First Comes the Fire

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.’

Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.’

Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?’ Esther said, ‘A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!’ Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. The king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that the king had determined to destroy him. When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch where Esther was reclining; and the king said, ‘Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?’

As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, ‘Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.’ And the king said, ‘Hang him on that.’ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated. (Esther 7:1-10)

Dangerous times are upon us

Last night I got up in the wee hours of the morning. I was upset by a strange dream. I felt I was being warned of some impending danger. I fired a quick email to a friend at that ungodly hour as the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker was beginning. Only minutes ago I escaped being robbed (or worse) I will spare you the long story. Suffice to say some people here believe that those who have some connection with the U.S. must have some bag filled with dollar bills hidden somewhere. (If I had it I would not be here!)  This is the second attempt by the same criminals. In both cases I was warned beforehand supernaturally. It is quite unbelievable but I knew something was going to happen and I was alert.  It all happened after evening Mass. I had received the Lord and I am sure Our Blessed Mother protected me as she promised long ago:

Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.

Once safely at home I found something in my email box, it was a video by Fr. Justo Antonio LoFeudo (in Spanish.) I will try to convey the content of that video but be aware that I will add my own comments. Please do not blame Fr. LoFeudo if something is not quite right. Blame me for the mistakes.

The fire at Notre Dame in Paris

The only church that illuminates is a burning church (Piotr Kropotkin, Russian revolutionary  (1842-1921) as quoted in The Monstrosity of Christ : Paradox or Dialectic? 2009)

A few days have passed since the fire was put out and it is time to reflect on that dramatic event. The official version of the disaster at Notre Dame: “an unfortunate accident. There is no evidence of intentional human action.” And yet, as Joe Friday used to state: we need the facts. Not the ready-made conclusions. Just the facts.

Official data from the French Ministry of the Interior: in 2017 there were 878 attacks against Christian temples and churches in France alone. The great majority of those attacks were committed against Catholic Churches. In 2018 there were 1,062 acts of vandalism against Christian temples. The week previous to the fire in Notre Dame, twelve churches were set on fire, one of them was St. Sulpice, the second largest church in Paris. It burned on the 17th, exactly one week before the fire at Notre Dame.

In Nîmes, the church of Notre-Dame-des-Enfants was vandalized. A cross was painted on the wall using human feces. The sanctuary and the altar were desecrated and various consecrated hosts were removed that were later found in a rubbish bin. In Dijon, the church of Notre Dame was also vandalized. Notice the insistence on Notre Dame, Our Lady. The sanctuary was overturned and the consecrated hosts were thrown on the floor and trampled upon. There were more sacrileges committed in other churches in Paris. Those were not spontaneous acts of vandalism but synchronized criminal actions. These are a few of the facts that make the fire at Notre Dame appear suspiciously intentional. There are more.

The reaction of the media to the Notre Dame fire was also suspicious. Anyone even remotely questioning the official explanation was quickly put off the air. Even before any investigation could proceed, the mainstream media was reassuring the public that the fire was the result of an accident. Did you hear that? It was an accident. Calm down and carry on.

In France, all the Churches belong to the State. They were “nationalized” — obviously a French euphemism for ‘stolen’ — by the French Revolution and were never returned. The Catholic Church makes use of them but cannot own them any longer.

It is quite remarkable that such an important possession of the French Republic (stolen or not) was so poorly protected against fire. Government says it was all caused by a short circuit.

Spiritual significance of the event

The fire began on the first day of the Holy Week, during the Sacrifice of the Mass in a Church second in importance only to St. Peter’s Basilica. Notre Dame was a splendid example of medieval architecture. Built during the Age of Faith to honor Mary Most Holy. None of that is mere coincidence.

France, the firstborn daughter of the Church, surpassed the rest of Christendom in the construction of beautiful temples, many dedicated to the Blessed Mother of God. French Christians of the Middle Ages built those marvels made of stone. By supernatural grace the temples seem to reach up to Heaven contradicting the very nature of those rocks. Songs of stone that praise God before astonished mankind.

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40)

Rich and poor, noblemen and commoners, clerics and laymen … all of society contributed to build those marvels sometimes working generation after generation for entire centuries to finish them. An old Northern Italian song, dedicated to the Cathedral of Modena that the locals call  Ghirlandèina (Garland,) perfectly illustrates the feelings of those contributing to build those marvels:

Cùma t’è bèla, chèra Ghirlandèina,
te pèr un quel d’insàni, una vision!
Bianca, in tla préma lus ed la matèina
te pèr un’urazioun.

How beautiful you are, my dear Garland,
You look like a towering vision,
Shining white in the morning’s first light
You raise like a prayer.

