Friday, November 22, 2013

Contraception, Abortion, and now Euthanasia: Demographics is Destiny.


 

Contraception, Abortion, and now Euthanasia: Demographics is Destiny.
by Brian Kopp, DPM


The historical and universal Christian prohibition on contraception, which dates back to the Apostles, was first shaken by the Anglican Church's 1930 Lambeth Conference, the first Christian body ever to condone contraception. Although the Anglicans limited contraception to what they termed exceptional cases, they cracked open a door that had previously been tightly shut. Within three decades, most Protestant denominations had abandoned the universal Christian prohibition against contraception and, by the early 1970s, much of Eastern Orthodoxy had dropped its prohibition on barrier methods.
The connection between the acceptance of contraception, beginning only in 1930, and the legalization of abortion, just four decades later, cannot be overstated. The apocryphal "right to privacy," upon which the horrid 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion-on-demand was based, was first invented by five justices on the US Supreme Court in the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut.The Court decided in Griswold married couples had a "privacy" right to purchase contraceptives. To this day, Constitutional scholars openly concede there was simply no foundation or precedent for such a ruling, but there was also no means to stop the Justices from imposing their opinions on the nation. The Griswold ruling struck down the only remaining "Comstock Laws," written by Protestant legislators in the 1800's to make it illegal to sell or distribute all forms of contraception.

Over time, birth control became accepted in our culture because Christian groups abandoned traditional Christian teaching regarding sexual morality.
In 1968, Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, the landmark encyclical letter reaffirming the Christian prohibition of contraception passed down from age to age. A large number of Catholics rejected Humanae Vitae, so that, in the early stages of the Pro-life Movement (begun as a Catholic movement), contraception was never really examined or debated. This is regrettable since contraception is a fundamental consideration in the fight against both abortion and euthanasia. Paul VI warned that legalized contraception would result in disregard for life and morality leading to widespread divorce, abortion and euthanasia. Of course, in retrospect, it is obvious that he was correct.

The Pro-life Movement, which began in the 1960s as a Catholic response to efforts to legalize abortion, would become a coalition of Catholic, Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians in the ensuing years. The issue of contraception was never debated within this broad pro-life coalition because of the many Catholics who considered it a non-issue and because the movement's Protestant members held that the issue had already been "settled." In the interest of political effectiveness, a movement was born that never examined the root cause of what it was fighting against.
The fabricated legal foundations for the "right" to birth control progressed naturally to the philosophical foundations of a "right" to abortion. The US Supreme Court, in its 1992
Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, said:              
In some critical respects, abortion is of the same character as the decision to use               
contraception... for two decades of economic and social developments, people have organized intimate relationships and made choices that define their views of themselves and their places in society, in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail.

This brutal honesty on the part of the US Supreme Court should have been cause for the pro-life community to reevaluate the role of secular and Christian acceptance of the contraceptive mentality in fomenting the legalization of abortion. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.  
Of course, there are organizations, such as American Life League and Human Life International, whose founders did recognize that the widespread embrace of contraception led to legal and social acceptance of abortion, but they are the exception. 

To orthodox Christians, who form the core of the Pro-life Movement, it is morally and philosophically inconsistent to support (or ignore) contraception and oppose abortion. Even the US Supreme Court admitted the connection. Surely the pro-life community can address contraception, which, for the most part, has never been credibly debated in spite of its role in the legalization of abortion and its precipitation of the cultural embrace of euthanasia.
As the momentum for legalized euthanasia builds, and de facto legalized stealth euthanasia becomes more and more commonplace, the question must be asked: Why euthanasia now?
The answer seems simple enough. The solvency of Social Security, Medicare, Welfare and Medicaid is based on younger workers paying into the system to support the outlay of benefits. In 1940, there were 159 workers paying into the Social Security Trust Fund for every Social Security beneficiary. In 2010 there were 2.9. This is due to increased life expectancy as well as decreased birth rates. The Baby Boomer generation, born from 1946-1965, filled the coffers and kept the welfare benefits flowing well into the 80s and 90s. But the Boomers did not reproduce at the rate of their parents. By 1970, the ratio of workers paying into the Social Security Trust Fund for every Social Security beneficiary had already dropped to 3.7. (Therefore this collapse in the ratio cannot be laid at the feet of Roe v. Wade.)

No society has both a shrinking population and a growing economy. As the federal government projects the costs of pensions and medical care promised to retirees will soon outstrip the ability of our population base to provide support, pressure is mounting to control costs by rationing care. Demographic changes have created the economic incentive to euthanize the Baby Boomer generation.
Frankly, killing the elderly is the final solution for a culture that has contracepted and aborted out of existence the generations that would otherwise have supported and cared for them. That is the ultimate end product of the cultural embrace of the contraceptive mentality.

Why euthanasia now? Demographics is destiny.

About the author: Brian J. Kopp, DPM, is a podiatrist in private practice in Johnstown, PA. He has written articles on a range of subjects, primarily the culture of life, medicine, and ethics, that have been published in the L'Osservatore Romano (English Edition), New Oxford Review, The Wanderer National Catholic Weekly, LifeSiteNews.com, World Net Daily, and Podiatry Today magazine. Dr. Kopp is assisting Catholic Hospice of Pittsburgh to expand their pro-life hospice care services and will serve as Faith Community Liaison for Catholic Hospice of Greensburg. Dr. Kopp is also a member of the PHA.

