Exactly 33 years to the day prior to the miracle of the sun, on October 13, 1884, Pope Leo XIII had a vision. Here follows an account of that vision:

According to the most widely accepted version of what happened, On October 13, 1884, after Pope Leo XIII had finished celebrating Mass in the Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the prayer to St. Michael, with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere. When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices - two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:

The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasting to Our Lord: "I can destroy your Church"

The gentle voice of Our Lord: "You can? Then go ahead and do so."

Satan: "To do so, I need more time and more power."

Our Lord: "How much time? How much power?

Satan: "75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service."

Our Lord: "You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will."

Overview of Catholic Prophecy

The following excellent overview of Catholic Prophecy was recently published by the Marian Messenger:

MARY WARNS, SCIENTISTS CONFIRM: A FIERY THREAT TO THE EARTH

by the Marian Messenger Editorial Board

"Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity."

Apparitions of the Virgin Mary warn of this punishment for mankind. It may happen before the century ends. Astronomers now seem to confirm the threat.

URGENT MESSAGE OF FATIMA

On July 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared to three children at FATIMA, Portugal and made the following remarkable prophecies.

1. The October 13 great miracle of the sun witnessed by 70,000 people and documented by an atheist editor for his anti-clerical paper. The sun whirled in the sky or "danced" then was sent crashing to earth before it returned to its proper place.

Pope Paul VI saw in this crashing sun a prophecy for a future event.

2. The end of World War I which was raging then.

3. A mysterious light in the sky given by God as a sign. This occurred on January 25, 1938, was seen by millions, causing panic in Europe, and was reported in the New York Times.

4. A new World War II in the reign of Pius XI ( who was not the Pope then).

5. The rise of atheistic Russia, and the spread of its ideology.

6. God will punish the world by means of war, hunger and persecution.

7. The eventual consecration and conversion of Russia. (The consecration was done, or at least partially accomplished in March 1984. One year later, in march 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and began the process that tore down communism. The Soviet Union was declared officially dead on December 8, 1991, the great Marian Feast of the Immaculate Conception.)

8. The persecution of the church, especially the Holy Father. The good will be martyred.

9. "Various nations will be annihilated."

10. The Virgin's Triumph which ushers in a period of peace.

It is remarkable how this Marian apparition had accurately foretold the first seven items. The Wall Street journal (September 27, 1991) featured an article entitled, "Fatima Fever: Did Mary Prophesy Soviet Goings-On? Believers say Blessed Virgin Beat CNN to the News by More than 74 years."

The said article quotes Francis Irons, a former Defense Department analyst: "Recent events in the Soviet Union are 'only explainable in supernatural terms,' he said."

A TIME magazine cover story on the Virgin Mary (December 30, 1991) highlights the following quote: "The world will recognize in due time that the defeat of communism came at the intercession of the mother of Jesus."

One of the visionaries, Lucia dos Santos, entered the convent. Sister Lucia was told that she would live to see all the Fatima messages fulfilled. She is now over 90 years old. So she will see the persecution of the Church and the Holy Father, the martyrdom of the good, the annihilation of nations, and the Virgin's Triumph.

Mary at Fatima calls mankind to turn away from sin -- or face annihilation. The nature of the punishment is hinted by the miracle of the sun: the ball of fire came crashing to the earth.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the Vatican's chief theologian, said, "A stern warning has been launched from Fatima which is directed... to the perils which threaten humanity today."

Fatima expert to Pope John paul II, Fr. Joseph de Ste. Marie, said "Let there be no hysteria concerning dates or concerning expectation of chastisements. The dates are unknown, the chastisement certain."

FIRE FROM THE SKY THIS ENDING CENTURY

Marian apparitions imply that the chastisement threatens mankind as the 20th century ends.

Another visionary APPROVED by the Church is Sister Agnes Sasagawa of Akita, Japan. In the apparition of October 13, 1973, the Virgin said,

As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead.

Bishop John Ito of Akita was very reluctant to approve the apparitions. It meant confirming the truth of the terrible warning. He went to Rome again even after two commissions working for more than 10 years called the apparitions authentic. The Vatican told him to go ahead with the approval.

A journalist asked Bishop Ito, "What is the message of Akita?" The bishop answered, "It is the message of Fatima."

