Discerning Catholic Apparitions: Part 3

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be among you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them: bringing upon themselves swift destruction.”
–2 Peter 2:1

His Emptiness, Colonel Tucho Fernandez, is loose once again.

This time, he’s preparing another torture document, tailored to harass, antagonize, and gaslight Catholics away from authentic Marian apparitions. The Vatican is finalizing a new document aimed at “nerfing” or demoting the following important apparitions:

• Our Lady of La Salette
• Our Lady of Fatima
• Our Lady of Akita.

When it comes to confusing Catholics over Marian apparitions, I’m not sure which would be worse: the ridiculous “prophecy hustlers” or the Vatican Antichurch. I suggest we treat the whole rotten bunch as one and the same. False shepherds and false seers comprise a symbiotic force of destruction, an almost unstoppable bane of everything Catholic.

This gives us Part 3 on this frustrating topic. For reference, here’s Part 1 and Part 2 on Avoiding the Catholic Prophecy Industrial Complex.

Why Would the Vatican “Cancel” Already-Approved Marian Apparitions?

Short Answer: Because still too many gullible folks believe the anti-prelates have the authority to do so, even though these “churchmen” possess not the slightest semblance of supernatural faith. 

At face value, their purpose will be to assuage the “panic” over the doomsday scenarios tied to La Sallette, Fatima, and Akita. This will serve to silence all discussion over Three Days of Darkness, Fatima’s 3rd Secret, and other apocalyptic “conspiracy theories.” That’s at least the party line from folks like Fr. Stefano Cecchin, president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy.

“It is important to provide clarity because often presumed messages generate confusion, spread anxiety-inducing apocalyptic scenarios or even accusations against the pope and the church. How could Mary, mother of the church, undermine (the church’s) integrity or sow fear and conflict, she who is mother of mercy and queen of peace?”

This bloviating posturing is, of course, a total sham and smokescreen for apparitional censorship. However, we should, as individual Catholics, sharpen our comprehension skills, amid an overwhelmingly apostate hierarchy.

How Do Catholics Discern Apparitions?

In my other “prophecy-industrial-complex” articles, I stopped short of fully analyzing specific prophecies and apparitions, given how detailed each of them are. Nevertheless, I explained the gist of how Rome investigates apparitions objectively. With that in mind, we can apply those guidelines to some of the popular ones.

Every time you examine the Novus-Ordo friendly devotions or apparitions, you find yourself staring at a theological/mystical roach motel. Let us identify and exterminate a few roaches, beginning with the banned, yet re-animated, zombiefied, Divine Mercy Devotion.

The Polish “Divine Mercy” Devotion

Few Catholics today know that we already had a Divine Mercy Sunday prior to the modern adaptation in 2001.

Originally, and it remains this way in the old calendar, Divine Mercy fell on the following Sunday (two weeks after Easter). Holy Church joined it with Good Shepherd Sunday (since Our Lord’s shepherding is most merciful). The enactment of a new Divine Mercy Sunday has only had the effect of nullifying Quasimodo or Low Sunday, an important commemoration for new Church entrants.

Nonetheless, the innovation explanation only scrapes the tip of the iceberg regarding the dubious new Divine Mercy program, which goes back to before the visions of Sister Faustina Kowalska.

Background on Poland’s History with “Mercy”

Poland, the homeplace of Faustina, has a lengthy track record of Divine-Mercy-style schism. This could almost be a separate article, but I’ll keep it brief.

In the early 20th century, there was an innovative movement in Poland, known as the “Mariavites,” who would eventually undergo excommunication by Pope St. Pius X. This sizable Polish faction formed its own brand of neo-Catholicism, centered on several allegedly prophetic elements.

• It was named after the prophecies of Maria Kowalska (not known to be related to Faustina) → She was seen as “the most holy by God, that she is the mother of mercy for all men called and elected to salvation by God in these days.” This blasphemes the Blessed Virgin, who is the true mother of mercy.
• There was an emphasis on devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and Blessed mother, free of all human/ecclesiastical law.
• The society became notorious for numerous heresies: Polish messianism, millenarianism, and that Kowalska, herself, was the “woman clothed with the sun” from Revelation 12.
• Kowalska’s major publication was The Work of Great Mercy.
• Like other movements at the time (see: Luisa Piccarreta), it emphasized the coming of a new “Kingdom of God,” a divergence from Jesus’ true kingdom, His Catholic Church.
• The Mariavites also believed that they could fornicate with one another and not lose their virginity.
• Kowalska, originally a nun, married a priest, and founded the new movement as a priestess/bishop.

