The crisis in the Church and
Our Lady of Fatima
“Dum autem irent emere venit sponsus et quae paratae erant intraverunt cum eo ad nuptias et clausa est ianua. Novissime veniunt et reliquae virgines dicentes domine domine aperi nobis. At ille respondens ait amen dico vobis nescio vos, vigilate itaque quia nescitis diem neque horam”
(“Now whilst they went to buy the oil, the bridegroom came: and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage. And the door was shut. But at last came also the foolish virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answering said: Amen I say to you, I know you not. Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour”)
The fragment I just read is part of the Gospel of the Mass “Common of Virgins” and it’s very appropriate to complement this first Sunday of Advent, which has a marked apocalyptic tone.
"Et Clausa est ianua” (And the door was shut)… What a terrible moment! Imagine the feeling of someone seeing the doors of heaven being shut before him or her. Standing there perhaps with the same desperation of those who saw the moment Noah closed the doors of the Ark.
But, as we know, Noah opened his arms to everyone who wanted to enter the Ark before the flood started, as the Church opens Her arms to all those who want to reach Heaven but, many people refused it, as many today refuse to hear the teachings of Christ, disregarding Him as an anachronic eccentric figure.
Now, the Count of Rivarol once said a phrase that can summarize very well the central idea of today’s liturgy: “Quando si ha ragione un giorno prima degli altri, si passa durante quelle ventiquattro ore per una persona sprovvista di senso comune” (When one is right a day before the others, he is taken during those twenty-four hours as person deprived of common sense).
There are many moments in the gospel in which Christ pronounces words that no human being would be allowed to pronounce. Words that can only come from God, because if they come simply (ex voluntate carnis) “from the will of the flesh” (as Saint John would say) they would seem to be the words of a madman.
The apocalyptic discourse of St. Luke that we hear today has its roots in the Divine Power of Christ and in His power to reign as universal King. The coherence of His doctrine, His admirable life “full of Grace and Truth”, His miracles, His singular death and His glorious resurrection prove to us that He was not a man deprived of common sense, but He who came to enlighten the human nature that had become permanently dominated by the power of the Ancient Beast, who subjected the human being to a destiny far inferior to that which God had planned for him.
Today, the Church reminds us through the Scriptures that Christ will also fulfill His promise to return. His Second Advent will no longer be to bring a message but to judge the nations, and to give each one what corresponds to him. The One who came as a Lamb will return as a Lion. For this reason, despite the fact that the heavens at that moment will be shaken, Our Lord insists by saying “rejoice” because your liberation is near. Advent is certainly a penitential time, but also a time for us to rejoice in the Justice of God, in the fact that one day He will fulfill His promise of receiving into the Celestial Kingdom those who persevered in the Church and will tell those who refuse to enter the most terrible and frightening words a person can have the disgrace of hearing from the Lord: “Amen dico vobis nescio vos”(“Amen I say to you, I know you not”).
And today we see this Divine Judgment described in this gospel in two ways, the first related to the judgment of Jerusalem and the second pointing to the Universal Judgment. These two sections correspond to the prophetic language of the type / anti-type.
The Lord says that “then there will be great earthquakes in various places, and pestilence and famine, and terrors from heaven, and great signs.” “Immediately, after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will be dyed with the color of blood and the stars will fall from heaven”. The sun in Sacred Scripture is the symbol of religious truth, the doctrine, the moon of the natural world, what is mundane in opposition to what is spiritual (not in vain, the silver color of the moon is always related to witchcraft and paganism).
Decades ago, when Our Lady appeared in Fatima, a miracle happened that caused fear in all people present there, and that miracle was the Miracle of the Sun.
Even newspapers published testimonies from witnesses who said that they had seen extraordinary solar activity, such as the Sun appearing to “dance” or zig-zag in the sky, advance towards the Earth, and be overshadowed looking like silver color.
Many witnesses reported that after a period of rain, the dark clouds parted, revealing the Sun as an opaque, spinning disc in the sky. It was described as being significantly duller than usual. The Sun was then reported to have careened towards the Earth before zig-zagging back to its normal position. Witnesses reported that their previously wet clothes became “suddenly and completely dry, as well as the wet and muddy ground that had been previously soaked because of the rain that had been falling”. Not all witnesses reported seeing the Sun “dance”. Some people only saw the change of color of the sun. A number of people saw nothing.
A lawyer present at that time called Almeida Garrett said: “The sun’s disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible.”
A priest called Joaquim Lourenço reported “I feel incapable of describing what I saw. I looked fixedly at the sun, which seemed pale and did not hurt my eyes. Looking like a ball of snow, revolving on itself, it suddenly seemed to come down in a zig-zag, menacing the earth. Terrified, I ran and hid myself among the people, who were weeping and expecting the end of the world at any moment.”
Anyhow, there are many more reports that can be found in several books about Fatima, but, I’m inclined to think that what Our Lady was trying to communicate wasn’t only the magnificence and power of God over creation, but a visual message accompanying the verbal one She gave to the little shepherds: “The fear you are experiencing now when you think the sun will fall, is the same fear people will experience in the future when they will see their spiritual sun (the Doctrine of the Church, their whole faith) looking like it’s about to fall, eclipsed by a mundane silver color (an Argentinian color). Some people will see everything, some people will see only that mundane color disfiguring and obnubilating the doctrine and some people will see nothing. St. Joseph will also be there protecting the Church like he always did, and, if you persevere watching and praying, God will restore your clothes and give again to the faithful the dignity of dry clothes as He gave to Adam and Eve dignified clothing after the fall”. In any case, this is just my personal interpretation.
In conclusion, a few days ago someone told me: “Father, I do not understand how people cannot see what is happening” … I don’t understand either … nor did the Apostle understand it and that´s why he called it: The mystery of iniquity. Our mission is to be attentive to the signs of the times (“Vigilate itaque” – “Watch ye therefore”) and keep fighting with courage for the truth despite the troubles, fear and sufferings, remembering always that on the search for truth depends the individual salvation of man.
"Militia est vita hominis super terram”. (Man’s life upon the earth is a continuous military campaign.)
