EARLIER this week, I thought I heard the Lord say,
Listen very carefully to the Advent readings!
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Call of the Prophets!
Elijah in the Desert, Michael D. O’Brien
Artist Commentary: Elijah the Prophet is exhausted and in flight from the queen, who seeks to take his life. He is discouraged, convinced that his mission from God has come to an end. He wishes to die in the desert. The greater part of his work is about to begin.
COME FORTH
IN that place of quiet before falling asleep, I heard what I felt was Our Lady, saying,
Prophets come forth!
From The Author
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Refiner’s Fire
But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire… (Mal 3:2)
I BELIEVE we are drawing nearer and nearer to the dawning of The Day of the Lord. As a sign of this, we are beginning to feel the heat of the approaching Sun of Justice. That is, there seems to be a growing intensity in purifying trials as we near the Refiner’s Fire… just as one does not need to touch the flames to feel the fire’s heat.
To My American Friends
MY recent article called Dead End probably elicited the most email responses from anything I’ve ever written.
More on The Rider…
The Conversion of Saint Paul, by Caravaggio, c.1600/01,
THERE are three words which I feel describe the current battle many of us are going through: Distraction, Discouragement, and Distress. I will write about these shortly. But first, I want to share with you some confirmations I have received.
Dream of the White Horse
THE evening that I wrote Signs From the Sky (but had not yet published it), a reader had a dream and relayed it to me the next morning. That is, she had not read Signs From the Sky. Coincidence, or a powerful confirmation? For your discernment…
The Day of The Lord
The young have shown themselves to be for Rome and for the Church a special gift of the Spirit of God… I did not hesitate to ask them to make a radical choice of faith and life and present them with a stupendous task: to become “morning watchmen” at the dawn of the new millennium. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millennio Inuente, n.9; (cf. Is 21:11-12)
AS one of these “young”, one of the “children of John Paul II,” I have tried to respond to this overwhelming task asked of us by the Holy Father.
I will stand at my guard post, and station myself upon the rampart, and keep watch to see what he will say to me… Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily.(Habb 2:1-2)
And so I wish to speak what I hear, and write what I see:
We are approaching the dawn and are crossing the threshold of hope into the The Day of the Lord.
Keep in mind, however, that the “morning” begins at midnight—the darkest part of the day. The night preceeds the dawn.
The Spiral of Time
AFTER I wrote A Circle yesterday, the image of a spiral came to mind. Yes, of course, as Scripture circles through each age being fulfilled on more and more dimensions, it is like a spiral.
But there is something more to this… Lately, several of us have been talking about how time seems to be accelerating rapidly, that time to do even the basic duty of the moment seems elusive. I wrote about this in The Shortening of Days. A friend in the south also addressed this recently (see Michael Brown’s article here.)
A Circle… A Spiral
IT may seem that to apply the words of the Old Testament prophets as well as the book of Revelation to our day is perhaps presumptuous or even fundamentalist. I have often wondered this myself as I have written about coming events in light of the Sacred Scriptures. Yet, there is something about the words of prophets such as Ezekiel, Isaiah, Malachi and St. John, to name but a few, that is now burning in my heart in a way they did not in the past.
Keep Your Lantern Lit
THE past few days, my spirit has felt as if an anchor is tied around it… as if I am looking up towards the surface of the ocean at fading Sunlight, as I sink deeper and deeper into weariness.
At the same time, I hear a voice in my heart saying,
Don’t give up! Stay awake… these are the temptations of the Garden, of the ten Virgins who fell asleep before their Bridegroom’s return…
Border Cross-ing
I HAD this feeling we were not going to be admitted to the United States.
THE LONG NIGHT
Last Thursday, we pulled up to the Canadian/U.S. border crossing and presented our papers to enter the country for some ministry engagements. "Hello, I’m a missionary from Canada…" After asking a few questions, the border agent told me to pull over and ordered our family to stand outside the bus. As the near freezing wind gripped the children, mostly dressed in shorts and short sleeves, the customs agents searched the bus from end to end (looking for what, I don’t know). After re-boarding, I was asked to enter the customs building.
Look To The East!
Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, by Tommy Canning
Then he led me to the gate which faces the east, and there I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. I heard a sound like the roaring of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. (Ezekiel 43:1-2)
MARY is calling us to the Bastion, to a place of readiness and listening, away from the distractions of the world. She is preparing us for the Great Battle for souls.
