St Padre Pio's letter regarding 3 day darkness?

[Bookcat]

Here from Jimmy Akin of Catholic Answers fame:

jimmyakin.com/2010/01/a-reader-writessomebody-asked-me-in-regard-of-this-article-is-it-true-or-false-is-it-authentic-or-just-regular-pious-writi.html

Quote: “1. Padre Pio Did Not Predict Three Days of Darkness”

 

[cjforJesus]

If that’s true then why are tho ones the Popes have visited and talk about frequently, are the ones the Vatican found “Worthy of Belief”. There is a difference! God Bless, Memaw

Not really. It is up to the local bishop. I believe there are guidelines they use though. Akita was also examined by the CDF and they supported Bishop Ito,I emailed the current bishop and he said that the apparition is still approved.

 

[cjforJesus]

I do not think St Pio advocated or wrote about the 3 days of darkness.

I also can find no definitive proof he supported the Garabandal children and their alleged visions as many claim.

 

[Memaw]

I do not think St Pio advocated or wrote about the 3 days of darkness.

I also can find no definitive proof he supported the Garabandal children and their alleged visions as many claim.

Like I said, they attach themselves to a saint or approved apparition in order to make their thing appear credible.

 

[Jeannie52]

What is needed is to apply the 3 days of darkness TO THE CHURCH,
that she needs to find her betrothed IN THE DARK with loveless and
lukewarm members, that she needs to WAKE UP and get dressed and ready to
meet her bridegroom by treasuring her Poor and pray for them whom God
has chosen to be rich in Faith, and to HELP THEM come to independence
financially!!!

Well said.

 

[cjforJesus]

Like I said, they attach themselves to a saint or approved apparition in order to make their thing appear credible.

I believe there are many saints and religious who spoke of this plague.It does not appear to be a metaphor.

St Faustina was told that before Jesus returns all lights in the heavens with be extinguished and a cross will appear in the sky. Light will stream forth from where our Savior was nailed to the cross. It seems like a literal interpretation

I for one would be ecstatic to see this and the return of Jesus to transform the world into a paradise!Don’t be afraid,the world to be restored and renewed and no more wars or violence or immorality. No drug addictions no corruption and no more millions starving while others live in luxury.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

Are we doing a “Can you top this”??? The only thing we need to really fear is the state of our soul. And the Catholic Church has the cure for that. Why don’t we learn from the Approved Apparitions?? Like Devotion to the Sacred Heart, Fatima, Guadalupe, and Divine Mercy. Instead of chasing after unapproved stuff. We would be the wiser to do so, I think. God Bless, Memaw

The Catholic Church also instills the fear of the state of our soul in us. As far as I’m concerned, the fact the Church “approves” any of these holds that up, because seems like most of the people I talk to who take Fatima … Really Seriously … if you know what I mean, tend to be pretty fearful themselves. And the last time I encountered one at a SFO meeting no less, she looked at me with these bug-eyes and spouted off what Mary had allegedly said about the Rosary as if she were God Himself speaking ex cathedra.

Not to say that’s a Bad Thing. Somebody has to instill the fear of sin in us, so that we may know sin and thus die to it, so that we may be freed from that fear when we are born again in the spirit. I’m basing this roughly on Rom ch 7. The Church does an amazing job of taking us all the way from Moses up until the cross. It has the mystical resources to take us the rest of the way, but pretty much we tend to identify with Jesus until just before He goes to hell. We say we want to follow Jesus, well He tasted Hell so that He may be the sweetness of heaven that is not disturbed by hell. If we want to be resurrected with Jesus, it can help to understand kind of the process to get from the cross, through purgatory (we don’t have to do ‘actual’ hell since Jesus took that one for us) and into our rebirth in the spirit.

So we’ve really only had teachings like John of the Cross as “really Catholic” for the last 4% of Church history since 1926 when he was promoted to Dr. of the Church, compared to Aquinas for example, who was promoted to Dr. in 1568, so he’s been The Thing for 23% of Church history. I’m hoping that within another generation the teachings on the “heart” of Jesus and mysticism and apophatic tradition of the church in general will become woven into the Catholic consciousness because this it’s harvest time and workers are being recruited by the month in exponentially growing numbers.

Sorry I guess it’s a bit of a rant, but I’ll post it because it fascinates me that people get so invested in apparitions, and in devotion to doing these things and those things to try to gain influence in heaven, compared to applying the teachings of Jesus in self-transformative ways which is what Jesus actually taught. Note God said from the cloud “this is My beloved Son; listen to Him” that He didn’t say “listen to what is said about Him” so just to mention that and let it go. Adding knowledge adds pride. Doing more stuff can be good, but isn’t the kingdom of love and can in fact fool us into thinking it’s bringing us to God. (Martha/Mary, and of course 1 Cor 13 which is so popular you think more people would actually get it).

