The incorruptible bodies of the Saints

The incorruptibility of the Saints is a miraculous phenomenon whereby the human body is not subjected to the natural process of decomposition after death, and is suspended from decay either temporarily or permanently through the Divine Will of God. This condition is not dependent upon the manner of burial, the temperature and place of burial or entombment, or any other external influence including embalmment or other preservation methods. There are currently several hundred documented cases of incorruptible persons in the Catholic church, many of which (but certainly not all) are canonized Saints or Blesseds.

A recent case of incorruption in a modern day Saint is perhaps the best example for the reader of these lines, as the circumstances surrounding it were documented using modern methods and tests.

St. Charbel Makhlouf (sometimes spelled Sharbel) was born in 1828 in Biqa-Kafra in the high mountains of Northern Lebanon and was given the name of Joseph by his humble farming parents, and was the youngest of five children. From his early childhood he displayed from a strong attraction to prayer and solitude. Despite the displeasure of his family he left home at the age of 23 to join the Leb¬anese Catholic Maronite Order. He was sent to the Monastery of St. Maroun where he pronounced his Vows in 1853 after two years of novitiate. The name he was given, Charbel, was that of a martyr of the Christian faith who died in AD.121.

Having received a thorough theological education in a seminary of the order, he was ordained a priest on July 23, 1859 and was reassigned to the Monastery of St. Maroun, Lebanon, where he spent the next 16 years as a monk in the practice of monastic virtues. In 1875 he received permission from his superiors to live a solitary life a short distance from the monastery in a hermitage named after Ss. Peter and Paul, which was used by priests during days of quiet personal retreat. In this secluded sanctuary he spent the remaining 23 years of his life in sacrifice and bodily mortifications.

The hermitage cabin was very basic shelter, and his existence there was full of hardships. Additionally, it is recorded by his companions that he wore both a hair shirt and a chain belt. His bed was composed of oak leaves covered with a palliasse; his pillow was merely a piece of wood rolled up in the end of a soutane. His prie-dieu was a cluster of sticks covered in the same way by a piece of a soutane.
St. Charbel was most noted for his extraordinary devotion to the Holy Eucharist.

His daily Mass was celebrated at about 11:00 each morning so that the morning hours could be spent in preparation for the Mass and the rest of the day was spent in thanksgiving. He is known to have performed several miracles during his life. He once saved his brothers from a poisonous snake by ordering it to vanish; he recited his Divine Office by the light of a lamp which a brother purposely filled with water instead of oil; he cured a madman by reciting a prayer while imposing his hands upon him; and once, on the orders of his superiors, he saved their farming lands from a scourge of grasshoppers by sprinkling the fields with holy water.

In 1898, on December 16, while at the Elevation of the Host during Mass, he suffered an apoplectic stroke from which he never recovered. Eight days later, on Christmas Eve, at the age of 70, the saint died, having been a priest for 39 years. According to monastic tradition, the body was not embalmed, but was dressed in a simple cassock and was placed in the monastery chapel for 24 hours. The body was then conveyed to the monks' burial chamber in the presence of his confreres and village folk who had braved the snow and cold to witness the interment.

The burial chamber consisted of a large subterranean room located partially beneath the high altar of the chapel and extending eastward to an area beneath the monastery garden. Those who descended into this chamber found the ground covered with rainwater that converted the floor into a veritable swamp. In view of this situation the body was not laid on the ground as was customary, but was placed on two planks which did not prevent the water and mud from encroaching upon and subsequently submerging it. The entrance to the vault was closed with a great stone.

The villagers who lived in houses facing the monastery saw a great light over the tomb the night following the burial, a phenomenon that recurred for 45 nights. This apparition of light, together with the enthusiasm of the Faithful, encouraged the ecclesiastical authorities to open the tomb and transfer the remains to a grave more accessible to the villagers who wished to pray beside it.

The tomb was subsequently opened on April 15, 1899 in the presence of the community and 10 witnesses who had been present at the burial four months earlier. They were unanimous in testifying that the water had undermined the burial ground, turning the tomb into a quagmire, and that the monk's body was actually floating on the mud.

When the body was cleaned it was found perfectly incorrupt, the muscles supple, with the hair of his head and beard intact. At this time it was also noticed that a serum mixed with blood seeped from the pores. They placed the body in a wooden coffin that was glassed on top, and carried it into a small monastic oratory. From then on, because of the great amount of blood seeping from the body, the clothing of the saint was changed twice weekly. News of the phenomenon prompted ever in-creasing numbers of visitors who for 27 years were permitted to view and touch the body.
Among the men of medicine who examined the body was Dr. Elias Elonaissi who declared on November 16, 1921:

"I observed that the pores emitted a matter like sweat; a strange and inexplicable thing according to the laws of nature, for this body that has been dead for so many years. I have renewed the same examination many times, at different periods; the phenomenon has always been the same."

Another physician, Dr. George Choukrallah, examined the body a total of 24 times during 17 years and declared:

"I have always been astonished at its state of preservation and especially this reddish liquid exuded by it. .. My personal opinion based on study and experience, is that this body is preserved by a supernatural power."

The phenomenon is more astounding when one considers that in 1918, following a simple autopsy, the body was exposed on the terrace during the heat of summer for three months without initiating decomposition nor drying the source of the fluid.

When the authorities of the order petitioned Rome for the beatification, a solemn reburial was conducted. After being dressed in sacerdotal vestments and the monastic hood the body was placed in a new coffin of wood covered with zinc. Various documents were composed by physicians, a notary and superiors of the order, and were placed in a zinc tube which was placed beside the body before the coffin was sealed with the Episcopal crest. Burial was in a new tomb specially prepared in the wall of an oratory.

During February of the Holy Year 1950, pilgrims in the chapel noticed that a watery fluid streamed from a corner of the tomb and coursed its way onto the floor of the chapel. The fluid was traced to a corner of the casket where the liquid was seen dripping through a small crack. Twenty-three years after being placed in this tomb, the body was again examined in the presence of numerous authorities and was found completely free of any trace of corruption and was perfectly flexible and lifelike.

The sweat of liquid and blood continued to exude from the body, and the garments were found stained with blood, the white content of the fluid having collected on the body in an almost solidified condition. Part of the chasuble had rotted and the zinc tube containing the official documents was covered with corrosion. The remains were later en-tombed in the same location.

The holy monk was beatified December 6, 1965 and was canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 9,1977, a day on which several miraculous cures took place at the new saint's shrine. Since the 1950 examination and especially since the beatification and canonization the number of pilgrims to the shrine has been so great as to be inestimable.

For 67 years the remains of the saint remained perfectly preserved and exuded a blood fluid described by all accounts as being supernaturally sustained and preserved of any corruption, but the body was found at the time of the beatification in 1965 to have complied with the laws of nature. Only bones were found and these of an inexplicable reddish color and during this time the flow of the fluid had ceased.

Still in existence is the poor stone house of the saint's birth, his hermit's cell which has been turned into a shrine, the altar on which he offered his last Mass, and many small articles such as his chalice, crucifix, crude table utensils and bowls.