While there isn’t a direct connection between the Mariavite mercy movement and Faustina’s devotion, one can’t help but wonder why so much “mercy-ism” and apocalypticism has emanated from Poland lately. All of it has received papal condemnation.

Keep this in mind while reviewing the following reasons to doubt the legitimacy of Sr. Faustina’s Diary and devotion.

1. The diary is full of bizarre, novel, and controversial content, contradictory to Church teachings.
   • “The moment I knelt down to cross out my own will, as the Lord had bid me to do, I heard this voice in my soul: From now on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” (Page 168 of Faustina’s Diary). NOTE: So much for one’s personal judgment when they die, the general judgment, and the Nicene Creed.
   • “For your sake I will withhold the hand which punishes; for your sake I will bless the Earth.” (Page 191). NOTE: We’re to believe that Faustina somehow accomplished what even Abraham couldn’t by his intercession for mercy on Sodom & Gomorrah.
   • Then there’s the infamous section where the “Eucharist flew from the tabernacle into Faustina’s hands.” Modernist prelates appreciate this as a ratification of the unlawful practice of Communion in the Hand, a practice that leads to Communion on the Floor.
2. Given these serious troubles, the Holy Office and/or popes condemned it at least three times.
   • Even the lenient and ecumenical pontiff, John XXIII, warned Catholics not to read it. Here’s a link to the original copy of the second Holy Office condemnation in 1959 (see page 271).
   • Quoting the Head of the Holy Office, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani: “There is no evidence of the supernatural origin of these revelations.”
3. This version of “Divine Mercy” promises mercy unconditionally, whereas traditional teaching holds that mercy depends on possessing a contrite heart, amendment of one’s behavior, and doing penance.
4. The Divine Mercy Chaplet, although not heretical or harmful, per se, resembles an “easy mode” alternative to praying the Rosary, which heaven has exhorted us to do several times in other apparitions.
5. If, as many claim, Faustina’s diary had “translations issues,” why hasn’t anyone attempted to diagnose and address them?
   • Why must Catholic lay people, especially English speakers, have to read a corrupted edition?
   • I’m told the AI critters can translate Polish into Klingon if you ask nicely. Certainly, at long last, we should have a decent Polish diary translation (into ANY other language), and resolve these extensive confusions. By the way, even with a “better translation,” what evidence of supernatural origin do we possess for these apparitions?
6. “But JPII, a good and holy pope, approved and instituted the Divine Mercy Sunday. Surely, then, the Holy Spirit approves it.”
   • They implemented it in the year 2001, while the pontiff was ailing severely (and not in charge of anything in any meaningful sense). Those who doubt this must also be gullible enough to believe that the Vatican also released a legitimate version of the 3rd Secret of Fatima the previous year (it didn’t).
   • For further study on how/why the JPII pontificate was an enslaved papacy, I recommend reading Malachi Martin’s Windswept House, or glancing at my recent review of it. There, you’ll see why we should not trust the post-conciliar Vatican, with each pope essentially subjected to imprisonment.

Next, I rarely encounter Divine Mercy devotees who would devote significant time to criticizing the rampant evil emanating from the Vatican nowadays. I don’t wish to cast aspersions on these folks (there are many kind, old ladies who adhere to it), but this devotion doesn’t motivate any militancy against the wicked antichurch. Many adherents would go right along with whatever spiritual poison spews from the Vatican; never questioning its blatant modernism.

Even the revered Divine Mercy image evokes controversy. Rather than a masculine rendering of Jesus, it looks like it was based on the likeness of Faustina’s spiritual director. Plus, it lacks the Sacred Wounds and Sacred Heart (more Polish translation problems?).

Granted, while this devotion has serious problems, it isn’t the worst of the so-called “Divine” prophecies . . . 

Luisa Piccarreta – The Cult of Divine Will

READER DISCRETION ADVISED

Now, we must consider the unfortunate and disturbing writings of the Italian lady, Luisa Piccarreta (1865 to 1947).