Friday, October 18, 2013

ObamaCare is to Euthanasia What Roe v. Wade was to Abortion

 


ObamaCare is to Euthanasia What Roe v. Wade was to Abortion

By Dr. Brian J. Kopp
10/07/2013

When Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, we were caught off guard. We had to build a pro-life infrastructure almost from scratch to provide alternatives for women with crisis pregnancies. We now find ourselves at a similar point with euthanasia. We know that stealth euthanasia is here, that it is essentially legally protected already, and its prevalence is going to explode. We need to warn and educate the public. We also must identify and network with pro-life healthcare providers who are striving to provide ethical end of life care within a healthcare system that is becoming increasingly comfortable with prematurely ending the lives of certain patients. We urgently need to build the pro-life infrastructure that is still missing, but which is essential to providing concrete alternatives to stealth euthanasia.

Taking Stock

As we swiftly move toward the close of 2013, with the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the immediate horizon, it is prudent to take stock of where the pro-life movement stands.

Despite measures in the ACA which will undeniably increase the overall rates of abortion (with estimates that new abortion coverage under the ACA will result in taxpayers subsidizing up to 111,500 abortions each year{1}, the culture at large is becoming more pro-life. Abortion clinics are closing at record rates and health care providers have no interest in entering the abortion field. Gallup polls in 2012[2] revealed that Americans now self identify as pro-life at record rates. The pro-abortion movement is horrified to see the graying of its own movement as America's youth reject the pro-abortion agenda and swell the ranks of the pro-life movement. On the issue of abortion, there is great reason for hope. Anyone attending the March for Life each year in Washington, DC witnesses this heartening change.

Looking at the opposite end of the life spectrum, there is cause for grave concern.

In the USA, approximately 2.5 million people die annually from all causes. Approximately 1.7 million patients receive hospice care annually (with more than 200,000 discharged alive from hospice care each year). With each passing year, a higher percentage of total yearly mortality occurs within the context of hospice and palliative care.

The roots of hospice care are thoroughly Christian, based on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and dating back a thousand years to the times of the Crusaders in the Holy Land. In the 20th century, hospice care was a continuation of the work of Irish and French nuns dedicated to the care of the sick and dying, and furthered by Mother Teresa of Calcutta's global efforts. Modern hospice care, with its interdisciplinary approach and modern methods of alleviating physical, emotional and spiritual suffering, was the brainchild of Dame Cecily Saunders, an Evangelical Christian who came to her faith in a study group founded by C.S. Lewis at Oxford University. When hospice care is provided by professionals who still strive to uphold these Godly roots, it can be an awesome resource for the patient and loved ones, with nothing to fear.

Unfortunately, the overall picture today does not reflect the roots of hospice philosophy. Of the 1.5 million who die annually under hospice care, a growing number are dying premature deaths due to "stealth euthanasia," primarily via over-medication, terminal sedation and withdrawal of hydration and nutrition. Furthermore, hospice Medicare fraud is soaring. Most of the large corporate hospice providers have been accused of millions, and in some cases billions, of dollars in insurance fraud, often certifying patients for hospice care who were not actually dying, while profit-driven negligence in patient care has hastened the deaths of many.

Because death records never list over-medication, terminal sedation, deliberate dehydration or neglect as the immediate cause of death, it is very difficult to obtain concrete data regarding the number of those dying in such circumstances. However, having spoken with pro-life leaders in the end of life care field, I think it is safe to say that the numbers are not small and that they are increasing rapidly. A very conservative estimate would be that about one out of five patients under the care of the hospice and palliative care industry are caused to die premature deaths at present. That is 300,000 deaths by stealth euthanasia yearly. Many in the hospice and palliative care field are trying to make terminal sedation the standard of care. Those who are terminally sedated cannot take food and water, and the end of life care industry rarely provides assisted nutrition and hydration. As terminal sedation becomes more prevalent, the number of those dying by euthanasia will increase steadily.

ObamaCare Rationing

Unfortunately, health care rationing is going to contribute to the increasing number of premature deaths in healthcare settings. The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), the "death panel" being instituted under the ACA that Sarah Palin warned us about, will be tasked with rationing health care spending and making life and death decisions for enrollees. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Obama telegraphed where health care rationing is heading when he said that the elderly needed to be encouraged to forgo expensive care in the last years of their lives, choosing instead palliative or hospice care. When directly questioned about refusing an elderly women needed surgery, he responded, "Maybe this isn't going to help. Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller."

Those whose surgical procedures or expensive medical plans of care are deemed by the IPAB to be "futile" will be sent home or to the nursing home, hospice or palliative care unit to "take the painkiller."

Stealth euthanasia will become the norm. Most laws that directly prohibit physician assisted suicide also protect physicians whose use of opioids, sedatives and antipsychotics for pain management or alleviation of agitation might also hasten death. Thus stealth euthanasia, under cover of law, is little different than the outright legalization of abortion through nine months of pregnancy that was the result of Roe v. Wade.

The pro-life movement is at a crossroads. As the total number of surgical abortions has dropped to approximately 1.1 million per year, the number of stealth euthanasia cases has rapidly increased. As the total percentage of those who die in the USA within the context of hospice and palliative care climbs and the cultural acceptance and general practice of stealth euthanasia increases, we could see deaths by euthanasia surpass deaths by abortion within a generation.

It is indeed urgent that we build the pro-life infrastructure necessary to provide ethical alternatives to euthanasia.

About the author: Brian J. Kopp, DPM, is a podiatrist in private practice in Johnstown, PA. He has written articles on a range of subjects, primarily the culture of life, medicine, and ethics, that have been published in the L'Osservatore Romano (English Edition), New Oxford Review, The Wanderer National Catholic Weekly, LifeSiteNews.com, World Net Daily, and Podiatry Today magazine. Dr. Kopp is assisting Catholic Hospice of Pittsburgh to expand their pro-life hospice care services and will serve as Faith Community Liaison for Catholic Hospice of Greensburg. Dr. Kopp recently became a member of the PHA.