Miracles through the intercession of Saint Charbel
Many well-authenticated miracles have been performed at the shrine. After the exhumation of 1950, the monastery began keeping records of the miracles and with in a two-year period had collected over twelve hundred reports.

Two of the cures acknowledged as being miraculous and accepted by Pope Paul VI as the required miracles for the beatification occurred during 1950. The first involved Sr. Maria Abel Kawary, S.S.C.C., who suffered for fourteen years from a gastric ulcer which neither surgery nor medication could cure or relieve. Unable to eat and compelled to stay in bed, she was in such grave condition that she was given the Last Rites of the Church three different times. After fervent prayers at the tomb of St. Charbel, she was completely and spontaneously cured. The doctor who examined the nun after the miraculous cure recorded it as "a supernatural happening which is beyond man's power to explain."

The second miracle accepted by the Sacred Congregation occurred to Mr. Alessandro Obeid, who was blinded when the retina of his eye was torn when it was struck by the branch of a tree. His sight was miraculously restored at the tomb, and he was privileged to see his heavenly benefactor in a vision. The physician who had treated Mr. Obeid during his blindness and who examined the effects of the miracle attributed the cure to an "Almighty Will which operated only by divine grace. There is no other explanation and it is certain that we have seriously sought an explanation without finding one."

Probably the most startling and frequently mentioned miracle involved a fifty-year-old seamstress, Miss Mountaha Daher of Bekassin, Lebanon. Since childhood she had been the object of ridicule because of a disfiguring hunchback, which several doctors could not reduce. Her cure was obtained after a visit to the tomb, during which she prayed not for herself, but for certain needy relatives. Her physician testified that he had examined her many times before the cure and declared that besides the deformity of the huge hump she had other deformities, including a "chicken-breast" and misshapen shoulders. The figure of the woman after the cure was of normal proportions.

The Holy Stigmata: Friend or Foe?

Miracles of the Saints: The holy Stigmata

The stigmata is the wounds of Jesus inflicted by God upon the body of the saint-mystic-victim soul. They consist of the five wounds of Jesus which are the nail wounds in the hands and feet, along with the wound in the side, next to the heart. They can be either visible or invisible. The main purpose of the stigmata is so the saint may suffer in union with Jesus for the conversion of sinners, that is, for the redemption of humanity. Those who bear the stigmata are then “co-redeemers” with Christ, as they, with their limited human capabilities, share in His sufferings and participate in a special way in His Redemption. Simply put, victim souls make reparation for sin and do penance for all those who don't. And through their sufferings in union with Jesus they lead souls to God, by obtaining the graces that certain souls need to turn to God. They participate in and live the Passion of Jesus in their body and souls, for the conversion of sinners.

For the Apostle St Paul says in his letter to the Colossians “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's sufferings for the sake of his body, that is, the church."(Colossians 1:24).
While St Francis of Assisi is commonly believed to be the first Saint to have been given the stigmata (on September 14, 1224), there are some scripture scholars who believe that St Paul himself may have been the first to have borne it, for in Galations 6:17 Paul himself states: "From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."
And furthermore, in the Acts of the Apostles we read: "...And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them." (Acts 19:11)
It is suggested that these hankerchiefs were blood soaked from the wounds of Paul's stigmata. As most Catholics know, many in the church follow this practice today with the veneration of the relics of the Saints.

A modern case of the Stigmata
Certainly a very recent and probaly one of the best documented cases of the stigmata would be that of the Italian Saint Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) who also happens to be this writers favorite Saint! Gemma was an extraordinary saint who loved Jesus with all her heart and soul. At an early age she had an remarkable piety, and Jesus began giving her interior locutution at age 7. At age 20 she was miraculously cured of spinal meningitis through the heavenly intercession of another saint- Gabriel Possenti C.P.(who at that time was declared Venerable) who miraculously appeared to Gemma each night and encouraged her to make a Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. One year later she was given the stigmata by Jesus in the prescence of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her guardian Angel

One day after Holy Communion, shortly after her miraculous cure, Jesus said to her: "Courage Gemma! I await you on Calvary on the Mount that I shall show you!"
The suffering through which she had passed during her illness had purified her soul, and the hour was approaching in which she would realize the nature of her vocation. It was June 8th, 1899, the vigil of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. That morning after Holy Communion Jesus revealed to her that in the evening of that day He would give her an extraordinary grace. She went at once to tell her confessor, and then confession to receive absolution, that she might be prepared as much as possible for what Jesus was to do next. Then, with her soul flooded with a wonderful sense of peace and joy, she returned home.

Gemma herself will relate what happened on this night:
"It was Thursday evening, the vigil of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Suddenly, more quickly indeed than usual, I felt a piercing sorrow for my sins; but so intense that I have never since experienced the like again. The sorrow was so great that I thought I must die. After that I felt all the powers of my soul in recollection. My intellect knew nothing except my sins and offences against God; my memory recalled each one, and made me see all the torments Jesus had endured to save me. My will moved me to detest them and be willing to suffer anything in expiation. A world of thoughts surged through my mind; thoughts of sorrow, love, fear, hope and encouragement.

"This was quickly followed by a rapture, and I found myself in the presence of my heavenly Mother, with my guardian angel on her right. He commanded me to make an act of contrition, and when I had done so my Mom said to me: 'Daughter, in the name of Jesus I forgive you all your sins,' and added, 'Jesus, my Son, loves you very much, and wishes to give you a grace. Would you know how to become worthy of it?'

In my misery I knew not what to answer. Then She continued: 'I will be a mother to you; will you show yourself a true daughter?' And after saying this She opened her mantle and covered me with it. At that instant Jesus appeared with all His wounds open; but blood no longer issued from those wounds, but flames of fire. In an instant those flames came and touched my hands, feet and heart. I felt I was dying and should have fallen had not my Mom held me up, I remaining all the while covered with her mantle, and thus I remained for several hours. Afterwards my Mom kissed me on the forehead, then everything vanished and I found myself kneeling on the ground, but still feeling intense pain in my hands, feet and heart. I got up to go to bed and saw blood flowing from those places where I felt the pain. I covered them up as best I could and then, with the help of my guardian angel, got into bed." [From the "Autobiography of St Gemma Galgani"]

This event took place on the first floor of a house numbered thirteen in the Via del Biscione in the parish of S. Pietro Somaldi, where Gemma was living with her family. "We point to this house with singular affection," writes her confessor, Venerable Father Germano, "because we believe one day it will be as memorable as La Verna, where St. Francis received the Stigmata."

The following morning Gemma arose early and, despite the intense pain she was enduring, went to church as usual to receive Holy Communion, putting on gloves to hide the wounds in her hands. She came home perplexed. How could she conceal what had happened to her? But perhaps it was nothing exceptional, but a gift bestowed by God on all who had consecrated themselves by vow to Him. What should she do? Finally she went to her aunt and said: "Aunt, just look at what Jesus has done to me!"

