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TIME OF DARKNESS IS REFLECTED IN REAL EVENTS AS WELL AS CLAIMS OF 'MESSAGES'

There is a spirit of persecution moving, and this should not surprise us. Christ always told us that if we truly followed Him, we would see some form of rejection -- and even hostility -- from the "world."

But it seems to be rising. We can see it when we observe the constant negative "spin" on the Pope (no matter where he goes or what he says), the similarly constant stream of anti-Catholic movies, the reported purging by PBS of stations that air the Mass (or the beginning of this), and the attack on Miss California for expressing Christian morals.

But the persecution is also at a level in which darkness moves non-political types to lash out at the Church, without really meaning anything political or cultural about it. It is a spirit -- not just politics.

In recent weeks, there has been the attempt to burn down a tree (said to have an image of Mary on it), multiple thefts at a Padre Pio shrine (a truck tried to smash open its safe), a statue of St. Rita vandalized at her national shrine, the stabbing of a priest in Texas, a home invasion by satanic ritualists, a pentagram cut into the lawn at a protestant church, a horrid image of Mary in Australia, and a general sense -- an unease -- that the landscape has changed. Call it the militant march of secularism, as one blogger put it.

In Scripture, persecution was often prophesied to those who would encounter it (so they could prepare), or the Lord warned His chosen ones (such as St. Joseph) how to avoid attack. Often, this came through dreams. Does it still? Such feelings are often related to the "signs of the times" we have noted with special frequency.

We can go to the mailbag for a sense of at least how folks are perceiving what is happening and has been happening (in earnest) for more than two decades now.

"I had a compelling dream last night -- it was very real," says a viewer named Cheryl Cannon in Hammond, Louisiana. "I saw a nun, small, wearing a habit, sitting next to a man whose face I could not see. The nun wore black-framed glasses and I didn’t recognize her at first. She was very small and old. The man and nun were sitting, and in front of them on the table I saw a huge glass ball. The nun spoke to me -- not in words, but in my mind -- and said to look at the world, and then it became very dark inside the glass ball -- so dark, there was no longer any light inside it.

"She said it was the world which had become dark with sin. I was very afraid for the world. She seemed to indicate that it was getting 'late.' The man sat still and said something to me which I couldn't remember when I awoke. Then, as they were fading out of sight, I recalled that the nun was Sister Lucia of the Fatima children, as an old woman -- in fact, she looked like the last pictures of her that were taken. So serious was her face that it alarmed me and I knew that there was not much time left for the world to change. Just wanted to pass this along since it affected me so much. Maybe we should say a few extra prayers today. When I awoke and looked at the clock, it was three a.m."

"My name is Apollo F. Salle," wrote another. "I am the contact person for the Respect Life ministry of the parish of Christ the King of Hillside, New Jersey. I had this dream just last night which I think I should share with you.

"I dreamt that I was in the living room of my home here in New Jersey along with members of my family and a host of visitors.

"We were all watching some grand, spectacular event on television at a sports stadium which, in turn, was jam-packed with people.

"From the rafters around the stadium were these gigantic portraits of the Madonna and Child in varying versions resembling Our Mother of Perpetual Help, although they were not that world-famous icon. All of a sudden, in one portrait, a python started slithering its way from the top of the portrait, when all of a sudden the figure of Our Blessed Mother came to life, gripped the python with her bare hand, and violently threw it down. The stadium audience and we in our living room then broke into deafening applause and loud cheers."

Writes another correspondent from North Carolina (worrying that the spirit of persecution could turn to actual turmoil):

"In the past month people I know and respect had three dreams, all warning of pending violence and calling for an immediate need for many more people to pray. In one dream the person was at Mass. It was packed. During Holy Communion the priest said 'Time’s up!' stopped halfway through, and sat down. Then a life-size statue of an angel on the left came to life and swung back and forth across the altar twice.

"All the people witnessed and were afraid. The priest was on his knees. There was a bright, direct light over the altar that seemed to represent the voice they heard next. Essentially, the message was this: there is great violence ahead (my friend had a vision of terrible fighting in the streets) and a need to start prayer groups immediately."

"The other person had two dreams," said the correspondent. "In the first, she was in a packed church, but few people were praying. There was increasing noise of violence outside. Only after everybody was praying did it abate. In the second dream, she was outside the church with her brother when a young man came up to kill her. She dropped to her knees and started praying and then the man dropped his gun, got to his knees, and started praying.

"It seems clear that God is telling us to pray, that prayer is effective, and the need is immediate.God knows we need His presence now, to experience the victory of peace, love and forgiveness in our hearts, no matter what the situation."

"I have been hesitant in sending you information pertaining to a spiritual phenomenon that has and continues to occur in our small community," says a correspondent named Eugene. "We've been very cautious and we are continuing to pray for discernment. It's very hard to understand where this is all heading to. Some questions that were raised: is this experience exclusive for our community, for our own conversion, or is it meant for the global community? I understand that there are numerous occurrences throughout the world that are somewhat similar to our own. But let me share just a few testimonies and stories we have encountered:

"Our community, St. Theresa Point (in Manitoba) is predominantly Roman Catholic. We have not been immune to hardship especially within the last twenty years or so. Suicide, violence, and other social problems are not uncommon even though we are very isolated geographically. But the influence of the world is very much present in our daily lives.

"However, the fruits of the phenomenon are starting to appear, especially in our youth. Within the past few weeks, they are beginning to attend our prayer meetings and the celebration of the Mass. It is very encouraging and it could only be credited to Divine Influence. Holy objects turning oozing with oil; the smell of roses during prayers; a feeling of Presence during prayers; visions of Our Lord, the Blessed Mother, St. Michael; and of course, the enemy.

"Recently, a boy (his name is Michael) who receives visits saw Our Blessed Mother holding a chalice and a Host. He also witnessed the Passion and described the suffering and wounds of Our Lord. He was instructed to bring more souls to Him. Most recently, he had an early morning visit from an angel and told him that God's Plan will occur soon."

"My name is Virginia and I live in Quebec, Canada," says yet one more. "I wanted to share something that I feel is very important and that I never heard yet.

"Because of the slow economy and because we have a large family, we started putting aside some dry goods. I walk to Mass every morning and this one recent morning I was compelled to go and talk to my sister in law and her husband and tell them to store some dry food, because they also have a big family. As they do not pray or go to Sunday Mass, I know already what would be their reaction and answer... I guess, I just had this great idea of making a fool of myself.

"So while walking to Mass questioning myself if I should talk to them or not, I asked God to enlighten me on what I should do and I was thinking that even if we would put some food aside for us, we would probably be asked to help them later and some of our neighbors. Lost in my thoughts, I realized that our reserve wouldn't last very long and asked God for some advice on that.

"In a flash, it came back to me not to worry and to trust in a message we had received twelve years before from a well known seer in our region.

"This lady was living in a very remote area on top of a mountain in small house, in Quebec. We had some doubts about this, but it turned out that she was very humble and authentic. She told us something about our family that nobody could have known. She received messages from Jesus and Mary. One of the messages had to do with the hard times to come but especially to inform all those who went to see her to make the Sign of the Cross over their meals and say grace with faith.