Noon Shift At MMP Corral

 

The Marian Movement of Priests (M.M.P.) modestly began on October 13th, 1972 with three priest, following Father Gobbi’s original inspiration during prayer at the chapel in Fatima on the prior May.  Of significance, Father Gobbi had been praying for several priests who were scheming to fight the Church after abandoning their own vocation.

This was the very dark hour when thousands of priests and tens of thousands of religious forsake their calling; when Mass attendance, confession lines and seminary populations all plummeted.  Yet, about two decades later, M.M.P. had silently grown to some three hundred bishops, more than sixty thousand priests, and laity in the millions.

Also around this time (1993), the Holy Father wanted to grant M.M.P. official recognition.  John Paul II even ordered his secretary to make all of the necessary preparations.  But alas, an association requires statutes and by-laws, something Father Gobbi was reluctant to create since M.M.P. is a “movement” not an “organization.”  Eventually, in 1998, Father Gobbi stated “for now we have chosen” to remain a simple movement, which is its status still today.

 

Background Apparitions

Before getting to the “Noon Shift” and the messages Father Gobbi received from the Blessed Mother (technically allegedly as they have never been officially investigated), two preliminary topics will be covered.  The first deals with apparition at La Salette, the other with Fatima.  In both, secrets were involved, as well as much controversy.

There was a single apparition at La Salette, France in 1846, but this was hardly the first mystical experience for the primary visionary, Melanie Calvat.  She first saw her little Brother (the Christ Child) when she was barely three years old.  At the age of about five, Melanie had profound experience in the woods near their house.  This included her first apparition of the Blessed Mother, preceded by her First Communion.  And to Melanie request to “serve His glory on the path to Crucifixion,” her little Brother responded by imposition of the stigma: all five wounds.  But let’s start with the secret given to Maximin, the second visionary.

In part, it reads “Then after [that] a great peace will come, but it will not last long.  A monster will come to disturb it.”  The next and last section reads “Everything I say here will arrive in the next century, later to two thousand years.”  This was written in the presence of Benjamin Dausse, chosen by the Bishop to supervise the process whereupon these first recorded accounts of the secrets, one from each visionary, were sent to Pope Pius IX in 1851.

Nine days later, Maximin told the secret to Dausse, apparently believing his bound to secrecy had ended.  A few weeks later, Dausse requested a remembrance.  Maximin responded by sending him the secret in a letter.  The dating is clearer in this version: “The monster will come during the peace, and peace and the monster will come in the 19th or 20th century at the latest.”

At first glance, it appears this prophecy missed its date.  But Benjamin Dausse maintained that Maximin thought it was only the 18th century at that point.  Thus, the dating becomes the 21st century at the latest.  (Or maybe the original was more precise: “later to two thousand years” meaning after the year 2000?)

The significance is that La Salette places the Era of Peace before the Antichrist.  Let’s now examine Melanie’s original secret, which didn’t explicitly mention “peace” but did use the word Antichrist.  This messages states that before the peace, there will be a persecution where “many will die for the Faith of Jesus Christ” and of a tribulation where “many people will recognize the hand of God upon them; they will be converted.”

Following this is the reference to the Era of Peace: “Religion will flourish again and extend throughout the earth, and there will be great abundance.”  But this doesn’t last long as the world “will resume its disorders, forsake God, and deliver itself up to its criminal passions…  Finally, Hell will reign on earth.  This is when the Antichrist will be born of a nun…”

Only a summary of the secrets were written down at this point, for Melanie anyway.  Her final version contains more details about the tribulation before the peace, and then significantly: “This peace among men will be short-lived; twenty-five years of plentiful harvests will make them forget that the sins of men are the cause of all the troubles which come upon the earth.”  The next line begins “A forerunner of the Antichrist, with his troops…”

Without delving further, the main point is the chronology: 1) some type of great tribulation, 2) the Era of Peace, 3) its disruptions, and finally 4) the appearance of the Antichrist.  Keeping this chronology in mind will be important to understand a particular dimension of the M.M.P. messages.