The aunt, although she had for some time felt there was something quite exceptional about Gemma, looked at her in amazement, and could not make out what had happened.
"The phenomenon always began in the way Gemma has herself described, and there is little to add to her account of it," says Ven. Father Germano, who further writes in his "Life of St Gemma Galgani": "...From that day it continued to repeat itself, on the same day and hour of each week, that is, from Thursday evening towards eight o'clock and continued till three o'clock on Friday afternoon. No preparation preceded it, no sense of pain or impression of any sort in those parts of the body announced that it was imminent, except the recollection of spirit which preceded the ecstasy.

"Scarcely had this begun when suddenly red marks appeared on the backs and palms of both hands, and under the epidermis a rent in the flesh opened by degrees, oblong on the back of the hands and irregularly round in the palms. A little after and the membrane itself was pierced, and on those innocent hands the flesh wounds were seen, about half an inch in diameter in the palms, and on the back of the hands about five-eighths of an inch long by one-eighth of an inch wide. [Here Ven. Father Germano remarks: "I greatly marvelled at the crescent form of this opening so unusual in other stigmatics until I read the life of the Venerable Diomira of Florence, who had a wound similar to that of Gemma, according to the sworn testimony of medical men, and other eye-witnesses."]

"Sometimes the laceration appeared only on the surface; at others it was scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, but more often was very deep, and ap¬peared to pass through the hand, the openings on both sides touching each other. I say seemed to pass, because these openings were full of blood, partly flowing and partly congealed and when the flow of blood ceased, they closed immediately .... In her feet, besides the wounds being large and livid around the edges, the size of the opening was the reverse of that of the hands, that is larger on the instep and smaller on the sole of the foot. Moreover, the wound on the instep of the right foot was as large as that on the sole of the left. Thus it would have been with our Saviour if both His feet had been fastened to the Cross by a single nail…

"Now we come to the wound in Gemma's side. It had the form of a half-moon in a horizontal direction, with the two ends turned upwards. Its length in a straight line was quite two inches, its width at the centre a quarter of an inch."
"The flow of blood from this wound was so abundant that her underclothing was saturated by it. The humble virgin did what she could to hide it by using manifold linen cloths, which she repeatedly applied to her side; in less than an hour they were saturated, and she hastened to conceal them so as to wash them in secret.'

Gemma herself describes her experience on one occasion thus: "This morning. . . I felt my senses leaving me. To the pain at my heart was added an acute anguish in all my members. Before all and above all was my sorrow for sin. What excruciating pain! Had it been greater I would have died, and I can say the same of the wound which I received. My heart could no longer bear the restraint, and began to send forth blood in abundance."

One of those who lived with Gemma declared upon oath that the blood from her side alone, unless it had been stopped, would have flowed down to the ground. The same can be said of the wounds in her hands and feet. Her spiritual director, Father Germano continues: "The blood was fresh, of a rich colour, such as flows from a newly opened wound, and so it remained, even after it had dried upon the skin, the clothing and the floor."

"The disappearance of the wounds was no less remarkable, for as soon as the ecstasy on Friday was over the flow of blood from all five wounds ceased, the raw flesh healed, and by the following day, or at latest by Sunday, not a trace of those wounds remained. Only the places where the wounds had been showed a whitish colour which indicated where they had been the day before." [From the "Life of St Gemma Galgani" by Venerable Father Germano, C.P.

These supernatural manifestations continued every Thursday and Friday, until prohibited by her directors, and after her death, although the stigmata had ceased for two years, these white marks were distinctly visible, especially upon her feet.

Levitation and Flying Ecstacies of the Saints

Levitation is one of the most frequently mentioned phenomena in the lives of the Saints. Many more Saints have experienced this marvel in addition to those who will be mentioned below. Some more notable Saints are St Benedict Joseph Labre, St. Angela of Brescia, St. Antoinette of Florence, St. Arey, St. Peter Celestine, St. Colette, St. Margaret of Hungary, St. Stephen of Hungary, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Joseph Oriol, Bl. Bentivolio Buoni, St Francis of Paola, St. John of St. Facond and St Martin de Porres.

St Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663)
Certainly one of the Saints who is best known for levitating during prayer is St. Joseph of Cupertino, who experienced so many levitations that were witnessed by his brothers in the Franciscan Order and others that he is regarded as the patron saint airplane passengers. In Fr. Angelo Pastrovicchi's official biography of the Saint, which was first published in 1767, the author states that:
“Not only during the sixteen years of the Saint's stay at Grottella, but during his whole life, these ecstasies and flights were so frequent, as attested in the acts of the Process of beatification, that for more than thirty-five years his superiors would not permit him to take part in the exercises in the choir and the refectory or in processions, lest he disturb the community."

St Joseph was often enraptured into remarkable levitations, often being carried away by God for some distances. In the records of his official beatification process [Acta Sanctorum], seventy of his levitations and ecstatic flights are recorded.

One Christmas Eve the Saint invited some shepherds to join in celebrating the birth of the Saviour. When they started to play bagpipes and flutes, the Saint let out a cry of joy and flew a considerable distance through the air to the high altar. He remained in his rapture about a quarter of an hour. Although he was in the air leaning over several lighted candles, his garments were not affected. As usual, all present were astounded by the miracle.

During a profession ceremony at Cupertino, the Saint, dressed in a surplice, suddenly rose to the height of the pulpit and remained for some time with outstretched arms and bent knees. -Imagine the amazement of the religious and the congregation! One Holy Thursday, while praying before a representation of the holy sepulchre which was situated above the high altar and lit with many candles and lamps, the Saint rose in the air and flew to the altar. Without touching any of the decorations, he remained for a time until the superior ordered his return.
Another time on hearing a priest say: "Father Joseph, how beautiful God has made Heaven," the Saint flew up and "rested" on the top branches of an olive tree. He remained there in a kneeling posi¬tion for half an hour while the branch which "supported" him swayed as lightly as if a small bird had perched on it."

Once while passing through Monopoli on his way to Naples, he was led by his fellow religious to the church of the monastery to see a new statue of St. Anthony of Padua. After spotting it from a distance, he suddenly flew to the statue and then returned to his former place. After the Inquisition heard of these marvels, they felt the need to investigate and commanded that the Saint say Mass in their presence at the Church of St. Gregory of Armenia, which belonged to the nuns of St. Ligorio. Suddenly the Saint rose with a loud cry from a corner and while praying, flew to the altar. He remained standing in the air, bending over the flowers and lighted candles with his arms spread in the form of a cross. The nuns cried in alarm that he would catch fire, but he returned to the floor unharmed.

Certainly the most prominent witnesses to the Saint's levitations was Pope Urban VIII. During the Saint's first stay in Rome he went with the Father General to visit the Pope. While bending over the feet of the Pontiff the Saint became enraptured and rose in the air until the Father General commanded that he return. The Pope marveled at the phenomenon and told the Father General that he himself would bear witness to the occurrence should the Saint die during his pontificate.

To satisfy the curiosity of the Spanish Ambassador to the Papal Court and his wife who went to Assisi on purpose to see St. Joseph, the Saint was told by Fr. Custos to go into the church and visit Our Lady's statue. Upon entering the church he looked toward the statue of the Immaculate Conception on an altar, and flew over the heads of those present, and remained in the air at the feet of the statue. After a few moments he flew back and then retired to his cell."

