he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself against every god.”[1] All the temples consecrated to Our Lord shall be pulled down and desecrated, the sacred images destroyed, spiritual books burned, all preachers and priests made away with, and the use of the holy sacraments and the celebration of Mass utterly abolished: “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice: and they shall place there the abomination unto desolation.”[2] Such are the words of the Prophet Daniel. Thus for about four years, the duration of the reign of Antichrist, the public celebration of the holy Sacrifice shall be nowhere tolerated in the whole world; not a single crucifix shall there be that one might comfort himself in his sorrows by looking at it. He will give his followers another sign, which they are to wear on their foreheads or on their right hands, and a man who has not that sign may not buy or sell the least thing, or do any business whatever; and the sign shall be the blasphemous words: Nego Jesum—“I deny Jesus.” O truly deserving of compassion shall the Christians be who are to live in those troublous times! Alas! how will it be with them? And how clearly they shall see the words of Our Lord verified: “Many are called, but few are chosen.”[3]
He will pervert almost the whole world by false miracles. And this shall be the case especially when Antichrist shall have recourse to the third and most powerful means he is to use to confirm his false doctrine; for, as St. John testifies of him, he shall by means of witchcraft and sorcery perform countless apparent miracles and wonders. “And he did great signs, so that he made also fire to come down from heaven unto the earth in the sight of men. And he seduced them that dwell on the earth for the signs which were given him to do.”[4] And not only he, but also his servants and followers shall have the power of working those false miracles. Our Lord has foretold that already, as we read in the Gospel: “For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders.”[5] Alas! how many souls shall be misled when this great and mighty monarch,
- ↑ Et faciet juxta voluntatem suam rex; et elevabitur et magnificabitur adversus omnem deum.—Dan. xi. 36.
- ↑ Et brachia ex eo stabunt, et polluent sanctuarium fortitudinis; et auferent juge sacrificium, et dabunt abominationem in desolationem.—Ibid. 31.
- ↑ Multi sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.—Matt. xx. 16.
- ↑ Et fecit signa magna, ut etiam ignem faceret de cœlo descendere in terram in conspectu hominum. Et seduxit habitantes in terra, propter signa, quæ data sunt illi facere.—Apoc. xiii. 13, 14.
- ↑ Surgent enim pseudo Christi, et pseudo prophetæ, et dabunt signa magna, et prodigia.—Matt. xxiv. 34.
