\u00a0<\/p>\n By\u00a0<\/span>Dr. Dennis Jarrard<\/a><\/p>\n Have you ever wondered why Our Lady of\u00a0Fatima singled out Russia, and\u00a0only Russia, as a\u00a0country destined by\u00a0God for\u00a0a great future, perhaps as the\u00a0most Christian <\/span>nation<\/span> in\u00a0the world? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Why would the\u00a0Mother of\u00a0God come to\u00a0a lonely field in\u00a0Portugal in\u00a01917 and\u00a0tell three shepherd children that Russia, which they had never even heard of, would soon become the\u00a0first officially godless state in\u00a0all of\u00a0history?\u00a0 And\u00a0why did God crown her appearances and\u00a0validate her words with the\u00a0most spectacular miracle since biblical times, the\u00a0great Miracle of\u00a0the Sun?<\/p>\n Dr. Joseph Garrett, Professor of\u00a0Natural Sciences at\u00a0Coimbra University in\u00a0Portugal, personally witnessed this prodigy:\u00a0 \u201c[The sun] did not remain immobile . . . for\u00a0it spun around on\u00a0itself in\u00a0a mad whirl. . . .\u00a0 The\u00a0sun, whirling, seemed to\u00a0loosen itself from\u00a0the sky and\u00a0advance threateningly on\u00a0the earth as if to\u00a0crush us with its huge, fiery weight.\u00a0 The\u00a0sensations during these moments were terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n This miracle stupefied all 70,000 witnesses, believers and\u00a0atheists alike.\u00a0 Science has never been able to\u00a0explain what they saw.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Virgin Mary also revealed momentous secrets to\u00a0the world in\u00a01917\u2014secrets that centered around Russia.\u00a0 One of\u00a0her disclosures was that after years of\u00a0godless rule, Russia would be converted and\u00a0return to\u00a0her Christian roots.<\/p>\n On\u00a0July 13, 1917, Our Blessed Mother told the\u00a0seer Lucia dos Santos, \u201cWhen you . . . see a\u00a0night illuminated by\u00a0an unknown light, know that this is the\u00a0great sign that He [God] is going to\u00a0punish the\u00a0world for\u00a0its crimes, by\u00a0means of\u00a0war. . . .\u00a0 To\u00a0prevent this, I shall come to\u00a0ask for\u00a0the consecration of\u00a0Russia to\u00a0my Immaculate Heart. . . .\u00a0 If they listen to\u00a0my requests, Russia will be converted and\u00a0there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors through the\u00a0world, causing wars and\u00a0persecutions of\u00a0the Church.\u00a0 The\u00a0good will be martyred, the\u00a0Holy Father will have much to\u00a0suffer, various nations will be annihilated.\u201d\u00a0 (Emphasis added)<\/p>\n \u201cIn the\u00a0end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph,\u201d Mary continued.\u00a0 \u201cThe Holy Father will consecrate Russia to\u00a0me, and\u00a0she will be converted and\u00a0a period of\u00a0peace will be granted to\u00a0the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of\u00a0the Fatima message\u2014the so-called Third Secret\u2014was not made public, but remained in\u00a0a sealed letter in\u00a0the Vatican.\u00a0 The\u00a0Holy See finally disclosed it to\u00a0mankind on\u00a0June 26, 2000, as the\u00a0Third Millennium approached.\u00a0 By\u00a0then, Sr. Lucia was 92 years old.<\/p>\n In\u00a0the vision revealed in\u00a0the Third Secret, she beheld the\u00a0Angel of\u00a0God\u2019s Justice about to\u00a0strike the\u00a0world with fire, while Our Lady held back that awful chastisement.\u00a0 Sr. Lucia also viewed a\u00a0pope-like figure walking over corpses, through a\u00a0devastated city, and\u00a0up a\u00a0hill surmounted by\u00a0a large cross.<\/p>\n The\u00a0vision of\u00a0the angel about to\u00a0strike the\u00a0world, she said, explained Our Lady\u2019s chilling words, \u201cvarious nations will be annihilated.