Now, I hear her saying,
Look to the East!
Trumpets of Warning! — Part IV
Exiles of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans
FIRST published September 7th, 2006, this word has grown in strength in my heart just recently. The call is to prepare both physically and spiritually for exile. Since I wrote this last year, we have witnessed the exodus of millions of people, particularly in Asia and Africa, due to natural disasters and war. The main message is one of exhortation: Christ reminding us that we are citizens of Heaven, pilgrims on our way home, and that our spiritual and natural environment around us should reflect that.
EXILE
The word “exile” keeps swimming through my mind, as well as this:
New Orleans was a microcosm of what is to come… you are now in the calm before the storm.
When Hurricane Katrina struck, many residents found themselves in exile. It did not matter if you were rich or poor, white or black, clergy or layman—if you were in its path, you had to move now. There is a global “shake up” coming, and it will produce in certain regions exiles.
I Will Tend My Sheep
LIKE the dawning of the Sun, is the rebirth of the Latin Mass.
FIRST SIGNS
The first signs of morning are like a dim halo on the horizon which grows brighter and brighter until the horizon is engulfed in light. And then the Sun comes.
So too, this Latin Mass signals the dawning of a new era (see The Breaking of the Seals). At first, its effects will be barely noticed. But they will grow brighter and brighter until the horizon of humanity is engulfed in the Light of Christ.
Harmless Harry?
FROM a reader:
While I enjoy your writings, you need to get a life with regard to Harry Potter. It’s called fantasy for a reason.
And from another reader on this “harmless fantasy”:
Thank you so much for speaking out on this issue. I was one who found the books and movies to be “harmless”… until I went with my teenage son to see the latest movie this summer.
Harry Potter and The Great Divide
FOR several months, I have been hearing the words of Jesus roll through my heart:
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law… why do you not know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:51-56)
Plain and simple, we are seeing this divide occur before our very eyes on a global scale.
Protestants, Mary, and the Ark of Refuge
Mary, presenting Jesus, a Mural in Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri
From a reader:
If we must enter into the ark of protection provided by our Mother, what will happen to Protestants and Jews? I know many Catholics, priests as well, who reject the whole idea of entering the “ark of protection” Mary is offering us—but we don’t reject her out of hand as other denominations do. If her pleas are falling on deaf ears in the Catholic hierarchy and much of the laity, what about those that don’t know her at all?
The Third Watch
The Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem
FEAST OF THE BIRTH OF MARY
AS I wrote in The Time of Transition, I sensed a quickening in that God is going to speak very plain and direct to us through His prophets as His plans reach fulfillment. This is the time to listen carefully—that is, to pray, pray, pray! Then you will have the grace to understand what God is saying to you in these times. Only in prayer will you be given the grace to hear and comprehend, to see and to perceive.
A Heavenly Map
BEFORE I lay out the map of these writings below as they have unfolded this past year, the question is, where do we begin?
The Great Sign
MODERN mystics and seers tell us that after the so-called "illumination of conscience," in which everyone on the face of the earth will see the condition of his or her soul (see The Eye of the Storm), an extraordinary and permanent sign will be given at one or many apparitions sites.
Time Is Very Short!
ONCE again, I wish that the trumpets being blown by God’s angels would be heard more clearly in our hearts!
The time is very short!
The Time of Transition
MEMORIAL OF THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY
DEAR friends,
Forgive me, but I wish to speak for a brief moment about my particular mission. In doing so, I think you will have a better understanding of the writings which have unfolded on this site since last August of 2006.
The Return of Jesus in Glory
POPULAR among many Evangelicals and even some Catholics is the expectation that Jesus is about to return in glory, commencing the Final Judgment, and bringing about the New Heavens and New Earth. So when we speak of a coming “era of peace,” does this not conflict with the popular notion of Christ’s imminent return?
Three Days of Darkness
Note: There is a certain man name Ron Conte who claims to be a “theologian,” has declared himself an authority on private revelation, and has written an article claiming that this website is “full of errors and falsehoods.” He specifically points to this article. There are so many fundamental problems with Mr. Conte’s charges, not to mention his own credibility, that I addressed them in a separate article. Read: A Response.
IF the Church follows the Lord through His Transfiguration, Passion, Resurrection and Ascension, does she not participate also in the tomb?
