The Marian Messages

Final events as predicted by the spirits to faithful Roman Catholics

Vance Ferrell

I want to take you by the hand and accompany you on the threshold of this decade, which you are beginning precisely on this day. It is a very important decade. It is a period of time particularly marked by the strong presence of the Lord among you. During the last decade of your century, the events which I have foretold to you will have reached their completion. Therefore it is necessary that you allow yourselves to be formed, one and all, by my motherly action.

During these years I am preparing you, by my Motherly action, to receive the Lord Who is coming. This is why I have asked you for the consecration to my Immaculate Heart: to form all of you in that interior docility which is necessary for me in order that I may be able to work in each of you, bringing you to a profound transformation which should prepare you, bringing you to a profound transformation which should prepare you to receive the Lord worthily.

I am the Mother of the Second Advent. I am preparing you for His new coming. I am opening the way to Jesus who is returning to you in glory.Mary, through Don Stefano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), January 1, 1990. 56:3-5

I am speaking directly to your soul. This is by no ordinary means. God has given Me this power.Mary, through Mariamante, Midwestern U.S., no date.

I did not come here to prepare you for the Feast of My Assumption but to prepare you for the coming of My Sonfor the final Judgment. My dear children, listen to Me, your Mother.Mary, through three adults, Lubbock (Texas), July 11, 1988.

The great suffering which awaits you is to prepare you for the birth of the new era, which is coming upon the world. Live this new year in My Immaculate Heart. It is the refuge which I have prepared for you for these times . . I am the announcement of the new era. In the deep darkness of this, your time, if you live with Me, you can already glimpse the glimmer of the new times which are awaiting you.Mary, through Theresa Lopez, Denver (Colorado), January 1, 1991.

You are entering into the last decade of this century of yours, when the events of which I have foretold you will come to completion and when My secrets will be revealed to you. You are entering into the time of the triumph of My Immaculate Heart. You are now close to the Second Pentecost. The second Pentecost will come like a river of grace and mercy which will purify the Church and make her poor and chaste, humble and strong, without a spot or wrinkle, all beautiful, in imitation of your heavenly Mother. You are here to be molded by me in order to become the new heart of this Church, completely renewed by the Spirit.Mary, through Don Stefano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), June 28, 1990.

Today, Satan is successfully conquering everything with the spirit of pride and rebellion against God, and he is terrified by those who follow your heavenly Mother.Mary, through Don Stefano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), October 7, 1983.

I was chosen by the Most Holy Trinity to become the Mother of the Word, who became incarnate in My virginal Womb, and thus I have given you My Son Jesus. His first coming among you took place in poverty, in humility and in suffering, because Jesus wanted to assume the limitations, the misery and the weakness of our human nature. And so My motherly action was carried out in silence in prayer, in hiddenness and in humility.

I was chosen by the Most Holy Trinity to become the Mother of the Second Advent, and thus My motherly task is that of preparing the Church and all humanity to receive Jesus, who is returning to you in glory.Mary, through Don Stefano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), December 8, 1990.

In the Second Coming of the Lord, Mary will be made known in a special way by the Holy Spirit so that through her, Jesus may be better known and served . . Mary will shine forth higher than ever in these latter days to bring back poor sinners who have strayed from the family of God . . However, souls hardened by impiety will provoke terrible rebellion against God, attempting to lead all souls astray (even those who oppose their revolt) and they will cause many to fall by their threats, snares and alluring promises . . Satan, knowing that he has little time left, will redouble his efforts and his combats. He will conjure up cruel persecutions and put terrible snares in the path of the faithful . . Mary will raise up apostles of the latter times to make war against the evil one . . They shall be little and poor in the worlds esteem and will even be persecuted by other members of the Body of Christ.Saint Louis de Montfort (1673-1716), no date. 359:3-360:0

These are times of the great chastisement. The cup of divine justice is full, is more than full, is flowing over. Iniquity covers the whole earth; the Church is darkened by the spread of apostasy and sin. The Lord, for the triumph of His mercy, must as of now purify with His strong action of justice and of love. The most painful, most bloody hours are in preparation for you. These times are closer than you think. Already during this Marian Year, certain great events will take place, concerning what I predicted at Fatima [1917] and have told, under secrecy, to the children to whom I am appearing at Medjugorje . . These are the times of the great return. Yes, after the time of the great suffering there will be the time of the great rebirth and all will blossom again. Humanity will again be a new garden of life and beauty and the Church a family enlightened by truth, nourished by  grace, consoled by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus will restore His glorious reign.  He will dwell with you a nd you will know the new times, the new era. You will at last see a new earth and new heavens.The Virgin Mary, through Don Stefano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), July 3, 1987. 305:1

