The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: Has St. Vincent Ferrer Been Forgotten?
The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter
Blog to discuss the book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation" and current events that point to the events described therein.
After reading The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation, by Steven Paul, I purchased and read the biography of St. Vincent Ferrer. He warned all Eurpoe, indeed all Christendom, of God's impending judgement unless they repented. He was "the eagle flying in midheaven" in the Book of Revelation. Sadly, his warning has been forgotten and the judgement, the final three woes, are in progress.
From The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter:
That third date comes in the last verse of Chapter 8: the "eagle" flying in "mid-heaven." An eagle flies higher than any other creature: it flies farthest away from the "earth" and, therefore, closest to the "sun." The "eagle" symbolizes the contemplative life; the one in 8:13 is a member of a contemplative order.
He is obviously delivering a prophecy of warning "to them that dwell upon the earth." Bear in mind that Christ said,
"There are many inside the Church who are outside, and many outside who are inside."
Those who are not of the Truth "dwell on the earth." Since the "eagle" is flying "in mid-heaven," his direst of warnings is directed mainly at the clergy, aye, especially, the episcopate. Like the bishop from the east in Chapter 7, this "eagle" speaks in the name of Christ, for he cries out in a loud voice, the voice of authority that he wants all to hear.
In view of the description of the fourth "wind" in verse 12, it is clear that the "eagle" is the messenger divinely appointed to deliver the last warning to the Church. If the Church does not heed the warning, then the three woes will overtake many more in their sin than the woes would otherwise. But, understand here: the woes are included in "what must soon befall" in the first verse of Chapter 1.
God knows what men will do, but He warns them anyway, so that none can say that there was no warning. Christ warned the Jews, but they, in general, did not listen. He also said,
"Offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! Better for him had he never been born." [Mt. 18:7]
Those are strong words from Him Who created man.
Two great saints appear in the first half of the fifteenth century: the Dominican, St. Vincent Ferrer, and the Franciscan, St. Bernadine of Sienna, each a priest in a contemplative order. In 1398 AD, when St. Vincent was dying of a fever, Christ, together with St. Dominic and St. Francis, appeared to him, cured him of his fever, and commissioned him to preach that the Church must repent and do penance, or else judgment would come.
Christ did not tell St. Vincent exactly when the judgment would come or what kind it would be; but, He must have said something thereof, because St. Vincent, on countless occasions, warned that the "Day of Wrath" was to come "quickly, indeed quickly and very shortly" [cito, bene cito et valde breviter]. While preaching to a crowd in 1406, St. Vincent announced that his mantle [commission] would be handed down to someone then listening to him, and that the person would evangelize throughout Italy.
The person was St. Bernadine. The Franciscan priest often used the same words of the "eagle" in 8:13, "woe, woe, woe!", and he often threatened his listeners with the plague of locusts described in the first half of Chapter 9. He preached from 1417 until he died in 1444. Of the two men, I would say St. Vincent Ferrer was the "eagle” flying in mid-heaven" because he, and not St. Bernadine, received a special revelation from Christ Himself. So, the third approximate date is 1450 AD, at verse 13 in Chapter 8.
In the first half of Chapter 9, the fifth angel sounds the trumpet to announce the first of the three woes. This means that Christ's ONE JUDGMENT will come in three stages. The judgment will be the worst, the most terrible, that He will inflict on his Church and the world. Progressively, it will extend until it involves all mankind, and it will intensify until it culminates in the annihilation of all evil agents and agencies on the earth.
John wrote,
"...and I saw a star which had fallen to the earth, and there was given to him the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit..."
Here, I must end this letter, not to occasion a sense of suspense, but to rest my two fingers and 13 billion brain cells. By now, you should be able to figure out who the "star" was, and what the "key" symbolizes.
The only major event that comes after, approximately, the year 1450 AD was.... If you can't figure it out, I will tell you. Hint: the first woe is still in progress. Never again can the unique evolvement of the three woes be repeated. The judgment has already begun, and the Little Lamb shall bring it to completion, to THE GREAT DAY OF ALMIGHTY GOD.
