The Coming Chastisement
Revelations to
Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora
of a World That Refuses to Listen
by Luis Dufaur
The appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917 was not an isolated event.
In an ecclesiastical procession or similar solemn rites, a cortege with an ascending array of dignitaries precedes the principal celebrant. Similarly, a series of increasingly prominent messages from Heaven foretold the preeminent message of the Mother of God.
At Fatima, Our Lady denounced a depravity that called for a chastisement of unimaginable proportions. Such decadence resulted from a process that began at the end of the Middle Ages, an epoch in which "the philosophy of the Gospel governed the states ... (and) the influence of Christian wisdom and its divine virtue permeated the laws, institutions, and customs of the people."1
The Spirit of Darkness that animates this corruption trumpeted his diabolic design through such heralds of iniquity as Luther and Calvin, Danton and Robespierre, Marx and Lenin, the anarchists of the Sorbonne, and today's purveyors of the myriad evils and scandals with which we are all too familiar.
Since the onset of this tendential revolution, saints, popes and other counter-revolutionaries have not failed to sound the alarm. Such providential warnings have even issued from Heaven itself.
Among the portents meriting our attention are the little-known writings of Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora.2
On the left: painting of Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora. On the right: brick building in Rome, known as the Selvaggi Palace, where Blessed Elizabeth lived during the first years of the apparitions.
Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora.
Elizabeth was born in Rome on November 21, 1774, the daughter of Tomas Canori, a prominent landowner, and Teresa Primoli, an aristocrat. In 1796, at the age of 21, Elizabeth married Cristoforo Mora, an attorney. She gave birth to four daughters, two of whom died in infancy.
The untimely deaths of her children were not the only tragadies to befall Elizabeth. Cristoforo, seduced by an immoral woman, abandoned his wife and remaining children. He was arrested by the Pontifical police and sent first to jail, then to a convent. He swore to amend his life but, on returning home, he repeatedly tried to kill his wife. Elizabeth, for her part, offered countless sacrifices for her husband's conversion.
Only after Elizabeth's death, on May 2, 1825, did Cristoforo return to the Faith, leading a life of prayer and penance. He was eventually ordained and died a priest - as Elizabeth had foretold.
"The Justice of God will chastise you."
On Christmas Day, 1813, Elizabeth was transported to a place bathed in light. There, numerous saints surrounded a humble manger, from which the Holy Child beckoned her.
I saw my beloved newborn Jesus bathed in his own blood. At that moment, I understood why the blood of the newborn Divine Infant had been spilled - the bad conduct of many priests and religious who did not behave according to their state, the poor education given children by their fathers and mothers.3
The angels conducted Elizabeth to secret lairs where clerics conspired to topple thrones and destroy the remnants of Christian civilization.
I saw many ministers of the Lord who renounced one another, furiously ripping from their person the sacred vestments. I say the holy altars torn down by the very ministers of God.4
I saw the Sanhedrin of wolves that surrounded the Pope and two angels weeping. A holy boldness inspired me to ask the reason for their sad lamentations. Contemplating the city of Rome with compassionate eyes, they replied, "Miserable city, ungrateful people, the justice of God will chastise you."5
"The entire world was in chaos."
The angels showed Elizabeth the destruction that God has in store for a world that refuses to heed his words.
Thunderbolts of divine justice flamed about me. Buildings fell into ruin. Cities, provinces and countries - the entire world was in chaos. One heard nothing save voices weakly begging for mercy. The number of dead was incalculable.6
What most impressed Elizabeth was the sight of God as a giant.
His omnipotent hands were filled with bolts of lightning. His face was resplendent with indignation. His gaze alone was enough to incinerate the world. Neither angels nor saints accompanied Him - only His indignation.7
Of this vision, Elizabeth wrote, "Had it lasted more than a moment, I surely would have died."8
On the left: His gaze alone was enough to incinerate the world. On the right: Saint Peter's square on the day of Blessed Elizabeth's beatification, on April 24, 1994.
"The Mother of God did not implore God for mercy."
On June 13, 1917, Our Lady showed Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta her Immaculate Heart, surrounded by thorns, symbols of the wounds inflicted by our sins. Elizabeth was also shown how grievously our sins offend the Blessed Virgin. Seeing the sorrow in Our Lady's eyes, she asked her why she grieved.
"Contemplate, O daughter," Our Lady replied, "Contemplate the great impiety."
Hearing these words, I saw brazen apostates boldly seeking to wrench her Holy Son from her most pure bosom. In face of this outrage, the Mother of God did not implore God for mercy, but instead called for justice. Robed in inexorable justice, the Eternal Father turned his indignant gaze toward the world. At that moment, nature convulsed and the world lost its bearings as it sank beneath a misery beyond imagination.9
"Woe to those who embrace the condemnable philosophies of our day."
On July 6, 1815, God again revealed to Elizabeth the chastisement brought down on mankind by "rapacious wolves in sheep's clothing, bitter persecutors of Jesus Crucified and his bride, the Church."
The whole world was in convulsion, especially the city of Rome. At the Sacred College, some had been dispersed, others humiliated and still others ruthlessly assassinated. The clergy and nobility suffered similar fates.10
On June 28, 1820, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Elizabeth beheld the Prince of the Apostles descending from Heaven in pontifical vestments and escorted by a legion of angels. With his crosier, St. Peter drew an immense cross upon the Earth; on each of its ends verdant trees appeared enveloped in brilliant light. Here the godly - religious and lay alike - found refuge from the torment.