When my sweet Jesus comes a second time on earth in His glory, as it is most certain He will do, to reign there, He will choose no other way for His journey than Mary, by whom He came the first time, so surely and so perfectly. But there will be a difference between His first and last coming. The first time He came secretly and hiddenly; the second time He will have come perfectly, because both times He will have come by Mary. Alas! Here is a mystery which is not understood. Let all tongues be mute.Saint Louis de Montfort, 19th Century, no date.

My Immaculate Mother will be victorious over sin with her power as Queen. The lily represents the cleansing of the world, the coming age of paradise, when humanity will live as if without sin. This will be a new world and a new age. This will be the age when mankind will get back what it lost in paradise. When My Immaculate Mother will step on the neck of the serpent, the gates of hell will be closed. The hosts of angels will be part of this flight. I have sealed My own with My seal that they shall not be lost in this flight.Christ child, through Sister Natalia, Hungary, (visions in 1940s ), no date.

Allow yourselves to be drawn by the enchantment of your heavenly Mother and follow Me, in the wake of my sweet fragrance, in order to go down with Me to meet the Holy City, which will come down out of heaven, at the end of the painful purification and of the great tribulation in which you are living in these last times.Mary, through Don Stafano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), December 8, 1992.

Pray very much the prayers of the rosary. I alone am able still to save you from calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in Me will be saved.Mary, through Sister Agnes Sasagawa, Akita (Japan), October 13, 1973.

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 In all ages, men have been divinely instructed in matters expedient for the salvation of the elect . . and in all ages there have been persons possessed of the spirit of prophecy, not for the purpose of announcing new doctrines, but to direct human actions.Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologicia, the most influential theologian in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

INTRODUCTION

The following conversation occurred on December 3, 1988, at the Immaculate Heart Church in Phoenix, Arizona. The one reporting it is Estela Ruiz, a wife and mother of seven, who has been regularly receiving visions and instructions from the Virgin Mary since that date.

This is My reignthis is the time of My reign. I am here to bring My children back to My Son. The one who sent me is God, Our Father.

I then asked her who she was, and she said:

I am the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but I am the same one that has appeared all over the world.

Then she told me,

Look around this church and see all the different forms in which I have appeared.

Estela then looked around, and saw the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, which the church members worshiped. Nearby was the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, another image which is routinely venerated. Not far off was the icon of Our Lady of Fatima, a much-revered object of devotion.

Then, in front of her, the vision spoke again:

Yes, I am the Mother of God, and I have appeared in different places. There is only one and that is I and I am all of these. But I come today, at this time, as the Immaculate Heart of Mary as this is the reign of My Immaculate Heart. And Ive come to call My children back to God.

With this announcement, Mrs. Ruiz became one more of the thousand or so worshipers of Mary who are said to be receiving visions and instruction from her.

Yet, before December 3, 1988, she was just an ordinary housewife. She cared little about the growing excitement in the Catholic Church, and thought her husbands avid reading of monthly reports of new instructions, published in independent Catholic journals, to be nonsense.

But then, in September of that year, her husband spent some of their savings on a trip to Medjugorje, a little village in the Croatian section of the former Yugoslavia, where, since June 24, 1981, Mary has been appearing almost daily to several individuals.

While he was in Medjugorje, he felt the spirits there doing something to him.But the presence also reached her before he returned.

One day as she was walking through their home, she passed a picture her husband had tried to paint of Our Lady of Guadalupe,she heard a voice from the picture!

She later said it sounded like the voice of a beautiful woman.

Good morning, daughter.

Surely, she thought, it was her imagination; she was hearing things.

Two days later, it happened again! Could it be real? Estela was beginning to wonder.

Upon her husbands return, she could see the difference in him. She was feeling different too. She began saying her rosary to Mary more often.

A little over two months later, on December 3, something calling itself the Blessed Virgin appeared to her, and said,

I have come to ask you to be My messenger, and I want to know if you will do it? Im going to help you and your children make many changes. There will be a period of time where I will prepare the family and I will send many messages to the family.

