Mystic's Mention Of 'Rivers Of Light' In 2004  Followed By Stunning Papal Announcement

By Michael H. Brown

First story

We were kind of astonished this week to hear that Pope John Paul II is pushing for a Eucharistic Congress in 2004. We were astonished because we got word of that within 24 hours of running an article (copied below for your convenience) about how Venezuelan mystic Maria Esperanza had said quite a while previously that 2004 will be a very special year, with "rivers of supernatural light" which will pave the way to "a new dawn of Jesus."   

The very next day, there in Zenit News from Rome, was an article about how John Paul II encouraged preparations for the International Eucharistic Congress, set for 2004 in Guadalajara, Mexico, when he met with the organizing committee. "At a time marked by 'threatening clouds,' he said during today's meeting, 'it is necessary to give again to humanity the authentic light that enlightens every man' -- Christ," reported the news service!

Indeed, the theme of the congress, we learned, will be "The Eucharist, Light and Life of the New Millennium." It seems Esperanza had spotted this coming opportunity for special light, and that this Light will be tied to future events. Meanwhile, just a week before, on October 29, the Pope called for what was reported as "more profound theological studies and further research on the Virgin Mary."

This all comes on the heels of new mysteries added to the Rosary -- the "Mysteries of Light." The event is scheduled from October 10 to 17, 2004 -- with the anniversary of Fatima's great sun miracle, October 13, right in the middle.

Something is happening in the heavenlies, something that as we said will manifest in various way that year and beyond.

  Mention Of Year 2004 Raises Prophetic Questions, As Does Earthquake Swarm

By Michael H. Brown

Second story

The mention last week by Pope John Paul II of the year 2004 has set off certain prophetic speculation. On October 29, speaking to the seventh public session of the pontifical academies, the Pontiff called for "more profound theological study and further research" on the Blessed Mother -- citing the fact that 2004 will be the 150th anniversary of a dogma proclaiming the Immaculate Conception.

Was it just a passing reference? Was 2004 just part of a long march of facts in an address? Or was the Pope hinting at something particular to that year?

One thing that came to mind was the possibility that he might proclaim another Marian dogma -- perhaps this time declaring the Blessed Mother as "co-redemptrix." For many years there has been a dedicated effort at doing just this, and we have always looked upon her in this redemptive role (underscoring it in a 2,000-year history of her apparitions called The Last Secret), although we will leave the matter of actually declaring it as a dogma to John Paul II himself. Many are those who expected the Pope to have made this proclamation by now and who believe that such a declaration would set off a series of major foreseen events.

On the other hand, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect for the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (and the Pope's closest adviser, as well as one of the world's leading theologians), has stated in God and the World, a major book just released in the U.S., that such a declaration is not in the works (at least not in the foreseeable future), and Father Stefano de Firoes, renowned Mariologist and a member of the International Pontifical Marian Academy, which advises the Pope on all theological questions relating to the person of Mary, said last month that "from the conciliar and ecumenical point of view, it is certainly not opportune to proclaim this dogma at this time." Moreover, the recent move by the Pope to include what have become known as the "Mysteries of Light" in the Rosary has been widely seen as placing more emphasis on Christ.

But might there be a surprise -- or some other kind of new development in the mystical realm? We wonder this because Venezuelan mystic Maria Esperanza has frequently mentioned the specific year 2004 as a time when there will be a development in the heavens that will affect earth, a new supernatural movement in the spiritual realm. "It will start from the year 2004 on," she has told us. "It will be the beginning. Rivers of supernatural light are awaiting us -- surprises, beautiful surprises. Each one of us will encounter ourselves, and beautiful ideas will come to our minds, beautiful talents, and more than anything else, we will achieve the simplicity of an innocent child. And that's the most important thing. We will be able to achieve the innocence of a child but with the maturity and knowledge, the wisdom, of an adult." She sees events, including natural disturbances, leading to the new "light"; and that, she says, will pave the way to what she describes mysteriously as "a new dawn of Jesus."   

Does that mean something apocalyptic? Or simply a new grace -- an invisible manifestation that will not be physically apparent (at least at first)?

We can only state our belief that the next several years and the next several decades will be extremely interesting, and we caution, as mystics like Maria also caution, not to hold any one year as the only one of significance. Speculation can cause misinterpretations to run rampant (leading to the kind of unfortunate over-anticipation that occurred at the dawn of 2000). God does not overly concern Himself with the human calendar.

But we live in a special time -- we have been told that at major sites of apparition -- and the Lord is breaking down the badness in our world. He is allowing "signs of the times." Most recently we've seen that in the strange patterns of weather, in the strange societal manifestations, and in the odd flurry of quakes that have suddenly erupted -- all during a single week -- in Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and now Alaska. This is known as a "seismic swarm," and though scientists treat them as coincidences, they are not. They are spiritually as well as geophysically connected and they are harbingers for what will one day be a massive swarm (one that will affect several major parts of the U.S. as well as Japan).

Look for these signs to intensify each year, well beyond the year 2004.