Thanks for finding that letter, (name removed by moderator). The apparitions there are not “condemned”, but they are not proven either.
And Benedict XVIII, the point of the quote is that if you are prepared for your own death, you will be prepared for anything. The idea is that you can get so caught up in the prophesies that you are not preparing yourself spiritually for heaven. Your focus should always be on your own personal holiness and charity to others. I’ve heard of groups of people who’ve come together to follow the apparitions and prophesies only to disintegrate due to infighting and arguing over which one is true, which one is better, etc.
The prophesies are certainly motivating, and can help us prepare our earthly lives for possibly surviving catastrophes, etc. For instance, I credit some of these prophesies for encouraging my husband to pull our 401K out of the risky stock market and into more secure investments before the recent nosedive. But even loyal followers of the prophesies are going to “meet their maker” during the calamities that may come, no matter how diligently you prepare. You could also be hit by a bus tomorrow, before any of these prophesies ever come about. I’m just saying be prudent, and focus on Christ. I pray that God will help us all properly discern the truth in these matters.
Dear,
You probably haven’t read any of the books dealing with apparitions, so you are talking without knowing.
In Her apparitions, Our Lady not only gives predictions about a probable punishment, but she also gives lots and lots and lots of teachings so that we can be Christians who are acceptable to God.
It is my firm belief that being acceptable to God is completely different from being acceptable to your parish priest.
I’m sorry if we have different points of view.
Since I do not want to change mine, I will try to keep my interventions in this thread reduced to the minimum, so that we don’t argue too much.
I couldn’t care less what priests think about the apparitions because I know they themselves do not respect the Gospel as they should. They probably never read anything about the apparitions themselves, so how can they judge ?
I only trust the Pope and the official doctrine of the Church, even if - probably - not as fully as I should.
I insist, probably for the last time, you don’t know what you are talking about.
If the punishment comes as the visionaries say they have been told, you will be scared stiff.
You cannot understand because you have never lived something like that.
Ask anyone who has lived in Europe during the last war: they would be prepared to eat potatoes for the rest of their lives if that would save them from living the same thing again.