154. The first three Evangelists (Matthew XXIII, 4-39; Mark XII, 38-40; Luke XI, 42-54 and XX, 46-47) relate, according to our interpretation, how on that day Jesus publicly cursed with terrible anathemas the perverse morals of His enemies, calling them, among other things, hypocrites, whited sepulchres, serpents, race of vipers, fools, blind men and so forth. Among the curses we present the following for interpretation: "Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men: for you yourselves do not enter in and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter... Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte. And when he is made, you make him the child of Hell twofold more than yourselves" (Matthew XXIII, 13 and 15). With this Jesus severely reproached their harmful behaviour. For with their pharisaical morals and wicked example they corrupted and turned people away from the true spirit of the Law and from belief in the Messias, thereby barring the way of salvation which they themselves rejected. Furthermore, He made them responsible for the greater measure of condemnation which many, through their fault, would deserve after they - with false zeal - had brought them out of paganism, only later to make them more corrupt than they were before. Their intention of gaining them to the Jewish faith was motivated by their greed for the material possessions resulting from an increased number of believers. Jesus also exclaimed; "Woe to you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this you shall receive the greater judgement" (Matthew XXIII, 14). He thus reproached them for their sacrilegious mistreatment of widows, many of whom, afflicted, recommended themselves to their prayers; and they obtained from them, through those acts of false piety, large sums of money. He also said to them: "Woe to you, blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the Temple, it is nothing; but he that shall swear by the gold of the Temple is a debtor. Ye foolish and blind: for whether is greater, the gold or the Temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it is a debter. Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? He therefore that sweareth by the altar sweareth by it and by all things that are upon it. And whosoever shall swear by the Temple sweareth by it and by Him that dwelleth in it. And he that sweareth by Heaven sweareth by the throne of God and by Him that sitteth thereon" (Matthew XXIII, 16-22). With this anathema Jesus condemned the vileness of the pharisees and of the levitical hierarchy in general who, calling themselves guides of their people, deceived it by falsifying, for their iniquitous gain, the very essence of the oath. For they taught that to swear by the Temple or by the altar, and therefore by God, had no validity whatever; and only that oath sworn by the gold or by the offerings was valid, since by it they obliged him who swore to hand over some material goods. Hence Jesus, reproaching that pharisaical practice, made it clear that the essence of the oath is the invocation of the name of God in testimony of the truth, either directly or by way of something exclusively sacred that represents Him. Besides, he who swears by Him at the same time does so by all that He has sanctified. From this it follows that the oath by the gold of the Temple or by the offerings, forced by the pharisees, replaced that which one ought to make in the name of God, and was therefore invalid before Him, sacrilegious and at the same time simoniacal, since by way of an act of religion they engaged in illicit commerce. Be it understood that the oath was rendered invalid by the intention of him who made it when he rejected the cause of the sanctification of the gold and of the offerings.

155. We cite here another of Jesus' anathemas, according to Saint Luke: "But woe to you, pharisees, because you tithe mint and rue and every herb and pass over judgement and the charity of God. Now these things you ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Luke XI, 42). Jesus now reprimanded His enemies because they showed the greatest scrupulosity in insignificant things in the payment of the Temple tithes, but completely excluded the essential and indispensable duties towards God and neighbour, since the former avails nothing without the latter. According to Saint Matthew, Jesus went on to tell them: "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel" (Matthew XXIII, 24), by which He also reproached their pharisaical strictness, since they took good care not to swallow so much as a mosquito in order not to contract legal impurity, yet had no scruple in leaving the most important precepts unfulfilled. Let us consider another invective: "Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, that build the sepulchres of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the just, and say: If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers" (Matthew XXIII, 29-32). Jesus recriminated His enemies because they falsely presumed to venerate the Holy Prophets and boasted, moreover, that they would not have taken part in the slaughter of them committed by their ancestors. However, we interpret that He clearly told them that they, on account of their hypocrisy and obstinacy in evil, declared themselves to be of the same iniquitous race as those evil-doers, and worse even than these because they wished to kill the Son of God Himself, which would fill to overflowing the measure of those crimes. Here is another of the curses: "For this cause also the wisdom of God said: I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute. That the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation. From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who was slain between the altar and the Temple. Yea I say to you: It shall be required of this generation" (Luke XI, 49-51). With these words Jesus warned the Sanhedrin and other enemies, as well as the faithless Jewish People, that His Heavenly Father would take vengeance by making the innocent Blood shed by His Divine Son on the Cross fall on them, as well as the innocent blood shed from the beginning of the world until Calvary through the wickedness of His People; and as well, that of the countless martyrs which later on would be shed through the work of Zionism in its ceaseless struggle against the Church. -Consequently, with the Blood of Jesus there was shed mystically all that innocent blood.