\u201d\u00a0 Sr. Lucia added this warning:\u00a0 \u201cIf we have not yet seen the\u00a0complete fulfillment of\u00a0the final part of\u00a0this prophecy, we are going toward it with great strides.\u201d<\/p>\n In\u00a0the 1917 prophecies, Russia was the\u00a0one country on\u00a0the face of\u00a0the earth that the\u00a0Queen of\u00a0Heaven explicitly excluded from\u00a0this annihilation.\u00a0 Russia was the\u00a0only land that she said would come through the\u00a0fire.<\/p>\n In\u00a01917, Russia was a\u00a0weak, hungry, defeated nation in\u00a0political turmoil.\u00a0 But most of\u00a0her people were still Christians and\u00a0were particularly devoted to\u00a0the Virgin Mary.\u00a0 Then came the\u00a0bloodthirsty Soviets, who shot their way into\u00a0power and\u00a0imposed the\u00a0first atheistic regime in\u00a0the world, complete with public blasphemy, anti-religious indoctrination of\u00a0children, legalized abortion, easy divorce, the\u00a0\u201cliberation\u201d of\u00a0women, and\u00a0other \u201cerrors of\u00a0Russia\u201d that Mary foretold.<\/p>\n For\u00a0seven decades, Red Russia was a\u00a0growing empire that surpassed even Rome in\u00a0conquests, and\u00a0far outstripped her in\u00a0repressing, imprisoning, enslaving, torturing and\u00a0murdering Christians.<\/p>\n Today Russia again appears weak, at\u00a0least to\u00a0Westerners.\u00a0 Her population is declining by\u00a0700,000 every year, and\u00a0President Vladimir Putin has proposed a\u00a0range of\u00a0remedies, including a\u00a0$10,000 subsidy to\u00a0every mother who gives birth to\u00a0a second child.\u00a0 Poverty, alcoholism, drugs, pornography, broken families, emigration and\u00a0other ills are rampant in\u00a0Russia.\u00a0 But for\u00a0those with eyes to\u00a0see, important counter-trends exist.<\/p>\n For\u00a0example, in\u00a0one of\u00a0history\u2019s greatest migrations, millions of\u00a0Russians are returning from\u00a0the ex-Soviet Republics such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and\u00a0the Baltic States.\u00a0 Furthermore, despite corruption and\u00a0stifling bureaucracy, Russia\u2019s economy keeps growing, thanks in\u00a0part to\u00a0climbing oil prices.<\/p>\n And, in\u00a0crucial ways, Russia\u2019s opinion makers have moved in\u00a0a direction opposite to\u00a0that of\u00a0the West.\u00a0 For\u00a0example, they are embracing the\u00a0history of\u00a0Christianity instead of\u00a0trying to\u00a0expunge the\u00a0memory of\u00a0it, as the\u00a0European Union (EU) and\u00a0the U. S. Supreme Court seem to\u00a0be doing.\u00a0 What\u2019s more, Russia has slammed the\u00a0door in\u00a0the face of\u00a0insane Western exports such as legal recognition of\u00a0the \u201cChurch of\u00a0Satan,\u201d which the\u00a0Supreme Court foisted on\u00a0the American people, as it did pornography.<\/p>\n In\u00a0addition, Russians still believe in\u00a0objective truth, unlike the\u00a0intellectual elites of\u00a0the West, who have \u201cdeconstructed\u201d reality to\u00a0the point of\u00a0nihilism. This should not surprise us, because unlike the\u00a0West, Russia never succumbed to\u00a0the so-called Enlightenment, despite the\u00a0Czars\u2019 periodic imbibing of\u00a0Western influence.<\/p>\n Even more important, her overwhelmingly Slavic population has been Christian for\u00a01,000 years.\u00a0 It may prove easier to\u00a0overthrow the\u00a0suicidal anti-conception mentality in\u00a0Russia than in\u00a0the West.<\/p>\n Keep in\u00a0mind, too, that Russia is a\u00a0potentially self-sufficient land blessed with immense and\u00a0varied natural resources.\u00a0 And\u00a0she is so vast that no would-be conqueror has ever subjugated her.