Our Lady of Betania

Maria Esperanza was born in the small of San Rafael in Venezuela in the year 1928. Her mystical experiences started at an early age, which included a vision of St. Therese of Lisieux. Maria's health was never good and she came close to death several times, but through prayer and Divine intervention Maria always recovered.

Maria proved herself to be a very devout child and longed to enter the Religious life in order to serve God, but through another vision of St. Therese she was told that God wished for her to be a good wife and mother and to evangelise the world about the Catholic Faith. At the same time a vision of Jesus Sacred Heart told her to live in Rome where she stayed with the Sisters of the Ravasco Institute.

Not long after this Maria met and married her husband Geo Bianchini Giani in the year 1956, they would have 7 children.

Maria Esperanza is known world wide for her great devoutness and piety, and had gained the approval of her local Bishop. She was a woman who, despite her enormous gifts, remained humble and meek in heart.

Some of the Gifts bestowed on Maria were the stigmata, levitation, the gift of healing others, bilocation and she was told by both Our Lord and Lady what could happen to the world if people did not amend their ways.

There would also be a Eucharistic miracle when a Host which had been Consecrated by the local priest, showed signs of blood, Fr. Otty Aristizabal immediately informed Church authorities and after some tests the blood was proven to be of a human origin.

In 1974 Maria and her husband Geo moved their family to Finca Betania, upon the instructions of Our Lady, who would make this a haven of peace in an often bleak world. In one of her visions Our Lady also allowed herself to be seen by at least 100 people all of whom swore to what they had witnessed to the Church officials.

This began an investigation by the Church into these mystical experiences of seeing Our Lady, after three years it gained Ecclesiastical approval. And though the Church has approved of the appearance of Our Lady, the messages that Maria Esperanza has received are still under investigation.

Some of the messages given to Maria by Our Lady are warnings of future calamities if we do not stop the trend towards secularism, Our Lady has said, "I come to reconcile them, to seek them out, to give them faith, which has disappeared in the noise and din of an atomic awakening which is at the point of bursting out. My message is of faith, love and hope. More than anything, it brings reconciliation between people and nations. It is the only thing that can save this century from war and eternal death...If a change does not come and a conversion of life, one will perish under the fire, war and death...".

Our Lady also told Maria this, "Forgive one another. Love one another. Serve one another. Pray for the Church. Pray for priests. Return to the Sacraments, dear little children. Confess your sins while the sun shines. Sacrifice yourselves for the conversion of sinners and for peace in the world. All of you are children of God. All are loved."

Maria was also given this warning to the world, "There is coming the great moment of a great day of light. The consciences of this beloved people must be violently shaken so that they may 'put their house in order' and offer to Jesus the just reparation for the daily infidelities that are committed on the part of sinners...".

The summary of Our Lady's messages to Maria Esperanza are basically a warning to the peoples of the world. Not to instil fear into the hearts of the Faithful but to strengthen them and once again help those who have strayed from the Path of God's Will.

Our Lady's messages are spoken from the immense love she feels for all her children, no matter the background or how sinful their past. If we amend our lives, partake of the Sacraments and pray for the world, we will be fulfilling the Commandments of God. And from this will spring peace of heart and peace in Nations as all gather around Our Lady who reconciles all to her Immaculate Heart.

But in order to gain this peace we must first desire it and seek it through prayer.

The visionary Maria Esperanza died on August 7, 2004.

I would encourage all to read more about Our Lady of Betania.

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

The Prophecies of St. Nilus

In the year 324 AD, emperor Constantine, was finally able to overcome many of his enemies, and upon this victory emperor Constantine formalised Christianity as the official religion of the land.

Though there is some dispute in how sincerely Constantine himself followed the Christian religion. It was also around this time that Constantinople became the capital of what was the Holy Roman Empire, which then took the name 'New Rome', the Byzantium capital of the Roman Empire.

As we know from history many heroic Christians were persecuted and martyred for their Faith, as Christians were in the minority in that particular area.

But Constantinople was a crucial part of the trade route as it lay between what was then the golden horn and the Sea of Marmara, this would cause friction for many years to come, as different powers and primacies fought for power.

It was around the year 400 AD onwards that Nilus became known as a disciple and friend to St. John Chrysostom, and under the direction of this great Saint, Nilus was to prove himself to be an apt pupil and also as deeply devout as was St. John himself.