Or I’m totally wrong.

 

[cjforJesus]

The Catholic Church also instills the fear of the state of our soul in us. As far as I’m concerned, the fact the Church “approves” any of these holds that up, because seems like most of the people I talk to who take Fatima … Really Seriously … if you know what I mean, tend to be pretty fearful themselves. And the last time I encountered one at a SFO meeting no less, she looked at me with these bug-eyes and spouted off what Mary had allegedly said about the Rosary as if she were God Himself speaking ex cathedra.

Not to say that’s a Bad Thing. Somebody has to instill the fear of sin in us, so that we may know sin and thus die to it, so that we may be freed from that fear when we are born again in the spirit. I’m basing this roughly on Rom ch 7. The Church does an amazing job of taking us all the way from Moses up until the cross. It has the mystical resources to take us the rest of the way, but pretty much we tend to identify with Jesus until just before He goes to hell. We say we want to follow Jesus, well He tasted Hell so that He may be the sweetness of heaven that is not disturbed by hell. If we want to be resurrected with Jesus, it can help to understand kind of the process to get from the cross, through purgatory (we don’t have to do ‘actual’ hell since Jesus took that one for us) and into our rebirth in the spirit.

So we’ve really only had teachings like John of the Cross as “really Catholic” for the last 4% of Church history since 1926 when he was promoted to Dr. of the Church, compared to Aquinas for example, who was promoted to Dr. in 1568, so he’s been The Thing for 23% of Church history. I’m hoping that within another generation the teachings on the “heart” of Jesus and mysticism and apophatic tradition of the church in general will become woven into the Catholic consciousness because this it’s harvest time and workers are being recruited by the month in exponentially growing numbers.

Sorry I guess it’s a bit of a rant, but I’ll post it because it fascinates me that people get so invested in apparitions, and in devotion to doing these things and those things to try to gain influence in heaven, compared to applying the teachings of Jesus in self-transformative ways which is what Jesus actually taught. Note God said from the cloud “this is My beloved Son; listen to Him” that He didn’t say “listen to what is said about Him” so just to mention that and let it go. Adding knowledge adds pride. Doing more stuff can be good, but isn’t the kingdom of love and can in fact fool us into thinking it’s bringing us to God. (Martha/Mary, and of course 1 Cor 13 which is so popular you think more people would actually get it).

Or I’m totally wrong.

But Mystical,Fatima did not engender fear but was a warning to repentance.Akita is the same message as Fatima. We are living in a time of great mercy and should be grateful.

Actually Akita did not even say what prayers to say,but just pray with devotion and from the heart. How can one argue with that? I think though a beautiful prayer to the Eucharistic Jesus was recommended to the seer .

In any legitimate Marian apparition Mary always points to Jesus. Usually messages are very short and to the point.At Our Lady of Good Help the message was simply to build a school to catechize the illiterate children.

I see nothing wrong with believing the 3 days is literal.It means Jesus is returning with a host of angels to renew and restore the earth.

 

[Bookcat]

Here from Jimmy Akin of Catholic Answers fame:

jimmyakin.com/2010/01/a-reader-writessomebody-asked-me-in-regard-of-this-article-is-it-true-or-false-is-it-authentic-or-just-regular-pious-writi.html

Quote: “1. Padre Pio Did Not Predict Three Days of Darkness”

 

[cjforJesus]

Bookcat:
No,I do not believe that St Pio advocated it but there are dozens of others including St Faustina who did.

Scapulars,medals,and even special prayers given in mystical apparitions also fall under the category of private revelation. None of it including belief in any apparition or writing is necessary for salvation.We have all we need to know with the death of the last apostle of Jesus.

The three days is part of private revelation and is not necessary to believe or accept.

 

[Memaw]

No,I do not believe that St Pio advocated it but there are dozens of others including St Faustina who did.

Scapulars,medals,and even special prayers given in mystical apparitions also fall under the category of private revelation. None of it including belief in any apparition or writing is necessary for salvation.We have all we need to know with the death of the last apostle of Jesus.

The three days is part of private revelation and is not necessary to believe or accept.