The Smoldering Candle – Part II
ONCE again, the image of a smoldering candle has come to mind, barely any wax left upon the burned down Candle (see The Smoldering Candle to understand the symbolism).
And this is what I sensed with this image:
Sins Which Cry Out To Heaven
Jesus holding an aborted baby—Artist Unknown
FROM the Daily Roman Missal:
The catechetical tradition recalls that there are ‘sins that cry to heaven’: the blood of Abel; the sin of the Sodomites; ignoring the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt and that of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan; injustice to the wage earner." —Sixth Edition, Midwest Theological Forum Inc., 2004, p. 2165
Gratitude
Mark & Lea Mallett
OVER the past several days, since we publicly appealed to you for financial help in our ministry of evangelization, there has been a touching outpouring of love, affection, and help from so many. We simply want to say how blessed and moved we are by your support on so many levels. From the ones who gave five dollars to those who gave five hundred or more, we are deeply grateful—you are helping to keep the wolf from the door. And to all of you who took a moment to send words of encouragement and who are praying for us, we cannot thank you enough.
Crossroads
BIG changes lie on the horizon for this ministry of evangelization which began nearly 13 years ago (if you are not familiar with my evangelization outreach, go to my official website: www.markmallett.com).
Making Room For Christ
Our Lady of Combermere, Ontario, Canada
Tell me what agreement there is
between the temple of God and idols.
You are the temple of the living God,
just as God has said:
The Days of Elijah… and Noah
Elijah and Elisha, Michael D. O’Brien
IN our day, I believe God has placed the “mantle” of the prophet of Elijah on many shoulders throughout the world. This “spirit of Elijah” will come, according to Scripture, before a great judgment of the earth:
Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with doom. Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day. (Mal 3:23-24)
Bogged
MY soul is bogged.
Desire has fled.
I wade through a mud pond, waist deep… prayers, sinking like lead.
I trudge. I collapse.
I fall.
Fall.
Falling.
7-7-7
"Apocalypse", Michael D. O’Brien
TODAY, the Holy Father has released a long anticipated document, bridging the gap between the current Eucharistic Rite (Novus Ordo) and largely forgotten pre-Conciliar Tridentine rite. This continues, and perhaps makes "whole," the work of John Paul II in re-highlighting the Eucharist as the "source and summit" of Christian faith.
The First Truth
NO SIN, not even mortal sin, can separate us from the love of God. But mortal sin does separate us from God’s "sanctifying grace"—that gift of salvation pouring forth from the side of Jesus. This grace is necessary to gain entrance into eternal life, and it comes by repentance from sin.
The Great Awakening
IT is as though the scales are falling from many eyes. Christians around the world are beginning to see and understand the times around them, as though they were waking from a long, deep sleep. As I pondered this, the Scripture came to mind:
Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
Today, the prophets are speaking words which in turn are putting flesh on the inner stirrings of many hearts, the hearts of God’s servants—His little children. Suddenly, things are making sense, and what people could not put into words before, is now coming into focus before their very eyes.
Come Out of the Closet!
The other day, I seemed to hear the Lord speak with authority and love:
Come out of the closet!
Mark Mallett Conference & Concert Tour
MARK Mallett will begin a new Conference and Concert Tour across Canada and the United States, Saturday, June 9th.
Mark hopes for your prayers and intercession for each event, and of course, to be with those of you who can attend. Mark will continue to write meditations while on the road as the Spirit leads, though they may be more infrequent.
One Coin, Two Sides
OVER the past couple of weeks in particular, the meditations here have likely been difficult for you to read—and truthfully, for me to write. While pondering this in my heart, I heard:
I am giving these words so as to warn and move hearts to repentance.
The Shortening of Days
IT seems much more than a cliché these days: just about everybody says that time is “flying by.” Friday is here before we know it. Spring is almost over—already—and I’m writing you again in the wee hours of the morning (where did the day go??)
Time seems to literally fly by. Is it possible that time is speeding up? Or rather, is time being compressed?
The Flaming Sword
As you read this meditation, remember that God warns us because He loves us, and wishes “all men to be saved” (1 Tim 2:4).
