New Guidelines to Help Bishops Evaluate the Validity of Apparitions

The owners of the Emmitsburg.net website state that they have generated a new web page on their site because they were alarmed by the June 28, 2008 message of Our Lady of Emmitsburg in which she warns the world of the possibility of a coming astronomical catastrophe. It is called: "'Our Lady of Emmitsburg' Cult Watch." One of the most recent entries is titled: "Pope declares 'holy war' against people who falsely claim to have seen the Virgin Mary." It is written by Simon Caldwell of the DailyMail.CO.UK.

This highly charged article reports that Pope Benedict XVI will soon publish guidelines to help Bishops evaluate visionaries. If this is true, I think that it is a good development for visionaries such as Dr. Gianna Sullivan. It appears to me that in the past, the members of the Diocese of Baltimore did not conduct a thorough job of evaluating Dr. Sullivan and the alleged messages she has been receiving. This has been said not only by the Sullivans themselves, but also by many of the priests who support her.

Is It Possible That a Prediction of the Mother of God Would Not Come to Pass?

Many people have entertained doubts about Our Lady of Emmitsburg's [OLOE] messages to Dr. Gianna Sullivan because one of Our Lady's predictions did not seem to come true. This is the prediction that Our Lady made:

"I have waited patiently for 2000 years for my plan to unfold....I requested, over 80 years ago at Fatima, sacrifice for sinners' conversion in reparation for sins committed against My Immaculate Heart....I predicted a future miracle that all might believe; and now as my plan commences, I once again predict a sign for this October." (OLOE 7-13-2000)

On Sept 8, 2000, the feast of the Birth of Mary, Cardinal Keller of the Baltimore diocese issued a statement to the effect that he was going to investigate Gianna Sullivan and that, until further notice, the Prayer Group in St. Joseph's Church should be suspended. Thereafter, the predicted sign that was to occur in October, did not seem to occur in any obvious way. Was this a false prediction or did Our Lady change her plans?

In the past, when I read comments about visionaries and prophets, I was often puzzled by the fact that the commentator would indicate that, while some of their prophecies came true, others did not. I did not know what to make of this. It certainly put doubts in my mind about those alleged saints and holy people.

However, when this prophecy of OLOE did not seem, to me, to have been fulfilled, I felt that there had to be some explanation that I was unaware of. The many years that I had spent reading all the Lessons from Jesus, that Gianna Sullivan had received and the many messages from Our Lady, left me with an enduring conviction that they were, indeed, from God!

Years later, a message from OLOE to Dr. Gianna Sullivan gave me a new insight into this issue. When Our Lady explained that her plans change due to our permissive will, I began to realize how Our Lady could make a prediction that did not come to pass. Our Lady explains:

There are two wills. There is the Divine Will and the permissive will. I have a plan for the salvation of the world for which I have prayed for a very long time on your behalf. Oftentimes, my plan changes, although it will be fulfilled according to God's Divine Will. It changes because you are gifted with a permissive will. You have the freedom to choose. God, in His Mercy and kindness, allows you to choose. He does not force you. (OLOE 8-5-2007)

There is an interesting example in the life of St. Catherine Laboure relative to how Our Lady's plans changed. Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal appeared three times to St. Catherine Laboure in the Chapel of the Motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity in Rue du Bac in Paris, France in 1830. Our Lady asked St. Catherine to have a medal struck which was initially called "Medal of the Immaculate Conception" but is now universally referred to as the "Miraculous Medal," because of the many miracles and wonders associated with the medal.

In this case, we learn that Our Lady's plans changed because of the lack of cooperation of St. Catherine's superiors. Speaking of the pilgrimages and miracles taking place at Our Lady of Victories Church in Paris, St. Catherine said: "You know, these miracles could have happened in our chapel." [Fr. Rene Laurentin as quoted in Roses in December, by Dom Forker, p 43.] Further, St. Catherine said that the pilgrimages associated with both Our Lady of Victories Church and with Lourdes, represented changes in the plan of the Blessed Virgin to compensate for what had failed to occur at the Apparition Chapel in Rue du Bac in Paris.

Another example of how the permissive will of human beings interfered with the original plans of Our Lady, happened at Fatima, Portugal. With regard to the famous Miracle of the Sun, Our Lady is said to have indicated to the visionary, Sr. Lucia, that because the Civic Administrator of Fatima had imprisoned the three little visionaries of Fatima and threatened to boil them in oil, that the predicted miracle would not be as great as Our Lady had originally planned!