Here, we have someone, (over whose holiness I don’t care to speculate) who wrote more words than the entire bible (for better or worse). Her “Divine Will” devotion includes all the usual elements you might anticipate: 1) Getting beaten to a pulp by the Child Jesus, 2) A new “fiat” equal to Mary’s, and 3) Giving birth to demons.

Wait . . . a second . . . ???

First, big thanks to Ann Barnhardt and Mark Docherty for alerting me to Fr. James Mawdsley’s research on this dangerous false devotion. Second, please avoid this summary if you are repulsed by blasphemous sensual encounters (between Piccarreta and Jesus) or other disturbing themes. Finally, if you can stomach it, here is a non-exhaustive snapshot of what you’d find within her writings.

1. It speaks of a “Third Fiat,” where Luisa accepts the Divine Will. This, according to Pseudo-Jesus, constitutes an act of the will equal to creation (“Let there be”) and Our Lady’s fiat (“be it done to me”).
2. She engages in adult breastfeeding with Mary.
   • There’s nothing wrong with breastfeeding, but Luisa’s writings obsess over something that’s normally an activity between mothers and children. Sometimes there are exceptions, but they’re considerably rare, and occur much differently when found among other forms of mysticism (see photo below).
3. Several passages involve Luisa in bed with an adult Jesus, or her rescuing Him from persecution (“throwing himself into her arms”).
   • “Ah! Luisa was bedridden, you stupid blogger. How else would Jesus visit her?” Does a doctor hop into the patient’s bed every time they visit, too? Did Jesus get into bed with Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (who had much more believable accounts of the Passion) for her visions as well?
4. Luisa is told by Pseudo Jesus that the new Divine Will devotion will exceed even the efficacy of receiving the Holy Eucharist.
5. There’s also a “Divine Will Consecration,” requiring one to embrace the Church-condemned heresy of quietism.
   • “In this heart the human will will no longer have life; I will banish it forever, and will form the new Eden of peace, of happiness and of love.” 
   • The proper view on this subject would be to conform the human will to God’s will (not banish, abandon, destroy, or annihilate it).
6. The Divine Will, through Piccarreta, will also restore creation to its pre-fallen state.
   • Wow, even Our Lord’s Holy Sacrifice didn’t accomplish that.
7. Luisa discusses a temptation where demons surround her for years, leading her to become pregnant and deliver a baby demon with horns.
8. She also imagines all Three Members of the Holy Trinity inside of her. They remind her of one person with three heads.
   • This sounds like a nine-headed hydra. What a blasphemous depiction of the Holy Godhead.
9. Luisa also recalls getting beaten up by the Child Jesus.
   • This involves Pseudo Jesus punching, trampling, and kicking her severely. We’re to believe that this is how a Loving God carries out His active will (by pulverizing bedridden women).
   • Do you believe we should pray the Rosary, the Third Joyous Mystery, and meditate on Jesus jumping out of the manger to knock the snot out of us? So much for these stupid “revelations” inspiring us on our spiritual journeys. This inspires people to become Calvinists or atheists.
10. Pseudo Jesus implores Luisa to suckle mankind’s offenses from his mouth, promising to withhold their chastisement if she swallows them. She discovers, to her regret, it doesn’t work.
11. She breastfeeds Pseudo Jesus; he breastfeeds her and sticks his tongue into her mouth.
    • Was Luisa the first person to imagine the modern misconception of “chest feeding”? Even St. John, who inclined his head on Our Lord’s chest, never would have sucked on it. Also, why exactly would Jesus need to breastfeed from a created being, especially when He had Mary? It almost feels blasphemous just re-writing this twisted garbage.
12. There’s another part (after being pulverized by Child Jesus) where he gives Luisa the Crown of Thorns and invites her to “. . . go higher. Let’s go higher in chastising the world.”
    • Someone should rename this devotion: “Divine Massacre! We’re Done Playing Games.”
13. Even less-traditional commentators, like Tim Staples, are skeptical of Piccarreta’s premonitions of a “new kingdom,” which seems to exceed the one brought about by Our Savior.
14. St. Padre Pio did NOT approve these apparitions.
    • This is a misconception based on the accounts of someone who asked him about Piccarreta during confession. We should notice many reasons this account is inadmissible. First, St. Pio had been barred from writing for several years, meaning we don’t possess reliable accounts of his every opinion. Much of it is hearsay. Second, why should the Church (or anyone else) accept purported “confession discussion” as evidence for the veracity of anything? It’s impossible to verify such claims. 
15. Pope St. Pius X didn’t approve of “Divine Will,” either.
    • Being the pope, which offers many public-relations advantages, he would have written an official letter declaring his approval (like this example, regarding John Henry Newman’s writings).
16. It receives further condemnation from learned clerics, such as Fr. James Hardon.
17. Both this devotion, and Divine Mercy, have several gnostic elements.
    • Catholics should beware anytime they encounter “new” or “secretive” information about future events, especially when found in the hands of a select few, or claim to create new dogmas/doctrines.
    • Also, don’t forget that you, dear reader, simpleton that you are, will never comprehend the subtleties of these glorious revelations (kissing, chest feeding, etc.) by yourself. It takes someone special and charismatic to interpret them for you. This might remind us of how “Jewish” rabbis believe they hold a monopoly on interpreting the Old Testament.
18. . . . many other controversies, hallucinations, and fever dreams. This is the condensed version.