Occasionally the Saint's raptures lasted six or seven hours. A peculiar aspect was that, when a rapture overtook him at Holy Mass, he always resumed where he had left off. Another unusual aspect is that his garments were never disturbed during his many flights whether he travelled forward or backward, up or down. St Joseph of Cupertino was so on fire with the love of God that one could almost always draw him into an ecstatic levitation by simply speaking of the adorable love of God or the Blessed Virgin Mary, or causing him to contemplate a picture of Jesus or Mary.

St Gerard Majella (1726-1755)
Like St Joseph of Cupertino, St Gerard Majella was often enraptured into remarkable levitations, often being drawn away by God for some distances. It was sufficient for St Gerard Majella to think of the perfections of God, to contemplate the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity or that of the Incarnation, to cast his eyes upon a crucifix or a picture of the Blessed Virgin, to be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament or even some wonder of creation.

The following are a few examples:
Gerard, intending to spend some days at Oliveto, received hospitality at the house of the archpriest Don Salvadore. One morning, Holy Mass was about to begin, and Gerard, who desired to communicate at it, did not appear. They called him, they knocked at his door, but there was no answer. At last they entered and found the seraphic brother kneeling in ecstasy, a crucifix in his right hand, the left hand laid on his breast, his face pale, his eyes half-closed. For more than half an hour, the household of the archpriest gazed in admiration at the ravishing spectacle.

This hospitable home had already been witness of a still more remarkable ecstasy, in which the servant of God was suspended without support in the air. It had taken place on the very morning of his arrival at Oliveto. Gerard had withdrawn to his room to pray. At the dinner hour, the archpriest went himself to invite him to dinner. But to his astonishment he found the brother ravished in ecstasy and raised about three feet from the ground. Filled with amazement, he withdrew, but returning shortly after, he found him in the same state. The whole household, all witnesses to the extraordinary event, unable to sit down to dinner, awaited the guest with tears of emotion. At last he appeared, his face all inflamed. "Please do not wait for me," he said to the archpriest. "I do not wish to inconvenience you." To preserve the memory of this rapture, the archpriest marked on the wall of the room the height to which he had seen the Saint elevated.

A similar prodigy was seen by all the people at Corato. On Good Friday, 1753, a picture representing Jesus Christ Crucified was carried in procession. When the procession entered the church of the Benedictines, Gerard was already inside engaged in prayer. As soon as he perceived the sacred image of the Saviour, an ecstatic transport seized him, and before the eyes of all, he was elevated to a considerable height from the ground, his eyes fixed on the picture.

Yet another occasion is the account of a blind beggar who lived in Caposele who played most charmingly on the flute. Seeing him one day at the gate of the convent, Gerard begged him to play a well-known Italian song: "In all things, oh my God, I wish your Will, not my own." Immediately, a rapture of divine love seized upon the holy religious, and he began to leap, repeating the words: "Your Will, oh my God, and not mine!" Then, suddenly raising his eyes toward Heaven, he was elevated in the air with the swiftness of an arrow, and there remained for some time ravished in ecstasy.

This reversal of the laws of gravity, this super natural agility, took the shape even of an ecstatic flight. Gerard was returning one day to Iliceto with two young companions. As they were passing before a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, he turned the conversation to that tender and compassionate Mother. Then he took a pencil and wrote, I know not what, on a scrap of paper, which he tossed up in the air as if it were a letter. At the same moment, his two companions beheld him rise in the air and fly with the rapidity and lightness of a bird to a distance of over three quarters of a mile. Afterwards, they never ceased to recount this prodigious fact of which they had been witnesses.

There were other times that the servant of God was favored with ecstatic flight. A pious person named Rosaria loved to relate that she had seen him one day carried up like a feather through the air, his arms extended. He flew thus for over three quarters of a mile, hastening to the convent to which he was called, no doubt, by some exercise of Rule or some desire of the Superior.

It is an intense love for God that draws the Saints ever closer to Him. In the last months of his life, Gerard sometimes heaved such sighs as to attract upon himself looks of astonishment. Father Cajone reproved him for thus drawing attention to himself, at which Gerard took the good Fathers hand and laid it upon his heart. The beating was so violent that after a few moments the Father asked him then how he was able to thus endure it. On a similar occasion, Gerard said to Dr. Santorelli, “If I were on a mountain, it seems to me that I would set fire to the world with these flames of love” then he took the Doctors hand and placed it upon his heart, which was beating with an unheard of fury, as if it were about to leap out of his breast.

St Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
St Paul of the Cross, the holy founder of the Passionists was in the town of Latera, in the diocese of Montefiascone, and was in the sacristy of a church speaking with other priests when he became so inflamed with the love of God that he rose in the air, to the complete astonishment of his witnesses. Another time he was in a town on the isle of Elba giving a mission when, at the most fervent part of his sermon, he walked off the platform, through the air and over the heads of the people and then returned as though nothing unusual had taken place. One can only imagine the emotions felt by those who had witnessed such an unexpected display of the supernatural.

During the last years of his life the Saint was sitting in the sacristy of Sts. John and Paul Church in Rome and absorbed in holy conversation with a number of people when, as the deposition states:
"He began, according to his custom, to have his countenance lighted up, brilliant rays flashing from his face; then his whole body began to tremble; then, as I believe, he perceived that he was losing the control of his senses, he clung with both his hands to the arms of the chair, and leaned his shoulders on the back of it; as soon as he had done this, he began to rise, together with the chair, and that to such a height, that I think he must have risen at least to the height of five or six feet...in this state he continued a very long time in most sublime contemplation. Finally he returned to himself, and, as the rapture passed away, a slight tremor took place all over his body, and gradually the servant of God, with the chair, descended and rested on the ground."

St Gemma Galgani (1878-1903)
In more recent times there is also the story in the extraordinary life of St Gemma Galgani [the webmaster's favorite Saint!] when on a certain day Gemma was adoring Jesus on the crucifix while she was going about her household chores, when all of a sudden Jesus on the Cross came alive, and with one hand beckoned Gemma to come to Him, and then in a moment of love and joy, Gemma was raised off the ground and taken to Jesus, and embraced Him in an ecstasy of love. Those interested can read the entire story of Gemma's ecstatic flight to Jesus on the crucifix here.
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"My Mother [the Blessed Virgin Mary] is very different. If I bring Her flowers, She says She does not want them. If I offer Her cherries, She will not take them. When I ask Her then what She desires, She replies: 'I desire your heart, for I live on hearts.' -St Joseph of Cupertino

Saint Charbel- Saint from Lebanon

Biography

1.The Birth of Saint CHARBEL :
Youssef Antoun MAKHLOUF was born on May 8, 1828 in BKAAKAFRA (North Lebanon) from Maronite parents. They are Antoun Zaarour MAKHLOUF and Brigitta CHIDIAC. He has two brothers: John & Beshara, and two sisters: Kawn & Wardeh. Youssef was grown-up on Christian beliefs which made him infatuated with prayers since his childhood. He was inclined to hermit & monk kind of life, following the path of his hermit uncles who were living in solitary in the hermitage of Saint Antonius of Kozhayah, where they handed him the championship torch of virtues.
His father passed away on August 8, 1831 in Gherfin, it is a village near AMCHIT, on his way back home after he was working in corvée for the Turkish Army, so his mother raised him as an orphan. Then she was married to Lahoud Ibrahim who became the priest of the parish, choosing the name ABDELAHAD.
Youssef studied the principals of Arabic & Syriac in the school of the village. He was very pious, to the extent that his co-villagers used to call him the “Saint”. He used to take his small herd daily to the prairies and then he would go to a grotto where he would kneel in front of the Virgin Mary Icon and pray and so this grotto became his alter and his first hermit which became later a chapel for prayer and pilgrimage for believers.