It is presumed here that the Era of Peace (“period of peace” per Fatima’s more subdued expression) remains a future event.  This is obvious enough.  But as everything is contested, the contrary will be briefly explored; specifically, the existence of twenty-five years of peace in the 20th or 21st century per Maximin’s secret.

A cursory survey of modern history suffices to show the absurdity.  The prior century, dubbed the bloodiest ever (i.e. so far), saw two World Wars, other major wars, the cold war, ruthless Communist persecutions, famines, genocides, terrorism, etc.

The current century, not without significant wars, is still quite bloody with the continued rise in abortion and abortifacients, not to mention birth control becoming ubiquitous.  Atheism, Hedonism, Modernism, Paganism, Rationalism, Secularism… have devastated Christianity in Europe and elsewhere to varying degrees.  Famines are frequent with countless forced to flee their homeland from military regimes or terrorists unimaginably evil.

Within this state of affairs (and list goes on and on), to believe that a long period of peace has already transpired characterized by “religion will flourish again and extend throughout the earth, and there will be great abundance” is sheer lunacy.  The rudimentary semantics of the secrets simply prohibit that interpretation.

With that objection dismissed, taking La Salette at its word, the second preliminary topic regarding Fatima will be covered.  Here, the Blessed Mother requested the three visionaries to come at noon for six consecutive months, with the promise of a miracle at the final apparition.  And so they did, except for the August apparition which was disrupted by the mayor who abducted the children.  However, the September apparition proceeded smoothly, with the pilgrims growing to the thousands, and with visible supernatural signs to boot.

But the October apparition was different.  There were at least 70,000 present, drenched from rain that morning in 1917.  And unexpectedly, noon came and went, and nothing happened.  One can imagine how this must have tested the pilgrims’ patience.  Yet, Lucia remained steadfast, insisting the Lady would keep Her promise.  It was worth the wait, for about 1:15 p.m. the Virgin did come, and soon followed the Miracle of the Sun.

The point of interest is that 1:15 p.m. was noon in astronomical terms verses 1:15 in civilian time.  This “noon shift” was unique to the October apparition as the Lady from Heaven otherwise came at the expected time.  It should be noted the children were very punctual in this matter.  For example, the alluring Saint Anthony’s festivities of June 13th was held in disdain in comparison to the expected joy of seeing the Virgin again.

So did the Blessed Mother pull a fast one?  Well, actually, the Virgin just requested the children to come at noon.  She didn’t state Her arrival time.  Also, the delay may in part have been to accommodate the late pilgrims, but Providence could have handled that by other means.  The explanation given here is this was a little twist from Heaven, part of their mysterious drama.

So with this backdrop, let us return to the Marian Movement of Priests.  Back in the heyday of popular interest in Marian apparitions, roughly from the mid 80’s to the mid 90’s, M.M.P. was flourishing worldwide.  Within this, the crescendo was announced.

The simplified summary is the Blessed Mother said the ten years leading up to the end of the century are “decisive years” wherein the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart would occur by the year 2000.  Of course, that date came and went, along with countless M.M.P. members who became disillusioned, and understandably so.  Pope John Paul II, however, wasn’t among those exiting.  He continued to meet with Father Gobbi on a yearly basis during which they privately concelebrated Mass in the Pope’s private chapel.

 

Bye, By

To unravel this, let’s start with the year 2000 prophecy, given on December 5th, 1994.  Message #532 includes: “I confirm to you that, by the great jubilee of the year two thousand, there will take place the triumph of my Immaculate Heart, of which I foretold to you at Fatima…”  This seems as clear as possible, but there was a question with the preposition “by” (per in the original Italian) that can mean either “during” or “as a consequence of”.

As late as June 2000, Father Gobbi maintained the only acceptable translation of “per” is “during.”  Namely, the Triumph would occur during the year 2000.  But in January of 2001, he wrote “I believe that the authentic meaning… is… because of and as a consequence of the Great Jubilee of the year two thousand, the triumph of the Immaculate Heart will occur.”

The explanation from 2001 also stated the first meaning could be retained, highlighting three events from the jubilee year: a) the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco, b) publication of the 3rd secret of Fatima and c) the solemn act of entrustment to Our Lady of Fatima.