In 1991 the bishop said in a statement, "It seems to me that our Heavenly Father needs to purify this corrupt world before allowing mankind to enter the 21st century."

Other apparitions APPROVED by the Catholic Church speak of the urgency of the 20th century: Quito (Ecuador), Corota (Italy), Betania (Venezuela), Cuapa (Nicaragua). The many other apparitions under investigation declare the same urgency.

Numbers alone are significant. In the 19th century, there were only 5 Marian apparitions. In the 20th century there is an explosion of more than 300 apparitions scattered around the globe.

SCIENTISTS CONFIRM THREAT TO EARTH

Astronomers now warn that yes, the Earth faces the danger of fire from the sky. Here are some clippings:

* "Earth Faces Asteroid Threat" Reuters, in Today, November 14, 1996. "The earth could be hit at any time by a deadly asteroid, and governments should urgently fund more programs to seek them out and find ways of destroying them, British and Australian astronomers said on Tuesday. Scientists and amateur astronomers met in London to discuss the best ways to track the thousands of asteroids that pass close to then Earth every decade."

* "A Shot Across the Earth's Bow: Last week's heavenly near miss was a record. Are we ready for the next incoming asteroid?" -- TIME magazine, June 3, 1996

* "Scientists Warn of Asteroid Danger to Earth," DPA in the Philippine Star, November 28, 1996

* "Pentagon Eyes Asteroids Threat." Agence France Press, in the Manila Bulletin, February 20, 1997. "The United States is taking seriously the threat of asteroids collidingn with Earth and learning to track them when they are still farout in space,' a pentagon spokesman said yesterday."

* "Close Calls from Comets on the Rise." The Boston Globe in Today, November 13, 1996

* "Mysterious Comets may One Day Destroy the Earth." The Guardian News Service in the Manila Bulletin, February 15, 1997

* "Geologists Say Earth Due for Extraterrestrial Bump." Reuter, Mercury News, February 18, 1997 "Geological data show the Earth could be overdue for a major impact from a comet or meteorite, experts said Tuesday. 'We can't say when, and we can't say how big, but it will definitely happen.' Robert Hutchinson of the London Natural history Museum told Reuters."

* "Comet Rains Can Cause Global Extinction." Manila Bulletin, November 20, 1996

Caution: the astronomers are NOT saying that there is a particular asteroid or comet on a direct collision course with Earth. At least not yet. (A check with PAGASA reveals no asteroid/comet headed exactly this way.) However, one visionary says that the astronomers will later raise the alert but the public will not believe them.

FATIMA POPE: JOHN PAUL II

On May 13, 1981, on the anniversary of Mary's first apparition at Fatima, John Paul II was almost killed. The gun was aimed at his head, but the Pope was saved when he turned to a young girl wearing a picture of Our Lady of Fatima. The assassin fired two more shots at the abdomen.

At first John Paul II did not pay attention to the fact that his brush with death took place on May 13. The Pope took the message more seriously. While in the hospital, he asked for the documents on Fatima, wrote to Sister Lucia, and reread the famous undisclosed Third Secret of Fatima.

John Paul II then obeyed the Virgin's request. Together with the bishops of the world he consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in March 1984. One year after, In March 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, and the world watched as communism collapsed.

Pope John Paul II is now getting the Church ready for the great Fatima events as humanity enters the third millennium. He said in Crossing the Threshold of Hope, "Mary appeared to the three children at Fatima in Portugal and spoke to them words that now, at the end of this century, seem close to their fulfillment."

His subtle program is superior to sounding the alarm. It is the best preparation of all: prayer. Catholics are to spend in special prayer the years, 1997, 1998 and 1999. That is the subject of his Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente.

"The Pope seems to be hoping for some equivalent 'collapse' in the power of evil, some great new 'springtime' for Christianity and the world," says the journal Inside the Vatican (December 1994), commenting on the document.

The Marian Messenger complied the messages on the events awaiting this ending century. The product of this research is a paper called "The Fatima Countdown: Coming Events According to the Marian Messages."

The events are based primarily on apparitions which have been officially approved by the Catholic Church. Pending apparitions, or those not yet approved, repeat the themes and reveal more details.

These events are controversial and may sound hard to believe. The Church teaches that she will indeed pass through a final trial, but she does not say when this will happen.