This love of God also affected the entire family of Nilus as he alongside one of his sons left his family so as to spend his time praying and offering Penance at Mt Sinai as a monk. His wife and other children would also follow the same route, as they lived in the religious community in Egypt.

Upon being ordained a Priest, Nilus became well known for his writings and theological input in the growing of the Church, while it was still in its infancy. Through his vast knowledge and grasp of all things Holy even emperors consulted with this great Priest, but Nilus allowed nothing to disturb or distract him from his Faith.

And though Nilus would be well reknowned for his letters which denounced paganism and various heresies he also spoke up about the unfair treatment of his great friend St. John Chrysostom.

Though Nilus was a well reknowned correspondent, and thought nothing of criticising his brother clergy and even emperors, when he found them to be in error, there seems to be no recording of when he was given these prophecies of furture events.

But through his writing St. Nilus warns those who read them and have the wisdom to discern these fortuitous events. He states clearly the Era of great concern being the 19 and twentieth centuries.

As St. Nilus says, "the people of that time will become unrecognizable. When the time for the Advent of the Antichrist approaches, people's minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonor and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will become unrecognizable. People's appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to their shamelessness in dress and style of hair. These people will be cruel and will be like wild animals because of the temptations of the Antichrist. There will be no respect for parents and elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, bishops, and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right-hand way from the left. At that time the morals and traditions of Christians and of the Church will change. People will abandon modesty, and dissipation will reign. Falsehood and greed will attain great proportions, and woe to those who pile up treasures. Lust, adultery, homosexuality, secret deeds and murder will rule in society."

And continues with these dire warnings," at that future time, due to the power of such great crimes and licentiousness, people will be deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they received in Holy Baptism and equally of remorse."

St. Nilus also warns the Church of future calamities, as he states, "The Churches of God will be deprived of God-fearing and pious pastors, and woe to the Christians remaining in the world at that time; they will completely lose their faith because they will lack the opportunity of seeing the light of knowledge from anyone at all. Then they will separate themselves out of the world in holy refuges in search of lightening their spiritual sufferings, but everywhere they will meet obstacles and constraints. And all this will result from the fact that the Antichrist wants to be Lord over everything and become the ruler of the whole universe, and he will produce miracles and fantastic signs. He will also give depraved wisdom to an unhappy man so that he will discover a way by which one man can carry on a conversation with another from one end of the earth to the other. At that time men will also fly through the air like birds and descend to the bottom of the sea like fish. And when they have achieved all this, these unhappy people will spend their lives in comfort without knowing, poor souls, that it is deceit of the Antichrist. And, the impious one! – he will so complete science with vanity that it will go off the right path and lead people to lose faith in the existence of God in three hypostases."

And his final warning for all mankind if they do not amend their ways and follow the true Teachings of the Bible and The Church, "Then the All-good God will see the downfall of the human race and will shorten the days for the sake of those few who are being saved, because the enemy wants to lead even the chosen into temptation, if that is possible... then the sword of chastisement will suddenly appear and kill the perverter and his servants."

This ends the prophecies of St. Nilus as we recall that all this was revealed to a man living around 400 AD, yet he describes so eloquently that which is plain to see for those living in this century. It is not known what year St. Nilus died but many speculate the time to be around 430 AD.

We should with much prayer examine this most astonishing of prophecies and spend much time pondering what all of us can do to stop and hopefully appease the outrage of our Heavenly Father. For though God loves His children, and shows us much Mercy still He also is Perfect Justice, therefore let us amend our lives and live to please our most loving God.

I would encourage all to read more about the prophecies of St. Nilus and to pray much for discernment upon reading these revelations.

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

Our Lady of Walsingham

England in medieval days was a mixture of Normans, and, Anglo Saxons, which combined the nationalities of Germans, Danish, French and Dutch.

The Normans and the Britons lived side by side with a mutual agreement to close off the sea way to prevent further Viking intrusions, a move that benefited both countries. And it was in 1042 that Edward the Confessor took the Throne of England.

But conditions during this period were less than sanitary, as diseases such as cholera, dysentery and the common cold wiped out whole regions. Even child birth was considered a dangerous condition in that many mothers died whilst in labour.

It was also in 1044 that Aldred was made Bishop of Worcester, before being promoted to Archbishop of York in 1060. Upon receiving the pallium from Pope Nicholas II, after a misunderstanding, Aldred returned to England. He would at a later date support the move to have William the Conqueror as Monarch and it was Aldred who performed the ceremony and crowned William of Orange, King in 1066, after the battle of Hastings.