So you would dismiss all the beautiful approved private devotions God has given us over the centuries? Was God wasting His time with us or do we wise up and pay attention to what He is telling us? We would be smart to “wise” up and listen to Him through His Church, instead of always saying “I think” this or “I think” that is not important enough to pay any attention to… The Church is saying that we are not under penalty of sin to believe private revelations as we are in having to believe in infallible doctrine. She is NOT saying to ignore the ones the Church has approved. That’s why the Church checks private revelation out carefully so we can KNOW it is “Worthy of Belief”. We would be smart to follow the Church. God Bless, Memaw

 

[cjforJesus]

So you would dismiss all the beautiful approved private devotions God has given us over the centuries? Was God wasting His time with us or do we wise up and pay attention to what He is telling us? We would be smart to “wise” up and listen to Him through His Church, instead of always saying “I think” this or “I think” that is not important enough to pay any attention to… The Church is saying that we are not under penalty of sin to believe private revelations as we are in having to believe in infallible doctrine. She is NOT saying to ignore the ones the Church has approved. That’s why the Church checks private revelation out carefully so we can KNOW it is “Worthy of Belief”. We would be smart to follow the Church. God Bless, Memaw

The Church has approved Akita. The bishop is the one with authority and the Vatican intervenes if there is a problem as in Medjugorje.

 

[cjforJesus]

So you would dismiss all the beautiful approved private devotions God has given us over the centuries? Was God wasting His time with us or do we wise up and pay attention to what He is telling us? We would be smart to “wise” up and listen to Him through His Church, instead of always saying “I think” this or “I think” that is not important enough to pay any attention to… The Church is saying that we are not under penalty of sin to believe private revelations as we are in having to believe in infallible doctrine. She is NOT saying to ignore the ones the Church has approved. That’s why the Church checks private revelation out carefully so we can KNOW it is “Worthy of Belief”. We would be smart to follow the Church. God Bless, Memaw

this was from JUly 22 2012
Thank you for your inquiry on Akita. Nothing has been changed since
late Bishop Ito issued his last pastoral letter and I have never made
any change and any new decision. The pastoral letter of Bishop Ito
still stands as it is today.

Yours,

Bishop Isao Kikuchi, SVD

you can find the pastoral letter online

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

But Mystical,Fatima did not engender fear but was a warning to repentance.Akita is the same message as Fatima. We are living in a time of great mercy and should be grateful.

Actually Akita did not even say what prayers to say,but just pray with devotion and from the heart. How can one argue with that? I think though a beautiful prayer to the Eucharistic Jesus was recommended to the seer .

In any legitimate Marian apparition Mary always points to Jesus. Usually messages are very short and to the point.At Our Lady of Good Help the message was simply to build a school to catechize the illiterate children.

Fatima may not have engendered fear, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve encounter people who seem to use Fatima fanaticism as a substitute for, or even presumptive evidence of spiritual growth. They acted like all spiritual problems are solved by saying the Rosary and novenas and stuff like that. You don’t hear anything about inward personal transformation and the fact they they are practicing idolatry. Because you and I know they point to Jesus, but honestly these people would vote Jesus out of the club so they could keep telling everyone what they should do.

That isn’t the “fault” of Fatima, but that’s part of its aftermath – for some people it may point them toward God, but for others it seems to me it points them to idols and/or fools them into a perverted view of what constitutes “union with God”. Which, btw, is what we are supposedly All Working For, right?

No, nothing wrong with telling someone to pray with all their heart and mind and strength. To me, “love” and “prayer” are two words for essentially the same thing. Jesus pretty much told us this, and like Paul says run to win the race. There is nothing wrong with prophets rephrasing it for other audiences and generations than might have heard of or understood His saying it. So it may be helpful for some, but not essential.

I see nothing wrong with believing the 3 days is literal.It means Jesus is returning with a host of angels to renew and restore the earth.

I don’t have a problem with you believing that, or with my believing it’s anything BUT literal.

 

[cjforJesus]

Fatima may not have engendered fear, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve encounter people who seem to use Fatima fanaticism as a substitute for, or even presumptive evidence of spiritual growth. They acted like all spiritual problems are solved by saying the Rosary and novenas and stuff like that. You don’t hear anything about inward personal transformation and the fact they they are practicing idolatry. Because you and I know they point to Jesus, but honestly these people would vote Jesus out of the club so they could keep telling everyone what they should do.

That isn’t the “fault” of Fatima, but that’s part of its aftermath – for some people it may point them toward God, but for others it seems to me it points them to idols and/or fools them into a perverted view of what constitutes “union with God”. Which, btw, is what we are supposedly All Working For, right?

No, nothing wrong with telling someone to pray with all their heart and mind and strength. To me, “love” and “prayer” are two words for essentially the same thing. Jesus pretty much told us this, and like Paul says run to win the race. There is nothing wrong with prophets rephrasing it for other audiences and generations than might have heard of or understood His saying it. So it may be helpful for some, but not essential.