2. His joining the Lebanese Maronite Order :
On the morning of one day in the year 1851, Youssef left his parents and his village. He headed for Lady of Mayfouk monastery in the aim of becoming a monk where he spent his first preparatory year and then he went to St. Maroun’s monastery-Annaya, where he joined the Corps of the Lebanese Maronite Order, choosing the name Charbel, one of the martyrs of the second century in the Antioch Church. On the first of November in the year 1853, he revealed his monastic vows in the same monastery. He was then well informed of the precise obligations of these vows: obeying, chastity & poverty.
He continued his theological studies in the Monastery of saint Kouberyanous & Justina, Kfifan-Batroun, under the care of his teacher the saint Nehemtallah Kassab Elhardiny, who was the ideal for the monks and a living image of the great Sanctified Monks in his private & public life.
On July 23, 1859 Brother Charbel MAKHLOUF was ordained a priest in BKERKY, by puCopyright Imagetting the hand of the triple-merciful Archbishop Youssef ElMarid, Vicar of the Maronite Patriarchy.

3. His life in Saint Maroun’s Monastery-Annaya and in St Peter & Paul hermitage :
Father Charbel lived in St. Maroun’s Monastery-Annaya for a period of sixteen years. He was obedient to his superiors, sticking to his monkhood law precisely. He was ruthless on himself by living strict austerity and mortification. He denounced all worldly materials in the earthly life, to go to serve his Lord and the salvation of his soul.
During the year 1875 God inspired father Charbel to live in hermitage in St. Peter & Paul which belongs to St. Maroun’s Monastery-Annaya, in spite of the fact that the superiors usually, do not allow seclusion in the hermit easily. While the father superior was hesitating, he received a sign from heaven visualized by the miracle of the lamp. As one night, Priest Charbel asked the servant to fill the lamp with oil, but instead of oil he filled it with water. But the lamp gave light ordinarily. This miracle opened the sequence of the Charbelite’s miracles, and approached the day destined for the hermit to go to his desired secluded home.
On Feb. 15, 1875 priest Charbel moved definitively to the Hermit, where he was the ideal as a saint and a hermit, spending his time in silence, prayer, worship and manual labor in the fields. He never left the Hermit except in a permission of his superior. He followed the life path of the Saints hermit fathers, kneeling on a dish of canes in front of the Eucharist, whispering to it and inebriate by it throughout the nights.
He spent 23 years in the hermit, dedicating himself to the service of his Lord, applying the rules of hermits with precision and full consciousness.
During the holy ceremony on December 16, 1898 he was struck by hemiplegia, and entered in a duel with the illness which remained for 8 days, during which he endured the terrible pains of struggle with death calmly, silently in spite of the severe aches. In his struggle Father Charbel continued his prayers which he could not finish in the mass: “Father of righteousness, here is Your son a pleasing sacrifice!...” he would repeat as well the names of Jesus & Mary St Joseph and Peter & Paul the Patron Saints of the hermit
The spirit of St Charbel flew free, liberated going back to the dwelling of the Lord, just like the return of the drop of dew to the wider ocean, on the 24th of December 1898, on Christmas Eve. He was buried in the burial area of St Maroun’s Monastery- Annaya.


4. The mysterious light radiating from his tomb :
After his death spiritual lights radiated from his tomb the reason for which his corpse which was perspiring sweat & blood; was transferred into a special coffin, after the permission of the Maronite patriarchate, and he was placed in a new tomb, inside the monastery. At that point groups of Pilgrims flocked soliciting his intercession. God blessed many of these by healing them and endowing them by other spiritual blessings.
In the year 1925, a petition was raised to canonize him and declare his sanctity before his Beatitude Pope Bios XI, by father superior Ighnatious Dagher Tannoury, & his Vicar father Martinous Tarabay, where his plea was accepted as well as father Nehemtallah Kassab Elhardidni and Sister Rafca Elrayess in the year 1927. In 1950 the grave of St. Charbel was opened, in the presence of the Official Committee & Certified Doctors. They verified the wholeness of the corpse, and they wrote a medical report and put it in a box inside the coffin.
All of a sudden, the healing happenings increased numerously & in an amazing way. Tens of thousands of pilgrims of different sects and rites flocked Annaya monastery requesting the intercession of the Saint.

5. The prevailing of virtues and miracles of Saint Cahrbel world wide :
St. Charbel mCopyright Imageiracles surpassed the boarders of Lebanon, and the Letters and reports kept in St. Maroun’s Monastery – Annaya are lucid evidence on the widespread of his sanctity all over the world. This unique phenomenon induced a comeback to good morals and a return to faith and a revival of virtues in the souls of people, and St Charbel Graveyard the center of attraction to all people of different social class and ages, and all became equal before him by prayers and piety, with no separation in religion or rite or sect. For him they are all called the Sons of God.
But the curing registered in the records of St Maroun’s Monastery – Annaya achieved by God thru the intercession of Saint Cahrbel exceeds tens of thousands, excluding the healings widespread Worldwide to all colors, religions and sects, and these are not registered in the Monastery records. Ten percent on the curing were done to those not even baptized, and each cure was done in a different way, either by prayer and requesting intercession, or by oil & scent, or by the oak leaves of the hermit, or from the soil taken from his graveyard, or by visiting his grave and just touching the door of his tomb, or through his icon or statue.
Some of these healings were on the physical level, but the most important is the spiritual healing of how many repentant returned to his God by the intercession of St. Charbel, just by the first step into the threshold of St. Maroun’s Monestary- Annaya or the hermit of St. Peter & Paul.

