Apocalypse 9, called by Father Sylvester Berry, “one of the most important in the whole Apocalypse. It foretells the first woe announced by the flying eagle (of the previous chapter) – the conditions and events destined to usher in the reign of the Antichrist.”
Apocalypse Chapter 9, v. 1-12
[1] And the fifth angel sounded the trumpet, and I saw a star fall from heaven upon the earth, and there was given to him the key of the bottomless pit. [2] And he opened the bottomless pit: and the smoke of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit. [3] And from the smoke of the pit there came out locusts upon the earth. And power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power: [4] And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree: but only the men who have not the sign of God on their foreheads. [5] And it was given unto them that they should not kill them; but that they should torment them five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man.
[6] And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it: and they shall desire to die, and death shall fly from them. [7] And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle: and on their heads were, as it were, crowns like gold: and their faces were as the faces of men. [8] And they had hair as the hair of women; and their teeth were as lions: [9] And they had breastplates as breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was as the noise of chariots and many horses running to battle. [10] And they had tails like to scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had over them [11] A king, the angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon; in Latin Exterminans, [12] One woe is past, and behold there come yet two woes more hereafter.
After noting that the Fallen Star of Chapter 9 is “an apostate bishop or priest”, Fr. Kramer remarks that the key given to him indicates a divinely given power to open the pit, releasing the smoke and the locusts. The definite article used in this passage means that there is but one key, therefore this key to release what is in the pit is only given to the Fallen Star. In this regard, recall our earlier post, “Malachi Martin on the Apostasy of the Faith“, we said:
“In his book, Windswept House, Father Martin states that the Enthronement of Lucifer occurred June 29, 1963 and elsewhere he stated that the follow-up Enthronement of Lucifer must be performed at the Vatican within 50 years of that date, which would have been June 29, 2013, I believe. In other words, shortly after Jorge Bergoglio took over the Vatican, and moved in with his dear friend, Msgr. Ricca.
“Nine years to the day after that (first) enthronement, that is, on June 29, 1972 Pope Paul lamented,
“We believed that after the [Second Vatican] Council would come a day of sunshine in the history of the Church. But instead there has come a day of clouds and storms, and of darkness … “And how did this come about? … there has been a power, an adversary power. Let us call him by his name: the Devil. … It is as if from some mysterious crack, no, it is not mysterious, from some crack the smoke of Satan has entered the Temple of God.”
“In his book, The Kingdom of Darkness, Fr. Martin describes what is meant by “the smoke of Satan”, describing an interview Pope Paul Vi gave to his close friend, Jean Guitton not long before he died. When Guitton asked the Pope about his often-quoted remark regarding the smoke of Satan, Paul VI replied,
“Yes, the smoke of Satan is in the sanctuary. Due to the presence of Satan, Catholics are destined to become an infinitesimally small part of humanity.”
In another post, “Seven Trumpets“, we related this of Pope Paul VI:
“In an interview with the Italian newspaper Avvenire, French writer Jean Guitton, a close friend of Pope Paul VI, recalled this interesting bit of history,
“It was the final session of the Council, the most essential in which the Pope was to bestow upon all humanity the teachings of the Council. He announced this to me with these words, ‘I am about to blow the Seven Trumpets of the Apocalypse.’ “ (Interview, 11 October, 1992, cited in the excellent book, Animus Delendi – I, by Atila Sinke Guimaraes).
Therefore, we have in Pope Paul VI’s own words that he intended to “Blow the Seven Trumpets of the Apocalypse” and that the smoke of satan has entered the Church in his reign.
And in yet another previous post, “Cardinal Manning and the Final Synod“, we said that the Papacy was the restraining force against the powers of satan which war with the Church, and that the disobedience of the Popes resulted in the removal of the restraint against the devil:
“The restraint on the forces of Antichrist was removed as a direct result of the Church’s refusal to obey Our Lady of Fatima. This arrogant disobedience of the pontiffs is what caused the release of the diabolical forces of disorder against the Church, as foretold by the vision of Pope Leo XIII.
“Cardinal Manning, rightly believed that the strength of the papacy was a bulwark against the incursion of error in the Church. And when he predicted that secular powers would remove the pope, he was correct; however, the secular powers (the forces of satanic freemasonry) were entrenched within the Church, which was something he did not anticipate. How did the papacy fail?
“By their disobedience to the Blessed Virgin at Fatima, each pope from Pius XI onwards set themselves against God’s will; eventually, by the time of John XXIII, becoming openly defiant and flatly refusing her command. Thus, from John XXIII on, the popes effectively removed themselves as the bulwark against the antichristic agenda. And now, this has culminated under the present pope, who is frankly, openly antichristic. Not Antichrist. In Pope Bergoglio, we have the first thoroughly modernist pope. This tragedy was perhaps, foretold by Cardinal Pacelli before he became Pope Pius XII and also by St. Francis of Assisi.
Please refer to that post for more information about the Pacelli and St. Francis prophecies.
Fr. Kramer contrasts the Fallen Star with St. Peter: whereas St. Peter’s keys protected the true faith, the Fallen Star’s key releases error and rebellion. “This Fallen Star is clearly some great leader of revolt against the Church … the shepherd of apostates … as Peter is shepherd of Christ’s followers. … The possessor of the key of the pit is then the head of Satan’s church as Peter is the head of Christ’s Church.” Of the spirits released from the pit, he states, “Those spirits may have been relegated to the bottomless abyss by the Church through the powers of the priesthood, the spread of truth (i.e., dogma of the Faith) and the administration of the sacraments; they are now released and permitted to work towards the re-establishing of paganism.”
Note well, it was Pope Paul VI that replaced the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with the protestantised Novus Ordo and also corrupted the sacraments, particularly by deleting the exorcisms from them as in Baptism and Extreme Unction.
Fr. Kramer tells us of the woe of locusts: “It will clear out of the Church … the faithless and unregenerate in heart, will purify the faithful, strengthen them and arouse new zeal and activity in the Church. … The power of the locusts is from hell, but they can use it only as far as God permits. Their permission is to inflict spiritual chastisement on those who do not have the sign of God on their foreheads, who have lost the graces of Baptism and Confirmation and are living a life of sin.” [Note: For more information regarding this hopeful aspect of the Chastisement, please see our post on the prophecies of Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora, here.]
Compare that with Pope Francis’s false mercy which abets the sinner to continue living in his life of sin.
In a later passage, Fr. Kramer explains that the statement that the torment shall last five months does not necessarily mean precisely five months but is often used in biblical narratives to illustrate a set period. Therefore it could just as likely be 50 years, which would fit this time exactly. Fr. Kramer says that after the specified period of time, those injured by the locusts, that is, infected with modernist heresy, will no longer be able to repent.
If there is interest, we will continue with Chapter 9 soon, and discuss the locusts further. It is, as Fr. Berry said, a very significant portion of the Apocalypse.
This post restored May 3, 2020
Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
† Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
† St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
† St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King. Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!
~ posted by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin, give me strength against thine enemies!