[1] "Affordable Care Act Could Fund Over 100,000 Abortions," Christine Rousselle, Townhall.com, 9/26/2013

[2] "'Pro-Choice' Americans at Record-Low 41%," Lydia Saad, Gallup.com, 5/23/2012

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Ask Vladimir Putin to request the consecration of Russia this October 13th

As many Catholic readers already know,
Pope will consecrate world to Immaculate Heart of Mary
CWN - August 21, 2013

Pope Francis will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at a Vatican ceremony on October 13.
The “Marian Day” ceremony, organized by the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, will be held on the anniversary of the final appearance of the Virgin Mary at Fatima. For the occasion, the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be brought from the shrine in Portugal to the Vatican, for public veneration on October 12 followed by the consecration ceremony the following day.
Pope Francis will also speak on Marian devotion, and preside at Eucharistic adoration, and lead the Rosary with audio links to Marian shrines around the world on the eve of the consecration.

In 1925 the Fátima visionary Sr Lúcia dos Santos stated regarding the Virgin Mary of Fátima:

"... It was Our Lady of Fátima... with a crown of thorns... and said to me: "The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father in union with all the Bishops of the world to consecrate Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.""

Regardless of differing views regarding prior efforts of Popes to fulfill the instructions expressed by Our Lady of Fatima regarding the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin could help encourage Pope Francis to include the Consecration of Russia, by name, during the Pope's October 13th ceremony at the Vatican.

Recently, President Putin stated he would defend Russia based on her religious values:

Russia will defend national identity, based on religious values - Putin

Valdai, September 20, Interfax - People will lose their human dignity without values enshrined in Christianity and other world religions, without moral standards that have taken millennia to take shape, President Vladimir Putin.

"We believe that it is natural and appropriate to defend those values. Any minority deserves respect for its distinctive identity, but the rights of the majority must not be questioned," Putin said during a meeting of the Valdai discussion club.

He believes, that Russia can't move forward without cultural and national self-determination. Otherwise the country won't be able to respond to external or internal challenges, can't be successful in global competition.

"Events that take place in the world represent one more serious challenge to the Russian identity. There are foreign policy and moral aspects to this. We have been able to see many Euro-Atlantic countries effectively embark on a path of renouncing their roots, including Christian values, which underlie Western civilization," Putin said.

"That involves the negation of moral principles and any traditional identity - national, cultural, religious, or even sexual," he said.

"Policies are pursued that put large families and same-sex partnerships in the same category, belief in God and belief in Satan. Excesses of political correctness reach the point where there are serious discussions on the registration of parties that have propaganda of pedophilia as their objective. People in many European countries are ashamed and afraid of speaking about their religion, holidays are abolished or given other names, names that shyly conceal the nature of those holidays, and aggressive attempts are made to force this model on the rest of the world," Putin said.

"This is a direct path to degradation and primitiveness, to deep demographic and moral crises," he said.

"What can be a better indication of a moral crisis in human society than its loss of the ability for self-reproduction?" Putin said.
President Putin needs as much supernatural assistance as possible in his efforts. The battle he is waging for Russia is the same battle Pope Francis is waging against the secularization, materialism and moral decay in the west.

Please consider contacting President Vladimir Putin at the website specifically established to email him at http://eng.letters.kremlin.ru/

Email correspondence is limited to 2000 characters. Here is a the text of the letter I just submitted:


Recently through the diplomatic efforts of Russia and global prayers lead by Pope Francis, war in Syria was narrowly averted. Christians in the Holy Land are being persecuted and killed, and western nations seem indifferent to their plight. We need your continued leadership in protecting the Christians in the Holy Land and in averting war in the middle east. In 1925, the Theotokos appeared to Sr. Lucia of Fatima and requested that Russia be consecrated, by name, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope, in union with the bishops of the world. Many believe this consecration has not been completed as explicitly requested for fear of offending the Russian Orthodox and/or the Russian government. Regardless of these controversies it is obvious that Russia is now the solitary nation defending traditional Christian Truths on the world stage. For her to continue to lead this fight for the soul of Christendom, Russia needs the Grace and Blessings of Our Lord and the intercession of the Theotokos in a way that is unique in the history of mankind.

Given the precarious state of world peace and the disintegration of family and morality, would you please consider using your considerable influence with both the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church to request that Pope Francis, when he consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary this October 13th, that he specifically consecrate Russia, by name, to the Immaculate Heart of the Theotokos? With the blessings and encouragement of the Russian President and the Russian Orthodox Church, I truly believe this consecration would work miracles for your people and your Church, and for peace in our world. It would assist those of us battling the secularization and moral decay of the western nations immeasurably.

Please prayerfully consider this request.

Please ask Pope Francis to consecrate Russia by name to the Immaculate Heart of the Theotokos this October 13.

Thank you,
Dr. Brian Kopp
Johnstown, PA, USA

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

For fourth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, Pope draws attention to little known prophecies of Venerable Elena Aiello

This is a repost of a 9/10/11 blog entry from SummorumPontificum.net: 



Very interesting timing on the part of Pope Benedict XVI  for the beatification of Venerable Elena Aiello. September 14  is not only the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross and the fourth  anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, it is also the day the Vatican has  called the leaders of the SSPX to Rome for one-on-one talks.