It seems to me, that it is highly likely, that when Cardinal Keeler had the prayer meetings in St. Joseph's Church in Emmitsburg, MD halted, that this action influenced Our Lady's plans and that the predicted sign was not given by Our Lady in October 2000.

When the investigations of Dr. Gianna Talone-Sullivan were concluded by the archdiocese of Baltimore, Gianna was told that she could continue to hold prayer meetings, as long as she did not do so in any Church or other property of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Thereafter, the public messages of OLOE to Gianna Sullivan, which had stopped in Sept. 2000, were resumed in August 2002 and continued until Oct. 5, 2008. However, the prayer meetings were not held on any church grounds, etc. of the archdiocese. Then on Oct. 8, 2008, the new Archbishop of Baltimore, Edwin F. O'Brien, issued a Pastoral Advisory regarding Dr. Gianna Sullivan, and once again the OLOE Prayer Meetings were stopped. And once again, Dr. Gianna Sullivan and her husband, Dr. Michael Sullivan, accepted the requirements of the Pastoral Advisory.

News about Our Lady of Emmitsburg's Apparitions

On Oct. 8, 2008, the Rev. Edwin F. O’Brien, Archbishop of Baltimore, issued an advisory regarding Our Lady of Emmitsburg’s messages to Dr. Gianna Sullivan. The Archbishop writes: "The alleged apparitions to Gianna Sullivan have not been recognized by the authority of the Church. Studied in detail by experts in theology and other pertinent fields, the investigations have come to the conclusion that the alleged apparitions are not supernatural in origin. This has been confirmed by the authority of the Church."

The net directive from the Diocese seems to be that Gianna should not in any way disseminate information within the diocese of Baltimore about her alleged apparitions. For more information, including Dr. Gianna Sullivan’s response as well as the Advisory put out by the Archbishop of Baltimore, click here. (www.prourladyofemmitsburg.org/latestnews.html )

It appears to this writer that the investigations of which Archbishop O’Brien speaks are not new. On Sept. 8, 2000, Dr. Gianna Sullivan received notification from Archbishop Keeler’s office that they were suspending the Marian Prayer Meetings which were being held in St. Joseph’s Church, Emmitsburg, MD pending an investigation of her mystical experiences. The report of the Commission was never made public.

In Sept. 2002 Cardinal Keeler sent a letter to the pastor of St. Joseph’ parish apparently indicating that they were continuing the ban on the use of Church facilities in the Diocese of Baltimore for the dissemination of Gianna’s messages. After Gianna and her husband, Michael, received a brief communication from Cardinal Keeler’s Delegate for Canonical Affairs, Gianna’s husband, Dr. Michael Sullivan, was quoted in the Frederick News-Post of Dec. 8, 2002 as saying that: "the church only restricted using the church property to deliver the messages and the Commission did not specifically condemn or approve the messages."

Most of the priests who back Gianna felt that the Commission’s investigation was flawed and asked for a second investigation. To my knowledge, the Diocese never authorized a second investigatory commission. For more information click here to see the website of the Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. (www.centeroftheimmaculateheart.org/foundation/welcome.asp )

It appears very likely to me that the message from Our Lady of Emmitsburg on June 1, 2008 upset some of the Archbishop’s parishioners. In particular, the warning that: "Approximately 60-70% of the world’s population, as you know it, will cease... Prayer is the answer! Prayer can mitigate much of anything to come." Such a warning does not seem to me to be sufficient reason to issue an "advisory" about Dr. Gianna Sullivan! Quite the contrary, this message of June 1, 2008 should be made known to all Catholics!

Why? Because very similar warnings have been reported by Church approved visionaries. For example, at Fatima Our Lady warned Sr. Lucia that "several entire nations would be annihilated" unless the people of the world started to pray more and amend their lives. And, on Oct. 13, 1973, the anniversary of the Fatima Miracle of the Sun, Our Lady appeared to Sister Agnes Sasagawa in Akita, Japan and said: "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. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity." As I said, both these warnings have been approved by the Catholic Church. Our Lady of Emmitsburg gave the same type of warning on June 1, 2008! Is it possible that this warning was one of the prime movers in Archbishop’s O’Brien’s decision?