Estela Ruiz dutifully knelt and yielded herself to the spirit. Her life has not been the same since.

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This is the story of the apparitions of Mary and her messages. In this book you will find a wide-ranging summary of final events on our planet, as presented by the spirits to faithful Roman Catholics worldwide. We will analyze each major event, in order to determine why this scenario of coming events has been presented.

We will learn that Satan is desperate to maintain control of Roman Catholics. He urgently needs their help in carrying out his part in the true order of final events.

Priest Paul Trinchard, in his book, Apostasy Within, mentions a 1981 McCready opinion poll, which surveyed 4,000 U.S. and Canadian Catholics from 14 to 30 years of age. It found that 75 percent do not believe in papal infallibility; 90 percent reject the churchs position on birth control; 80 percent believe that premarital sex is not wrong; and 89 percent believe it is all right for divorced people to remarry without the churchs sanction. Since then, conditions among Catholics have worsened.

Satan knows that, if he does not do something to stir up Roman Catholics, he will not have anyone to help him carry out the machinations outlined in chapter 35 of Great Controversy.

 There are several things we can learn from Satans end-time scenario:

First, as already, noted, we learn how desperate Satan is to maintain his hold on Catholics.

Second, we learn the key ingredients in the almost hypnotic hold which the Vatican and its priests have over the minds of their adherents. The worship (yes, worship) of statutes of Mary; endless rote prayers to Mary on the beads; and the other special activities used to grip the Catholic mind. The activities are of the type to enable the spirits to take over a human mind.

Third, we discover how central Mary is to Roman Catholic theology: She lacks only one divine attributethat of creatorshipkeeping her from being a full member of the Godhead. Yet, for practical purposes, the Catholic pantheon is not a Trinity, but a Quarternity. You will find in the quotations in this book, that Mary says she has all power, is present everywhere, and able to command whatever she wants from the Father, Son, and angels. Most important, she is shown to have more kindness, compassion, and sheer gumption than anyone else in heaven. Having made the atonement, she intercedes for sinners, orders the angels about, receives and forgives transgressors, directs last-day events, and is the primary channel of communication between heaven and earth. She fights the battle with the evil forces, and the victory is wholly her own. She is already the Queen of heaven, and will soon be the ruler of the New Jerusalem and the whole earth. Everyone in heaven are shown as shadowy figures; they enter the picture once in a while, but usually stay away.

It is clear from what you will read that Mary is presented as herself God, the commander of the Godhead, the leading representative of the Godhead, and the primary saviour of the world.

Fourth, we see how Satan announces, a little in advance, events about to burst into the headlines. For example, in the mid 1980s, he knew that Saddam Hussein, who took office in July 1979, was feverishly laying plans for a nuclear war. This is reflected in some of the Marian predictions made at that time about the coming antichrist.

Fifth, we find that Satan is on top of weather conditions. He not only can influence it, he can predict forthcoming weather patterns. By the end of the 1980s, he knew that the greenhouse effect was going to produce more severe storms. He was well aware of the elimination of El Nino in the Pacific and the increased moisture in the Sahel of North Africa, which is now sending mammoth hurricanes westward.

Sixth, we learn how well he has studied the Spirit of Prophecy. Repeatedly, you will come upon little points which closely paraphrase Spirit of Prophecy descriptions of small details in final events.

Seventh,and perhaps most important of allwe find that Satan believes that the world will probably come to an end within a very few years. Not only do all the signs in the world around us point to it, as well as indications in Scripture, but even Satan believes it and is predicting it. Indeed, he is trying to prepare a people to cooperate with him just before time ends.

For centuries, the devil has been preparing for the final climactic years. In our time the messages have swelled to a great crescendo, transmitted through humans scattered all over the planet, to faithful Roman Catholics who now hang on every word. How could such a gigantic web of spirit seances begin?

It took centuries to lay the groundwork.

First, the people were taught to look to men for guidance, and accept their words in preference to the Holy Scriptures. Whenever a person does that, he imperils his soul.

Second, the faithful were told to bow down to statues, and pray to departed spirits (known as saints). Efforts to communicate with the dead always lead the soul into the grip of spiritualism!

Third, Roman Catholics were commanded to pray to their angels, try to make contact with them, and unreservedly accept whatever they said. This is another form of communication with supernatural spirits. We are to pray to Godnot to angels, and not to dead people!

