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Less than three weeks later -- last week -- comes the claim: the discovery of 70 ancient lead and copper sealed books, bound with wire, whose pages could be contemporary accounts of the final years of Jesus' life. Others said it was just a hoax. It's currently up in the air. "The books, credit-card sized codices, are thought to be among the earliest existing Christian documents, possibly predating the writings of St. Paul," said the London Telegraph. "The discovery was made in a remote cave in eastern Jordan -- a region to which it's believed early Christians fled after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem."

Though this "seer" constantly tosses out predictions and names dozens upon dozens of locales -- most of which have not figured into the news -- he has hit on a few other precise predictions: a flood on a specific Portuguese island; the Chilean quake of a year back; by some accounts the Haiti one also; the prediction that the "land of Akita" (Japan) would suffer (this just weeks also before the event) -- and a year before that, in 2010, was a prophecy that a "massive quake" would hit Japan.

We always have to be very cautious and discerning even when a seer has "hits."

Then there are the "signs." Was it a sign in New Zealand that the statue in a cathedral ruined in another recent quake was not only found intact but had turned around, no longer facing where the congregation once sat but now facing the whole world? Why did statue of Mary turn?

Historically, there are, lastly, in this little potpourri, the mystics like Blessed Mary of Agreda.

Keep in mind that the declaration of "blessed" and even canonization does not mean the Church approved the private revelations of the saint (just the life of holiness). At any rate, when it comes to prophecy:

First, the Holy Gospel on Pentecost

Acts 2, 1-47: “And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with diverse tongues, according as the Holy Ghost game them to speak. ... Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke to them … Let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified … and with very many other words did he testify and exhort them, saying: Save yourselves from this perverse generation … And fear came upon every soul; many wonders also and signs were done by the apostles in Jerusalem, and there was great fear in all. … And the Lord increased daily together such as should be saved.”

“… This plenitude of wonders and prodigies overflowed and communicated itself also to others outside of the Cenacle; for it caused diverse and various effects of the Holy Spirit among the inhabitants of Jerusalem and its vicinity.

“All those that were converted by the first sermon of Saint Peter, were to a great extent of the number of those who, by their compassion and sorrow at the death of the Lord, had merited for themselves such a great blessing.

“Others of the just who were in Jerusalem outside of the Cenacle, also felt great interior consolations, by which they were moved and predisposed by new effects of grace wrought in each one proportionately by the Holy Spirit.

“Not less wonderful, although more hidden, were some contrary effects produced on that day by the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.

“By the dreadful thunders and violent commotion of the atmosphere and the lightnings accompanying His advent, He disturbed and terrified the enemies of the Lord in that city, each one according to his own malice and perfidy.

“This chastisement was particularly evident in those who had actively concurred in procuring the death of Christ, and who had signalized themselves in their rabid fury against Him.

“All these fell to the ground on their faces and remained thus for three hours.

“Those that had scourged the Lord were suddenly choked in their own blood, which shot forth from their veins in punishment for shedding that of the Master.

“The audacious servant, who had buffeted the Lord, not only suddenly died, but was hurled into hell body and soul.

“Others of the Jews, although they did not die, were chastised with intense pains and abominable sicknesses. These disorders, consequent upon shedding the blood of Christ (“His blood be upon us and upon our children” St. Matthew 27, 24-25), descended to their posterity and even to this day continue to afflict their children with most horrible impurities.

“This chastisement became notorious in Jerusalem, although the priests and Pharisees diligently sought to cover it up, just as they had tried to conceal the Resurrection of the Savior.

“As these events, however, were not so important, neither the Apostles nor the Evangelists wrote about them, and in the confusion of the city, the multitude soon forgot them.

“The chastisement and terror extended also to the depths of hell, where the demons felt themselves seized with new confusion and oppression for three days, just as the Jews lay on the earth for three hours. During these three days, Lucifer and his demons broke forth in fearful howlings, communicating new terror and confusion of torments to all the damned.

“O ineffable and powerful Spirit! The holy Church calls Thee the finger of God, because Thou proceedest from the Father and the Son, as the finger from the arm and the body; but on this occasion it was manifested to me that Thou holdest the same infinite power with the Father and the Son. Through thy sovereign presence, the heaven and the earth are moved by such opposite effects in all its in habitants at one and the same time; but they are similar to those that will happen at the last judgment.

“The saints and the just Thou fillest with thy grace, thy gifts and thy ineffable consolations; and the impious and the proud, Thou chastisest and overwhelmest with confusion and pain. …

“Let the insipid of this world then understand, and let the foolish be warned, that the Most High knows the vain thoughts of men; that if He is liberal and most kind to the just, He is also rigid in punishing the impious and the wicked …"

“In coming down into this world, it was just that the Spirit should be zealous for the honor of that same incarnate Word; though He did not punish all his enemies, yet He indicated in the punishment of the most wicked what all others deserved, who, in their stubborn perfidy had despised Him, if by the respite allowed them, they did not return to truth in heartfelt penance.

“… Also in our times, He comes to many just souls, although not with such open manifestations, because it is neither necessary nor proper. The interior effects and gifts are all of the same nature, acting according to the disposition and state of the one who receives them.”

Our Lady then goes on to describe in her teaching to the holy nun the gifts of the Holy Spirit and their effects: Wisdom, Intellect, Fortitude, Science, Piety, Counsel and Fear of the Lord.

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