The body of prophecy attributed to Venerable Elena Aiello correlates well with both conjecture about the  part of the Third Secret of Fatima that may not yet have been revealed,  as well as the known messages of Our Lady of Akita. Note the parallel  between warnings of global fire in these prophecies and that of Our Lady of Akita, which stated




"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. The only arms which will remain  for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by my Son. Each day, recite  the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the  bishops and the priests. The work of the devil will infiltrate even  into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing  cardinals, and bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate  me will be scorned and opposed by their Confreres. The Church and altars  will be vandalized. The Church will be full of those who accept  compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls  to leave the service of the Lord.




"The demon will rage especially against souls  consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the  cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will  no longer be pardon for them."

Given the correspondence of these two prophecies, one must wonder  if this declaration of Blessed by Pope Benedict XVI on September 14,  2011 may be a way of once again bringing attention back to the Third  Secret of Fatima.



Howard Dee, former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican, said in a 1998 interview with Inside the Vatican magazine:




“Bishop Ito [the local bishop, now deceased] was certain Akita was an extension of Fatima, and Cardinal Ratzinger personally confirmed to me that these two messages, of Fatima and Akita, are essentially the same.”

Also recall the concerns of Msgr. Eugene Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, about changing the liturgy:




"I am worried by the Blessed Virgin's messages to Lucy  of Fatima. This persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the  Church is a divine warning against the suicide of altering the Faith, in  Her liturgy, Her theology and Her soul. … I hear all around me  innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the  universal flame of the Church, reject Her ornaments and make Her feel  remorse for Her historical past.




"A day will come when the civilized world will deny  its God, when the Church will doubt as Peter doubted. She will be  tempted to believe that man has become God. In our churches, Christians  will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them. Like Mary  Magdalene, weeping before the empty tomb, they will ask, 'Where have  they taken Him?'"     - Roche, Pie XII Devant L'Historie, p. 52-53

There is also a correlation between the prophecies of Our Lady of Akita and Ven. Elena Aiello with the recently approved Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Wisconsin. In her messages there, Our Lady of Good Help stated to Adele Brise:




‘I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of  sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this  morning, and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general  confession, and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they  do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them’

 Twelve years later,




When the Peshtigo Fire spread across Green Bay on Oct.  8, 1871, area residents walked around the [Our Lady of Good Help] chapel grounds all night  praying the rosary and carrying a statue of Mary. Everything outside  that five-acre area was burned.

Our Lady of Good Help had predicted in 1859 that if men  did not repent and convert, they would suffer:




On the evening of October 8, 1871 the worst recorded forest fire in North American history raged through Northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, destroying millions of dollars worth of property and timberland, and taking between 1,200 and 2,400 lives.




The great Midwestern city of Chicago also happened to endure a terrible fire that same fateful night,  and for whatever reasons -- an irresistibly charming legend about a cow  and a lantern among them -- the Chicago Fire became part of the  national consciousness while the Peshtigo tragedy gradually slipped into  obscurity, eventually remembered primarily by scholars, local  "old-timers" and Wisconsin school children (who are required to study  their state's history in the 4th grade).

Most people don't realize that the Great Chicago Fire and The Great  Peshtigo Fire both occurred at the same time, burning not only Chicago but also Northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, killing  thousands. There is a credible theory  that both the Great Chicago Fire and The Great Peshtigo Fire were  ignited by debris from a disintegrating comet. And that is eerily similar to the prophecies of fire from the sky of both Our Lady of Akita and Ven. Elena Aiello.









According to the Mystics of the Church blog entry from which these prophecies are excerpted:




(Venerable Elena Aiello  will be declared Blessed on September 14, 2011 -Feast of the Triumph of  the Holy Cross. Because there is currently not much information in english  on the Internet about her extraordinary holy life and prophecies, the  webmaster was very happy when Elizabeth, a friend in Jesus, offered to  write this excellent Biography. I am therefore very grateful to her for  providing these edifying details of her life. May God bless and reward  her for her efforts. -Editor)




The information contained in this abbreviated biography was taken from the book "The Incredible Life Story of Sister Elena Aiello, The Calabrian Holy Nun (1895-1961)". It was written by Monsignor Francesco Spadafora in Italian and was translated into English by Monsignor Angelo R. Cioffi. Fr. Spadafora  was a renowned biblical scholar from the Pontifical University of the  Lateran in Rome. He opposed modernism and while writing this book he was  also battling the modernist approach to scripture that started to gain  ground at the biblical institute.



THE PROPHECIES OF SISTER ELENA AIELLO






GOOD FRIDAY (APRIL 16) 1954



“Upon initiating the usual sufferings, about the hour of 1:00  p.m., Jesus appeared to me, covered with wounds and bleeding, saying to  me:



‘Behold my child, see to what ends the sins of man have reduced  me. The world has lowered itself in overflowing corruption. The  governments of the peop1e have risen like demons incarnated, and, while  they speak of peace they prepare for war with the most devastating  implements to destroy peoples and nations. Men have become ungrateful to  My Sacred Heart, and abusing My Mercy, have transformed the earth into a  scene of crime’.





‘Numerous scandals are bringing souls to ruin particularly  through the corruption of youth. Stirred up, and unrestrained in the  enjoyment of the pleasures of the world, they have degraded their spirit  in corruption and sin. The bad example of parents trains the family in  scandal and infidelity, instead of virtue and prayer, which is almost  dead on the lips of many. Stained and withered is the fountain of faith  and sanctity the home’.




‘The wills of men do not change. They live in their obstinacy of  sin. More severe are the scourges and plagues to recall them to the way  of God; but men still become furious, like wounded beasts (and harden  their hearts against the Grace of God). The world is no longer worthy of  pardon, but only of fire, destruction and death’.