These “Revelations” Make a Mockery of Catholicism 

With “visionaries” like this, is it any wonder Protestants revile our openness to private revelations? I’d be a bible-only Protester, too, if the (real) Church was this ridiculous.

This is why you must, as I’ve warned previously, AVOID THE CATHOLIC PROPHECY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. If you aren’t sure who this includes, please send me an email, and I’ll clarify if necessary.

“Rah!!! Despise not the prophets! You’re supposed to listen to them all! Rah!!!”

No, I shall indeed despise the absurd “visions” of potentially ill individuals.

NB: For full disclosure, you can study the rebuttal to all this, by listening to Michael Voris Jr. Daniel O’Connor, who will yell at you, like a lunatic. Be prepared for him to gaslight you while accusing Fr. Mawdsley of doing the same. That’s what we call “behavioral projecting.” O’Connor, Champion of Modernism, who believes in basically every condemned apparition, considers all Luisa critics Pharisees who hate mysticism (“Caiaphas would be proud of you!”). Once you’re finished with the hysterical ramblings of an emotional demagogue, (insulting you for being a stupid, rad trad), check out Fr. Mawdsley latest response, for a more sober analysis. Fr. doesn’t scream or lose his mind when he speaks and explains why “Divine Will” is essentially “The Devil’s Will” and an extension of Jewish Messianism.

At any rate . . . 

Just like Faustina, Rome censured Luisa’s diary, adding it to its Index of Forbidden Books (back when the Roman hierarchy wasn’t composed of nearly 100% communist perverts). Apologists for both Faustina and Piccarreta attempt to dodge these glaring problems with flimsy excuses regarding “translation issues.”

“Ah, but surely her ‘Hours of the Passion’ diary must be holy since Rome did not ban it.”

Rome also never banned Karl Marx’s sinister writings, and largely for the same reason: after a while, it’s plain as day that nobody should bother with them. Church authorities already superseded local approvals and banned several of Luisa’s previous writings. How many times must they disapprove of an unreliable author?

My friends, I’ve encountered folks, like poor Luisa. They believe they’re seeing the occult, can’t get through to Fr. Ripperger’s exorcist team (there’s a line), and/or suffer extreme mental illness. More than likely, Luisa Piccarreta experienced a debilitating mental disorder with an abundance of psychosis (or preternatural obsession).

Just Because it Says “Divine” Doesn’t Mean . . . 

Finally, not to belabor “Divine Mercy” or “Divine Will” too much, but what’s with all the new “Divine” innovations, anyway?

It’s as if affixing that special, indomitable word to something immediately compels everyone to bend the knee to some forthcoming, universe-altering super phenomenon based on isolated, unfalsifiable “visions.” Furthermore, these devotions seem to empower an industrial complex of “prophecy experts/zealots” who run amok seducing gullible followers with ambiguous promises of . . . “It’s coming! He’s coming!” 

Ignore these charismatic shysters. Their fast-talking sophistry and false optimism won’t help you. Penance, redemptive suffering, praying the Rosary, meditating on the last four things, and traditional mysticism will.

Akita & Garabandal – The Maybe Category

Our Lady of Akita, a prophecy known for its fiery doomsday elements, goes closer to the center of the bogus/guaranteed continuum because of too many potential criticisms.