I don’t have a problem with you believing that, or with my believing it’s anything BUT literal.

I am sorry you feel that way,but I keep thinking about seeing Him and being caught up in the clouds with Him.It is our hope and what we pray for every time we attend Mass.We await in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord and Savior,Jesus Christ. It does not get any better than actually meeting our loving Creator.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

I am sorry you feel that way,but I keep thinking about seeing Him and being caught up in the clouds with Him.It is our hope and what we pray for every time we attend Mass.We await in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord and Savior,Jesus Christ. It does not get any better than actually meeting our loving Creator.

You are not already in the kingdom? It feels pretty cloud-ish to me in here. :heaven:

Why are you sorry? Do we not honor the same Lord and follow the same Jesus but each in our own ways? Between here and our PM’s, I keep going back and forth between thinking you have some great points, and thinking you are just confusing me. Problably some of each, but according to my own criteria, this must all be for the good. (That’s the crux of my seeking of a “Rom 8:28” mentality – see below.) And for me to “trust” in the Holy Spirit is key to my emotional stability – and that means that I have to believe (self-imposed requirement) that at any given time the HS is doing His job and I WILL be guided. If I don’t believe that, I’m not as “Spirit-led” as I could be, or at least I’m fighting it.

Once I did begin to see it, it seems to me we are all Spirit-led, even if we think it’s our own ego running the show. So to get to “brass tacks,” the Holy Spirit has put us together in this awkward mode, for the good of those who believe. Or at least allowed it, or if that’s not how it goes, then it WILL be used for good somehow whether or not I believe it. This is one way to describe my current outlook toward faith and life. The fact that I just took a breath, gives me gratitude because I get to witness another few seconds of this Glorious Production called “Earth in the 21st Century.”

The Lord has me in a (mental/emotional) place greater than my human mind could have hoped for or even imagined, just a few years ago. The Grand Fireworks Show that has been my perception of life, turns out for those whose eyes are opened to be all for good of me and others at the same time… if I can’t make up stories that do that, then I have not fully applied Rom 8:28 to the situation. Rom 8:28 is my favorite reminder any time I am about to whine about something, that this too is for the Good of those who believe, who are called according to His purpose.

Yes, we’ll meet in the cloud – in ways, places, and forms outside anything either of us could imagine.

 

[cjforJesus]

You are not already in the kingdom? It feels pretty cloud-ish to me in here. :heaven:

Why are you sorry? Do we not honor the same Lord and follow the same Jesus but each in our own ways? Between here and our PM’s, I keep going back and forth between thinking you have some great points, and thinking you are just confusing me. Problably some of each, but according to my own criteria, this must all be for the good. (That’s the crux of my seeking of a “Rom 8:28” mentality – see below.) And for me to “trust” in the Holy Spirit is key to my emotional stability – and that means that I have to believe (self-imposed requirement) that at any given time the HS is doing His job and I WILL be guided. If I don’t believe that, I’m not as “Spirit-led” as I could be, or at least I’m fighting it.

Once I did begin to see it, it seems to me we are all Spirit-led, even if we think it’s our own ego running the show. So to get to “brass tacks,” the Holy Spirit has put us together in this awkward mode, for the good of those who believe. Or at least allowed it, or if that’s not how it goes, then it WILL be used for good somehow whether or not I believe it. This is one way to describe my current outlook toward faith and life. The fact that I just took a breath, gives me gratitude because I get to witness another few seconds of this Glorious Production called “Earth in the 21st Century.”

The Lord has me in a (mental/emotional) place greater than my human mind could have hoped for or even imagined, just a few years ago. The Grand Fireworks Show that has been my perception of life, turns out for those whose eyes are opened to be all for good of me and others at the same time… if I can’t make up stories that do that, then I have not fully applied Rom 8:28 to the situation. Rom 8:28 is my favorite reminder any time I am about to whine about something, that this too is for the Good of those who believe, who are called according to His purpose.

Yes, we’ll meet in the cloud – in ways, places, and forms outside anything either of us could imagine.

Quote
The Grand Fireworks Show that has been my perception of life, turns out for those whose eyes are opened to be all for good of me and others at the same time…

I have not a clue what you mean. Are you comparing life to a pyrotechnic display?

Yeah,you seem like a pretty nice person,and it is my observation that everyone the Holy Spirit puts in my path is for a reason.

I still think it would be awesome to be alive to actually see Jesus return just as he left and with a host of angels. I really do hope the 3 days is an actual event where the earth is purified before He comes. If it is not we must always be ready to meet Him,our Bridegroom.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

Quote
The Grand Fireworks Show that has been my perception of life, turns out for those whose eyes are opened to be all for good of me and others at the same time…

I have not a clue what you mean. Are you comparing life to a pyrotechnic display?

No, just that I’ve seen some things that are pretty exciting, and for about 15 years doing the “severe bipolar” thing, every day contained surprises for me (and especially my family) that for a while would cause huge emotional moodswings. These are the emotional fireworks I was alluding to, without expectation you’d understand but thank you for asking because I believe you really do care.

Yeah,you seem like a pretty nice person,and it is my observation that everyone the Holy Spirit puts in my path is for a reason.

He also put some very difficult people in my path, and once I finally figured out that they were all part of the “plan” – or if not a plan then as far as I could tell it was convincingly not random – to make my life so amazing. Taking “difficult” people and situations and forcing it through my “Rom 8:28” processor can rewrite my entire history with a story of the Lord giving me the world on a platter that makes itself so apparent everything starts reconciling itself like on automatic God mode or something, as compared to thinking every moment of every day is drudgery. Eventually I fancy myself not even judging a moment or a person as “good” or “bad” but I’m not to that level yet.

So I have experience, “certified” by many doctors and a federal judge, at going “way further than normal” in the department of emotional extremes. And against doctors’ best guesses that I would never recover and advice not to expect it, and with the hand of the Holy Spirit, my life unfolded perfectly as it has and I’m cured. It’s hard to convince a person who’s never been severely “mentally ill” how valuable a “sound mind” is, or even a “moment of clarity”. One moment of hope can last for months if it has to, during times of depression. If I can do all that right, then the whole world becomes ecstatic, but in a way that does not produce Grand Ceremonies, in John of the Cross-ish lingo.

To me, that’s “the kingdom”. Maybe the Buddhists call it Nirvana and the whatevers call it the Tao, and psychologists call it “flow” – or not. I just threw that in there to tweak you a bit. At least once per post, eh?

I still think it would be awesome to be alive to actually see Jesus return just as he left and with a host of angels. I really do hope the 3 days is an actual event where the earth is purified before He comes. If it is not we must always be ready to meet Him,our Bridegroom.

Hey, that is pretty cool. Whether it happens or not, I’m glad you are getting to savor that image now.

MS

 

[StGerardMajella]

what are you thoughts and that of the Church?

The coming 3 days of darkness are pre-figured in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 10, verses 21-23:

21 And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.’

22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;

23 they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

I believe this is the origin of the 3 days of darkness. It comes right from the Book of Exodus, and serves as a warning - yes - of what we can expect in the future should we fail to repent.

Between the legalization of marijuana, the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage, the threat of radical jihadists, and the growing racial divide turning ever more violent, it sure seems like we are well on our path to perdition.

 

[cjforJesus]

No, just that I’ve seen some things that are pretty exciting, and for about 15 years doing the “severe bipolar” thing, every day contained surprises for me (and especially my family) that for a while would cause huge emotional moodswings. These are the emotional fireworks I was alluding to, without expectation you’d understand but thank you for asking because I believe you really do care.

He also put some very difficult people in my path, and once I finally figured out that they were all part of the “plan” – or if not a plan then as far as I could tell it was convincingly not random – to make my life so amazing. Taking “difficult” people and situations and forcing it through my “Rom 8:28” processor can rewrite my entire history with a story of the Lord giving me the world on a platter that makes itself so apparent everything starts reconciling itself like on automatic God mode or something, as compared to thinking every moment of every day is drudgery. Eventually I fancy myself not even judging a moment or a person as “good” or “bad” but I’m not to that level yet.

So I have experience, “certified” by many doctors and a federal judge, at going “way further than normal” in the department of emotional extremes. And against doctors’ best guesses that I would never recover and advice not to expect it, and with the hand of the Holy Spirit, my life unfolded perfectly as it has and I’m cured. It’s hard to convince a person who’s never been severely “mentally ill” how valuable a “sound mind” is, or even a “moment of clarity”. One moment of hope can last for months if it has to, during times of depression. If I can do all that right, then the whole world becomes ecstatic, but in a way that does not produce Grand Ceremonies, in John of the Cross-ish lingo.

To me, that’s “the kingdom”. Maybe the Buddhists call it Nirvana and the whatevers call it the Tao, and psychologists call it “flow” – or not. I just threw that in there to tweak you a bit. At least once per post, eh?

Hey, that is pretty cool. Whether it happens or not, I’m glad you are getting to savor that image now.

MS

Why would you feel the need to “tweak” me? That type of condescension is not acceptable in my opinion. Please refrain in the future and keep those thoughts to yourself.Yes I realize in your world there is no right and wrong and everything is OK,but you should respect others especially on a Christian forum.