But it was in 1061 that a woman began to receive visions of Our Lady. Being of noble birth, Lady Richeldis de Faverches, was astonished at the beauty of our Lady and immediately crossed herself so as to be protected against unwanted visitations from the evil one, Lady Richeldis need not have feared, for it was indeed Mary who appeared before her.

Our Lady was to show Lady Richeldis the home she had lived in at Nazareth, the same house that the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her to inform Mary of the good news. Our Lady then said to Lady Richeldis, "Let all who are in any way distressed or in need seek me there in that small house that you maintain for me at Walsingham. To all that seek me there shall be given succour."

The house that our Lady requested was eventually built and many pilgrims were to visit this most Holy site including Kings and Queens. King Edward I attributed a miracle to our Lady when he was spared from an impending accident when he made a pilgrimage to Waslingham. Henry the VIII also visited Walsingham, but, unfortunately it was during his reign as King, that he ordered the destruction of Walsingham, seeing it as a threat to his own command as Head of the Church of England.

During and after the persecutions of Catholics in England, pilgrimages to Walsingham decreased as many embraced the new Church of England in defiance of Rome! But nothing that Our Lady wishes is ever destroyed, and so Walsingham too would rise again, despite anti-Catholic sentiments.

So it was that in the nineteenth century a woman known as Charlotte Boyd endeavoured to retore this most Holy of shrines back to its former glory in honour of our Lady. Charlotte Boyd upon completing the project then gave it to Downside Abbey. This project was to touch Charlotte, and during its restoration she converted to the Catholic Faith, yet another miracle of Walsingham.

So through war and peace, persecution and acceptance, the shrine at Walsingham was not totally destroyed and is one of the major tourist attractions in England.

For whatever our Lady requests, through love of her immaculate Heart it will conquer all who stand opposed to honouring our Holy Mother. Our Lady of Walsingham will stand as a cherished and beloved Gift to the peoples of England and the world.

I would encourage all to read further about our Lady of Walsingham.

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

Vision of Pope Leo Xlll

Vincenzo Pecci was born in an Era of political intrigues and upheavals, as Italy began the task of uniting their troubled country, which endured many wars.

As it was Italy struggled under the leaderships of the Hapsburgs, Napoleon and the Savoy's until 1860 when Victor Emmanuel ll became King of Italy. It was not until 1929 that the Italian government of the day recognised and gave independence to the Holy See, which then became Vatican City, a country within a country.

But it is Vincenzo Pecci who in the year 1878 became Pope Leo Xlll, who would impact many Catholics around the world, with his leadership through difficult times but also through a vision which was given to him from above.

This vision terrified the Holy Father and he trembled at the prospect of what he saw and for the future of the Church. It was as he finished Mass that the Pope fell as if he had fainted, many rushed to his aid, as the Holy Father lay there ashen faced.

When the attending Priests were able to rouse Pope Leo Xlll from his collapse there was great relief as many thought the Holy Father was having a heart attack. But it was not a heart attack but something entirely different which would haunt this Pope until his death.

After the Priests revived the Pontiff, he was heard to say, "oh, what a horrible picture I was permitted to see!" The attending Priests were shocked and dismayed at what the Pope was to reveal to them all.

The Holy Father over many days revealed to all what he had seen and heard, for upon his completion of Mass, he heard two voices one of which was God and the other Satan. As Satan demanded that he be given one hundred years on earth to create havoc and to try and destroy the Church, Jesus then gave Satan permission. For Jesus knew that no force on earth nor hell would ever defeat the Catholic Church!

But what Pope Leo Xlll saw terrified him and filled him with deep anguish as he saw the depths to which many men and women would sink into depravity and debauchery and how much the Church would suffer. He saw in this vision the destruction of nearly all that was decent as immodesty and uncouthness thrived in a century of unparalleled war and evil.

So the Holy Father wrote out a prayer to protect the Catholic Church and its faithful from this evil onslaught, he composed the Prayer to St Michael, this is the shorter version;

"Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our defence against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and the other evil spirits who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. Amen."

The Pope spent many years exhorting the faithful to remain strong and to pray much in order to overcome this evil as he also tackled the influence of 'Modernism/liberalism' within the Church.

Like Pope Leo Xlll let us continue to pray this awesome prayer to St. Michael for the protection of our Church and the faithful. Let this also be a warning for those who dissent from the Church's Teachings.

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.