From Forums of the Virgin Mary [translation]:
What will the process of purification of the earth be like?
The apparitions of La Salette are the only major historic approved ones that speak of the antichrist [as far as we know], a powerful character who will dominate the world with the power of the evil one. [And that’s only in “secrets” that have not been officially sanctioned for LaSalette (unlike one general message there that was).]
The rest, neither the Miraculous Medal, nor Lourdes, nor Fatima, etcetera, mention it.
And it is not either mentioned in Garabandal, which is not approved.
Naturally the spirit of the antichrist is always present; in every age there are antichrists, according to Saint Paul — and 1 John. But [many believe, based on Revelation] there will be one especially powerful in history.
Catholics today are very influenced by evangelicals regarding the end times and by apocalyptic seers, and so it is good to know what the Virgin Mary told us when she started talking about the purification of the world.
Here we will talk about the revelation that the Virgin makes in La Salette about the tribulations to come, where she places the antichrist and the era of peace into context, and how far it is [or is not] from our time.
To repeat: One of the most striking things in the apparitions of the Virgin Mary approved by the Church is that none of them speak of the antichrist, except in those unapproved ones of La Salette.
La Salette, along with (to an extent) Miraculous Medal, is the first apparition that speaks of great tribulations and a series of purifications of the world.
The apparition happened on September 19, 1846 to two children Melanie and Maximin.
It was between two and three in the afternoon when Our Lady appeared surrounded by a brilliant light, seated on a rock, near a dry fountain, and in an attitude of deep sorrow.
And she gave secrets to each child.
We have made several videos about this apparition where you can learn how the apparition took place.
And several articles, one of which has the complete list of each of the secrets.
The longest secrets were those that Melanie told — in all, thirty-three predictions.
Whoever reads them carefully will see that they have mixed information about what will happen in the near future in France and some countries, with global events.
And at first glance it seems to go back and forth, when read as if it were describing a single tribulation.
But in reality, a more meticulous examination allows us to unravel that it mentions two tribulations, or if you want, a minor tribulation, which is followed by a period of peace and then a major tribulation — during which the antichrist appears.
Already in the second of the 33 secrets, it says that the priests, due to their bad life, their irreverence, and their impiety in celebrating the holy mysteries, have become cesspools of impurity.
The third to the sixth secrets say that the leaders and the people have neglected prayer and penance and God is going to cause afflictions, and that no one on earth will be free from them.
And the seventh to the tenth secrets describe events contemporary to the time of the apparition.
In secret 11 and 12 it says that in the year 1864 Lucifer with a large number of demons will be unleashed from hell and will abolish faith little by little, even in people consecrated to God.
And that is why there will be a relaxation of the discipline of faith and that these spirits will have great power over nature. [scroll past ad for more]
In secrets 13 to 19 the Blessed Virgin allegedly talked about what will happen within the Church and in civil society because of this attack.
She said it will be a time of darkness where the Church will have a strong crisis and abominations will be seen in the holy places.
The Church will be persecuted.
The rulers will try to make all religious principles disappear, to make way for materialism, atheism, and all kinds of vice.
The Pope will have to suffer a lot, there will be attempts on his life, and she speaks of a Pope who will be martyred.
In secrets 20 and 21 the Virgin supposedly said there will be great disturbances and evil on the part of the people and the rulers.
And earthquakes and other natural disasters.
But the prayers, penances, and tears of the just will go up to Heaven asking for forgiveness, mercy, and intercession.
And then Jesus Christ in an act of Justice and Mercy towards the just, will send his angels. It specifically said that “the persecutors of the Church of Jesus Christ and all men given over to sin will perish, and the earth will remain as a desert.”
Mary then putatively describes that the Gospel will be preached everywhere and men will make great progress in faith and live in the fear of God.
And from there we will enter a period of peace where there will be a time of prosperity on earth and a decrease in sin.
Therefore here we see a first tribulation that will be finished by the intervention of Jesus Christ sending His Angels, Who will not come physically yet.