The future Pope Paul I said, when he was bishop of Venato:

It is necessary to speak much more about them [the angels] . . [and to] develop an intimate relationship with them.

Vatican II reminded the faithful in the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church that the church always venerated angels, along with the Virgin and the saints.

All the modern popes, from Pius XI to John Paul II, have been known for developing a relationship with their guardian angels, and urging the church to do the same.

Speaking to the faithful through Mariamante, Mary said:

When they [the angels] speak to you, listen to them . . Pray to the Holy Angels often for guidance and wisdom.

In another message through Pastor Gobbi, on September 29, 1981, she said:

You must let yourself be guided docilely by them [the angels] . . Entrust yourselves more and more to the angels of the Lord. Have an affectionate intimacy with them . . [They] take you by the hand and lead you gently along the road I have pointed out for you. Pray to your guardian angels.

We are to pray to God, not to angels or departed souls! We may have in mind the right prayers, but praying them to the wrong onescan bring capture by demons. We must strictly follow Gods plan as outlined in His Inspired Writings.

Satans objective is to keep Roman Catholics from drifting out into the lax agnosticism and rank atheism which Catholic teachings eventually lead to. In fulfillment of this plan, through the Marian messages, he seeks constantly to keep Roman Catholic believers in suspense. Always some new little tidbit, ever a new secret soon to be disclosedbut not quite yet; a little while later. This pattern has gone on for over a century.

By the way, at this point, we need to define a few words:

One is apparition. In America today, this means something ghostlike, something unpleasant which is seen. But the word comes from the Latin, and means something which appears to view. The Roman Church uses it in that sense. They speak of an apparition of Mary; by this, they mean an appearance of Mary. She has appeared to view.

Christ child refers to baby Jesus. Most of the apparitions are of Mary, but some are of the infant Jesus, speaking about His mother. This is obviously done to give the faithful the impression that He is just a baby, and His mother is the one to look to for guidance and help.

Those receiving the message are termed visionaries by the church. This would be correct, for they both see and hear supernatural things during the event, and apparitions apparently never occur while people are asleep.

Throughout this study, the word church, when not otherwise undefined, refers to the Roman Catholic Church.

The word faithful, by itself, means those Roman Catholics who are concerned that the church stand by its historic beliefs, and not veer off into modernism or liberalism. It does not refer to Protestants.

Unless otherwise stated, each quotation is generally a statement supposedly made by the Virgin, through a visionary, to Catholic Church members. When it is the visionary speaking his or her own comments about statements made by the supernatural being, this is clearly stated.

We try to avoid duplication of quotations, but in certain instances clarification of a topic requires that part of a quotation be again repeated.

The quotation references provide as much information as is available. Sometimes this is less, sometimes more.

Sources are given in the Bibliography at the back of this book.

Titles applied by Roman Catholics to various individuals are retained (such as sister, bishop, cardinal, saint, and blessed). Yet the words Reverend, Father, and Holiness are not. Everyone can be blessed of God, or a brother and sister in the faith, and there is a universal priesthood of believers; but no man is to be reverenced, or declared to be our spiritual father or his holiness.

It should be understood that, when Mary speaks of prayer, she means saying the rosary.

You may wonder why some people have the title, blessed, and others are called saint. Many of those, in the past, who have had communications with the spirits, were later beatified (receiving the title, Blessed), or canonized (Saint).

Throughout this entire compilation, you will notice that the spirits present evidences to the senses (pictures, scenes, conversations, etc.), rather than principles and Bible truths.

In connection with this, note three interesting factors:

First, weeping statutes. There have been weeping statues in Catholic churches for centuries, but in recent years they sometimes weep blood. In her apparitions Mary occasionally does also. She says they are tears of sorrow for the chastisements soon to come upon the world.

Second, the odor of roses. Catholics tend to liken Mary to the rose. (This is why their cathedrals have circular rose windows.) Frequently, visionaries smell roses when Mary appears.

Third, the stigmata. Some Catholics down through the centuries, including some of the visionaries, miraculously receive the stigmata (marks)the five wounds of Christ. They are considered extra holy when this occurs.

It is of the highest significance that a special pattern underlay all the apparition messages: Down through the centuries, occasionally an appearance would be made, or a message communicated through angels or departed saintswhich would hint at what was coming in the last days.

But, just after 1844everything changed!