‘There must be more prayers and penances from the souls faithful  to Me, in order to appease the just wrath of God, and to temperate the  just sentence of punishment, SUSPENDED on earth by the intercession of  My Beloved Mother, who is also the Mother of all men’.




‘Oh! how sad is My Heart to see that men do not convert (or  respond) to so many calls of love and grief, manifested by My Beloved  Mother to errant men. Roaming in darkness, they continue to live in sin,  and further away from God! But the scourge of fire is near, to purify  the earth of the iniquities of the wicked. The justice of God requires  reparation for the many offenses and misdeeds that cover the earth, and  which can no longer be compromised. Men are obstinate in their guilt,  and do not return to God’.



‘The Church is opposed, and the priests are despised because of  the bad ones who give scandal. Help Me, by suffering, to repair for so  many offenses, and thus save AT LEAST IN PART, humanity precipitated in a  slough of corruption and death’.




‘Make it known to all men that, repentant, they must return to  God, and, in doing so, may hope for pardon, and be saved from the just  vengeance of a scorned God’.



“In so saying Our Lord God disappeared. Then the Madonna appeared  to me. She was dressed in black, with seven swords piercing Her  Immaculate Heart. Coming closer, with an expression of profound sorrow,  and with tears on her cheeks, she spoke to me, saying: ‘Listen  attentively, and reveal to all:




‘My Heart is sad for so many sufferings in an impending world in  ruin. The justice of Our Father is most offended. Men live in their  obstinacy of sin. The wrath of God is near. Soon the world will be  afflicted with great calamities, bloody revolutions, frightful  hurricanes, and the overflowing of streams and the seas’.



‘Cry out until the priests of God lend their ears to my voice, to  advise men that the time is near at hand, and if men do not return to  God with prayers and penances, the world will be overturned in a new and  more terrible war. Arms most deadly will destroy peoples and nations!  The dictators of the earth, specimens infernal, will demolish the  churches and desecrate the Holy Eucharist, and will destroy things most  dear. In this impious war, much will be destroyed of that which has been  built by the hands of man’.



‘CLOUDS WITH LIGHTNING FLASHES OF FIRE IN THE SKY AND A TEMPEST  OF FIRE SHALL FALL UPON THE WORLD. THIS TERRIBLE SCOURGE, NEVER BEFORE  SEEN IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY, WILL LAST SEVENTY HOURS. GODLESS  PERSONS WILL BE CRUSHED AND WIPED OUT. MANY WILL BE LOST BECAUSE THEY  REMAIN IN THEIR OBSTINACY OF SIN. THEN SHALL BE SEEN THE POWER OF LIGHT  OVER THE POWER OF DARKNESS’.



‘Be not silent, my daughter, because the hours of darkness, of  abandonment, are near. ‘I am bending over the world, holding in  suspension the justice of God. OTHERWISE THESE THINGS WOULD ALREADY HAVE  NOW COME TO PASS. Prayers and penances are necessary because men MUST  RETURN TO GOD and to My Immaculate Heart—the Mediatrix of men to God,  and thus THE WORLD WILL BE AT LEAST IN PART SAVED’.




‘Cry out these things to all, like the very echo of my voice.  Let this be known to all, because it will help save many souls, and  prevent much destruction in the Church and in the world’.



MESSAGE OF GOOD FRIDAY (APRIL 8) 1955

“The Blessed  Mother, lovely and majestic, but with tears on her cheeks, spoke: ‘My  daughter, it is thy Mother speaking to thee, Listen attentively, and  make known all that I tell thee, because men, in spite of repeated  warnings, are not returning to God. They refuse grace, and are not  listening to my voice. You must have no doubt about what I am making  known to you, because my words are very clear, and you must transmit  them to all.’




‘DARK AND FRIGHTFUL DAYS ARE APPROACHING! Mankind is obscured by a thick fog, as a


result of the many grievous sins, which are well nigh covering  the whole earth. Today, more than ever, men are, resisting the calls  from Heaven, and are blaspheming God, while wallowing in the mire of  sin’.




‘My daughter, look upon my Heart pierced by the thorns of so  many sins; my face, disfigured by sorrow; my eyes, filled with tears.  The cause of such great sadness is the sight of so many souls going to  Hell, and because the Church is wounded – inwardly and outwardly’.




‘The rulers of nations make so much ado and speak of peace. But  instead, the whole world will soon be at war, and all mankind will he  plunged into sorrow, be cause the justice of God will not be delayed in  fulfilling its course, and these events are near. Tremendous will be the  upheaval of the whole world, because men — as at the time of the Deluge  — have lost God’s way, and are ruled by the spirit of Satan’.




‘Priests must unite by prayers and penance. They must hasten to  spread the devotion to the Two Hearts. The hour of my triumph is close  at hand. The victory will be accomplished through the love and mercy of  the Heart of My Son, and of My Immaculate Heart the Mediatrix between  men and God, By accepting this invitation, and by uniting their tears to  those of My Sorrowful Heart, priests and religious will obtain great  graces for the salvation of poor sinners’.



‘LAUNCH FORTH INTO THE WORLD A MESSAGE TO MAKE KNOWN TO ALL THAT THE

SCOURGE  IS NEAR AT HAND, The justice of God is weighing upon the world.  Mankind, defiled in the mire, soon will be washed in its own blood, by  disease; by famine; by earthquakes; by cloudbursts, tornadoes, floods,  and terrible storms; and by war. But men ignore all these warnings, and  are unwilling to be convinced that my tears (Weeping Madonna of  Sicily?), are plain signs to serve notice that tragic events are hanging  over the world, and that the hours of great trials are at hand’.