156. We interpret that while Jesus uttered those curses, naming in them the scribes and pharisees, one of the doctors of the Law answered Him, according to Saint Luke: "Master, in saying these things, Thou reproachest us also" (Luke XI, 45), and that Jesus reproached them also with anathemas. For example: "Woe to you who build the monuments of the Prophets: and your fathers killed them. Truly you bear witness that you consent to the doings of your fathers. For they indeed killed them: and you build their sepulchres" ((Luke XI, 47-48). Jesus also accused the doctors of the Law of deceit, since they venerated the tombs of the Prophets with feigned piety, but despised their teachings. That is why, with the words: "For they indeed killed them: and you build their sepulchres", He stressed ironically that they, with their false doctrines, attempted to bury the prophetic teachings of the Envoys of God even more than did their iniquitous forefathers by disfiguring them in them in the sight of men; and in short, that they perpetuated the work of their murderers. Jesus also told them: "Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered in: and those that were entering in, you have hindered" (Luke XI, 52). For they, far from making use of their knowledge of Sacred Scripture to give testimony of the truth contained therein to others, and of the prophecies concerning Jesus, used their knowledge to confuse the people more and to lead them away from the true path, which they themselves rejected. At once Saint Luke relates: "And as He was saying these things to them, the pharisees and the lawyers began violently to urge Him and to oppress His mouth about many things, lying in wait for Him and seeking to catch something from His mouth, that they might accuse Him" (Luke XI, 53-54). We teach that although they had firmly resolved to dispute no more with Jesus, now hearing the curses He hurled at them, filled with rage they set upon Him with new snares to see whether He might lose His calm and say something untoward for which they could denounce Him, whereby He, at the same time, would lose His prestige before the crowds, and theirs be restored. Jesus ended His invectives by anathematizing once more Jerusalem, and in her the Jewish People: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not? Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see Me henceforth till you say: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew XXIII, 37-39). We see here that Saint Matthew uses terms similar to those of Saint Luke (XIII, 34-35), when the latter relates the cursing on the occasion of the last feast of Tabernacles. Concerning the above text of Saint Matthew, we refer to the interpretation given in this same chapter to that of Saint Luke on the 8th of October of the year 33, however without applying it now to the triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, as we did then. We teach that Jesus, by way of mystical-prophetic revelations, has with like curses also disqualified the hierarchy of the apostate Roman Church, condemnations confirmed in the Documents of His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII and in the writings of the Holy Palmarian Council.

157. When Jesus had concluded the curses, He went with all to the women's porch and sat facing the treasury hall or gazophylacium, where the coffer for the offerings was placed. There then took place the episode of the widow's mite, which Saint Mark (XII, 41-44) and Saint Luke (XXI, 1-4) relate, and in which Jesus praised her greatly, not for the amount, but for her heroic detachment, for love of God, of even the very little she possessed; whereas many of the rich, seeking the praise of men, ostentatiously deposited far more. Interpreting the revelations of Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich we teach that the widow, a woman of simple heart, was a very pious observer of God's precepts who put into practice the evangelical teachings. Jesus, Who some time before had baptized both her and her son, now wishing to call them to a more perfect life, went to the widow and told her to go to Bethany that very day and join the holy women, and her son the disciples, a loving invitation to which both corresponded.

158. From the women's porch Jesus, followed by a great crowd, went with His Apostles and disciples to the Golden Gate of the Temple. Before He left, there took place what is related by Saint John (XII, 37-50), who first gives a brief personal reflection on the indescribable blindness and hardness of heart of the greater part of the Jewish People who, believing in Jesus for His teachings and miracles, refused to acknowledge Him. With some, it was because of their perversity; with others, for fear that they be ejected from the synagogue (John XII, 42), as was the case of many of the rulers of the same, referring here especially to the chief priests of the synagogues, but also to other priests, who loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. According to our interpretation, the Evangelist then relates that Jesus, with a powerful voice, made a final call to the Jewish People, reaffirming that He was the Envoy of the Father, from Whom He conveyed to all what He had sent Him to do, namely to announce to, and lead them, to salvation. The Evangelist adds, moreover, that He said: "If any man hear My words and keep them not, I do not judge him: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world" (John XII, 47), referring here to those who, having entered the fold of the Church and desiring to die within her, afterwards become weak in the observance of some of the Commandments. With them He would use great mercy, including on the day of judgement. On the contrary, however: "He that despiseth Me and receiveth not My words hath One that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John XII, 48), here referring to those who live in the sin against the Holy Ghost, for if these reach clinical death in that state of soul, they go to the Particular Judgement already condemned because of their very rejection - conscious, refined and perverse of grace, which they ratify in that judgement.