In addition, in August of 1999, Gobbi gave a relativistic interpretation by stating “Our Lady does not build this triumph all at once.”  Rather, She “impresses her spirit within her little children…[and] This is where her Immaculate Heart triumphs...  When the time will come – and for me it is the Great Jubilee…” 

In brief, Father Gobbi was all over the board on that one, which shouldn’t be all that surprising.  Mystics are sometimes given an understanding of the messages they receive, but not always.  Generally, Father Gobbi was left to his own devices, and this particular message, threw him for a loop, as it did for virtually everyone else (though some did interpret the prophecy to mean an interior triumph).  So while the prophecy can be seen in the light of the above interpretations, the primary meaning was missed, as will be argued shortly below.

 

Noon Shift #1

At this point, let us examine what inaugurated the whole affair.  Message #389 includes: “On this day, I am asking you to consecrate to me all the time that still separates you from the end of this century of yours.  It is a period of ten years.  These are ten very important years.  These are ten decisive years.”

However, this was anything but ten years.  First off, the message was from September 18th, 1988.  The period is thus 11 years, and about 3 ½ months.  Post humorously, at the time there was debate whether the period ended in 1998, or began in 1990.  In either case, a literal interpretation reigned among many members, if not from most to virtually all.

The message itself was about as dramatic as possible.  For this period includes the completion of the whole shooting match: 1) the great tribulation, 2) the revealing of the mystery of iniquity, 3) all of the apparition secrets.

But the math only gets worse.  The year 2000 message (#532), which came about 6 years later, effectively includes the year 2000, so the “ten years” now becomes 12 years plus 3 ½ months.  However, this dilemma has a simple resolution, which an earlier message from this period provides.

Message #407 was given on June 17th, 1989.  Only the last part will be considered regarding the intriguing periods dealing with 666.  This involves the historical periods beginning with the years: 666, 1332, and 1998.  The stated numerology is 666 = 666 * 1, 1332 = 666 * 2 and 1998 = 666 * 3.  Each of these three periods is associated with the Antichrist in a particular fashion.

In the first period (666), “the Antichrist is manifested through the phenomenon of Islam, which directly denies the mystery of the divine Trinity and the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  In the next period (1332), “the Antichrist is manifested through a radical attack on the faith in the word (Parola) of God.”  For the final period (1998), “Freemasonry, assisted by its ecclesiastical form, will succeed in its great design: that of setting up an idol to put in the place of Christ and of his Church.”

For this essay, the focus is not on these associations but rather on the word period.  The full message reads “In this period of history….”  For these three periods shed much light on the meaning of the period of ten years.

The aforementioned three periods are indeed literal periods, but more accurately they are quasi-literal.  For example, the year 666 section further details that “Islamism, with its military force, breaks loose everywhere…”  However, Mohammed died in the year 632, 34 years before the period started, which evidently lasted to about 1332.  It is true that Islam became a greater force over the years.  But 666 is simply not an exact year.  Similar things can be said about the other two periods.

From this, the true meaning of “ten decisive years” comes into high relief.  Namely, it is a quasi-literal period.  It is roughly historic but it cannot be taken exclusively literally to mean 10 years.  The math itself contradicts a literal interpretation.

Yet, and very curiously, the “ten years” is explicitly linked with “from the end of this century of yours.”  How can this be explained?  The interpretation given here is that of a noon shift – a phrase seeming specifying a definite time but actually meaning something different.  The “ten years” needs to be understood in the full context, which in particular, includes message #407.  Furthermore, the context goes beyond the messages themselves in a very important way, which will soon described.

 

2000 comes before 1998

An important corollary is the prophesized year 2000 is quasi-literal as well.  But this a jam-packed “year” with two major meanings.  First off, it denotes the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  This event will happen around 2020 or so, this being a rough estimate, which would make the prophecy accurate to within two decades.  Though exactly when, of course, is unknown, but there are several indications there isn’t much time left.  In any case, this can be viewed as a second noon-shift.  Namely, 2000 comes before 1998 (albeit in the middle is more accurate).