‘If men do not amend their ways, a terrifying scourge of fire  will come down from Heaven upon all the nations of the world, and men  will be punished according to the debts contracted with Divine justice.  There will be frightful moments for all, because Heaven will be joined  with the earth, and all the un-Godly people will be destroyed, SOME  NATIONS WILL BE PURIFIED, WHILE OTHERS WILL DISAPPEAR ENTIRELY’.



You are to transmit these warnings to all, in order that the new  generation will know that men had been warned in time to turn to God by  doing penance, and thus could have avoided these punishments’.



But when will all this come about?’ I asked Our Lady.” ‘My  daughter,’ answered the Blessed Mother, ‘the time is not far off. When  men least expect it, the course of Divine Justice will be accomplished’.



‘My Heart is so big for poor sinners, and I make use of every  possible means that they may be saved. Look at this mantle, how big it  is. If I were not bent over the earth to cover all with my maternal  love, the tempest of fire would at-, ready have broken upon the nations  of the world!’



“Then I exclaimed, ‘My lovely Mother, never before have 1 seen  thee with such a large mantle.’ The Blessed Virgin, holding her arms  wide, answered:”



‘This is the mantle of mercy for all those who, having repented,  come back to My Immaculate Heart. See? The right hand holds the mantle  to cover and to save poor sinners, while with the left hand I hold back  the Divine Justice, so that the time of Mercy may still be prolonged.’



‘To help me in this, I ask that the prayer, MATERNAL REFUGE, be  spread as a most useful means to obtain graces and salvation for poor  sinners, Say often with your arms crossed:




“QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE, MEDIATRIX OF MEN TO GOD, REFUGE OF ALL OUR HOPES, HAVE MERCY ON US,”



GOOD FRIDAY (APRIL 7) 1950

Sister Elena Aiello asked Our Blessed Mother: “What will become of Italy? Will Rome be saved?”

“The  Madonna answered:” ‘In part, by the Pope! The Church will be in  travail, but the forces of Hell cannot prevail! You must suffer for the  Pope and Christ, and thus Christ will be safe on earth; and the Pope,  with his redemptive word, will, in part, save the world.’




“The Madonna then came closer, and with a sad expression, showed  me the flames of Hell. She said:” ‘Satan reigns and triumphs on earth!  See how the souls are falling into Hell. See how high the flames are,  and the souls who fall into them like flakes of snow look like  transparent embers! How many sparks! How many cries of hate, and of  despair! How much pain!’




‘See how many priestly souls! Look at the sign of their  consecration in their transparent hands! (In the palms of their hands  the sign of the cross, in more vivid fire, could clearly be seen!) What  torture, my daughter, in my maternal Heart! Great is my sorrow to see  that men do not change! The justice of the Father requires reparation —  otherwise many will be lost!’



“See how Russia will burn!” Before my eyes there extended an  immense field covered with flames and smoke, in which souls were  submerged as if in a sea of fire!



“And all this fire,” concluded the Madonna, “is not that which  will fall from the hands of men, but will be hurled directly from the  Angels (at the time of the great chastisement or “housecleaning” that  will come upon the earth). Therefore I ask prayers, penance and  sacrifice, so I may act as Mediatrix for my Son in order to save souls.”




GOOD FRIDAY (March 23) 1961


The Madonna speaks: “My daughter, the scourge is near. Much is  spoken of peace, but all the world will soon be at war, and the streets  will be stained with blood! No gleam of light is seen in the world,  because men live in the darkness of error, and the enormous weight of  sin angers the justice of God.”



“All nations will be punished, because sin has spread all over the world! Tremendous will be the

punishments,  because man has arrived at an insupportable contest with his God and  Father, and has exasperated His infinite Goodness!”



“My heart bleeds for Italy also, which will be safe only in part  for the Pope! Oh!, what grief to see the representative of Christ on  earth hated, persecuted, outraged!”




“He, who is the Spiritual Father of the people, the defender of  the Faith and of truth, whose face, radiant with light, shines upon the  world, is greatly hated.”



“He, who personifies Christ on earth, doing good for all, becomes thus outraged with impunity!”




“Many iniquitous and wicked leaders of the people, who live and  drag along with them their people outside the laws of God, showing  themselves in sheep’s’ clothing, while being rapacious wolves, have  ruined society, stirring it up against God and His Church.”



“How can the world be saved, from the disaster that is about to  crash down upon the misleading nations, if man does not repent of his  errors and failings? The only salvation is a complete repentance and  return to God, and a true devotion to my Immaculate Heart, particularly  in the daily recitation of my Rosary.”



“Once there was the chastisement by water, but if there is not a  returning to God, there will come the chastisement by fire, which will  cover the streets of the world with blood.”



"My daughter, cry out loudly, and let it be known to all, that,  if they do not return to God, Italy too, will only in part be safe for  the Pope.”



“My heart of Mother, and Mediatrix of men, close to the mercy of  God, invites, with many manifestations and many signs, the people to  penance and to pardon. But they respond with a storm of hate,  blasphemies and sacrilegious profanations, as if blinded by an infernal  rage. I wish prayers and penance, in order that I may again obtain mercy  and salvation for many souls — otherwise they will be lost.”



FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION -DEC 8, 1956

Our  Blessed Mother speaks: “The world today is honoring me, but my Motherly  Heart is bleeding, because the enemy is at our doors! Men are offending  God too much! If I were to show you the number of sins committed in a  single day, you would die of horror and sorrow! The sins that distress  God the most, are those of the souls who should perfume the air with the  fragrance of their virtues. Instead, they contaminate (by their sinful  lives) those who come near them.”