One more thing needs to be stressed. Two of the visionaries, Sr. Lucia and Dr. Gianna Sullivan, have reported that Our Lady is also predicting that there will be an Era of Peace which will come either through Grace or chastisement, depending on our response! In the book, The Fatima Prophecies , by By Thomas W. Petrisko, et al, the Era of Peace is described by a commission of six experts as referring to the "true reign of Christ". This amazing statement reads as follows: "At Fatima a commission of six experts appointed by the Bishop to interpret the message of Fatima rendered the opinion that the ‘Era of Peace’ promised by Mary implied a ‘true reign of Christ’ on the earth. This was because, they said, there ‘could be no other meaning of the word peace’ on the lips of the Mother of Christ and ‘no other meaning to her words’ my Immaculate Heart will triumph."

TWO SUNS ON THE HORIZON

A private message to Gianna Talone Sullivan was given to her on Memorial Day, May 26, 2008, by Our Lady of Emmitsburg. In this message Our Lady introduced the idea of “stars aligning and moving in their own orbits.” Mary says that this event, which could come: “ sooner than you know, could result in the death of 70% of this world’s population.”

In Our Lady of Emmitsburg’s Public Message to the World on June 1, 2008, she says: “When you see the two suns on the horizon, you must know that this is a time of change, a time of this new beginning about which I have spoken to you before. After you see the two suns, there is only a short time before you will see a tremendous change in weather...I can tell you this: Even your governments and the Church authorities already have knowledge of the stars aligning and its implication upon you...Approximately 60-70% of the world’s population, as you know it, will cease. Of those who survive, 60% of them could die of disease and starvation.”

However, Our Lady of Emmitsburg continues to offer us hope. She says that: “PRAYER IS THE ANSWER! PRAYER CAN MITIGATE MUCH OF ANYTHING TO COME. Love and unity must be at the forefront, not survival of the fittest.”

If these predictions seem far fetched, consider the Catholic Church approved apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. In the Fatima apparition the Mother of God predicted that a great chastisement was imminent and that “several nations would be annihilated” IF the world did not turn back to God. To support her words, Mary promised that a miracle would be performed at a predicted time and place. The ‘Miracle of the Sun’ occurred as promised on October 13, 1917 in the Cova da Iria, Portugual before more than 100,000 people! For more information see the book, Meet the Witnesses, by John M. Haffert.

In another of his more than twenty books, John M. Haffert describes this amazing Miracle of the Sun as follows: “A light was seen in the sky which looked like the sun. It was visible within a radius of more than twenty miles, clearly defined (hence not something seen through a fog or mist), whirled in the sky like a wheel of fire, threw off shafts of colored light which colored objects on the ground. After several minutes, it seemed suddenly to loose itself from the sky and to plummet toward the earth, causing the crowd to believe that the world was about to end. It was over in twelve minutes.”

It is not so easy to be incredulous about the Miracle of the Sun, when we learn that not only was it witnessed to by over 100,000 people, but that it was attested to by the two most powerful, atheistic newspapers in Portugal, O Seculo and O Dia. Prior to the Miracle, these two newspapers : “had been blasting at the story of Fatima as being anything from a Jesuit fraud to rankest superstition.”

After the Miracle occurred both newspapers accurately printed what their reporters had seen. These descriptions were so thorough that the Vatican used them in the Beatification and Canonization proceedings of the two young visionaries, Jacinta and Francisco! Never before in the history of the Catholic Church had a miracle happened at the very time and place predicted in advance!

Is it too late for us to respond to these critical messages from God? The late Pope John Paul II, that great contemplative, spoke about the importance of the Fatima messages. He said that the key point was that at Fatima Our Lady had pointed the way for us to respond in order to “save mankind from self-destruction.”

Which Will You Choose?

On April 8, 2008, God the Father through Dr. Gianna Sullivan spoke once again to humanity. He points out how we have been blessed and given life. And He asks us whether or not we realize that we are “special and savored by Heaven”? God the Father emphasizes that we "have every port of glory" at our fingertips.

Referring to the apocalyptic challenges that face mankind as never before, God the Father points out the two choices that face us and speaks of the tremendous graces that He is now making available to the whole human race. He tells Gianna:

“I am relinquishing all graces unto you, not one by one but as if a floodgate was to open to you so that you can be inebriated by My Love and come DROWN in the Precious Blood of My Son, protected and full of Life. "

“Or, if you do not desire that, then the floodgates of the human natural world will pour forth and overtake you; and there, at the mercy of nature, you will have the same opportunity to DROWN in another world."