Sancti Reliquae

Relic Information
arca mortuaria - mortuary box, container
arca sepulerali- coffin/
breviario - breviary
coronse spinse D.N.J.C. - crown of thorns of Our Lord Jesus Christ
corporis (cravio) - body
D.N.J.C. (Domini Nostri Jesu Christi) - Our Lord Jesus Christ
de velo - from the veil
ex bireto - from the biretta
ex capillus - from the hair
ex carne - from the flesh
ex cilicium - from the cilicium, an instrument of penance
ex cineribus - from the ashes
ex crypta - from the cave or grotto (also modern-day crypts, Mausoleums, or vault-crypts inside churches)
ex domo - from the house
ex inducio - from covering
*ex indumentis - pieces of cloth that has touched a 1st or 2nd class Relic
*ex indumento - from the clothing
ex ligneo pulvere, mixto pulveri corporis, quem residuum continebat prima
capsa funeralis - from the remains of the wood, mixed with the dust
of the body, the residue of which was contained in the first box,
(or sarcophagus)
ex ossibus - from the bones
ex palio - from the cloak
ex pelle - from the skin
ex pluviali - cope (cloak wore for Benediction)
ex praecordis - from the stomach or intestines
ex praesepis - birthplace of D.N.J.C.
ex sindone - from the shroud
ex spongia - from the sponge
ex sportula - from the little basket
ex stipite affixionis - probably means "from the whipping post"
ex strato - from the covering (blanket)
ex subucula - of the tunic
ex tela serica quae tetigit cor - from the silk cloth which touched the heart
ex tunica - from the tunic
ex velo - of the veil
ex veste - from the dress/clothing
mensae coenae D.N.J.C. - the room where the Last Supper took place
petra - rock
sindonis D.N.J.C. - from the burial shourd of Our Lord

*This depends on where the relic has come from. 'Older' relics listed as ex indumentis are normally taken from the clothing of the said person; however, in the past couple of decades Catholic shops have supplied alloy medals and what I call 'modern' holy cards that contain 3rd class relics listed as ex indumentis (but not being such)...See pictures below:

A good story for those who care about RELICS!!!

As the story goes, a priest assigned to a poor parish in a poverty stricken mountain community of northern Italy was approached by the town council. The council wanted to improve the lives of the population by bringing in tourist dollars. However, the town had nothing to attract outsiders to the community for a visit. They thought that, perhaps, the good father could obtain the relics of a major saint to place in the church that would bring visitors who would spend their money in local restaurants and hotels.
The priest agreed to give it a try and set off for Rome. After days of visiting church after church he was approached by a rather swarthy looking character who ask the father if he was searching for relics.
The priest responded, "Yes, my son, I am looking for the relics of an important saint to take back to my village but have found nothing. Tonight I must return home empty handed."
"Father, this is your lucky day!" responded the man. "It just so happens that I have recently acquired the head of Saint John the Baptist and for a moderate sum, to cover my expenses, the head is yours."
"But my good man, isn't the head of John the Baptist held at the church of San Silvestro here in Rome?" inquired the priest.
"Ah, yes, Father, but the head in San Silvestro is the head of St. John as an adult. I happen to have the head of St. John as a child."

Saint Rafqa, A Saint of Lebanon

Born Boutrosiya (Pierina) Shabaq al-Rayes, the only child of her parents, and was born on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the 29th of June 1832 in Hemlaya, Lebanon. Her father was Mourad Saber Shabaq al-Rayes and her mother was Rafqa Gemayel. She was orphaned upon her mother's death six years later. After working as a maid in the house of her father's friend in Syria from 1843-1847, she returned to Lebanon. In 1853, she entered the convent of Our Lady of Liberation in Bikfaya and became a nun in the Marian Order of the Immaculate Conception (Saadé 1986: 11-12).
Boutrosiya recounted that "As I entered the church of the convent, I felt immense joy, inner relief; and looking at the image of the Blessed Virgin, it seemed as if a voice had come from it and entered the most intimate part of my conscience. It said to me: 'You will become a nun' (A Message 1985: 7).
She became a novice on Saint Maron's day, the 9th of February 1855. In 1856, she pronounced her monastic vows and took the religious name of Anissa (Agnes). While serving in Deir-el-Qamar in 1860, she witnessed the massacres of the Christians in the Chouf Mountain and was greatly affected by the suffering of her people.
In 1871, her order united with the order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to form the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The nuns were given the free choice of joining the new order or another existing order, or resuming lay status after being dispensed from their vows.
This was a very difficult time for the nuns of both orders who were not involved in the original decision to unite. Sister Anissa was teaching in Ma'ad in the Batroun region in North Lebanon. When she learned of the decision and the new situation, she went to Saint George's Church to pray. While in prayer, she cried because of her great distress. She fell asleep and felt the presence of someone who told her, "I will make you a religious" (A Message 1985: 11).
That night she dreamed of a man with a long white beard carrying a staff shaped like a "T" at the tip. He told her twice: "Become a nun in the Baladiya Order (The Lebanese Maronite Order)" (A Message 1985: 12). Sister Anissa did enter. Through
interpretation of her dream, Sister Anissa learned that the old man in her dream was Saint Anthony the Great, who carries a baton with a T-shape tip, made from a branch of a tree. Saint Anthony is the model of monastic life for the Baladiya Order.
On the 12th of July 1871 when she was 39 years old, she entered the novitiate again but it was at the monastery of St. Simon in El-Qarn as a member of the Baladiya Order. Her new religious congregation was cloistered. The nuns prayed, meditated, worked in the monastery and lived a life of asceticism. Her novitiate was documented in the records of that monastery as follows; "Sister Rafqa, whose name was Boutrosiya from Hemlaya, began her novitiate on the 12th of July 1871 at the age of 39" (Saadé 1986: 119). Two years later, on the 25th of August 1873, she made the solemn profession of her perpetual vows of obedience, chastity and poverty in the spirit of the strict Rule of the Baladiya Order. In the records of St. Simon's monastery we read "Sister Rafqa received her angelic cowl (the hood) from Father Superior Ephrem Geagea al-Bsherrawi during the administration of Sister Zyara al-Ghostawiye, Superior of the monastery on the 25th of August 1873" (Saadé 1986; 119). She took her mother's name Rafqa (Rebecca) as her religious name.
The Lebanese Maronite Order has its roots in the early monastic life in the East. However, it became an institution in the modern sense of the word in 1695. Pope Clement XII approved the monastic rules of the Order on the 31st of March 1732 (Shehwan 1996: 499). In 1736 at the Lebanese Synod, the women's branch of the Order was organized under the same rules (Azzi & Akiki 1995:36). Their relationship with the men's branch was spiritual and administrative (Shehwan 1996: 505). Their monastic life was that of an Oriental solitary type, which stresses prayer, contemplation and asceticism (Shehwan 1996: 502).

     