IN the vision of the three seers of Fatima, they saw an angel standing over the earth with a flaming sword. In his commentary on this vision, Cardinal Ratzinger said,
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 himself, with his inventions, has forged the flaming sword. —The Message of Fatima, from the Vatican’s website
When he became Pope, he later commented:
Humanity today is unfortunately experiencing great division and sharp conflicts which cast dark shadows on its future… the danger of an increase in the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons causes well-founded apprehension in every responsible person. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, December 11th, 2007; USA Today
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
I believe that this angel hovers over the earth once again as mankind—in a far worse state of sin than it was in the apparitions of 1917—is reaching the proportions of pride that Satan had before his fall from Heaven.
…the threat of judgment also concerns us, the Church in Europe, Europe and the West in general… Light can also be taken away from us and we do well to let this warning ring out with its full seriousness in our hearts… —Pope Benedict XVI, Opening Homily, Synod of Bishops, October 2nd, 2005, Rome.
The sword of this angel of judgment is double-edged.
A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth… (Rev 1:16)
That is, the threat of judgment looming over the earth is one comprised both of consequence and cleansing.
“THE BEGINNING OF THE CALAMITIES” (CONSEQUENCE)
That is the subtitle used in the New American Bible to refer to the times that would visit a particular generation that Jesus spoke of:
You will hear of wars and reports of wars… Nations will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. (Matt 24:6-7)
The first signs that this flaming sword has begun to swing are already in full view. The decline in fish populations around the world, the dramatic fall-off of bird species, the decline in honey-bee populations necessary to pollinate crops, dramatic and bizarre weather… all these sudden changes may throw delicate eco-systems into chaos. Add to that the genetic manipulation of seeds and foods, and the unknown consequences of altering creation itself, and the possibility of famine looms like never before. It will be a result of mankind’s failure to care for and respect God’s creation, putting profit ahead of the common good.
The failure of the wealthy Western nations to help develop food production of Third World countries will come back to haunt them. It will be difficult to find food anywhere…
As Pope Benedict pointed out, there is also the prospect of devastating war. Little is needed to be said here… though I continue to hear the Lord speak of a particular nation, quietly preparing itself. A red dragon.
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, raise a signal over Beth-haccherem; for evil threatens from the north, and mighty destruction. O lovely and delicate daughter Zion, you are ruined! …”Prepare for war against her, Up! let us rush upon her at midday! Alas! the day is waning, evening shadows lengthen… (Jer 6:1-4)
These chastisements, strictly speaking, are not so much the judgment of God, but the consequences of sin, the principle of sowing and reaping. Man, judging man… condemning himself.
THE JUDGMENT OF GOD (CLEANSING)
According to our Catholic Tradition, a time is a approaching when…
He will come again to judge the living and the dead. —Nicene Creed
But a judgment of the living before the Last Judgment is not without precedent. We have seen God act accordingly whenever the sins of mankind have become grave and blasphemous, and the means and opportunities provided by God to repent are ignored (ie. the great flood, Sodom and Gomorrah etc.) The Blessed Virgin Mary has been appearing in numerous places throughout the world during the past two centuries; in those apparitions which have been given ecclesiastical approval, she provides a message of warning alongside the perpetual message of love:
As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a 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. —Blessed Virgin Mary at Akita, Japan, October 13th, 1973
This message echoes the words of the prophet Isaiah:
Lo, the LORD empties the land and lays it waste; he turns it upside down, scattering its inhabitants: layman and priest alike… The earth is polluted because of its inhabitants who have transgressed laws, violated statutes, broken the ancient covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants pay for their guilt; Therefore they who dwell on earth turn pale, and few men are left. (Isaiah 24:1-6)
The prophet Zechariah in his “Song of the Sword,” which refers to the apocalyptic great Day of the Lord, gives us a vision of just how many will be left:
In all the land, says the LORD, two thirds of them shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left. (Zec 13:8)
< p>The punishment is a judgment of the living, and is intended to remove from the earth all wickedness because the people “did not repent and give [God] glory (Rev 16:9):
“The kings of the earth… will be gathered together like prisoners into a pit; they will be shut up in a dungeon, and after many days they will be punished.” (Isaiah 24:21-22)
Again, Isaiah is not referring to the Final Judgment, but to a judgment of the living, specifically of those—either “layman or priest”—who have refused to repent and gain for themselves a room in the “Father’s house,” having chosen instead a room in the new Tower of Babel. Their eternal punishment, in body, will come after “many days,” that is, after the “Era of Peace.” In the interim, their souls will have already received their “Particular Judgment,” that is, they will have already been “shut up” in the fires of hell awaiting the resurrection of the dead, and the Final Judgment. (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1020-1021, on the “Particular Judgment” each of us will encounter at our death.)
