Venerable Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres was a Conceptionist nun from
Spain who went to the Quito colony in Ecuador in 1576. Our Lady and Our
Lord appeared to her and gave her many revelations, beginning in 1610,
that
included prophecies,
especially relevant for the Church in our time, considered the most
significant of all the prophecies, that of the crisis in the Church.
Another prophecy was
that Pope
Pius IX would promulgate the dogma of
the Immaculate Conception and that this same pope would preside over a
Vatican Council which
would teach infallibly on the Papacy, including
the Pontiff's supremacy and the charism of infallibility in matters of
faith and morals. Ven. Mother Mariana was also instructed on the
life-sized statue
to be made, that Our Lady should have a crosier and keys with the Child
Jesus in her left hand:
" . . . so that men will understand how powerful I am in placating the
Divine Justice and in obtaining mercy and pardon for every sinner who
comes to me with a contrite heart, for I am the Mother of Mercy and in
me there is only goodness and love. Let them come to me, for I will
lead them to Him." [1] The
statue, made by a sculptor
in Quito, was miraculously completed by the Archangels Michael,
Gabriel, and Raphael in the early morning of January 16, 1611. The
above image is from Spain. The Quito statue is pictured below.
THE EXTINGUISHMENT OF THE SANCTUARY LAMP AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR
TIME
In 1619 Our Lord invited our Venerable Mariana to share His Cross more
deeply, " . . . for at all times I have need of valiant souls to
save My Church . . ."
On the Feast of the Purification, 1634, Mother Mariana was before the
Blessed Sacrament, when she saw the Sanctuary light go out. There are
five meanings of this sign:
1. "The first . . . is that at the end of the 19th century and into the
20th century various heresies will be propagated in this land, a free
republic. As these . . . dominate, the precious light of Faith will be
extinguished in souls by the almost total corruption of customs. During
this period there will be great physical and moral calamities . . ."
"The small number of souls who, hidden, will preserve the
treasure of the Faith and practice virtue will suffer a cruel,
unspeakable and prolonged martyrdom. Many of them will succumb to death
from the violence of their sufferings, and those who sacrifice
themselves for the Church and their country will be counted as martyrs.
"In order to free men from bondage to these heresies, those whom the
merciful love of my Most Holy Son has designated to effect the
restoration will need great strength of will, constancy, valor and
confidence in God. To test this faith and confidence of the just, there
will be occasions when all will seem to be lost and paralyzed. This,
then, will be the happy beginning of the complete restoration."
These few, chosen soul would appear to be very similar to the apostles
of the latter times predicted by St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort. [2]
2. Sensuality will cover the earth, extinguishing many vocations; even
injustice under the guise of "false charity" would enter Mariana's own
convent.
3. Impurity like "a filthy ocean" will run with an "astonishing
liberty. The delicate flower of virginity would be threatened by
complete annihilation . . .there would always be some good souls in
cloisters where it might take root . . . to deflect the Divine wrath .
. ."
4. The crisis in the priesthood assisted by the growth of the Masonic
sects which will infiltrate all levels of society, poisoning the hearts
of children:
"During these unfortunate times, evil will invade childhood innocence.
In this way, vocations to the priesthood will be lost, resulting in a
true calamity." Again she promised that during this time there would be
religious communities who would sustain the Church and holy ministers
of the altar, hidden and beautiful souls, who would labor with valor
and disinterested zeal for the salvation of souls. "Against them," she
warned, "the impious will rage a cruel war, overwhelming them with
vituperations, calumnies and vexations in order to stop them from
fulfilling their ministry. But they, like firm columns, will remain
unswerving and will confront everything with the spirit of humility and
sacrifice with which they will be vested, by virtue of the infinite
merits of my Most Holy Son . . ."
" . . . the secular clergy will leave much to be desired because
priests will become careless in their sacred duties. Lacking the Divine
compass they will stray from the road traced by God . . ."
"Lacking a prelate to guide them . . . with strength, wisdom and
prudence, many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in
great danger." [3]
It is from this prophecy that some sedevacantist groups claim that
there is no Pope. However, the prophecy of Our Lady does not
specifically mention the Pontiff, but a prelate lacking in strength,
wisdom, etc. A prelate is any bishop, which of course includes the
Pope. Since this prophecy warns of the coming crisis in the Church,
would not Our Lady say, "Pontiff", so as to not be mistaken, because
prelate means any bishop? One prelate in the future would have a
pivotal role in the restoration of the Church. Such was the case in the
time of St. Athanasius during the Arian heresy. Most bishops had become
lax and weak, some even taking up belief in the Arian heresy, but
Athanasius held to the true and entire Faith.
Moreover, whenever Our Lady speaks in an apparition about the Roman
pontiff she always refers to him as "the Pope." To Mother Mariana she
spoke of the great crisis affecting priests, in their faith and in
their morals and spirit. She did not say men who thought they were
priests but were not, she said priests,
who endanger their souls. If the prelate referred to was the Pontiff and not bishops under
which these priests serve, then there would be no bishops or very few
bishops, because bishops are consecrated through the auspices of the
Holy See and they in turn ordain priests. They cannot ordain if
they do not have Holy Orders themselves and the faculties of bishops.
The prophecies at Quito clearly address impurity and lukewarmness in
priests in vast numbers, and disrespect for the Blessed Sacrament. Now
if there are but few true priests then how could there be so much
disrespect for a non-Sacrament? No, Our Lady said "Blessed Sacrament"
just as she said the loss of "Extreme Unction" through disuse, not that
the Sacrament would cease to exist altogether. It does exist, through
the offices of the traditional priests, both Independent and Indult and
in the SSPX, who offer the Sacraments in the traditional Roman Rite.
Our Lady lamented that so many souls die without Extreme Unction in the
time she was speaking of. This is the case today because the Novus Ordo "Last Rites" or
"Anointment of the Sick" is not the same as Extreme Unction, not all
the senses are anointed and often there is no Confession available.
Note, she lamented its disuse,
not its cessation per se. This means priests to
perform it exist, this means bishops to ordain them and a Pontiff to
consecrate them directly or through delegation to another bishop.
Nowhere in the five causes
of
the extinguished Sanctuary Lamp does the Mother of God say because
there are no priests to say Mass. She says priests who have every vice,
which means Masses with little graces, sacrilegious Masses, so the
people receive little help for their souls and the light of Faith dies
slowly in them.
Our Lady went on to say that every vice
would seize the clergy.
5. The indifference of the wealthy and apathy of the people is the
fifth cause of the Santuary Lamp going out. Our Lady told Ven. Mariana
of the great loss of souls who would descend into Hell.
There is much much more, about the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacrament
of Penance, along with the coming restoration of the Church.
Both books, plus two others on Mariana de Jesus Torres may be purchased
for a small sum at the link provided at the bottom of the page below
the buttons. The author granted permission for non-commercial use, and
sparingly, thus, we are stopping here. Holy cards and images are also
available there.
For the Novena, click HERE.
NOTES
1. Stories
and
Miracles of Our Lady of Good Success, Marian Horvat, Ph.D.,
Tradition in Action, 2002, pp. 12-13.
2. Our Lady of Good Success, Marian
Horvat, Ph.D., Tradition in Action, 1999, pp. 53-55.
3. Ibid.,
pp. 56-57. |