It is the tribulation of our time window, what Benedict XVI called a minor tribulation, compared to the major tribulation at the end of history.
In secrets 22 to 25 Mary related how after the period of peace, the enemies of Jesus Christ will begin to gain strength again, generating new wars and disturbances.
And nature will react with plagues, to sin that grows.
There will be a period of false peace but a deep conflict at the base.
While religious life will deteriorate again.
And in the secret 26 Our Lady tells that the antichrist will be born.
It says that he will be born of a Hebrew nun, a false virgin, his father will be a bishop, and he will be consecrated to the service of the evil one from the first moment of his existence. [Likely? Unlikely?]
At birth he will vomit blasphemies, the devil incarnate, performing wonders. [scroll for more]
He will have brothers who will not be demons incarnate, but will be children of evil and each of them will be at the head of the armies, assisted by the legions of hell.
In secret 27 the Virgin points out the effects on nature: seasons will change [are they not already?], the earth will only produce bad fruits, earthquakes, floods, etcetera.
In secret 28 it says that Rome will lose faith and become the seat of the antichrist.
Secrets 29 to 32 speak at length about how this major tribulation proceeds, amid faithful Christians’ pleas for God’s intervention, as He protects faithful servants.
The holy sacrifice of the Mass will be suspended [was the pandemic a preview?].
And here Mary placed the return of Enoch and Elijah preaching the Gospel and contradicting the lies of the antichrist.
And in secret 33 she narrates how the beast with his subjects will rise proudly in the air to go up to Heaven and will be shot down by the Archangel Michael.
He will be submerged forever with all his family in the eternal abysses of hell.
And then the water and the fire will purify the earth; they will consume all the works of the pride of men; and everything will be renewed; God will be served and glorified.
This last of the secrets given by the Virgin of La Salette to Melanie describes the end of the reign of the antichrist and his destruction.
Naturally there are dark spots that can be attributed to the fact that we still have little understanding of the events to come, or to deficiencies in Melanie’s information. The girl received the secrets verbally and wrote them down in full many years later, as they are now known.
But the truth is that according to Our Lady of La Salette the tribulation of the End Times would be divided into two parts, with a period in between that lasts a few hundred years.
First there will be a minor tribulation that is the one we are beginning, where the Great Antichrist will not appear, although there may be minor antichrists, nor will the sacrifice of the Mass cease. But to repeat, there will be a severe apostasy and persecution of the Church.
Then God will send his angels for a first purification of the world, due to the prayers and sacrifices of the faithful; perhaps we can place here the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
This will be followed by the Era of Peace of a few hundred years.
Then the enemies will gain more strength, faith will deteriorate again, and the Great Antichrist will appear.
It will be the time of the great tribulation, where the holy sacrifice of the Mass will cease and Rome will become the seat of the antichrist.
And finally God will intervene again, sending all evil beings to hell definitively and everything will be renewed forever.
Here we would be locating the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to earth physically and then, the Final Judgment.
So according to the prophecies of La Salette, the tribulation that lies ahead in our time will not imply the Second Coming of Jesus Christ physically, because there will not be an antichrist so important or a major tribulation, as for Him to return. [For discernment only; SD reserves its own interpretations.]
That is the error of the Protestants and of various apocalyptic apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
And this allows us to suppose that the rest of the approved Marian apparitions do not speak of the antichrist because they focus on the first tribulation, the minor one, the one that will happen in our time.
And now our task should be to pray and make sacrifices so that God sends His angels, to carry out a purification that liquidates the enemies and allows us to live a few hundred years of peace.
Well, up to here what we wanted to talk about when the antichrist would appear, according to La Salette, and the phenomena of a minor and a major tribulation, with the era of peace in the middle.
And I would like to ask you if you think it is a relief for you to think that our generation will not go through the great tribulation and the great antichrist, or does this fill you with even more uncertainty?
[resources: Tower of Light]