It is of special interest that the modern apparitions of Mary, containing detailed information about last-day events, began at LaSallette, France, in the September 1846only nine months after Satan discovered, to his dismay, that, after a lapse of 1750 years, God had sent another prophet into the world: a young girl, who would very likely live a long time and give the people of God immense amounts of instruction.

In the List of Apparitions, at the back of this book, you will find appearances, in which Mary (or sometimes, the Christ child) especially explained final events. On that list, three come before December 1844, when the Spirit of Prophecy began, and 74 started after that date.

I say started, because many of the appearances to a given person or group since 1844 have been ongoing. Some have lasted for years. Literally thousands of individual appearances have occurred.

Since Fatima, more than 300 different individuals, receiving single or multiple apparitions, have been significant enough to merit attention and investigation by Church officials.

Of the three major appearances before 1844, one that was especially important was the apparition at LaSalette, France, in 1830. Keep in mind that William Miller had been convicted by the Holy Spirit since 1818 to explain his findings to others, and in 1830 he began doing so.

Looking more closely at that time, we find that Miller began publicly speaking in August of that year. Then, on November 27, 1830, a significant apparition occurred in Rue de Bac, Paris (France), when Catherine Laboure (later sainted) was given by Mary a message about the final crisis.

It was not until December 1844, that young Ellen White was visiting in the home of women friends, when the Holy Spirit fell on herand she was taken off in vision. This had not happened in over 17 centuries.

Then, on September 19, the second significant apparition occurred in LaSalette, France. The timing was exquisite. Since then, hundreds of apparitions have occurred. Read the list at the back of the book!

The devil knows that he hath but a short time (Revelation 12:12), and he surely is busily at work.

Let us briefly overview the high points of several leading apparitional experiences:

LaSallette, France, September 19, 1846This was the first really important, last-day event apparition. Two children, Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, were given a vision in which Mary told them that an apostasy would come upon the church, due to the inroads of modernism.

One might wonder why the spirits would start giving such a message as this! Indeed, it came as such a shocker to the authorities at the Vatican, that they never gave official approval to this vision.

But Satan spent some time, after December 1844, thinking through the matter. It was becoming quite clear that young Ellen was going to receive continuing visions. So the devil decided to slant his messages to the church from this standpoint:

Mary is trying to protect her people from modernism, and they must draw together, return more strictly to the ancient practices and faith of the church in the Dark Ages, and be preparedat a moments notice from Maryto oppose whatever enemies of the faith she will point them to.

Thus his objective was to keep the church purely Catholic, and gradually build it into a state of intense excitementso that, when Mary gave the order, the priests and members could rise up as one man and crush the enemy.

Understanding the plan of action, you can better understand the visions. However, because of this negative talk about growing apostasy in the church, the Vatican has been slow to approve the apparitions in recent years. In fact, very few have been approved since 1933.

Another intriguing point about all the apparitions is that they are myopic. They are concerned with the Roman Catholic Church, its beliefs, practices, and dangers, and futurebut not much of anything else! The concern is to hold Catholics in the faith, and little else.

An almost overwhelming concern of the apparitions is to praise Mary! This occurs repeatedly!

It is also of interest that one of the objectives of Mary is to receive the title, Co-Redemptrix (co-Redeemer). She tells her visionaries that, when this occurs (and a few other conditions are met), a great time of peace will come to all the world.

But this need come as no surprise, for she also claims to have offered Christ as a sacrifice on Calvary, and mediated as a priest in heaven afterwards!

With My Son I have intervened so many times to appease the wrath of the Father. I have prevented the coming of calamities by offering Him the sufferings of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood . . Prayer, penance and courageous sacrifices can soften the Fathers anger.Mary, through Agnes Sasagawa, Akita (Japan), August 3, 1973.

Another interesting aspect of the Marian messages is the reference to "victim souls" by the apparitions and Her devotees. Victim souls are Catholics who sacrifice themselves physically by going on extended fasts, praying the rosary for long hours, and mortifying their bodies, in order to appease an angry God or obtain other favors. (Flagellation and self-whipping continues on down to the present time.)

"There are many victim souls on the earth. Through their prayers and sacrifices, and especially through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, many postponements [of punishment from heaven] have been granted. Through this the whole purification process has been significantly extended, but because of this, the great catastrophe will not be as severe as prophesied."-Christ Child, through Julka, Zagreb (Croatia), May 31, 1976.