• It included over 100 separate visions (approaching “Medjugorje territory” in its volume).
• Although these apparitions occurred in the mid-1970s, there was no condemnation of the wretched 2nd Vatican Council from just a few years prior.
• Unlike other visions, it didn’t lead the locals closer to Catholic tradition. This includes the person who carved the allegedly miraculous Marian statue (who remained a non-Catholic). Sister Agnes Sasagawa’s order didn’t become any more traditional either.

I’ll let you decide whether these circumstances (and a few other peccadilloes) are enough to sink the Akita visions. I’m somewhat on the fence regarding them. Nevertheless, even though those criticisms are substantial, the primary message still poses an important consideration: a potential Deluge of Fire, marking a third time God has flooded mankind.

God the Father chastised humanity with the Deluge of Water, whereas God the Son shed a Deluge of Blood. So, it is only supernatural that the Holy Spirit would pour out His measure of justice. Maybe these chastisements really do occur every 2,000 years, and perhaps this may come in a Pentecostal way (i.e., fire) of unleashing the foretold Three Days of Darkness.

Next . . . 

Our Lady of Garabandal has its strengths and weaknesses, which others have documented well enough. Many critics make note of how none of the seers ever pursued a religious vocation (as most recipients of private revelations tend to do). There are other dubious issues as well. The primary reason I place it in the “maybe pile” is because we’ll learn rather soon whether it’s legitimate.

Garabandal lends itself to the easiest approval/disapproval, provided its “Warning” and “Miracle” predictions come true before Maria “Conchita” Concepción González’s death. If Conchita, who would be 75 this year, enters eternity before her prophecies reach their fruition, we’ll know quite well to ignore them. At least this one is simple to evaluate since the forthcoming events require her being alive to announce their arrival.

Why the Fatima Message Reigns Supreme

The Fatima revelations enjoy a special designation throughout the entire catalog of apparitions for one essential reason: they WERE NOT A PRIVATE REVELATION. 

They culminated with the most spectacular public miracle, the Dancing of the Sun, witnessed by tens of thousands of skeptics. Imagine the attendance level of a typical Super Bowl, and you’ll see the approximate number of people who saw it. This goes well beyond the pale of investigating the authenticity of what a particular seer(s) purports to have seen privately.

Our Lady of Fatima, which contained some private elements, including doomsday predictions (3rd Secret), finished with the most widely seen supernatural event since Our Lord’s Crucifixion. That alone grants it major credibility, but let’s not forget the apparition’s other almost unassailable qualities.

• It has already made accurate predictions (i.e., WWII under a specific pope, Pope Pius XI).
• It enjoys congruence with Our Lady of Good Success, another apparition with accurate predictions.
• The seers suffered tremendously, two of the three died young, while the other used the experience to discern a life dedicated to God as a cloistered Carmelite. None of them profited one penny, but in fact suffered immensely over what they saw.
• Its 3rd Secret was so devastating to the communist-infiltrated Vatican that the hierarchy delayed releasing it (some 40 years), and when they did, their version was a preposterous fraud. Then, to cover their tracks, they had to hide/assassinate the only surviving Fatima seer, Sister Lucia dos Santos, and replace her with an imposter.

For these reasons and others, the Fatima message matters far more than any other 19th/20th-century apparition. We should focus on it, and its message of PENANCE, PENANCE, PENANCE and eschew the other weird ones.

Conclusion – Don’t Seek “Special” Spiritual Pleasures

I do not ask thee for visions, revelations, sensible devotion, or spiritual pleasures. It is thy privilege to see God clearly; it is thy privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it is thy privilege to triumph gloriously in Heaven at the right hand of thy Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men and demons; it is thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of God just as thou willest.

-St. Louis de Montfort (Excerpt from his Prayer to Mary)

Let’s finish with a few alternative practices to help your spiritual life, rather than retard it.

• Follow the advice of St. Louis de Montfort, and NOT seek private visions. If you’ve consecrated yourself to Jesus, through Mary, using his formula, you’ve already made this commitment.
• Explore better spiritual writings, such as St. Theresa of Avila’s Interior Castle, St. Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life, or St. Therese of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul.
• Stick to traditional apparitions: Fatima, La Sallette, Good Success, and Lourdes primarily.
• If anyone tries to holler at you (for not agreeing with them), like Daniel O’Connor, Michael Voris, or any other gas-lighter, then tell them to go pound sand.
• Pray the Rosary → 15 decades per day. Don’t resist heaven and opt for a “DIY” prayer life without doing this much first.