passed away, he was going to be entered into the “Hall of Fame” of a local high school because of his charitable acts. That didn’t surprise me. Tony’s generosity to me and others is well-known to many in the Body of Christ. He gave, and gave, and gave some more….
I took a deep breath, picked up Divine Intimacy from my night stand, and randomly opened it to a reading from Pentecost Sunday.
O Holy Spirit, substantial Love of the Father and the Son, uncreated Love dwelling in the souls of the just, come down upon me like a new Pentecost and bring me an abundance of Your gifts, of Your fruits, and of Your grace; unite Yourself to me as the most sweet Spouse of my soul.
I consecrate myself entirely to You; invade me, take me, possess me wholly. Be the penetrating light which illumines my intellect, the gentle motion which attracts and directs my will, the supernatural energy which gives energy to my body. Complete in me Your work of sanctification and love. Make me pure, transparent, simple, true, free, peaceful, gentle, calm, serene even in suffering, and burning with charity toward God and neighbour.
Accendat in nobis ignem sui amoris et flammam aeternae caritatis, kindle in me the fire of Your love and the flame of eternal charity.
Tony had read that book several times and had prayed these words for himself. Few can say they lived it too.
Brother, you are now an eternal flame of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as you burn brightly in the Heart of Christ. Pray for us.
As family gathered at Tony’s house after his passing, they found a tall wooden crate. Inside, was this statue of Our Lady that Tony had commisioned. I remember him telling me how excited he was about it.
As far as I know, he never saw it.
He no longer has to.
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I am deeply saddened that I cannot make it from Canada to Philadelphia for the funeral. I will be with all of you in spirit who are there, especially his four children who now, as young adults, find themselves orphaned. May the lingering love and witness of their parents be a source of solace. And may the Flame of Love be their consolation and healing in the months and years ahead.
Tony’s obituary and funeral information are below. Just click the photo:
In memory of our brother, friend, and father…