Lourdes, France, February 11, 1858Another major apparition occurred that year. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, a young girl, Bernadette Soubirous, received 18 visions. Although this is hailed as a great event in church history, Lourdes is not an important vision for us in the present bookfor it did not deal with final events. Mary told the young girl, who had no acquaintance with theology and had never heard the phrase, I am the Immaculate Conception. Since, only four years before, the pope had officially declared that to be a new dogma of the church, the Vatican was thrilled with Lourdes.

Fatima, Portugal, 1916This was the next major apparition. Between spring 1916 and September 13, 1917, Mary spoke with one or more of three children (Lucia, Francesco, and Jacinta). A number of details about the final crisis were revealed.

At the September 13, apparition, Lucia asked for a miracle, and Mary said she would give one right there (at the Cova da Iria) on October 13. On that day, an immense storm was clearing from the skies and the ground was water-soaked and muddy. Approximately 70,000 people gathered, in the hope of seeing the Virgin Mary. At this gathering, Mary appeared, told Lucia that World War I was soon to end, and that a chapel should be built there in honor of the Virgin.

Then, as Mary ascended, the sun appeared to spin wildly. To the bewitched eyes of the vast multitude, the sun seemed to hurtle down toward the earthand then back again.

As you might guess, ever since, when the crowds gather at the site of an earlier apparition, many of them look upward and damage their eyes, staring at the sun in hopes it will start spinning.

But that is not the whole story of Fatima; here is part of it:

Although the other two children died soon after, Lucia continued on (she is in her 90s now). In her Third Memoir (memories of those apparitional conversations), written by command of the church on August 31, 1941, she said that a secret which the children had been told not to reveal, actually consisted of three partsand that she could disclose two of them (one was a vision of hell, and the other was a request to pray more frequently for the conversion of Russia).

But there remained a third secret which she was not, at the time, to reveal. Years passed, and the excitement over that third secret intensified among the faithful. What could it possibly be?

Eventually she gave the third secret, in written form, to Bishop da Silva so he could read it. But he did not want the responsibility, and the Holy Office in Rome said they did not want to see it. (Very likely, all concerned knew what was in it.) It was then agreed that, if Da Silva died, the enveloped would be given to Cardinal Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, to keep on file.

In 1957, the Holy Office said they wanted the envelope, containing the third secret. Bishop Venancio was given the envelope and told to hand it to Bishop Cento, Apostollic Nuncio to Lisbon.

On April 16, it arrived in Romeand was immediately placed in a little chest in the office of Pope Pius XII, with a little note attached: Secret of the Holy Office.

It is said that Pius XII decided to not read it until 1960, but then died on October 9, 1958.

In 1957, Lucia told her priest, Pastor Fuentes:

The Most Holy Virgin has told me that the devil is about to engage in a decisive battle against the Virgin . .

On December 26, 1957, she told him that Mary was saddened because the leadership of the church was ignoring the third secret.

In late August, 1959, Pope John XXIII opened and read the secret. But he did not disclose it, saying it did not pertain to his reign.

What was the problem? It was the fact that the paper disclosed, somewhat more clearly, that which other unapproved apparitions from Mary also revealed: Punishment was promised to come upon the church, unless leaders and members strove to return to the strict beliefs and practices of earlier centuries.

As you might imagine, these unfolding developments have deeply aroused the most conservative in the church to say the rosary more faithfully, attend mass more regularly, urge fellow Catholics to do likewise, and learn all they could about the latest apparitions.

But, before returning the aftermath of Fatima, let us briefly turn our attention to two other major apparitions:

Garabandal, Spain, 1961Between 1961 and 1965, Mary spoke to four children (Conchita Gonzales (age 12), Jacinta Gonzalez (12), Mari Cruz Gonzalez (11), none of whom are closely related, and Mari-Loli Mazon (12). Garabandal is a small village of about 300 people in the Cantabrian mountains of northwestern Spain. About a fourth of a mile north of town is a high ridge with nine pine trees, easily seen for miles. Over the next four years, Marry appeared over 2,000 times in the area. A variety of miracles accompanied the events, and many spectators were frequently present.

Messages about end-time events were conveyed to the children (especially Conchita), and the content included theme in, what is believed to be in the third secret of Fatima. The warning, miracle, and chastisement were discussed in some detail.

Later in this book, we will return to key points in the Garabandal disclosures.

