WARNING AGAINST SUPPRESSION OF THE HOLY SACRIFICE

Today, we commemorate the eloquently silent apparition of Our Lady at Knock, Ireland, August 21, 1879. By her silence, Our Lady emphasised at once her displeasure that her message at La Salette was being attacked, and as many believe, she was pointing to the silence recounted in chapter 8 of the Apocalypse.  But there is still another reason for the silence – it is a warning against silencing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and outrages against the Holy Eucharist and it beckons us with mysterious silence towards the visions of the Apocalypse.

The Holy Ghost inspired St. John’s vision in such a way that through it, God revealed to us a glimpse of His own vision, not a linear accounting of events, and each subsequent generation could learn from its warnings and be comforted in its victories. In addition to sacred scripture, Our Heavenly Father guides us by the revelations He grants us down the centuries. Knock is one of the major apparitions, which are: Our Lady of Good Success in Ecuador, The Sacred Heart of Jesus at Paray le Monial, France, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception at Rue du Bac, France, Our Lady of La Salette, France, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Lourdes, France, Our Lady at Knock, Ireland, Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima, Portugal,  and Our Lady of Akita, Japan.  Those apparitions provide a necessary complement to our understanding of the Apocalypse.

Although the revelations contained in the Apocalypse may be fruitfully applied to each generation, the various major apparitions help to draw us into St. John’s mystical scenario as appropriate for our own time. In 17th century Ecuador, Our Lady of Good Success gave us prophecies which remained largely silent until the 20th century, for which they were intended. Our Lord’s tender pleas to St. Margaret Mary, also in the 17th century, contained both promises of blessings for obedience and warnings of danger for disobedience to His requests to honor His Sacred Heart publicly. This message was dishonored by the Jesuits to whom it was entrusted and betrayed by the French monarchs to their own destruction and that of France, but we were only able to grasp this in hindsight, as was the case with the Quito revelations, centuries later, as the apocalyptic visions  unfolded. We must not forget however, that the demands of Our Lord for devotion to His Sacred Heart have never been rescinded and no amount of devotion to false revelations will satisfy the command for true devotion to the image of His Most Sacred Heart.

Our Lady then intervened offering mercies to her children through devotion to her Immaculate Conception, that is through the Miraculous Medal and the miraculous spring at Lourdes. Both of those apparitions carried both warnings and blessings. Between these two, Rue du Bac and Lourdes, came Our Lady’s sad visit to La Salette wherein she warned of the increasing incursion of the ancient enemy, “Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist.” As proof of the strength which the enemy had gained in the Church, this message was opposed and silenced. To this day, Melanie Calvat’s legacy is obscured by the thick fabric of false accusations against her.

The mystical vision of Knock is essential to our understanding of the mystical vision given to  Sister Lucia at Tuy fifty years later; and through it, we are able to understand the pertinent passages of the Apocalypse for today.

“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven,
as it were for half an hour.” (Apoc. 8, 1)

First, we look at  Apocalypse 5, especially verse 5.

From The Apocalypse of St. John:

[1] And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne, a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals. [2] And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? [3] And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open the book, nor to look on it. [4] And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book, nor to see it. [5] And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

[6] And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. [7] And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. [8] And when He had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints: [9] And they sung a new canticle, saying: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in Thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. [10] And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.

[11] And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the ancients; and the number of them was thousands of thousands, [12] Saying with a loud voice: The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction.” (Apocalypse 5, 5)

Commentary:

We here rely on The Book of Destiny. Fr. Kramer points out that St. John uses a different word for Lamb in the Apocalypse than the word Lamb used in the Old Testament and in the Gospels. I cannot reproduce the Greek word here, but Father shows that it indicates “Little Lamb” rather than “Lamb”, and he interprets that as meaning that it refers to Jesus in the Sacred Host, the Eucharistic Presence sanctifying Catholic tabernacles throughout the world. What Blessed Jacinta and Francisco referred to as, “the Hidden Jesus”.

“The word translated is “the Little Lamb” and is used 29 times in 12 chapters. This is very significant. It appears to be intentionally used to attach a totally different meaning to the title “lamb” in the Apocalypse than in the Old Testament or elsewhere in the New.”

Father Kramer then shows that verse 5 by referring to the “root of David” is pointing to Isaias 11, which foreshadows the Eucharist by which Christ reigns in every Catholic tabernacle in the world.

[1] And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. [2] And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. [3] And He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. [4] But He shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. [5] And justice shall be the girdle of His loins: and faith the girdle of His reins. (Isaias 11, 1-5)

You may recognise verses 1 and 2; they are used by the Church at Christmastide and are especially familiar to those of us who recite Our Lady’s Little Office.

The Holy Eucharist makes every church a temple and every tabernacle a throne of God. Thus, the vision of Knock points us to Apocalypse, Chapter 5, v. 5, which in turn points us to Isaias 11, 1-5, all of which emphasize the importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharistic Reign of Jesus, symbolized for us by devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prisoner of Love in the Eucharist.