The second meaning of 2000 is more nebulous and whose time range is more fuzzy.  While the events leading up to the Triumph and Era of Peace will be astounding enough, the Marian secrets will not yet be exhausted.  The third period dealing with 1998 remains.  Two additional sentences from Message #407 will suffice for its characterization: “The apostasy will be, as of then, generalized because almost all will follow the false christ and the false church.  Then the door will be open for the appearance of the man or of the very person of the Antichrist!”

To repeat the La Salette chronology, there is the tribulation, Triumph, Era of Peace, and then start over again: the persecution under the Antichrist and his precursors, his defeat, and then…  As everyone insists on knowing when, La Salette does provide a clue.  Melanie’s original secret contains this line: “The time is not far; there will not pass two times fifty years.”

But what isn’t explicit is the starting time: is it the beginning of the Era of Peace or the end?  Will 100 years not pass until the beginning of the Antichrist or his defeat?  Again, we are left with periods: not exact years.  But we are back to 2000 coming after 1998, though now with “ten years” becoming possibly a hundred years or more.

This does, however, brings us to a rather radical aspect of the M.M.P. messages.  The major Marians apparitions (such as Fatima, Amsterdam, Garabandal, Akita, and Medjugorje) all treat of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart in a more immediate and limited manner.  This coincides with the first meaning of the year 2000.  But the second is very different and of much greater magnitude: for this results in the Millennium.

 

The Tail of Two Apostasies

The language of the M.M.P. messages can give rise to confusion without end.  The problem is the Blessed Mother is inclined to speak of the peak of the bloody persecutions, the Antichrist, and the Second Coming of Christ in the same breath.  No distinction is made between the persecutions before the Era of Peace and after.

Maxwell Smart, undoubtedly, would see through it all, after the fact, and say something like: “Of course, it’s the ole double noon-shift reversal at millennium end trick.”  Others, however, have asked, and accused, what gobbledygook!  The Virgin’s language, however, is quite close to the style from Scripture per the Gospels’ end-time passages and the Book of the Apocalypse.  It is a veiled language that juxtaposes the major last events of human history without revealing their linkage with much certitude.

Indeed, the only hint in Scripture that there are two sets of tribulations seems to be “there was a silence in heaven, as it were for half an hour” from Apocalypse 8:1 wherein the context is a great tribulation.  This may possibly allude to “this peace among men will be short-lived; twenty-five years of …”

But what does the Apocalypse refer to, and what does the M.M.P. messages refer to?  Is it the first set or the second?  The answer is very simple: both.  This is the antithesis for the curious, but prophecy is seldom explicit and this one deals with a complex tangle.  For the Apocalypse apparently speaks of all persecutions, from the beginning of the Church, not just the end-time events.  And there are many, many interpretations of this book...

Yet, the simple understanding given above does resolve a major source of confusion.  La Salette spells out two sets of events, which the M.M.P. messages and Apocalypse both describe with a particular focus, though with little distinction.  But the idea of “two sets” is misleading.  It is better to think of two phases.  This is because, theologically, there is a single battle: the battle related to the Antichrist.  Indeed, this can be seen as a principle revelation of the M.M.P. messages, hidden in implicit form.  For within, the two phases are presented as one: the “final” battle with evil.

This is thus the meaning behind passages like “concerning the pages of the Apocalypse which refer to the times you are living through” (Message #407).  It refers to now, and say 30 years from now, when the second phase has begun.  While the second will be much more intense, and certain details are exclusive to it, there remains a parallel between them.  There is an apostasy ongoing now, but the one to come will be much deeper, and so on.

Significantly, this duality has a potential ramification for the Marian Movement of Priests.  Its charter is the spiritual preparation to live out consecration to Her Immaculate Heart, and eventually “to come out from your hiddenness in order to go and shed light upon the earth,” and thus openly engage in the fierce battle, which at some point will become manifest.  So, is this movement destined for both phases of the battle or only the first?

 

Genesis 3:15

Let’s take a second look at the Triumph associated to the Millennium.  This author has previously viewed the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 being centered on the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with the defeat of the Antichrist being more Christ-centric.  But the M.M.P. messages imply relatively strongly the otherwise.  For naming sanity here, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart will be restricted to the Fatima related revelations.

