Post by Pacelli on Mar 21, 2021 9:20:21 GMT -5
The following "Eschatological Interpretation of the Apocalypse," by Fr. Bernard J. LeFrois, was published in the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 13, no. 1, January 1951, pp. 17-20.
PDF linked HERE
(Comment: the article is a masterful explanation of the future Apocalypse. The article deserves special attention in that in 4 short pages, the reader gets a clear understanding of how the end of times will play out, at least as far as one is able, considering many specifics of the end times are not yet known to us. I recommend reading this several times to digest it, as the article is short but thoroughly packed with information.
A brief breakdown of the article:
1. The distinction between "ordinary" wars, verse "universal wars, famines, calamity and death on the other, which are a sign of the end times.
2. There are several events which will coincide, the time of the Gentiles will come to an end, that there will be a period of great distress, which will be a time where physical death will come to many on earth, along with the time of the "Major Apostasy."
3. The conversion of the Israelites will then happen. The partial blindness that had befallen Israel will no longer be present once the full number of Gentiles shall have entered the Church.
4. The Church will then be composed of predominantly Israelites.
5. This conversion of the Jews shall happen by the preaching and miracles wrought through of the Prophet Elijah.
6. Henoch will also return and it seems that his mission will be to preach to the nations to bring as many as possible back to repentance and to salvation.
7. The ministry of the two witnesses, Henoch and Elias will last 3 and 1/2 years. The two witnesses will prepare as many as will hear them to prepare for the coming days of the Antichrist who will also last 3 and 1/2 years.
8. Beast number 1 is the collective Antichrist that has been persecuting the Church and the people of the Old Covenant prior to the founding of the Church since the beginning. The personal Antichrist sums up the perversity of the seven heads, the governments that so fiercely persecuted God's followers.
9. Beast number 2 will be a false Elias, a false prophet, who will succeed, by signs and wonders, in bringing the Infidel world to the Antichrist.
10. Antichrist's name is symbolized by the number 666. The meaning of this is not known and will not be clear until that age. The number also can be signified to be Nero, through the Hebrew Alphabet, so the author poses that the Antichrist will bring back the spirit of Nero.
11. Father LeFrois names the Church of that age, the "Marian Church of the Consummation," and states that they cannot be defeated by the Antichrist and will receive supernatural aid from God.
12 The Antichrist and the false Elias will be overcome and cast into Hell at the time of the second coming of Christ.
13. Father notes that according to the decree of the Holy Office, July 21, 1944, that it cannot be safely taught that Our Lord will visibly reign on earth for a time prior to the General Judgement.
14. When Christianity overcame the Roman Empire the Satan was chained, and by that the Church enjoyed a millennium with Out Lord enthroned among the nations.
15. When the Beast at the end comes, Satan will be unchained, and will muster all his forces against the Church.
16. The end of the story, the story of the Church and the world, will be the new Jerusalem, a new Heaven and a transformed earth, where all that have kept the Faith and have earned salvation will live as adopted children of God.
PDF linked HERE
(Comment: the article is a masterful explanation of the future Apocalypse. The article deserves special attention in that in 4 short pages, the reader gets a clear understanding of how the end of times will play out, at least as far as one is able, considering many specifics of the end times are not yet known to us. I recommend reading this several times to digest it, as the article is short but thoroughly packed with information.
A brief breakdown of the article:
1. The distinction between "ordinary" wars, verse "universal wars, famines, calamity and death on the other, which are a sign of the end times.
2. There are several events which will coincide, the time of the Gentiles will come to an end, that there will be a period of great distress, which will be a time where physical death will come to many on earth, along with the time of the "Major Apostasy."
3. The conversion of the Israelites will then happen. The partial blindness that had befallen Israel will no longer be present once the full number of Gentiles shall have entered the Church.
4. The Church will then be composed of predominantly Israelites.
5. This conversion of the Jews shall happen by the preaching and miracles wrought through of the Prophet Elijah.
6. Henoch will also return and it seems that his mission will be to preach to the nations to bring as many as possible back to repentance and to salvation.
7. The ministry of the two witnesses, Henoch and Elias will last 3 and 1/2 years. The two witnesses will prepare as many as will hear them to prepare for the coming days of the Antichrist who will also last 3 and 1/2 years.
8. Beast number 1 is the collective Antichrist that has been persecuting the Church and the people of the Old Covenant prior to the founding of the Church since the beginning. The personal Antichrist sums up the perversity of the seven heads, the governments that so fiercely persecuted God's followers.
9. Beast number 2 will be a false Elias, a false prophet, who will succeed, by signs and wonders, in bringing the Infidel world to the Antichrist.
10. Antichrist's name is symbolized by the number 666. The meaning of this is not known and will not be clear until that age. The number also can be signified to be Nero, through the Hebrew Alphabet, so the author poses that the Antichrist will bring back the spirit of Nero.
11. Father LeFrois names the Church of that age, the "Marian Church of the Consummation," and states that they cannot be defeated by the Antichrist and will receive supernatural aid from God.
12 The Antichrist and the false Elias will be overcome and cast into Hell at the time of the second coming of Christ.
13. Father notes that according to the decree of the Holy Office, July 21, 1944, that it cannot be safely taught that Our Lord will visibly reign on earth for a time prior to the General Judgement.
14. When Christianity overcame the Roman Empire the Satan was chained, and by that the Church enjoyed a millennium with Out Lord enthroned among the nations.
15. When the Beast at the end comes, Satan will be unchained, and will muster all his forces against the Church.
16. The end of the story, the story of the Church and the world, will be the new Jerusalem, a new Heaven and a transformed earth, where all that have kept the Faith and have earned salvation will live as adopted children of God.