"A Wondrous Tomorrow" Will Explode

On http://www.centeroftheimmaculateheart.org/, the Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary website, new words from God the Father, through Gianna Sullivan, were published on March 8, 2008. As usual, they are addressed to the Children of Humanity, to all of us! He tells us that because there is no peace in our hearts, there is chaos throughout the world. He urges us to "live in Truth", and to "come back to the Truth." God the Father says: "Every day is a new opportunity to give yourself unconditionally to the Truth, regardless of your sinful ways. I, your God of Mercy, am that indeed! If you do not, then the pain and suffering, the fear and panic and confusion, and the division and scandals will only escalate."

Then God the Father speaks these extraordinary words! "As the prophets before and as the prophets now all join in unity to give glory to God through My Son, there will explode a wondrous tomorrow! Painful it might be for those who do not know the Truth and for those who do and refuse to accept it. For those who do know it and accept it, painful it might be; but the overall safety of their souls will be preserved, and the world will be brought forth to its proper place from its inception in Creation.

The last sentence gives me a new and amazing insight into the Second Coming.

A Message from Our Lady for the United States

In my blog posting of 11-27-07, titled New Era of Peace, I quote Our Lady of Emmitsburg as saying two things. One is that we need to prepare ourselves for this new Era of Peace. Second, that the new Era of Peace will be "proceeded by confusion and controversy, battles, pain and the other bowls of purification." Finally, in my 1-26-08 post I quote Our Lady of Fatima as saying that "various nations will be annihilated" if we do not listen to her warnings and change our lives.

Now, Our Lady has given a specific message for the United States. On 1-19-08 Our Lady of Emmitsburg gave a message to Gianna Sullivan for release on 1-31-08. The Mother of God begins:

"Little ones, I do not think that your country realizes the seriousness of the world's condition and the effects it will have on humanity worldwide. Those, who say they are Christian and love Jesus and who are prayerful and spiritual, and yet disconnect themselves via politics and other spiritual elements from moral values, are in most serious danger!"

Our Lady makes an interesting point about us here in the US. She says:

"There are people on other continents who are willing to die for what they believe in truth, and they do; and yet, this country allows people to die from lack of food, shelter and healthcare, and from the kind of death caused by lack of respect and lack of dignity, killing the hearts and the vibrancy of life through slander, malice, gossip and selfishness.

Later Our Lady addresses the apocalyptic aspects of her message:

"If you think any war in this world has been devastating up to this point, you have not witnessed what will come without change. You can dismiss only so much; however, you had best be prepared to answer for what you yourself have done."

"What will it take for you to realize your visitation is here at hand and the many gifts God wants to give you to protect you, to keep you safe, and to draw you to His Truth?"

"various nations will be annihilated."

During my vacation in the Bahamas I was reading a number of books about Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to three young children in Fatima, Portugal, beginning in 1917! Ultimately these apparitions of Mary were sanctioned by the Catholic church. One of the prophecies that the Mother of God made was that, if we did not turn our lives back to God, that “various nations will be annihilated.” It should be noted that this prediction was made long before the atomic bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. Although I had heard about the apparitions of Fatima many years ago, I did not become aware of this prophecy and it implications until very recently,

While the visionaries, Dr. Gianna Talone-Sullivan and Mrs Vassula Ryden, both say that they are not prophets of “doom and gloom”, there is, nonetheless, an apocalyptic element in their writings. What impresses me is that, what these mystics are saying, is amazingly consistent with the messages of Our Lady of Fatima!

World Poverty

Ever since I first read about the apparitions which were occurring in Scottsdale, AZ and also read the Lessons from Our Lord that Dr. Gianna Sullivan was receiving, my major interest was not so much the apparitions or the visionaries; rather, my major interest was in how God seemed to be calling everyone in the whole wide world to mystical contemplation. In my book, Its Light is the Lamb, the main subject which I address, in one fashion or another, is the question of whether or not there is a universal call to contemplation. And in my blog of the same name, I also discuss mystical contemplation as my major topic.

However, in this blog which I have titled Second Pentecost, or which is synonymously expressed as the Second Coming, the Eucharistic Reign, the new springtime of the Church, the New Era of Peace, or as I like to think of it, as the “new Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:2), my major interest is in trying to understand what God is trying to tell us, through His prophets, about the age in which we now live.