But as Saint Louis de Montfort prophesied, all future victories will have a Marian character.  And in terms of the final phase of the battle, the Virgin will then have the full acknowledged power of Queen as the first Triumph fundamentally coincides with the 5th Marian Dogma: Her Triple Crown.  As such, Mary’s role will only increase so restricting Genesis 3:15 to the first Triumph is apparently missing the mark.  On the other hand, the first Triumph will be especially Marian, thus being the Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart proper.

The Millennium is topic onto itself, and increasing opaque, though a linear read of the Apocalypse does state the end of world comes after the Millennium in conjunction with the final battle involving “Gog and Magog.”  It is also interesting that the Apocalypse, outside of a few phrases like “Behold, I come quickly (22:12)”, only references the

once (1:7) and this without a context of events.

 

51:3 siseneG

With all of this in mind, it is instructive to take a cursory look at the (condemned) Bayside apparition, which manages to get most everything backwards.  A good litmus test is the placement of the Era of Peace with respects to the defeat of the Antichrist.  Bayside places this period afterwards, effectively equating it with the Millennium.  On this alone, if one accepts La Salette (taking its chronology literally, which is hard or impossibly not to), logic demands the rejection of Bayside.

Yet, more radical is the prophecy that apparently places the Second Coming as part of the defeat of the Antichrist, with history still continuing.  As with all words, an interpretation is required.  For example, in the description of the Millennium, “and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Apocalypse 20:4) does not necessarily imply Christ presence in terms His Second Coming,

  But what is striking is that this single concept invalids the entire Bayside apparition per its usual interpretation.  The entire situation does require scrutiny, but it is no wonder that the local Bishop (confirmed by the CDF) has pronounced a negative judgment on Bayside.

But La Salette is not without controversy.  The different versions of the secrets is one point of contention, which was partly silenced in 1999 after the Vatican found the 1851 secrets.  However, to the Vatican’s embarrassment, Melanie’s full secret submission (which she could reveal only after 1858) remains lost.

Yet, it matters little for now.  For there is little reason to doubt the accuracy of the 1878 version, regardless how it may differ from the submission to Pope Pius IX in 1858.  This can be said because of the manner in which Melanie received the Secret.  Namely, she had seen and felt (not heard) much of what she wrote down, stating it was impossible to put everything in words.  Below is a fragment of her description:

“One sees the conspiracies that are made; one sees the kings of earth, each of whom has several guardian angels: one sees them agitated, doing things, undoing things; one sees the jealousy of some, the ambition of others, ect., etc.: and all this from a single word that falls from the lips of Her who makes Hell to tremble – the Virgin Mary.”

From what Melanie related, it follows that she could have written many more pages of the Secret.  However, her description of the limitations of human understanding is also worth mentioning: “…but if I were one of the most learned, I could not write anything concerning the things from above, because the expressions of the most wise do not attain to the shadow of the truth of the expressions used in the speech of Heaven.”

And yes, that is so, and should humbly be kept in mind.  In addition, prophecy is difficult to interpret, and more so when related to the Apocalypse, which as Saint Jerome said, has mysteries in every word.  Unraveling the mystery of iniquity, even partly, is obviously outside the scope of this essay, if not outright impossible at present.  Even the important and pertinent distinction between the Intermediate Coming and Second Coming was not discussed in this limited work.  (see In Defense of the Orthodoxy of The Marian Movement of Priests for a good discussion on that and the Millennium, based on the work by Rev. Joseph Leo Iannuzzi, STD.)

The point of this essay is to keep La Salette’s duality in mind, for both private and public revelation.  While the spiritual dimension is more important than the prophetic, prophecy surely has its place.  Regarding the Marian Movement of Priests, some messages do seem to speak more to one phase than the other.  But the superposition of the two phases is largely inseparable and a logical necessity so as not to give away the store.  Though without that distinction, the signs of the times will appear confusedly, as to someone suffering from double vision.

 

External links referenced in this essay

 

Revision history