What People Are Commenting
Striking Lightning Bolt & ‘Martyred’ Priest
Thoughts on the Latest Lightning Strike
Dear TIA,
Here is a "bullet point" article for you on Islam, Our Lady, lightning strikes, and the last two popes.
Patrick O’Brien
Here is a "bullet point" article for you on Islam, Our Lady, lightning strikes, and the last two popes.
- The town of Fatima is named after a young woman who about a millennium ago converted from Islam to Catholicism in order to marry a Catholic knight.
- The town of Lourdes is named after a Moorish Muslim warrior who, not wishing to surrender to Charlemagne, instead surrendered to Our Lady, and who converted.
- Our Lady's rosary defeated Islam at the Battle of Lepanto.
- A lightning strike upon St. Peter's in the Vatican on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes coincided with Benedict XVI's resignation, which paved the way for Pope Francis.
- A lightning strike occurred again upon St. Peter's, this past Friday, October 7, on the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which celebrates the victory at Lepanto over Islam./li>
- Through His Mother, Our Lord wishes to convert Islam and not dialogue with it or suggest that somehow Muslims can be saved in their error.
- Only by recourse to Our Lady will Islam be defeated.
- Our Lord is reminding the last two popes, and especially Francis, that the struggle with Islam is approaching a critical stage.
Patrick O’Brien
______________________
Hello TIA,
I would like your opinion on whether the French priest killed by Muslims in France can be called a martyr?
I read that Pope Francis is fast-tracking him to sainthood (news report here), and my Fraternity of St. Peter priest calls him a martyr, and has even called one of their own priests who was killed by some burglar a martyr. I have some doubts about both being martyrs, but the priest told me I shouldn't question the pope, if you can believe that after all the things he says.
Thanks for your opinion, which I think is sounder than what I usually hear from the pulpit.
G.F.
TIA responds:
Hello G.F.,
We believe Fr. Jacques Hamel was not a martyr. The reason is quite simple. The news reports immediately after his death say that he was preparing to defend himself when the terrorist immobilized him. Now then, one of the conditions for a person to become a martyr is to deliver his life voluntarily for the Catholic Faith without any resistance. We see that this condition was not fulfilled by Fr. Hamel.
Besides, no one can know for sure what faith Fr. Hamel was professing, since he was a convinced ecumenist, to the point of offering church land to the Muslims to build a mosque in his city. If he were a martyr, he would be a martyr of ecumenism, which imagines that all religions save. This ecumenism, however, has nothing to do with the Catholic Faith, which is the only road to salvation.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
I would like your opinion on whether the French priest killed by Muslims in France can be called a martyr?
I read that Pope Francis is fast-tracking him to sainthood (news report here), and my Fraternity of St. Peter priest calls him a martyr, and has even called one of their own priests who was killed by some burglar a martyr. I have some doubts about both being martyrs, but the priest told me I shouldn't question the pope, if you can believe that after all the things he says.
Thanks for your opinion, which I think is sounder than what I usually hear from the pulpit.
G.F.
______________________
TIA responds:
Hello G.F.,
We believe Fr. Jacques Hamel was not a martyr. The reason is quite simple. The news reports immediately after his death say that he was preparing to defend himself when the terrorist immobilized him. Now then, one of the conditions for a person to become a martyr is to deliver his life voluntarily for the Catholic Faith without any resistance. We see that this condition was not fulfilled by Fr. Hamel.
Besides, no one can know for sure what faith Fr. Hamel was professing, since he was a convinced ecumenist, to the point of offering church land to the Muslims to build a mosque in his city. If he were a martyr, he would be a martyr of ecumenism, which imagines that all religions save. This ecumenism, however, has nothing to do with the Catholic Faith, which is the only road to salvation.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
Posted October 11, 2016
It is very impressive that for the second time a lightning bolt struck the Vatican cupola.
The first time was on February 11, 2013, when Benedict XVI announced his resignation (here), which meant a virtual abdication of the Pope as a King for life. That precise day was the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. For me it was a clear warning that Our Lady was preparing to enter the picture.
The second strike to the cupula occurred now, October 7, on the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary, which was established to commemorate the victory of the Catholics over the Muslims in Lepanto. It seems that, again, she is preparing to punish.
We have to add to this the fact that on October 19, 2012, the eve of the arrival of John Paul II's “relics” at Lourdes, the nearby river flooded in a tragic way, preventing anyone from getting near the altar of the apparitions. We see that Our Lady was not pleased with that bogus canonization.
So, Our Lady is repeating the same message to all Catholics: “I am not with these conciliar Popes. You should not follow them. I am coming to rescue the Church by means of a monumental chastisement.”
It seems very likely that these extraordinary events foresee something momentous that is going to happen.
Please, read the news report below on the last strike, and you will see that I am not making this up.
Best regards,
M.C.
on Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
Diane Montagna
VATICAN CITY — OCTOBER 7, 2016 - Rome shook this morning as a massive lightning bolt hit the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. The strike came on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a celebration with origins not only in a humble prayer, but also in an historic battle.
The bolt hit the dome of St. Peter’s at approximately 9:20 am, as a strong rainstorm passed through Rome. Vatican police confirmed the strike. No damage was reported. Those close to the Vatican, from Swiss guards to local shop owners, felt the shock. “I was in the shower and heard what sounded like a loud thunder clap which lasted a few seconds and seemed to shake everything. I knew it was storming but it sounded more like an earthquake than a thunderstorm,” a resident close to St. Peter’s told Aleteia.
A local Italian coffee-bar owner added: “Everything shook. I could feel it in my lungs. It was as though the air was suspended for a moment.”
This morning’s strike recalls the “bolt out of the blue” that hit St. Peter’s on February 11, 2013 — the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes — just hours after Pope Benedict XVI shocked the Vatican with his announcement to resign the papal office.
Original here