Life as an enclosed (semi-cloistered) nun of the Baladiya or the Lebanese Maronite Order was not easy, and not everyone could observe the strict, rigorously observed rules. The Order followed the monastic spiritual and idealistic values of "following and imitating Christ; communal, fraternal life; emulating the martyrs; under Christ's banner, fighting against evil; spiritual expatriation (Ghourba:absence from our "heavenly home"); and waiting for the Second Coming with eternal life in the Divine Presence (Azzi & Akiki 1995:49-50). The Order also follows the monastic practical and living values of "obedience, chastity, poverty, prayer, work, mission, and communal living" (Azzi & Akiki 1995: 50-52).
The nuns followed the basic monastic principle: pray and work. Their monastic daily life was divided as follows: prayer, chanting the office, meditation and Holy Mass, during the three hours from 4-7 A.M. Then came work from 7 to 10 A.M.
At 10 A.M. the nuns would sing the Breviary and this was followed by breakfast. Then they worked in the convent, paused to pray the Breviary once again, read from spiritual works and engaged in pious conversation as a community. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon they recited Vespers and this was followed by supper. Half an hour after sunset, they conducted the evening prayers from the Breviary, followed by the "great silence" when the nuns retire to their respective cells to meditate and rest until midnight. At that time (midnight), they leave their cells to join together in singing the first part of the Breviary. That would ordinarily last one and a half hours but during lent and Holy Week would last two hours. Back in their cells, they would be called again at four in the morning. Many of the nuns would stay in church to pray and meditate waiting for the four o'clock call to begin their day again [i.e. some nuns remained in chapel, and not in their cells, at prayer from midnight until 7 A.M.]. (A Message 1985: 15-16).
Rafqa lived her monastic life in great joy. On the feast of the Holy Rosary in 1885, seeing that she was blessed with health, Rafqa asked our Lord to let her share in the suffering of His crucifixion. Sister Rafqa prayed "Why, O My God, why have you distanced yourself from me and abandoned me? You have never visited sickness upon me! Have you perhaps abandoned me?" (A Message 1985: 17). From that night on, her health began to deteriorate and soon she became blind and crippled. Yet she rejoiced in being made worthy to participate in the suffering of Our Lord. Even when blind and weak, she often begged the mother superior to let her share in the daily work of the other sisters. Refusing to eat what was considered the good food, Rafqa often chose to eat the leftovers.
Blessed Rafqa was born in Lebanon at a time when suffering was the daily bread. She witnessed and experienced distress. For her to ask for more suffering is beyond comprehension. But Rafqa so requested. She believed that suffering is the path to salvation and a source of joy. Emulating Christ's love, she prayed asking to share in the suffering of Jesus and her people.
Her prayers were answered. She began feeling pain in the optic nerves [nerves of the eyes and vision]. The doctor who was treating her pierced through and destroyed her right eye in a barbaric manner. During bleeding and unbearable agony, Rafqa said only: "In communion with Christ's passion." Her other eye deteriorated and she became totally blind. Rafqa continued to suffer optic hemorrhage daily. She was left with no strength or energy.
Blind and in pain, she continued to work by spinning wool and cotton and knitting stockings for the other sisters. She took part in common prayer, chanting the psalms and reciting the Breviary -- all of this from memory.

In 1897, Sister Rafqa was transferred to the monastery of Mar Youssef of Grabta (Saint Joseph) with Sister Ursula Doumit, the superior, and three other sisters. In this monastery, Sister Rafqa's earlier request of suffering continued to be granted. In 1907 she told her superior about the intolerable pain. Rafqa soon became totally paralyzed, with complete dysfunction of the joints.
In a 1981 medical report based upon the evidence presented in the Canonical Process, three specialists in ophthalmology, neurology and orthopedics diagnosed the most likely cause as tuberculosis with ocular localization and multiple bony excrescences. This disease causes the most unbearable pain.
Rather than ever complain of her pains, she prayed unceasingly, saying: "In communion with Your suffering, Jesus", "With the wound on Your shoulder, Jesus," "With Your crown of thorns, Jesus," "With the sufferings caused by the lance… by the thorns… by the nails of the Cross, my Lord Jesus."
Under obedience, the superior, Sister Doumit ordered Sister Rafqa to tell her life story since she did not wish to do so because she was humble. On the 23rd of October 1914, Sister Rafqa asked for final absolution and the plenary indulgence. She died in peace and received a humble monastic burial in the tombs of the monastery.
Four days after her death, Sister Doumit experienced a miracle, which took place through the intercession of Sister Rafqa. For eight years, Sister Doumit had been suffering from a lump in her throat that prevented her from even drinking milk. On the fourth night after Rafqa's death, after having asked the other sisters to let her rest undisturbed, she heard a knock at the door of her cell and heard someone say, "Take sand from Rafqa's grave and swab your throat with it. You will be cured." (A Message 1985: 281). Sister Ursula thought that one of the sisters had come to her about community affairs, so she asked to be left alone and went back to sleep. Again there was a knock and she heard the same message. She answered "I will get the sand when morning comes." In the morning, after learning that none of the nuns had knocked on her door, she went to Rafqa's grave and took some sand. Though still in wonder about what had happened during the previous night, she mixed the sand in water and swabbed the lump. The lump disappeared immediately. Sister Ursula had been miraculously cured! Since then, she advised all who came come to her with an illness to do the same.
Many physical and spiritual healings have been attributed to Rafqa's intercession. However, the miracle put forward for the Beatification of Sister Rafqa was the instantaneous, complete, definitive and scientifically inexplicable curing of a Lebanese woman named Elizabeth En-Nakhel from Tourza in northern Lebanon, who was suffering from uterine cancer. Elizabeth was cured, through Rafqa, in 1938 and lived for 28 years more. She died from a completely different illness in 1966.
On the 23rd of December 1925 and during the tenures in office of Maronite Patriarch Elias Howayek, the Superior General of the Lebanese Maronite Order Abbot Ignatius Dagher, and Pope Pius XI, the Lebanese Maronite Order presented Rafqa's cause for beatification to Rome. The causes of the future Blessed Hardini and Saint Sharbel were submitted at the same time.

On the 9th of June 1984, the eve of Pentecost, in the presence of the Holy Father John Paul II, the authenticity of the miracle experienced by Elizabeth En-Nakhel was publicly announced. This was necessary for beatification which took place on the 17th of November 1985. She was then called Blessed Rafqa. Her feast day is celebrated on the 23rd of March.
Rafqa is like the bride of the Song of Songs who listened to the calls of her beloved: "Come from Lebanon, my promised bride, Come from Lebanon, come on your way. Look down from the heights of Amanus, From the crests of Senir and Hermon, The haunt of lions, The mountains of leopards. The scent of your garments Is like the scent of Lebanon. She is a garden enclosed, My sister, my promised bride; a garden enclosed A sealed fountain Fountain of the garden, Well of living water, Streams flowing down from Lebanon!" Excerpts from the Song of Songs 4:1-15.
Miracles continue to be granted through her intercession. Thousands of believers visit her tomb at Saint Joseph's monastery in Grabta. Her cause for canonization as a saint is being presented to
the Sacred Congregation in Rome.

Prophecies of th Servants of God, Blessed, Venerable and Saints

The Three Days of Darkness

by Yves Dupont

THE ACT OF GOD

The most spectacular aspect of the Act of God will be the three days of darkness over the whole earth. The Three Days have been announced by many mystics, viz., Bl.Anna-Maria Taigi, Padre Pio, Elizabeth Canori-Mora, Rosa-Colomba Asdente, Palma d'Oria, in Italy; Father Nectou, in Belgium; St. Hildegard, in Germany; Pere Lamy, Marie Baourdi, Marie Martel, Marie-Julie Jahenny, in France. (This list is not exhaustive; many more mystics have announced the Three Days.)

The Church does not oblige us to believe in any particular prophecy as a matter of faith, but we are indeed obliged to believe that prophecies may be made even in our own times, for this is in the Gospel: the Holy Ghost will speak to many in the Latter Days.