Catholics are not obliged to believe these messages, even as the Church allows the faithful to distribute them. Believing the Marian messages is a personal decision. We in the Marian messenger submit to the authority of the Catholic Church as regards apparitions under investigation.

Here is a summary of the sequence.

1. Current situation: * Apostasy (loss of faith, disobedience to the Church) * Devotion to the Eucharist in decline. * Mary prepares her "cohort": her own army of people consecrated to her, who pray and gather in cenacles. * Disasters serve as initial warnings: hunger, epidemics, etc.

2. Conflict erupts in the Catholic Church: cardinals versus cardinals, bishops versus bishops. The immediate trigger of the conflict may be the Pope's declaration of the Fifth Marian Dogma: the Virgin Mary is Co-Redemptrix, Advocate, Mediatrix of All Grace.

3. Schism: open revolt in the Church. A false church emerges, consisting of rebel bishops, priests, and laity. However, the Church in the Philippines remains loyal to Pope John Paul II, according to an American visionary. Mary has a special plan for the Philippines, according to an Italian priest visionary, Fr. Stefano Gobbi.

4. Revolution breaks out in Italy. The Pope has to evacuate Rome.

5. A great Cross appears in the sky.

6. The Great Warning: we will all see our unconfessed sins and suffer pain for them -- our souls will feel the fires of Purgatory or Hell.

(The Marian Messenger suggests that all take advantage of the Feast of Divine Mercy every year. That's the first Sunday after Easter. Go to confession during Lent, even before Holy Week. Then take Communion on the Feast. Those who do so will be granted complete remission of their sins and the punishment due them. Jesus told this to the Polish visionary Sister Faustina Kowalska.)

7. A comet or asteroid crashes to the Earth.

8. Aftermath of the crash: * Terrible earthquakes * Global freezing * Crop failure, famine * Pest infestation

9. Global hunger

10. Global wars break out over resources.

11. World government emerges. Antichrist comes to power and puts the world in order. (Note: the severe economic crisis and social chaos gripping Germany in the 1930's called for a strong leader. This popular demand led to the rise of Adolf Hitler, who put the nation in order.)

13. Antichrist rules Rome. Catholics loyal to Pope John Paul II are persecuted. The Philippines is kept safe, according to an American visionary ceives messages of Jesus under the title, "King of All Nations."

14. "Great suffering" for the Pope.

15. The Great Miracle. * This will be Eucharistic and Marian. * Mary will appear as the Great Sign described in Rev. 12:1 * It will be a gift of the Divine Mercy. There will be a tremendous outpouring of grace.

16. Climax of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart: mass conversions. Russia is converted.

17. Nations enter the Church reunited and purified.

18. The Great Chastisement * "Atomic awakening." According to one visionary, the Antichrist instigates nuclear war. * Fire will fall from the sky. Another comet or asteroid hits the Earth. * Various nations are annihilated. * The Earth gets shrouded in darkness.

19. An Era of Peace follows.

FAMILIES PROTECTED BY JESUS AND MARY

When the atom bomb destroyed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, it somehow spared a building only eight blocks away from ground zero. In it were living eight Jesuits who were unharmed by the blast, heat, and radiation.

Some 200 scientists have examined the priests, trying to determine why they were unhurt. Speaking on American TV, the German Jesuit Father Hubert Shiffner gave the startling answer:

"In that house, the Rosary was prayed every day. In that house we were living the Message of Fatima," he said. His words seemed to repeat the essence of Sister Lucia's statement in 1977: "Our Lady will protect all her dear ones."

How does one live the Fatima message? How can families secure Mary's protection? 1. People must first CONVERT: turn away from sin and go back to God.

This entails the usual demands of the Christian life like prayer, reading Scripture, obedience to the commandments, concern for others. Beyond it there are special requests from the Blessed Virgin:

2. DAILY OFFERING. "Offer up each day whatever God requests of you... for the conversion of sinners and reparation for sin."

3. REPARATION. "Pray, fast, and make sacrifices for your sins and for the sins of all sinners and unbelievers."

4. EUCHARIST. Frequent prayer, adoration and reparation before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

5. FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS. "Confess, offer Mass, receive Holy Communion on the First Saturday of five consecutive months... with the intention of making reparation to me..."