“The times are grievous. The whole world is in turmoil, because IT HAS BECOME WORSE THAN AT THE TIME OF THE DELUGE!”



“Everything is in suspense, like a thread; when this thread  breaks, the justice of God will fall like a thunderbolt and will  complete its terrible course of purification.”




Sister Elena asked, “What will become of Italy?”



The Virgin Mary answered: “Italy, my daughter, will be  humiliated, purified in blood, and must suffer much, because many are  the sins of this beloved country, seat of the Vicar of Christ. You  cannot imagine what will happen! In those sad days there will be much  anguish and weeping. There will be a great revolution, and streets will  be red with blood.”



“The Pope will suffer much, and all this suffering will be like  an agony, which will shorten his earthly pilgrimage. His successor will  guide the boat in the tempest.”



“However the punishment of the impious will not be delayed. That  day will be most fearful in the world! The earth will tremble, all  humanity will be shaken! The wicked and the obstinate will perish in the  tremendous severity of the justice of the Lord.”




“Launch at once a message into the world, to advise men to  return to God by prayers and penances, and to come with confidence to my  Immaculate Heart. My power must be shown, because I am the Mother of  God, of the just, and of sinners. Through prayer and penance, my mercy  will be able to hold back the hand of God’s justice.”



PROPHESIES OF 1959

Jesus, dripping with blood and with  painful and suffering look, said: “Do you wish to unite with Me in My  agony? See how much I suffer! The sins of men have reduced me to this!  What bitterness is poured into this Heart, pierced by many souls, who  instead of loving me with sacrifices, and in flight from sinful vanities  of the corrupt world, commit much iniquity!”



“Help me to suffer by consoling my grieved Heart, and make  reparation for the many sins! Oh my beloved bride, if you knew the pain  that my Heart suffers from the loss of so many souls! Satan travels  victorious over all the sinful earth! I need generous souls to appease  the outraged justice of the Father, because the world is headed for  imminent ruin! The hours of darkness are near!”




“Then, the Madonna appeared to me, sad and shedding tears. She  said”: ‘This great mantle which you see, is the expression of my mercy  for covering sinners and for saving them. Men, instead, cover themselves  with even more filth, and do not want to confess their real faults.  Therefore, the justice of God will pass over the sinful world to purify  humanity for so many sins, openly committed and hidden, especially those  which corrupt youth!’




‘In order to save souls, I wish that there be propagated in the  world the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mediatrix of  men, devoted to the Mercy of God, and to the Queen of the Universe.’



‘The world will be once more afflicted with great calamity; with  bloody revolutions; with great earthquakes; with famines; with  epidemics; with fearful hurricanes; and with floods from rivers and  seas. But if men do not return to God, purifying fire will fall from the  Heavens, like snowstorms, on all peoples, and a great part of humanity  will be destroyed!’



‘No longer do men speak according to the true spirit of the  Gospel. The immorality of the times has ‘reached a peak! But men do not  listen to my motherly warnings, so the world must soon be purified.’




‘RUSSIA WILL MARCH UPON ALL THE NATIONS OF EUROPE, PARTICULARLY  ITALY, AND WILL RAISE HER FLAG OVER THE DOME OF ST. PETER’S. Italy will  be severely tried by a great revolution, and Rome will be purified in  blood for its many sins, especially those of impurity! The flock is  about to be dispersed and the Pope must suffer greatly!’




‘The only valid means for placating Divine Justice is to pray  and do penance, returning to God with sincere sorrow for the faults  committed, and then the chastisement of Divine Justice will be mitigated  by mercy. Humanity will never find peace, if it does not return to my  Immaculate Heart as Mother of Mercy, and Mediatrix of men; and to the  Heart of my Son Jesus!’




GOOD FRIDAY — 1960


The Madonna speaks: “How youth lives in perdition! How many  innocent souls find themselves enwrapped in a chain of scandals! The  world has become as a flooded valley, overflowing with filth and mud!  Some of the most difficult trials of Divine Justice are yet to come,  before the deluge of fire.”



“I, for a long time, have advised men in many ways, but they do  not listen to my maternal appeals, and they continue to walk the paths  of perdition. But soon terrifying manifestations will be seen, which  will make even the most obdurate sinners tremble!”



“Great calamities will come upon the world, which will bring  confusion, tears, struggles and pain. Great earthquakes will swallow up  entire cities and countries, and will bring epidemics, famine, and  terrible destruction ESPECIALLY WHERE THE SONS OF DARKNESS ARE, (pagan  or anti-God nations).”



"In these tragic hours, the world has need of prayers and  penance, because the Pope, the priests, and the Church are in danger. If  we do not pray, Russia will march upon all of Europe, and particularly  upon Italy, bringing much more ruin and havoc! Hence the priests must be  in the front line of defense of the Church, by example and sanctity in  life, for materialism is breaking forth in all nations and evil prevails  over good.”



“The rulers of the people do not understand this, because they do  not have the Christian spirit; in their blindness, do not see the  truth.”




“In Italy, some leaders like rapacious wolves in sheep’s’  clothing, while calling themselves Christians — open the door to  materialism, and, fostering dishonest actions, will bring Italy to ruin;  but many of them, too, will fall in confusion!”



“Propagate the devotions to my Immaculate Heart, of Mother of  Mercy, Mediatrix of men, who believe in the mercy of God, and of the  Queen of the Universe.”