Don Stefano Gobbi, 1972From May 8, 1972 on down to the present time, this local priest in Milan, Italy, has received an astounding number of messages from Mary. He later compiled them into the book, Our Lady Speaks to Her Beloved Priests. A later edition was titled, To the Priests: Our Ladys Beloved Sons. But, he says that these messages of Mary are for the entire church, not just the priests.

On May 8, 1972, he was taking part in a pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal. A voice seemed to speak to him that, somehow, the Virgin would solve all mankinds problems. In July 1973, he began receiving regular apparitions of Mary, and he was instructed that he must write them down. Is it safe to go on pilgrimages to Marys shrines?

He was instructed that he must publish his writings, and organize a company of priests who would be obedient to the commands of Mary, which were being given worldwide. So, in 1973, Gobbi started the Marian Movement of Priests, a loose-knit organization, which now numbers over 300 bishops and cardinals, and over 60,000 priests worldwide.

Medjugorje, Croatia, 1981This has been the most massive of the apparitions. They began on June 24, 1981 in a tiny village of, what was then, Yugoslavia (now Croatia).

Since that time, each of six children has had thousands of meetings with Mary! They are: Mirjana Dragicevic (16) and Ivanka Ivankovic (15), who have stopped receiving messages; and Ivan Dragicevic (16), Jacov Colo (10), Vicka Ivankovic (17), and Milka Pavlovic (14), who still see Mary daily. (Those were their ages in the summer of 1981).

By 1991, Life magazine estimated that over 15 million people had journeyed to Medjugorje. A worldwide sensation among Roman Catholics was being created (and a lot of eye injuries, as the tourists there, starred for a time at the sun, hoping to see it spin).

Based on figures supplied by priest Richard Foley, S.J., editor of the quarterly magazine, Medjugorje Messenger, nearly 16,000 priests have already traveled to that small town.

Gradually, a number of secrets were given to the young people. This, of course, only heightened the excitement of the faithful throughout the world.

Fortunately, enough information has been released, at Medjugorje and elsewhere, that we have a fairly good idea of the coming scheme of events. According Vlasics letter (referred to below), Mirjana said that the secrets concern future tribulations on the church and the world.

The local priest, Tomislav Vlasic, in a letter to Pope John Paul II on December 2, 1983, said:

These apparitions are the last apparitions of the Blessed Virgin on earth. That is why they are lasting so long and occurring so frequently.

I will give you messages like never before in all of history.Mary, through the visionaries at Mejugorje.

More aftermath of Fatima.An event of major importance to the Marian movement occurred in 1981, which again brought the Fatima message into prominence. On May 13, Pope John Paul II was seriously wounded by an assassins bullets. But, just before the gun was fired, John Pauls attention was momentarily diverted. A young girl in the crowd had a picture of the Virgin of Fatima pinned to her, and the pope turned to look at it. As he did so, the shot aimed at his head missed. The assassin shot twice more, striking the pope in the abdomen.

As John Paul convalesced in his hospital bed, he became a full-fledged convert to the Marian messages. From his hospital room, he spoke by phone with Lucia (the only surviving recipient of the Fatima visions, and who had received additional ones since then), and read everything he could find on Fatima. He also re-read the third secret. He then set about to try and be as faithful as he could to the Marian revelations. But many bishops and cardinals held back. They did not like the negative tone of some of Marys messages.

On December 8, 1983, John Paul II said:

Precisely at the end of the second millennium there accumulates on the horizon of all mankind enormously threatening clouds, and darkness falls upon human souls.

John Paul had been studying the Marian messages.

In August 1984, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger published this statement:

[The third secret concerns] the dangers which threaten the faith and life of Christians.

He also wrote in his Ratzinger Report that the third secret of Fatima has to do with what he called de novissimis (dealing with the end times).

In that same report, he said this:

One of the signs of our times is that the announcements of Marian Apparitions are multiplying all over the world.

In April 1989, Bishop Paul Hnilica, SJ, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, was returning from a meeting in Moscow on behalf of the pope. On the 21st of that month, he reported that, upon meeting him after his return, John Paul II was upset that Hnilica had not stopped off in Medjugorje. If I wasnt the pope, Id be in Medjugorje already! said the pope.

We will conclude this chapter with a few additional quotations from the apparitions:

My Mother must be accepted. My Mother must be heard in the totality of her messages. Souls will come to Me through the means of her Immaculate Heart.Christ child, speaking through a visionary at San Nicolas, Argentina, November 19, 1987.

