TIA,

Regarding your response about the prophecy that Portugal will always keep the faith, I have a question. These Portuguese people go to the Novus Ordo, don't they? They're not supposed to be slaves to clerical authority, but don't they obey that same authority & attend the NOM?

     Best wishes,

     R.K.




TIA responds:


We thank our readers for their consideration in submitting such important topics to us. We appreciate their confidence.

Before responding to the specific questions, let us state straightforwardly that we also do not fully understand how these three mentioned prophecies are or will be fulfilled.

Regarding the first prophecy of Our Lord that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Catholic Church, our position is very simple and may be explained as follow:

If Our Lord said that evil will not prevail, it will not because He said it. We believe in this truth enthusiastically. He is God; He understood fully what He was saying when He spoke those words. If we don’t understand how these words apply to the present day situation, this is an expression of our incapacity of comprehension. Nothing can be more normal, since we have limited intelligences and He is Wisdom Incarnate.

On the other hand, we can see how much evil has infiltrated the Catholic Church and how bad the situation is. We consider it our obligation to not close our eyes to the least symptom of such infiltration. Our Lord taught us to be vigilant and counseled us to see the danger from a distance, and see it entirely. We try to do this the best that we can.

Now then, following this second counsel, we reached the conclusion that the present day situation of the Church is the worst in History. She is so infiltrated by evil that one could say that we are witnessing the complete triumph of evil.

For our limited intelligences, it appears to be a flagrant contradiction. Should we reject or deny the prophecy that the gates of Hell will not prevail? On the other hand, should we simply close our eyes to the extent of the evil? Both positions are wrong. We should humbly admit that we do not understand the apparent contradiction, knowing that one day when it will be explained, we will marvel at the solution. And we should continue our fight for the Church. Doing this, we glorify Our Lord now by believing without understanding, and we will glorify Him later when the explanation will come.

We judge that this is the faithful position to take toward true prophecies.

Regarding the second prophecy that there would always be faithful nuns in the Quito Convent, our position is analogous. Yes, Our Lady predicted that during the worst times at least a few nuns at the Convent of Quito would be faithful. Yes, today’s Mother Superior and apparently all the nuns attend the Novus Ordo Mass.

Should we conclude that none is faithful? It seems a hasty conclusion. Isn’t it possible that there could be a small cadre of “catacomb nuns,” entirely faithful, who are not seen but who live there? The possibility increases when we read that Mother Mariana also predicted that the nuns of these dire times would suffer all that she suffered and more. Since Mother Mariana and the Founding Mothers were put in the Convent prison various times, one could suppose that faithful nuns, if they exist today, could be facing a similar persecution from within.

If a possibility exists, why rush to conclude that the prophecy is adulterated or wrong? Since the prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success have given so many proofs that they are correct, we think that she had the right to present some mysterious points that we don’t understand.

We accept without difficulty the ensemble of the prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success, and we are sure that TIA’s edition of Fr. Pereira’s manuscript did not adulterate any of the content as it appeared in the Spanish and Portuguese editions. We believe Our Lady’s promise made multiple times to Mother Mariana that a few nuns would be faithful in that Convent at all times. We don’t know the concrete facts or details of how it is taking place in that cloistered Convent. But we are glad to present this act of confidence to her, without understanding it.

Regarding the third prophecy about how Portugal would preserve the faith, our position is similar. Taking the same state of spirit, we believe that the dogma of the faith will be preserved in Portugal.

To conclude, let us remember this wise Catholic maxim on prophecies: Prophecies are fully understood only after their realization.

This maxim implies that true prophecies are mysterious and are above our understanding. It invites us to humility.

We hope that our position is correct, and that it may help our readers to take a humble and Catholic approach toward them, avoiding any influence of Protestant free examination, which arrogantly pretends to understand everything of God and Our Lord.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

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