Today, I got a new insight as I was reading the book, Fatima, The Great Sign, by Francis Johnston. In this book the author speaks of the people in the Third World who suffer so much from hunger. Johnston says that, according to the Fatima message from Our Lady, she has promised that “the fulfillment of her requests would put an end to world hunger.” (p. 136) I had never heard this before! If Our Lady really said this, what an important message it is. Why have we not heard more about this promise of Our Lady?

'Signs of the Times'

In my blog, titled New Era of Peace, posted Nov. 27, 2007, I quoted Our Lady as saying that this Era of Peace will be “preceded by confusion and controversy, battles, pain and the other bowls of purification.” On Sept. 23, 2006, Mary the Mother of God says to Dr. Gianna Sullivan, these sobering words relative to this ‘purification’

”Those who will survive future events must be sound in mind, body & soul, both whole and self-giving. Many people today are living as if nothing is expected to change in the future. Yes, only God truly knows the time and the place; but I can assure you that if there were ever to be a 'sign' given regarding the coming events in the world,it is now! It would be foolish not to read the 'signs of the times' as you now see them and foolish not to prepare in prayer with all your hearts and minds to blanket yourselves with humility, and therefore protection!”

NEW ERA OF PEACE

I have just been reading two booklets that I obtained from the Martin Todd Ministries, Inc. (www.prourladyofemmitsburg.org) which contain some of the private revelations that mystic and visionary, Dr. Gianna Sullivan, received from Our Lady of Emmitsburg during the year 2006. To learn more about Dr. Gianna Sullivan and her mission see my other blog, ItsLightistheLamb.blogspot.com, on the Foundation, which post I wrote on Friday, Nov. 23, 2007.


On Aug. 12, 2006 Our Lady speaks of the need we have to prepare for this new Era of Peace, which, in my thinking, refers to what has been called the "Second Pentecost" or the new "springtime of the Church". She urges us to set aside time "to prepare, to prepare for something great and glorious." However, Our Lady tells us that this Era of Peace will be "preceeded by confusion and controversy, battles, pain and the other bowls of purification." She says that, if the people who do not see the "sign of the times" which is all around us now, were to be given a sign by God, that they would not accept that sign either, "if they cannot even notice what is happening at this moment."


On Aug. 17, 2006, Mary, the Mother of God, says something which I think is very important and which I try to keep uppermost in my mind. She reminds us that we must be careful in interpreting her words!!! In this connection, Father Thomas Keating says that all mystical phenomena, including visions, apparitions and alleged messages from God must be viewed with caution. In this message, Mary is assuring us that we must trust in her words and be at peace. However, she adds this vital caveat: "You must remember that your analysis and understanding of even my words may be different than the true meaning."

POPE JOHN XXIII and PRIVATE REVELATIONS

In my first post, titled Second Pentecost, I mentioned that in Bishop Paul Kim's Pastoral Letter of Easter 1999, he spoke of the Second Pentecost (Second Coming). He says that, when Pope John XXIII received a revelation regarding the unhappy state of the Church, that it needed reform, the Pope convoked the Second Vatican Council. When he opened the council, Pope John XXIII prayed that it would be the beginning of a Second Pentecost for the Church. Relative to the private revelation that the Pope received, one of my readers left a comment. He wanted to know two things: “How often do Popes receive private revelations?” And “Do all Popes receive them?”

While I don’t have a precise answer to either question, I do have an opinion about them. First of all I don’t believe that all Popes receive private revelations from God. If every Pope received such revelations, I would think that we would have heard about it. Private revelations, when they are valid, are special charisms which come from God They are intended to build up the Church. As St. Paul says, the Spirit distributes them to each individual at will; and that “to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12:7)

Since they are a free gift from God, it seems to me that the frequency of these private revelations cannot usually be predicted. However, with the modern day visionaries, there are some cases when the Lord Himself or Our Lady, tell a particular visionary when to expect future apparitions. This is occurring right now with the visionary, Dr. Gianna Sullivan of Emmitsburg, MD. There is a prayer service on the first Sunday of each month during which Our Lady of Emmitsburg gives a public message to the world. Gianna does not know how long this will continue. However, Our Lady told her that these private revelations had been “saved for the last”.

If you would like to see a video of one of these apparitions 'click here'. In order to listen to these public messages from Our Lady of Emmitsburg you can call toll free: 1-866-448-0711.