Moreover, when an identical prophecy has been made by widely separated people in time and space, when this particular prophecy was accompanied by other predictions which have already come to pass, and when the holiness of the mystics in question has been recognized by the Church, we would be foolish indeed not to believe that the prophecy must come to pass. Such is the case concerning the Three Days of Darkness. How else could we explain that an illiterate peasant woman of Brittany is describing the very thing that another mystic in, say, Germany or Italy is also describing?

THE PROXIMATE SIGNS

Here are the proximate signs in their probable order of occurrence. This, to be sure, is only my own opinion, and I may be wrong for I am no prophet myself; but, after studying a large number of prophecies, this order appears to me to be the most likely:

1.        Flouting of church laws, irreverence and immodesty in church, fall in attendance at church.

2.        Lack of charity towards others, heartlessness, indifference, divisions, contentions, godlessness, pride in human knowledge.

3.        Breakdown of family life: immorality, adultery, perversion of youth (e.g. homosexuals giving lectures in schools), immodest fashions (e.g. mini-skirts and hot pants, bikinis and see-throughs), people concerned only with eating, drinking, dancing and other pleasures.

4.        Civil commotions, contempt for authority, downfall of governments, confusion in high places, corruption, coups d'etat, civil war, revolution. (The first four proximate signs have already come to pass, at least partly; for we are yet to see civil war and revolution in the West. But the sequence of events is not strictly chronological; there is room for some overlapping. Thus, the 5th proximate sign seems to have begun also.)

5.        Floods and droughts, crop failures, unusual weather, tornadoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, famines, epidemics, unknown diseases (e.g. new strains of viruses).

THE WARNING AND THE MIRACLE

These will take place between the proximate and the immediate signs. Both will be supernatural occurrences, and the Miracle will closely follow the Warning. There will be a solar prodigy; a Cross will be visible in the sky all over the world. The Warning will be associated with the letter "A"; it will not fall on a Feast day of Our Lady, nor on the l8th of the month.

The Miracle will fall on the Feast day of a young martyr of the Eucharist; this will be on a Thursday evening, and it will coincide with an important Church event.

Since the Miracle is to be seen only in Northern Spain and in Rome, and since the Cross in the sky is to be seen everywhere, it seems that the latter occurrence will take place with the Warning, not with the Miracle. However, the Miracle may also have a Cross in the sky.

During the Warning, everyone will be made aware of his/her own sinfulness, and many will wish to die, but the Warning itself will be completely harmless.

Both the Warning and the Miracle must be viewed as the last act of mercy from God, a final appeal to mankind to do penance before the three days of darkness and the destruction of three-quarters of the human race. At a time when the murder of unborn babies and the sin of Sodom and Lesbos have become respectable and sometimes legal, we should not wonder why God is going to punish mankind.

By that time, war and revolution will have already caused a high deathtoll, and Communism will be victorious, but all this will be as nothing compared with the deathtoll caused by the Three Days.

THE IMMEDIATE SIGN

It will be a bitterly cold winter night in the Northern hemisphere. (Presumably, a very cold summer night in Australia or, by contrast, a torrid night.) The wind will howl and roar. Lightning and thunderbolts of an unprecedented magnitude will strike the earth. The whole earth will shake, heavenly bodies will be disturbed – (this will be the beginning of the Three Days). Every Demon, every evil spirit will be released from hell and allowed to roam the earth. Terrifying apparitions will take place. Many will die from sheer fright. Fire will rain forth from the sky, all large cities will be destroyed, poisonous gases will fill the air, cries and lamentations everywhere. The unbelievers will burn in the open like withered grass. The entire earth will be afflicted; it will look like a huge graveyard.

As soon as you notice that bitterly cold night, go indoors, lock all doors and windows, pull down the blinds, stick adhesive paper on vents and around windows and doors. Do not answer calls from outside, do not look at the windows, or you will die on the spot: keep your eyes down to make sure you do not see the windows; the Wrath of God is mighty and no one should attempt to behold it. Light blessed wax candles; nothing else will burn, but the candles will not be extinguished once lit. Nothing will put them out in the houses of the faithful, but they will not burn in the houses of the godless. Sprinkle holy water about the house and especially in the vicinity of doors and windows: the devils fear holy water. Bless yourself with it and anoint your five senses with it: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, feet, and forehead. Keep on hand a sufficient supply of drinking water and, if possible, food also (but you can live without food for three days.) Kneel down and pray incessantly with outstretched arms, or prostrate on the floor. Make acts of contrition, faith, hope, and charity. Above all say the Rosary and meditate on the Sorrowful mysteries.

Some people, especially children, will be taken up to Heaven beforehand to spare them the horror of these days. People caught outdoors will die instantly. Three-quarters of the human race will be exterminated, – more men than women. No one will escape the terror of these days.

But, when all seems lost and hopeless, then, in the twinkling of an eye, the ordeal will be over: the sun will rise and shine again as in springtime over a purified earth.

Some nations will disappear entirely, and the face of the earth will be changed. There will be no more "Big Business" and huge factories which sap men's souls. Craftsmanship will revive, and assembly lines will give way to the working bench.

People will return to the land, but food will be scarce for about three years. Married women will bear many children, for it will be regarded as a disgrace not to have children, – no more "career women" addicted to the "pill". Unmarried females, – there will be many, will enter the religious orders and form large congregations of Nuns within the reborn Church. Disease will decrease dramatically, and mental illnesses will be rare, for man will have retrieved his natural environment. It will be an age of faith, true brotherhood between neighbors, civil harmony, peace, and prosperity. The land will yield crops as never before. Police will have little work to do: crime will disappear almost entirely. Mutual trust and honesty will be universal. There will be little work for lawyers, either. All the manpower which is currently taken up by the wickedness of the modern world will be released and available for the production of useful commodities. Thus, prosperity will be very great. This wonderful period will probably last 30 years approximately.

As soon as you see the sun rise again at the end of the Three Days, drop to your knees and give thanks to God.

Be warned, SPREAD THE MESSAGE, but do not fear: it would be an offense to God to show lack of confidence in His protection. Those who spread the message will be protected, but the scoffers, the skeptics, and those who dismiss the message because they are frightened, will not escape the chastisement.

WHAT TO DO NOW

SPREAD THE MESSAGE; do not be put out by those who laugh it off or think you are a bit odd. This is the price we have to pay, for no disciple of Christ can escape scorn or even persecution. Remain in the state of grace. Go to Mass, and regularly receive Holy Communion. Say your rosary every day. Obtain some wax candles and have these blessed by a Traditionalist priest. Do not buy ordinary white candles; they are not made of wax. Do not trust either a "new-breed" priest to bless your candles. Pray

for the Church and for the Pope in particular; it is not for us to judge the Pope, no matter what he does or says, – this is God's prerogative, but we must pray for him. Say the prayer to St. Michael which Leo XIII composed after witnessing a terrifying vision of Satan's power. Wear the Brown Scapular and the miraculous medal. Deny yourself some legitimate pleasures and entertainment; many seers insist on this. Eat sparingly, frugally, to sustain life more than to gratify the palate. When the proximate signs are over, i.e., war and revolution culminating in the victory of communism, when you behold the Warning, then store up food, drinking water, blankets and other necessities.