I am the Mother of God . . The mission which has been entrusted to Me by the Most Holy Trinity should now be acknowledged by the whole Church. I am the dawn which is arising to announce the great day of the Lord.Mary, through Don Stafano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), January 1, 1987.

Preserve Sunday for prayer.Mary, through Tom Cliffe, Melleray Grotto, County Waterford  (Ireland), 1985.

The children of light, the few who can see, the true disciples of the living God, the true followers of Christ, the faithful of the last days: Come out and fill the world with light, and fight. For now is the time of all times, the end of all ends.Mary, through Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, LaSalette (France), September, 19, 1846.

You will know My Second Coming is at hand when you see the outbreak of religious wars. Then, know that I am on the way.Christ child, through six visionaries (Alphonsine, Emmanuel, Anathalie, Mari-Claire, Stephanie, Agnes, and Vestine), Kibeho, Rwanda (Africa), November 1981.

God wants to renew the covenant with His people through Mary, His Ark of the Covenant.Mary, through Gladys Quiroga de Motta, San Nicolas (Argenina), one of 1,800 messages received between October 13, 1983 and February 11, 1990.

My child, I am your Mother, Mother of God. You cannot know the wrath of God. God is very, very angry because of the sins of the world. I cannot hold back any longer. I cannot save the world. The people must save the world. The people must come to the grotto, to pray, fast, and do penance before the chastisements start.Mary, through Beulah Lynch, Bessbrook Grotto (Northern Ireland), November 11, 1987.

When Divine Innocence triumphs in us, then Our Ladys Immaculate Heart will also triumph. This grace has been won by Our Ladys Mystical Wounds.Statement by one of the visionaries, Patricia [surname withheld], Surrey (England), 1985.

During these years, the Church and all of humanity will be left stupefied before the great events of grace and salvation which the Immaculate Heart of your heavenly Mother will bring to you.Mary, through Don Stafano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), January 1, 1987.

[In answer to the question, People are surprised that you are appearing in so many places!] If it is necessary, I will appear in each home.Mary, through Rene Laurentin (France), 1992.

Mary will raise up apostles of the latter times to make war against the evil one . . They shall be little and poor in the worlds esteem and will even be persecuted by other members of the Body of Christ. But they shall be rich in graace and Mary will bless them abundantly . .They will have recourse to Mary in all things and they will know the shortest and most perfet way of going to Jesus and they will belong entirely to Him.Saint Louis de Montfort, (1673-1716). 73:v-0

I am your Mother. I love you. The world must behave. The world must change. A great catastrophe will happen to the world. Tell them to hurry. This is a command form God. The messages here are the messages in Medjugorje. The children in Medjugorje are the children here.Mary, through Beulah Lynch and Mark Treanor, Bessbrook Grotto (Northern Ireland), June 11, 1987.

My child, the messages are not to be taken foolishly. They are serious. They are from God. The world is in great danger. God is not pleased. You have been give a gift from God [in my appearance]. Tell the people to come and to pray. Pray and fast and do penance.Mary, through Beulah Lynch, Bessbrook Grotto (Northern Ireland), July 10, 1987.

Do not be surprised, beloved sons, that My Adversary does everything he can to obstruct this Work of mine. His favorite weapon is to sow doubts and perplexity about what I am doing in the Church. He tries to base these doubts on reasons which are seemingly solid and justifiable. Thus he instills a critical attitude toward whatever I tell you, even before you have received and understood My words.Mary, through Don Stefano Gobbi, Milan (Italy), October 29, 1977. 55:1

My daughter, in this time, I am the Ark, for all your brethren! I am the Ark of peace, the Ark of Salvation, the Ark where my children must enter, if they wish to live in the Kingdom of God.Mary, through Gladys of Argentina, February 6, 1987.

Constantly say the rosary. The rosary is the weapon against Satan. He fears the rosary. Say the rosary everyday, constantly at any gathering of people.Mary, to Maria Kyzyn, Hrushiv (Ukraine), April 26, 1987. 32:v-0

In the Second Coming of the Lord, Mary will be made known in a special way by the Holy Spirit so will shine forth higher than ever in these latter days to bring back poor sinners who have strayed from the Family of God.Saint Louis de Montfort, (1673-1716). 73:2