<\/p>\n All of\u00a0these facts bring us back to\u00a0the question, \u201cWhy Russia?\u201d\u00a0 And\u00a0just how accurate have Our Lady\u2019s 1917 prophecies proven to\u00a0be?<\/p>\n One of\u00a0our Heavenly Mother\u2019s most spectacular revelations was that \u201ca worse one [World War II] will break out during the\u00a0pontificate of\u00a0Pope Pius XI,\u201d who departed this world on\u00a0February 10, 1939.\u00a0 Critics of\u00a0Fatima have said this disproves her message because, as everyone knows, the\u00a0war began on\u00a0September 1 of\u00a0that year, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland (followed shortly by\u00a0the USSR).<\/p>\n But these critics are ignorant of\u00a0history, and\u00a0of the\u00a0work of\u00a0historians, who date the\u00a0actual beginning of\u00a0World War II to\u00a0July 7, 1937, when the\u00a0Imperial Japanese Army attacked Republic of\u00a0China troops at\u00a0the Marco Polo Bridge near Peking (Beijing).\u00a0 Says historian Dr. John Heineman of\u00a0Boston College, \u201cThe war thus started, escalated throughout the\u00a0world, [and] ended in\u00a0Tokyo Bay on\u00a0September 2, 1945.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics have also faulted Sr. Lucia by\u00a0alleging that the\u00a0\u201cunknown light\u201d of\u00a0January 25, 1938\u2014which she said was Mary\u2019s promised warning-sign that the\u00a0world would soon be engulfed in\u00a0war\u2014was just another aurora borealis.\u00a0 But after much study, scientists concluded that the\u00a0incredible celestial phenomenon, a\u00a0red nighttime sky that millions witnessed throughout Europe, did not fit the\u00a0pattern of\u00a0an aurora.<\/p>\n In\u00a0September, 1938, Dr. Carl Stoermer of\u00a0the Institute of\u00a0Theoretical Astrophysics in\u00a0Oslo, published an\u00a0article in\u00a0the scientific journal Die Naturwissenschoften declaring that the\u00a0January 25 incident was of\u00a0unaccountable origin and\u00a0mysterious in\u00a0nature.\u00a0 All during the\u00a0event, he reported, there was a\u00a0noise \u201csimilar to\u00a0the sounds of\u00a0burning grass and\u00a0brush,\u201d whereas an\u00a0aurora is silent.\u00a0 He also said some of\u00a0the rays reached a\u00a0height more than twice that of\u00a0most large auroras.<\/p>\n J. Rand McNally, Jr., a\u00a0nuclear physicist who worked on\u00a0the Manhattan Project during World War II, has discovered that some properties of\u00a0the 1938 \u201cgreat light\u201d matched almost exactly those of\u00a0the artificial aurora that the\u00a01958 Johnson Island \u201cTeak\u201d atomic test triggered.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Revelations from\u00a0Science and\u00a0History\u201d (Soul magazine, September-October, 2003), recounted William Shirer\u2019s description in\u00a0The Rise and\u00a0Fall of\u00a0the Third Reich of\u00a0the final move Hitler made that gained him complete power over the\u00a0German military, whose leaders were plotting his overthrow to\u00a0keep Germany out of\u00a0the war.<\/p>\n Shirer tells about the\u00a0flimsy, trumped-up morals charges brought against General Von Fritsch, Commander in\u00a0Chief of\u00a0the German Army, and\u00a0General Von Blomberg, Commander in\u00a0Chief of\u00a0the Armed Forces.\u00a0 The\u00a0charges were brought on\u00a0January 26, 1938\u2014the day after the\u00a0blood-red nocturnal light.<\/p>\n These accusations ended any effective efforts of\u00a0the generals to\u00a0arrest and\u00a0try the\u00a0Fuehrer, which they had been planning.\u00a0 In\u00a0fact, Hitler took over as the\u00a0real Commander in\u00a0Chief of\u00a0the entire military on\u00a0February 4, 1938, opening the\u00a0way for\u00a0the Sino-Japanese war to\u00a0spread throughout the\u00a0world.