From Father Kramer:

“The temple of Christ is every Catholic Church, where He dwells in the Eucharistic Mystery. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the sacred mystery, in which Christ is “as if sacrificed”, is truly and mystically slain or immolated. The sacrifice is inseparably united with the bloody sacrifice of the Cross, because it represents and renews it. Through the Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ becomes present, establishes His throne in the Church and extends the effects of His death on the Cross and carries the purposes of God to completion. To outward appearance He is dead in the Eucharist, so there He rests “as if immolated”. But the Holy Eucharist is the throne of God through the inseparable union of Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  …

“The Real Presence of Christ has been …  the standard for the armies of Christ. His soldiers, the martyrs, confessors and virgins have ever fought and bled for the altar and the cross. The prediction of Isaias is fulfilled in Christ’s place of rest, His Eucharistic Presence. The reason then why St. John chose the word, “Little Lamb”, for the sacrificial Lamb of the Apocalypse appears evident, to distinguish this mystery from the mystery of the Incarnation.”  (Kramer, Fr. Herman B., The Book Of Destiny, TAN Books. Kindle Edition)

The silent tableau of Knock took place in inclement weather just outside the Church, thus pointing to the institutional Church forcing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass outside. The apparition of Knock displayed on a desolate night thus foretold a period in which the post-conciliar Church would attempt to eclipse the true Sacrifice of the Mass with a protestantised fellowship service, to serve ecumenism and the prince of this world.

At Knock,on August 21, 1879,  the Little Lamb on the altar stood with two powerful representatives of the priesthood, St. Joseph, chaste guardian of the Holy Family and Patron of the Church, and St. John the Beloved, to whom Christ entrusted His Mother and to whom the Holy Spirit revealed the mysteries of the Apocalypse. St. John pointed to the Scriptures, begging the question, “To which scriptures?” The vision itself answers:  The Lamb on the altar indicates Apocalypse 5. The two patrons of the priesthood, St. Joseph and St. John, indicate the importance of priests in these times. Our Lady of Knock, in this vision, never took her eyes from heaven, never wavered in her intercession for the Church.

Considered in the context of the other Marian apparitions, Knock is a warning against the silencing of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the sacrilege of the Holy Eucharist, the corruption of the faith. Our Lady’s appearances at La Salette and Knock were followed by the revelation of Fatima. The Angel of Fatima, Michael, the great Archangel warrior who battles Satan gave us a warning about the abuses of the sacrifice of the Mass and desecration of the Eucharist. And now, 100 years later, the onslaught of sacrileges, outrages and indifferences continues.

It is urgent that Catholics understand that Satan is at war with the Little Lamb, our Eucharistic Lord. Unfortunately, most Catholics are indifferent to this battle. But it is real. Satan knows that the Eucharist is Emmanuel, God with us. Although so many Catholics have forgotten this truth, or are indifferent, the devil knows that Christ the King reigns through the Eucharist. And that is why he is striving with all his immense power to extirpate the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to eliminate the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ on our altars. By their perversion of mercy, in giving the the Body of Christ to unrepentant sinners, modernists debase Our Lord’s sacrament of love and attempt to drive Jesus from His Church.

La Salette, Knock, Fatima, and Akita, all warn us of this time. This is a spiritual battle of never before seen proportions. Although we know Who will win it, we cannot afford to lose any time, for with knowledge comes responsibility. We must live our Consecrations, moment by tedious moment. Just because our lives are ordinary does not mean that they are not very, very precious to Jesus.

Our Lord’s words to Sister Josefa Menendez:

“I so much want souls to understand this! It is not the action itself which is of value; it is the intention with which it is done. … I have many hidden souls who in their humble labors are very useful workers in My vineyard, … My love goes so far that My souls can draw great treasure out of mere nothing. When as soon as they wake they unite themselves to Me and offer their whole day with a burning desire that My Heart may use it for the profit of souls … when with love they perform their duties, hour by hour and moment by moment … how great is the treasure they amass in one day!

“I will reveal My love to them more and more … it is inexhaustible, and how easy it is for a loving soul to let itself be guided by love.” (Sister Josefa Menendez and the Way of Divine Love.)

In these times, Our Lady has given us, through God’s immense, unfathomable mercy for us, a profusion of graces through her holy Rosary. Please pray your Rosary with confidence in our Mother’s providence for us.  Our Lady of Fatima will not fail. In the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph!

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, be praised, adored and loved with grateful affection in every tabernacle of the world, at every moment, even unto the end of time. Blessed be God forever.

 “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Son Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages and indifferences by which He Himself is offended.  And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee 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.

† . Our Lady of La Salette, pray for us.
† . Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
† . Our Lady of Knock, pray for us.
† . Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
† . St. Joseph, protect our families, protect our priests.
† . St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Thanks for reading. For related articles, you might like these:

Please also read: “The Message of Our Lady of Knock“.