Yet woe to those religious who scorned the holy rules, because all will perish under the terrible scourge. This applies to all who embrace licentiousness and the condemnable philosophies of our day.11
"With a wave of his right hand, He will punish them."
Elizabeth continued her account of her fearsome vision:
The firmament was covered with a tenebrous blue, a terrifying sight. The wind's impetuous breath was felt everywhere as its violent roar - like that of a ferocious lion - echoed across the globe.
Terror will reduce men and beasts to utter fear, and they will kill one another without pity. The avenging hand of the omnipotent God weigh down on these miserable souls, and He will chastise their shameless pride and impudent temerity.
With a wave of his hand, He will punish them, setting loose from Hell legions of demons to scourge the world, executing the demands of Divine Justice.
Because they surrendered their souls to Satan and allied themselves with him to strike against the Holy Catholic Church, God will permit these iniquitous men to be chastised by ferocious demons who will devastate every place where man has affronted and profaned Him.12
"I will reform my people and my Church."*
Thanks be to God, the similarity of these supernatural manifestations a century apart does not end with their depiction of the catastrophic chastisement awaiting those who mock God and his laws. Like the consoling promise of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary given us at Fatima, the message of Blessed Elizabeth offers the faithful cause for hope.
After the purification described above had been accomplished, Elizabeth saw Saint Peter descending from Heaven on a majestic pontifical throne. He was followed by Saint Paul, who "traversed the world to imprison those malignant infernal spirits and bring them before the holy Apostle Saint Peter who, with authority, confined them to the dark netherworld from which they had been released. Then a beautiful radiance shone above the Earth, announcing the reconciliation of God and man"13 and the remnant of faithful Catholics were led from their place of refuge to the throne of Saint Peter.
The Saint chose the new Pope, and the Church was reformed to the precepts of the Gospel. The religious orders were reestablished, and every Christian home was permeated with such zeal for the glory of God that all acclaimed the triumph and honor of the Holy Catholic Church.14
Thus Our Lord would fulfill what He had confided to Elizabeth in 1821:
I will reform my people and my Church. I will send zealous priests to preach the Faith. I will form a new apostolate. I will send the Holy Ghost to renew the earth. I will reform the religious orders with holy men and women who possess the spirit of my beloved son Ignatius. I will give a new Pastor to my Church who, with holy zeal, will reform the flock of Christ.15
"Finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph."
Blessed Elizabeth dies nearly a century before Our Lady's appearance at Fatima in 1917. Yet her visions and revelations - only touched upon here - are even timelier in the twenty-first century. Like Fatima, they warn us of the coming chastisement of a world that refuses to listen to God and his Church.
Also like Fatima, they console us with the promise that the glorious Reign of Mary, which Divine Providence has been preparing for centuries, is forthcoming; that Our Lady's Immaculate Heart will triumph!
________________________________________
Notes:
-
Pope Leo XIII, encyclical Immoratale Dei, Nov. 18, 1885.
- Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora was raised to the altars by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1994. The theological censor had pronounced her writings free of error on May 11, 1990. (See below.)
- La mia vita nel Cuore della Trinità - Diario della Beata Elisabetta Canori Mora, sposa e madre, (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1996) p. 158-160.
- Ibid., p. 164.
- Ibid., pp. 193-194.
- Ibid., pp. 257-258.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid., pp. 411-412.
- Ibid., pp. 285-286.
- Ibid., pp. 489-493.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid., pp. 524-526.
Editor's note:
This article was adapted from, "Um século antes de Fátima a Providència já anunciava" by Luis Dufaur in the Brazilian magazine Catolicismo of May 2002.
Official judgment of the writings of Blessed Elizabeth.
On May 11, 1990, the ecclesiastical censor entrusted by the Holy See with the examination of the manuscripts of Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora issued his formal judgment. He affirms, "In all the writings of the Servant of God Elizabeth Canori Mora there is nothing contrary to the Faith and good customs, nor is therein encountered any altered or deviant doctrine, or doctrine foreign to the common and customary sentiment of Holy Mother Church."
He does, however, observe that objections might be made as regards "certain visions and revelations that refer in particular to greater and lesser prelates of Rome, which include rather gloomy descriptions and are of such dimensions that they would seem more suited to cause scandal to the faithful and to offend pious ears."
In order to dismiss this eventual objection, the ecclesiastical censor clarifies, among other things, that "lamentations of this kind, at times expressed in even more vibrant language, are nothing new in the writings of the Servants of God in which, if it be sad to witness corruption among the people, it is even more deplorable to witness it among the ministers of the sanctuary."
After explaining how difficult it would be to attempt to prove the visions of Blessed Elizabeth false and how easy to show their authenticity, he concludes, "The words of the Servant of God, rather than being offensive to the ears of the pious, ought to be considered very useful, especially to priests who read them."
The zealous censor also expressed his desire that "the autobiography of our Venerable Servant of God might be published as soon as is possible and convenient," for these pages "will not fail to be equally advantageous to many souls of good disposition not inclined to slight the marvels of God in his saints." (From Sacra Ritum Congregatione, Beatificationis et canonizationis Ven. Servae Dei Elizabeth Canori Mora. Rome: Typographia in Instituo Pii IX, 1914.)