Inside those beautiful structures of stone and glass, the sunlight of days and seasons conform a symphony of colors and moods representing Heaven. Outside, the gargoyles depicting infernal monsters, going to the darkness outside, are leaving the House of God.

Those beautiful buildings are often reliquaries containing the jewels of the Church. The crown of thorns, that once tortured the Holy Head of Christ, was coincidentally being kept at Notre Dame when the fire broke out. It was usually kept nearby in the Saint Chapelle but for some reason it was moved to the Cathedral. That may be a sign indicating that the Passion of the Church has started. The crown of thorns was imposed on Christ at the beginning of His Passion.

All of those spiritual treasures were kept in Marian temples as it is fit for the Queen of Heaven to preside over the most precious relics of the Church. She is the one who leads the angelic forces in the final battle against her ancient foe: Satan the devil. She is the heavenly power that saves the souls from the flames of Hell. Therefore it is no coincidence that the most devious attack was directed towards Notre Dame, a sublime Marian temple. That attack took place at the time of the last Mass of the day, when the evening star raises over the horizon announcing the night is near.

God may have permitted that tragedy to give us a prophetic sign.

You do know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky.  Why do you not know how to interpret the signs of the times? (Luke 12:54-59)

The Lord permitted that a stone building would show the present sufferings of the Church he founded. He allowed it to happen during Holy Week, to show us that we are seeing the beginning of the Passion of the Church. In that way, God uncovers for our eyes what He can see from Heaven.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought out into the open. (Luke 8:17)

The Church is burning. The True Faith is lost to so many! We do not need statistics to see such things. Empty pews, empty souls dressed in cassocks but naked before God. Do we need any more proof of this dreadful time than the way the Eucharist is treated? Without reverence, with indifference, without signs of gestures of adoration! We have even heard of prelates who deny Holy Communion to those who kneel before receiving.

In 1961 in Garabandal, Our Blessed Mother told us:

“the cup [of God’s displeasure] is overflowing”

What would be the state of the cup these days! Our Lady has repeated time and time again:

“You must avoid the ire of God!”

On July 6, 1973 in Akita Japan, the angel of God told sister Agnes Sasagawa at 3:00 a.m. (notice the hour):

“The world today wounds the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus with its ingratitude and defilement.”

One month later, Our Lady told Sister Agnes:

“Many are those who afflict Our Lord. I desire to have consoling souls to placate the ire of the Heavenly Father! Souls who make reparation for ungrateful sinners through their sufferings and poverty.”

More than half a century before that, the angel in Fatima asked for the same sacrifices to the three little shepherds. All of us must do reparation to help restore the Church. The Church of Christ is burning!

On October 13, 1973 — the last message of Our Lady in Akita — coinciding with the anniversary of the last message of Fatima, Our Blessed Mother warned:

“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 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. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests […] The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres […] The Church will be full of those who accept compromises […] Churches and altars shall be plundered…

Those are clear signs that prophetic times are upon us. The Church is not lifting the Cross of Christ whose will is to elevate the world so that all are redeemed and saved. Instead, the Church is doing the world’s will. These days we are told:

“Woe to those speaking of sins, punishment, judgment, urging souls to conversion and salvation! Speak not of those things! The faithful are now ‘the public’ a public that must be given entertainment and contentment; their ears must be pleased least they leave the pews! Mercy above dogma is the new call!”

Compare that with the words of Jesus:

I tell you: unless you repent, you will all perish… (Luke 13:5)

The sins of the Church are those flames you see. Pope Paul VI said:

Through some crack, the smoke of Satan has entered the Church. (Pope Paul VI, 1972)

It is not the “patrimony of mankind” or the “property of the French Republic” what is burning but the House of God. The time has arrived for the fight between Our Blessed Mother Mary (prefigured by Queen Esther as the protector of her people) against Satan (prefigured by Haman as the enemy of the people of God.)

The House of God has been turned into some kind of museum, or theater, or worse. Apostasy is rampant, prayer and adoration have been emptied of their meaning. That is why we are repeating the story of Jerusalem’s Temple. When Israel did not recognize the Son of God, when they rejected and killed Him; God abandoned the Holy of Holies,  the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle. Israel was left without God’s protection. The Romans came and burned the Temple, destroyed the city, and enslaved the sons and daughters of Israel.

Today the flames consume the beauty that faith had built. Do not despair. The stones cannot burn. In the same manner, the Church of stone, the Church of the martyrs and the saints cannot be destroyed. The apostate church is the one that will be consumed by the purifying fire. Remember the words of John the Baptist:

His winnowing-fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing-floor and will gather His wheat into the granary; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:12)

Those terrible words are followed by these:

Then Jesus came from Galilee…

Dark is the night before day breaks.