From an ecclesiastical writer of the third century,
But He, when He shall have destroyed unrighteousness, and executed His great judgment, and shall have recalled to life the righteous who have lived from the beginning, will be engaged among men a thousand years… —Lactantius (250-317 A.D.), The Divine Institutes, Ante-Nicene Fathers, p. 211
FALLEN HUMANITY… FALLING STARS
This Judgment of Cleansing could come in a number of forms, but what is certain is that it will come from God Himself (Isaiah 24:1). One such scenario, common in both private revelation and in the judgments of the book of Revelation, is the arrival of a comet:
Before the Comet comes, many nations, the good excepted, will be scoured with want and famine [consequences]. The great nation in the ocean that is inhabited by people of different tribes and descent: by an earthquake, storm, and tidal waves will be devastated. It will be divided, and in great part submerged. That nation will also have many misfortunes at sea, and lose its colonies in the east through a Tiger and a Lion. The Comet by its tremendous pressure, will force much out of the ocean and flood many countries, causing much want and many plagues [cleansing]. —St. Hildegard, Catholic Prophecy, p. 79 (1098-1179 A.D.)
Again, we see consequences followed by cleansing.
At Fatima, during the miracle which was witnessed by tens of thousands, the sun appeared to fall to the earth. Those who were there thought the world was coming to an end. It was a warning to emphasize Our Lady’s call to penance and prayer; it was also a judgment averted by Our Lady’s intercession (see Trumpets of Warning — Part III)
A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest. (Rev 1:16)
God will send two punishments: one will be in the form of wars, revolutions, and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. —Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, Catholic Prophecy, P. 76
MERCY AND JUSTICE
God is love, and therefore, His judgment is not contrary to the nature of love. One can already see His mercy at work in the present situation of the world. Many souls are beginning to take notice of troubling world conditions, and hopefully, looking at the root cause of much of our sorrows, that is, sin. In that sense too, an “illumination of conscience” may already have begun (see “The Eye of the Storm”).
Through conversion of the heart, prayer, and fasting, perhaps much of what is written here can be lessened, if not altogether delayed. But judgment will come, whether at the end of time or at the end of our lives. For the one who has put his faith in Christ, it will not be an occasion to tremble in terror and despair, but of rejoicing in the immense and unfathomable mercy of God.
And His justice.
FURTHER READING:
- Wind: a warning of famine? The Winds of Change
- Hear Mark’s talk: The Banquet of Mercy
- How can a loving God punish? The Wrath of God
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The Descension of Christ
The Institution of the Eucharist, JOOS van Wassenhove,
from Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
FEAST OF THE ASCENSION
MY LORD JESUS, on this Feast commemorating Your Ascension into Heaven… here You are, descending to me in the most Holy Eucharist.
Fully Human
NEVER before had it happened. It was not cherubim or seraphim, nor principality or power, but a human being—divine also, but nonetheless human—who ascended to the throne of God, the right hand of the Father.
The Eye of the Storm
I believe at the height of the coming storm—a time of great chaos and confusion—the eye [of the hurricane] will pass over humanity. Suddenly, there will be a great calm; the sky will open up, and we will see the Sun beaming down upon us. It’s rays of Mercy will illuminate our hearts, and we will all see ourselves the way God sees us. It will be a warning, as we will see our souls in their true condition. It will be more than a “wake-up call”. —Trumpets of Warning, Part V
Understanding the "Urgency" of Our Time
Noah’s Ark, Artist Unknown
THERE is a quickening of events in nature, but also an intensifying of human hostility against the Church. Yet, Jesus did speak of labor pains which would be “only the beginning.” If that is the case, why would there be this feeling of urgency which so many people sense about the days in which we are living, as if “something” were imminent?
The Hour of Glory
Pope John Paul II with his would-be assassin
THE measure of love is not how we treat our friends, but our enemies.
THE WAY OF FEAR
As I wrote in The Great Scattering, the enemies of the Church are growing, their torches lit with flickering and twisted words as they begin their march into the Garden of Gethsemane. The temptation is to run—to avoid conflict, to shy away from speaking the truth, to even hide our Christian identity.