“I will manifest my partiality for Italy, which will be  preserved from the fire, but the skies will be covered with dense  darkness, and the earth will be shaken by fearful earthquakes which will  open deep abysses. Provinces and cities will be destroyed, and all will  cry out that the end of the world has come! Even Rome will be punished  according to justice for its many and serious sins, because here sin has  reached its peak.”



“Pray, and lose no time, lest it be too late; since dense darkness surrounds the earth and the enemy is at the doors!”






FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE HEART - August 22, 1960


The Madonna speaks: “The hour of the justice of God is close, and will be terrible!”



“Tremendous scourges are impending over the world, and various  nations are struck by epidemics, famines, great earthquakes, terrific  hurricanes, with overflowing rivers and seas, which bring ruin and  death.”




“If the people do not recognize in these scourges (of nature)  the warnings of Divine Mercy, and do not return to God with truly  Christian living, ANOTHER TERRIBLE WAR WILL COME FROM THE EAST TO THE  WEST. RUSSIA WITH HER SECRET ARMIES WILL BATTLE AMERICA; WILL OVERRUN  EUROPE.




The river Rhine will be overflowing with corpses and blood.  Italy, also, will be harassed by a great revolution, and the Pope will  suffer terribly.”



“Spread the devotion to my Immaculate Heart, in order that many  souls maybe conquered by my love and that many sinners may return to my  Maternal Heart. Do not fear, for I will accompany with my maternal  protection my faithful ones, and all those who accept my urgent  warnings, and they — especially by the recitations of my Rosary — will  be saved.”



“Satan goes furiously through this disordered world, and soon  will show all his might. But, because of my Immaculate Heart, the  triumph of Light will not delay in its triumph over the power of  darkness, and the world, finally, will have tranquility and peace.”



GOOD FRIDAY — 1961

The Sorrowful Madonna speaks:  “People pay no attention to my motherly warnings, and thus the world is  falling headlong evermore into an abyss of iniquity. Nations shall be  convulsed by terrible disasters, causing destruction and death.



“Russia, spurred on by Satan, will seek to dominate the whole  world and, by bloody revolutions, will propagate her false teachings  throughout all the nations, especially in Italy. The Church will be  persecuted and the Pope and the priests shall suffer much.”



Sister Elena Aiello speaks: “Oh, what a horrible vision I see! A  great revolution is going on in Rome! They are entering the Vatican. The  Pope is all alone; he s praying. They are holding the Pope. They take  him by force. They knock him down to the floor. They are tying him. Oh,  God! Oh God! They are kicking him. What a horrible scene! How dreadful!”



“Our Blessed Mother is drawing near. Like corpses those evil men  fall down to the floor. Our Lady helps the Pope to his feet and, taking  him by the arm, she covers him with her mantle saying: ‘Fear not!’



“Flagstaffs (flying the Red flag over St. Peter’s dome and  elsewhere) collapse, and power is gone out of the clubs of those evil  brutes. These atheists are ever shouting: ‘We don’t want God to rule  over us; we want Satan to be our master!’



Our Blessed Mother speaks again: “My daughter, Rome will not be  saved, because the Italian rulers have forsaken the Divine Light and  because only a few people really love the Church. But the day is not far  off when all the wicked shall perish, under the tremendous blows of  Divine Justice.”

---------------------------------

In April 2011,  Pope Benedict XVI approved the petition allowing for the Beatification  of Venerable Elena Aiello. She will be declared Blessed on September 14,  2011 (Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross) at 17.30 in Piazza dei  Bruzi in Cosenza, Italy. The proclamation of the Blessed will be made by  Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of  Saints, along with Archbishop of Cosenza/Bisignano, His Excellency  Salvatore Nunnari.




For those interested, the Italian website of the Minim Sisters of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ can be found here.





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Addendum: "What Pope Benedict Fears"



Dr. Robert Moynihan, editor and founder of Inside the Vatican, reported the following in an email update earlier this summer entitled "What Pope Benedict Fears"




In an article published on the internet in three parts  beginning on May 21 and concluding on June 22, the writer Antonio  Margheriti Mastino presents what he says are the words and thoughts of  Spanish Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, currently the Prefect of the  Congregation for Divine Worship in the Vatican.




Among the many  interesting statements made in this report, one stands out: the  statement that Pope Benedict, who is known to regard Canizares with  favor, told Canizares personally meeting that he (Benedict) has three  great fears:




(1) The secularization within the Church;

(2) The peaceful invasion of Europe by Islam;

(3) The ever-greater control  -- and the next words are within quotation marks, meaning Margheriti  Mastino is presenting these words as an exact quotation of what Cardinal  Canizares said to him -- "of freemasonry on the cultural level and of the centers of power of the European Union."

Though the perils of Freemasonry are often forgotten, our Holy Father knows them. So did Our Lady of Fatima, and many other popes, not least of all Pope Leo XIII:




Now, from the disturbing errors which We have described the greatest  dangers to States are to be feared. For, the fear of God and reverence  for divine laws being taken away, the authority of rulers despised,  sedition permitted and approved, and the popular passions urged on to  lawlessness, with no restraint save that of punishment, a change and  overthrow of all things will necessarily follow. Yea, this change and  overthrow is deliberately planned and put forward by many associations  of Communists and Socialists; and to their undertakings the sect of  Freemasons is not hostile, but greatly favors their designs, and holds  in common with them their chief opinions. And if these men do not at  once and everywhere endeavor to carry out their extreme views, it is not  to be attributed to their teaching and their will, but to the virtue of  that divine religion which cannot be destroyed; and also because the  sounder part of men, refusing to be enslaved to secret societies,  vigorously resist their insane attempts.”-- paragraphs 27, Humanum Genus