6. ROSARY. "Each day recite the prayers of the rosary, five decades at least -- meditating on the mysteries -- to make reparation for sin." (AKITA)

7. CONSECRATION. Consecrate yourself to the Sacred heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This means entrusting yourself to their care and protection. Wear the brown scapular as a sign.

Here is a sample consecration prayer:

I a faithless sinner renew today in Your hands the vows of my baptism. I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and his works, and I give myself entirely to Your Sacred Heart, O Lord Jesus Christ. I will carry my cross after You all the days of my life and will be more faithful to You that I have ever been before.

I choose you this day for my mother and Queen, O Blessed Virgin Mary. I deliver and consecrate to your Immaculate Heart my body and soul, my family and all those dear to me, my parish, and my country. Use us according to your good pleasure and for the greater glory of God. Amen.

A.What is the apostasy? [Webster's dictionary defines "apostasy" as "an abandoning of what one has believed in, as a faith, cause, principles, etc.] ...many are moving away today from the true faith, bringing to fulfillment the prophecy which was given to you by me at Fatima: `The times will come when many will lose the true faith.' The loss of the faith is apostasy. [406 l] ...in the letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, it is clearly announced that, before the glorious return of Christ, a great apostasy must take place...The spread of the apostasy is therefore the sign which indicates that the second coming of Christ is, as of now, close at hand. [420 d]

E.What will happen as the apostasy spreads? Your suffering will of necessity grow greater as the great apostasy spreads more and more. [122 i] ...there has now come for the Church the time of its greatest division, of the apostasy which has entered its interior, which will lead it to live through the moment of its gravest crisis, of its bloody and terrible persecution. [309 h] In appearance, everything remains calm and it seems that all is going well. In reality, [the Church] is being pervaded with an ever widening lack of faith...Many bishops, priests, religious and faithful no longer believe and have already lost the true faith in Jesus and in his Gospel. For this reason, the Church must be purified, with persecution and with blood. [332 g] People continue along the road of apostasy, of rebellion against God, of sin, of social evil, of blasphemy, of hatred and of impurity. [386 g] The Holy Spirit will make you understand the signs of your time. They are the times foretold by Holy Scripture as those of thegreat apostasy and of the coming of the Antichrist. [450 d] Apostasy will spread like an epidemic and pastors will be stricken by it along with the flocks entrusted to them. [464 e] Satan...has entered...with the smoke of error and sin, of the loss of faith and apostasy, of compromise with the world and the search for pleasure. [495 e]

F.What will happen when the apostasy reaches its greatest extent? ...this veritable apostasy from the Gospel will one day become general in the Church, before the great liberating purification. [074 q] The Church will be, as it were, submerged in error which will be embraced and propagated, and thus apostasy, which already long since has been spreading like an oil stain, will reach its peak. [147 f] In this period of ten years [from September, 1988] the mystery of iniquity, prepared for by the ever increasing spread of apostasy, will become manifest. [389 g] ...the year 1998... The apostasy will be, as of then, generalized because almost all will follow the false christ and the false church. [407 p] The Church will know the hour of its greatest apostasy. The man of iniquity will penetrate into its interior and will sit in the very Temple of God... [425 h] When this Pope will have completed the task which Jesus has entrusted to him and I will come down from heaven to receive his sacrifice, all of you will be cloaked in a dense darkness of apostasy, which will then become general. [449 f] `The day of the Lord will not come unless the great apostasy comes first.' (2 Thes 2:3) [485 h] ...when the apostasy becomes general and the man of iniquity foretold by Sacred Scripture enters Her, [it will be] he who will bring the abomination of desolation into her interior. [536 l] In the Church, the great apostasy, which will spread throughout the whole world, will be brought to its completion; the schism will take place through a general alienation from the Gospel and from the true faith. [539 i]

Perhaps the most often quoted locution received by Father Stefano Gobbi follows:

"I CONFIRM TO YOU THAT, BY THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000, THERE WILL TAKE PLACE THE TRIUMPH OF MY IMMACULATE HEART, OF WHICH I FORETOLD YOU AT FATIMA, AND THIS WILL COME TO PASS WITH THE RETURN OF JESUS IN GLORY, TO ESTABLISH HIS REIGN IN THE WORLD. THUS YOU WILL AT LAST BE ABLE TO SEE WITH YOUR OWN EYES THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH."