It also has biblical sources; Jesus Himself describes similar conditions which will happen just after the Great Tribulation and before the Second Coming of Christ:
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Mat.24:29-31).
No-one knows when, but Padre Pio has given a list of the signs that will herald this event.
I think that is why it is being talked about so much now, because the signs are all being fulfilled in our times.
