 Mary,
Undoer of Knots,
in the Church of Mary the
Door to Heaven in Brazil is a unique painting of Mary undoing a ribbon of
knots, and meditating on its fascinating meaning, this booklet explains the
Blessed Mother's intervention in situations that 'have no exit,' providing
prayers and novenas for miracles that relieve us of entanglement! Many are
those who claim it is miraculous!
click here |
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WHEN IT CAME TO THE NEW POPE, THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF 'PROPHECIES,' FROM MYSTICAL TO THE SECULAR
Many ask about the alleged Saint Malachy prophecies. While we have previously expressed reservations, we have tried not to despise that or any prophecy. If it is a prophecy that can really be attributed to Saint Malachy (as we have noted a number of times, there is no original document proving it came from him), we must remember that the Bible says all prophecy is "imperfect," and that we take what is good and leave the rest.
Rarely do authentic prophecies make such obvious predictions and use such specificity as to name the next Pontiff, which many saw Malachy as doing, in that his prophecies (which did seem striking as far as descriptions of the last two Popes), not just described but named the next and by some reckonings the last Pontiff as being "Petrus Romanus," or Peter of Rome. There is even question about whether the prophecies saw "Petrus Romanus" as coming immediately after "glory of the olives": there is an ellipsis ("...") between the descriptions, leaving room for other Popes.
Many now search for a link between Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis) and Peter of Rome (in a sense, all Popes are "Peters" and all -- as bishops of Rome -- are Romans), but there is no need to strain. If one accepts the Malachy prophecies as valid (and we respect those who do), it is advisable to look for the essence of what he may have said: that the Pope following the "glory of the olives" (interpreted as Benedict XVI) would be a Pope who rules in troubled times. We think that is a very realistic prospect. And we think there are prophecies related to this Pope (more on this soon).
We also respect those who prognosticate from an intellectual standpoint -- Vatican experts, or Vaticanistas -- although their prophecies can also be errant or questionable.
As predicted, predictions failed. As it turned out, on Wednesday, when Francis appeared on that balcony ("the biggest moment in the world"), experts were not actually too expert. No commentator was uttering the name "Bergoglio" in the days leading up to the conclave. The Spirit moves where the Spirit wills. This was not politics, the choosing of a Pontiff, although it was presented in such a fashion by the media.
Already, there is a dramatic development: the new Pope, it appears, is going to start his "repair" and "rebuilding" of the Church (in the spirit of Saint Francis) with the clergy, and in particular the hierarchy. If this trend -- reversing the course of a Church that had become very engaged with worldly perspectives -- continues into his pontificate, the Holy Roman Catholic Church is poised to come roaring back. Over and again, the new Pope has stressed that bishops, cardinals, and priests should not live the high life, the way of the world, nor the way of legalism. He prays fifteen decades of the Rosary a day, seems open to apparitions, and was known to hand out medals of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots.
As a newspaper noted: "The path of the Church always entails difficulties, the Pope told Cardinals Thursday, and Church leaders should be prepared to embrace them. He explained that “when we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess a Christ without the Cross… we aren't disciples of the Lord.” The Pontiff warned the cardinals that in this case: “We are worldly. We are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.”
That cuts to the very heart of the Church crisis: pride, hyper-intellectualism, and worldliness, which are responsible not only for alienation from the flock, but even, in such aloofness, for the abuse crisis.
Francis, it appears, is attacking matters at a spiritual level. He is already telling the Church that it should not wrap itself in grandeur, that it is supposed to be carrying the Cross, not sitting at lush dinners, not riding with chauffeurs, not living in palaces, not mugging for TV (he rarely gave interviews as Cardinal), not running a diocese like a cold business, not favoring the wealthy contributor over the devout poor woman, not parading like nobility, not dismissing Adoration, not ignoring Mary (see: his visit to Maria Maggiore), but acting like the Apostles: getting out there on the street and radiating the power they have in Christ (healing, serving, exorcising). Here we recall also Saint Francis Xavier, an evangelist.
This is very potent, crucial stuff. It is also another definition of prophecy. To "prophesy" doesn't only mean to predict; it means to pronounce (including tough truths).
Noted a newspaper: "Even after he became Argentina's top church official in 2001, he never lived in the ornate church mansion where Pope John Paul II stayed when visiting the country, preferring a simple bed in a downtown building, warmed by a small stove on frigid weekends when the building turned off the heat. For years, he took public transportation around the city, and cooked his own meals. He accused fellow church leaders of hypocrisy and forgetting that Jesus Christ bathed lepers and ate with prostitutes. 'Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony. Go out and interact with your brothers. Go out and share. Go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit,' Bergoglio told Argentina's priests last year. Bergoglio almost never granted media interviews, limiting himself to speeches from the pulpit, and was reluctant to contradict his critics, even when he knew their allegations against him were false, said Bergoglio's authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin."
As for those from Protestant realms who have pushed the idea that this Pope is a false prophet or anti-christ, what a shame this is, and how unchristian. Remember that deceptive spirits also predict.
[see also: Called vanity among clergy a 'great sin', Accused other Church leaders of 'hypocrisy' for living high life and A shift to a pastoral Pope]
[resources: Answer Me This! and Michael Brown retreats in Buffalo, Syracuse]
