Around the year 96 AD, St. John the Evangelist was exiled and imprisoned by the Roman Emperor Domitian on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Ephesus, Turkey.
He wrote that he saw a vision of a Lamb (Jesus Christ) holding a scroll sealed with seven seals. (See Revelation 5 and 6). He wrote, “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about ½ an hour.” (Revelation 8:1). Then he wrote that he saw an angel who “came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth; and there were peals of thunder; loud noises, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.” (Revelation 8:3-5).
This represented a possible divine chastisement upon the earth. The silence represented a solemn prelude to this chastisement. The “smoke of the incense” gives us confidence that the “prayers of the saints” reach the throne of God and are heard by him and may mitigate (lessen) chastisements that may soon come to the earth.
Catholic blogger, Susan Skinner, recently reported a message that she believes Jesus revealed to her. It is somewhat similar to chapter 8 of the Book of Revelation. She reports that Jesus revealed, “Heaven and earth will shake. Then will come the silence. All will see who they are. You will see what you did to me, what you did to my body on the Cross.… You must turn to my mercy at that hour, for the hour of justice will come swiftly for those who reject my mercy.”
Perhaps this is a reference to the Warning experienced by St. Faustina who wrote that “Once I was summoned to the judgment [seat] of God. I stood alone before the Lord…. Suddenly, I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it. I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God. I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for. What a moment! Who can describe it? To stand before the thrice-holy God!” (Diary 36).
Susan’s message continued, “The earth will tremble, fire will fall.”
Perhaps this is a reference to Our Lady’s approved warning of fire falling from the sky, revealed at Akita, Japan, on October 13, 1973:
“My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior.”
After a short silence:
“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, [the Great Flood] such as one has never 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 priests.”
Susan’s message concluded with Jesus citing Revelation 8:1-5 , as if making a parallel of that citation with his message, and he said, “All will be dark for 3 days. If it were any longer you couldn’t bear it. Prepare your heart to be a sanctuary, a refuge.”
So, let us prayerfully prepare our hearts “to be a sanctuary, a refuge” from chastisements. You may read Susan’s full message below.
Jesus King of All Nations promised his Secretary, the mystic of the Devotion, “My little one, every time you say the prayers I taught you in connection with My image as ‘Jesus, King of All Nations’, I promise that I will… be less severe in My Judgment of your nation, the United States of America. My little one, this not only applies to your nation, but also all other nations. My child, each time you say these prayers, I will mitigate the severity of the chastisements upon your country.” (Journal 41).
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