The Book of Revelation is a very difficult part of the Bible to understand but I think Chapter 12 fits in perfectly with the age we are living in: Rev 12 v1 'And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the Sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars'. We are living in the Marian age of History and our Blessed Mother has been given a key role to play in this period. The Marian Age will perhaps end with the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But until that happens we are all involved in a great spiritual battle, which is also noted in the 12th Chapter of the book of Revelations.
I was looking at a beautiful moon the other night and thought it showed two things to me. Firstly the glory of Mary who reflects perfectly the fire of the holiness of the sun {God]. Satan the Light bearer, first of God's children whose throne Mary takes and whom at the final battle she defeats and on whose head she stands. Thus she stands on the moon. She is clothed with the sun, because she is the Bride of the Holy Spirit, in holiness.
Rev 12 v2. 'And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered'. She is in labour and pain, whilst she brings forth her children, and Christ in them, in the midst of afflictions and persecutions. [Notes from The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims version]
She is Mother of Christ and mother of the Church...Satan seeks to kill the child, first Jesus then the Church....
Rev 12 v3 'And there was seen another sign in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his head seven diadems'. Here we have explicit reference to satan - given great power as symbolised by the heads, horns and diadems. Note that the Marian Age corresponds with satan being given extended powers. What follows is a great battle between the forces of good and evil. Note that the dragon is red - the red tide of Marxist Athiestic Communism was spawned by Satanic hatred and enveloped Russia and it satellites for much of the 20th century. And indeed spiritual athiestic communism in the form of secularism is the prevailing philosphy of western 'civilization', which promotes a culture of death today. I. Connell in Queen of the Cosmos (Paraclete Press, 2005, Revised Edition) asked visionary Mirjana the following question: Concerning this century, is it true that the Blessed Mother related a dialogue to you between God and the devil? In it… God allowed the devil one century in which to exercise extended power, and the devil chose these very times. —p.23 The visionary answered "Yes", citing as proof the great divisions we see particularly among families today. At the cosmic spiritual level we are living through Revelation chapter 12 the great batlle between the Woman clothed with the Sun and the moon at her feet and the great red Dragon, satan.
A Great Battle. During the last three weeks of Lent I made it down to the Planned Parenthood Center in Syracuse, NY, where abortions are performed daily. I and others would stay for an hour interceding for repentance, conversion, and a change of heart on the part of mothers and mostly boyfriends, who jointly chose this horrific path. The spiritual warfare was intense, almost palatable! It is a microcosm of The Battle that takes place around us all the time. On Holy Thursday, I was joined by my teenage daughter, Therese, and some of her friends. I truly believe satan fled that morning, overwelmed by such a vibrant, innocent army! How great is our God! The Virgin is arrayed in glory! She leads her cohort to victory! Her Son is on the throne! Alleluia!! Let God arise and his enemies be scattered!
I admire you so much for this, Terry. You make me feel guilty. You remind me to make an effort and do more.
Rev 12 v4 ‘And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered he might devour her son’. Genesis 37 has the story of Story of Joseph and a dream he had: ‘the sun, the moon and the 11 stars bowed down before me’ The dream referred to his family who had not yet realised the genius of their son!! His father ridiculed him – do you think I the Sun [Father] and your mother [Moon] and your 11 brothers [stars] are going to bow down before you the youngest? The sun, moon and stars can represent the family: Matthew 24v29 ‘The sun will be darkened, the moon lose its brightness and the stars fall from the sky and the powers of heaven will be shaken’ These verses could also refer to a society that has rejected family life and values. Attack on the family brings social chaos, as we have witnessed since the 60s ‘The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood [Acts 2 v20] Moon turned into blood – this may could be interpreted as the grave sin of Abortion: Rev 12v4 Signs of the struggle – the dragon will pull one third of the stars from the sky In the Old Testament stars usually represent the people of God. Matthew in his gospel says the virtuous will shine like the stars in the kingdom of Heaven The Stars of Jesus in heaven are the Priests - about 1/3rd of priests have left the priesthood since the 1960s: Attack on priests/fall of priests – a sign that we are well into the persecution and spiritual war: Never criticise a priest – fast and pray for them, they are under the direct attack of the dragon, its not personal to them The Dragon just wants to bring down the church. The best way to bring down the church Attack the priests [bring down the church] Attack the married couple [to bring down society] Bring both down = Chaos Don’t criticise married couples – fast and pray for them. If the married couple can stay 2 in 1 in grace, the stars which are The children will be all right. We need to support MARRIAGE and the PRIESTHOOD - both are under direct attack by the Red Dragon. So let us pray for marriages and priests:
It's beyond me how so many can read this part of Revelation and be blind to the fact that it represents Mary. Even in the gospels, wherever Mary is mentioned, her role is trivialized and the scene is glossed over, whereas had it been any other holy person, it would be delved in so deeply people would understand there is much insight to be gained from this person and their actions. Protestant-like-thinkers seldom address the role of Mary in the bible, because they're afraid if they look too deeply Catholics might just be right about her.
I think Devotion to Mary is a very special sign of grace, Deanna, I notice even many Catholics kind of walk past without seeing. I could never ever imagine anyone with a Devotion to Mary ever being lost to hell. Never. Ever.