<\/p>\n All of\u00a0Mary\u2019s grim prophecies have come true, except for\u00a0the annihilation of\u00a0\u201cvarious nations.\u201d\u00a0 But still, we are left with the\u00a0question, \u201cWhy Russia?\u201d<\/p>\n Catholic historian and\u00a0Fatima authority Dr. Warren Carroll reminds us that Russia is the\u00a0coldest country in\u00a0the world.\u00a0 The\u00a0television documentary, \u201cInside Siberia,\u201d showed how the\u00a0totalitarian Soviets made the\u00a0Russian people build enormous cities in\u00a0their cold northern regions.\u00a0 Russians have settled there by\u00a0the millions, making them the\u00a0only people in\u00a0modern times who have actually moved north, into\u00a0the realm of\u00a0ice and\u00a0tundra, instead of\u00a0to the\u00a0warmer southern regions.<\/p>\n To\u00a0add another dimension to\u00a0\u201cWhy Russia?\u201d and\u00a0to the\u00a0Angel of\u00a0Justice with the\u00a0flaming sword, let us speculate a\u00a0little.\u00a0 If a\u00a0large asteroid or a\u00a0comet hit the\u00a0earth in\u00a0the dead of\u00a0winter (in the\u00a0northern hemisphere), it could cause a\u00a0scene right out of\u00a0Bible prophecy, in\u00a0which two-thirds of\u00a0the earth\u2019s people are \u201ccut off and\u00a0perish,\u201d and\u00a0God brings one-third through the\u00a0fire (Zach. 13:8, 9).<\/p>\n Astrophysicists and\u00a0Hollywood movies have only recently shown us how devastating such an\u00a0event would be.\u00a0 Scientists did not even know what an\u00a0asteroid could do till about 30 years ago.\u00a0 A\u00a0fireball would race across the\u00a0earth\u2019s surface, incinerating everything (and everyone) in\u00a0its path.\u00a0 An\u00a0air blast and\u00a0seismic shock would level cities.\u00a0 Immense volumes of\u00a0dust would darken the\u00a0skies, as in\u00a0a \u201cnuclear winter.\u201d<\/p>\n It is interesting, and\u00a0perhaps ominous, that in\u00a0recent years we have seen an\u00a0unprecedented number of\u00a0news stories and\u00a0television documentaries about the\u00a0danger our world faces from\u00a0asteroids.\u00a0 Is God trying to\u00a0get our attention before it is too late?<\/p>\n Could it be that unless we fulfill Mary\u2019s Fatima requests for\u00a0prayer and\u00a0penance, He will someday let an\u00a0asteroid strike our sinful world, and\u00a0\u201cvarious nations will be annihilated\u201d?\u00a0 Could it be that a\u00a0re-Christianized Russia will then re-evangelize the\u00a0world?\u00a0 Pope John Paul II once said priests would come not from\u00a0Africa but from\u00a0Russia to\u00a0re-evangelize the\u00a0West.<\/p>\n Perhaps the\u00a0future of\u00a0the Church lies not in\u00a0Europe, Africa or Latin America but among the\u00a0long-suffering people of\u00a0the cold Russian north, whom God\u2019s Soviet enemies unwittingly prepared to\u00a0survive a\u00a0long, cold, hard winter.<\/p>\n Perhaps Moscow, sometimes called \u201cthe third Rome,\u201d is destined by\u00a0God to\u00a0replace the\u00a0first Rome.<\/p>\n![\"TheMadonnaFiles_Cover2\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/616\/2016\/04\/TheMadonnaFiles_Cover2-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Momentous prophecies about Russia<\/h3>\n
ALSO READ FATIMA, MEDJUGORJE, RUSSIA \u2013 IS \u201cTHE GREAT PROPHECY\u201d UNFOLDING?<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
Russia healthier than the\u00a0pagan West<\/h3>\n
Little-known proofs of\u00a0Fatima<\/h3>\n
Why Russia will escape \u201cannihilation\u201d<\/h3>\n
![\"A Powerful book of adventure and faith\" - FRANK SCHAEFFER New York Times best selling author](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/616\/2016\/04\/TheMadonnaFiles_Cover2.jpg\")