159. When Jesus had left the Temple, there occurred the episode related by Saint Matthew (XXIV, 1-2), Saint Mark (XIII, 1-2) and Saint Luke (XXI, 5-6), when He and His Apostles and disciples descended in the direction of the Valley of Cedron. As appears in the sacred texts, the Master told them that the buildings constituting the Temple, and which they praised for their material splendor, would be destroyed. We see first in Saint Mark how one of the disciples, whom we affirm was the Apostle Thomas, said to Jesus: "Master, behold what manner of stones and what buildings are here" (Mark XIII, 1), and that He replied: "Seest thou all these great buildings? There shall not be left a stone upon a stone, that shall not be thrown down" (Mark XIII, 2). We interpret from the texts of Saint Matthew (XXIV, 1-2)and Saint Luke (XXI, 5-6)that the other Apostles, affected by that announcement, asked the Master with surprise how it would be possible for those very beautiful buildings to be destroyed. But He answered them as He had Thomas.

160. We teach that after that event and on the way to Mount Olivet He continued to speak to them, not only of the chastisements that would soon befall Jerusalem, but also of others that would take place in the last times, shortly before His Second Coming, as can be deduced from the question which the Apostles Peter, James, John and Andrew put to Him, now on the Mount, as Saint Mark (XIII, 3-4), as well as Saint Matthew (XXIV, 3) and Saint Luke (XXI, 7)relate, although the latter two do not name those Apostles. Let us consider, for example, one of the Gospel texts: "Tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the consummation of the world?" (Matthew XXIV, 3). To this Jesus replied with the transcendental Escatological Sermon which the three Evangelists (Matthew XXIV, 4-51 and XXV, 1-46; Mark XIII, 5-37; Luke XVII, 22-37 and XXI, 8-36) then relate. He began seated facing the Temple and, according to our interpretation, by the Eleona Grotto, whence all could contemplate the grandeur of the city of Jerusalem, crowned by the majestic edifice of the Temple, its' still being daytime.

161. Making a profound study of the Escatological Sermon, given in the afternoon of Wednesday the 23rd of March of the year 34, we see that it contains many of the signs announcing more and more, over thirty-seven years, the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, and in general that of the Jewish nation. Of those signs we give, according to our judgement, a brief summary. After the Death of Christ the chief priests and other leaders of the Jewish Church continued their destructive work - proper to false shepherds and prophets - against Christianity. Besides, false politico-religious leaders rose up, each calling himself `messias' so as further to confuse the people. The period from the death of Christ to the destruction of Jerusalem was also marked by bloody disturbances in the deicide city among the Jews themselves, by civil wars in various countries and wars between nations, as well as by natural catastrophies, plagues, famines, prodigies in the heavens and on earth, omens and other phenomena which revealed the divine wrath at the apostasy of His people, among them the large-scale massacres of Jews outside Israel. Cruel persecutions also afflicted the Church, in which not only the Apostles suffered martyrdom, but countless Christian faithful as well. Notorious in this epoch for his blood thirsty ferocity was Nero, who had himself adored as a god and became the most monstrous of the emperors and prototype, among them, of the Antichrist. Moreover, the Gospel had reached almost to the ends of the then-known world. The Christians who dwelt in Jerusalem, recognizing in the words of Christ the signs of the proximate destruction of the city, took timely refuge in the town of Pella, situated in Decapolis, on the other side of the Jordan. Thus they were freed from the frightful slaughter consequent upon the total ruin of many Jewish cities, particularly Jerusalem, which ceased to exist, as we know, on the 15th of August in the year 71.

162. The Escatological Sermon, however, is in a special way intended for these last times, in which Christ's prophecies are fulfilled to the letter, giving to all men the opportunity to recognize the multiple signs preceding His glorious Second Coming. The first signs most characteristic of the historical period called apocalyptic appear in the year 1917, with the concurrence of four decisive events: The European war, which began in 1914, becomes a world war three years later. The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia prepares the triumph of Communism, considered as the ideological antichrist. The Balfour Declaration, recognizing the right of the Jews to unite as an independent nation in the region of Palestine. The apparition of the Most Holy Virgin Mary at Fatima, with apocalyptic messages and great signs in the heavens, promises the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart. However, other signs even more decisive have followed and will follow these decisive signs. We shall mention the principal ones in our brief consideration of the Gospel discourse in which Jesus, warning us of the very deceptive state of the world today, helps us to recognize by His words the signs of the last times in which we live. For example, in the text of Saint Matthew, Jesus said: "For many will come in My name saying, I am Christ. And they will seduce many" (Matthew XXIV, 5), referring, on the one hand, to the leaders of Zionism and other heads of Masonry, who are the propagators of liberalism, capitalism, Marxism and similar ideologies, as well as of other atheistic doctrines which promise man a materialistic paradise, and which prepare the way for the Person of the Antichrist, who will be the incarnation of Satan himself, and whom many will adore as if he were the very Son of God. Jesus moreover warns us that: "many false prophets shall rise and shall seduce many" (Matthew XXIV, 11). Here the leaders of the different heretical and schismatic sects are indicated, principally the leaders of the apostate Roman Church, especially the antipope John Paul II who, besides being precursor of the Antichrist, appearing as if he were an angel of light, is his living image. It also refers to the false seers of these last times: some, because they never were authentic, and others, who were authentic, because they have apostatized and been converted into tools of Satan. God entrusts a prophetic mission only to the faithful of the true Church. We do not deny that Heaven might manifest itself to one who is not a member of the faithful, but it will always be to draw him, and others also, out of error and set them on the path of truth.

163. Again, in the Escatological Sermon, Jesus said: "And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold" (Matthew XXIV, 12). There has always been iniquity, but never as in these last times. Proof of this is the general apostasy of the Roman Church through the corruption of the virtue of its members by the worldliness of the time. The Catholic world will again fall into apostasy with greater malice when the Man of Iniquity manifests himself. Jesus gave another of the signs preceding the glorious Second Coming when He forewarned us of the many and most cruel physical and moral persecutions which the elect will have to endure for the Faith, even from their own families. Above all, when the Antichrist manifests himself to the world the exercise of patience will be most necessary so as not to give way under the difficulties, nor to be contaminated by the prevailing corruption, since as long as we correspond with grace no spiritual harm can befall us. That is why He said: "And you shall be hated by all men for My name's sake. But he that shall endure unto the end, he shall be saved" (Mark XIII, 13); "But a hair of your head shall not perish. In your patience you shall possess your souls" (Luke XXI, 18-19). Jesus gave us other signs revealing His prompt coming, in these words: "And when you shall hear of wars and seditions, be not terrified. These things must first come to pass: but the end is not yet presently. Then He said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be great earthquakes in divers places and pestilences and famines and terrors from Heaven: and there shall be great signs" (Luke XXI, 9-11). Indeed many of the catastrophies and miseries announced in the Gospel have always occurred, but never as in this apocalyptic age. As far as wars are concerned, the weapons of war are becoming ever more lethal and cruel, and the number of belligerent countries greater, as has been shown in the two previous World Wars, and as will be seen in the third which is conjectured, to say nothing of the unimaginable interplanetary war in the time of the Antichrist. We say this without excluding other types of war, increasingly frequent, as well as revolutions and disorders in all countries, due to which the world today suffers from the greatest stress and insecurity ever known. To these catastrophies provoked directly by men must be added the natural ones, daily more destructive and frequent, not to forget the countless deaths, ever on the increase, from all kinds of accidents. Despite technical progress the scourge of hunger is afflicting mankind in these times as never before, and all because of the individual and collective selfishness of men, daily more separated from God, undeserving the cares of His divine providence. Moreover, with respect to "pestilences" we see how today, more than ever, there appear many strange sicknesses of indescribably malignant character, incurable some despite the progress of medicine. In their majority they result from unbridled lust, war, nuclear tests, atmospheric contamination, drugs, hunger and other miseries. Epidemics even more repugnant and devastating, causing incredible havoc, are yet to come. The following words of Jesus are of special significance: "These things must first come to pass: but the end is not yet presently" (Luke XXI, 9), since they emphasize that the last and definitive purification of the world will not result from the destructive and exterminating acts of men, however much chaos they produce, but from the direct and exclusive action of God in the final three days of darkness.

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