The Last Day (50 page)

“In the eleventh hour shall these things be accomplished as I have prophesied. And nothing that has been revealed can then be changed.

The Second Prophecy—The Glorious Reign of One Thousand Years

“Nevertheless, if you heed my admonitions and honor the Word, the promises of the scriptures shall yet be fulfilled. But be forewarned: a great test shall be set before you. Unto your midsts shall come the Evil One, in comely guise, to spread before you the sweet fruit of perdition.

“You must choose between the hunger of good and the gluttony of evil. Deception shall embrace you like the snake its prey; and you shall be struck where you lie unprotected; and all manner of confusion and turmoil shall assail you. But in the darkness of the night, the light of the Lord shall come to you. You shall be emboldened to confront the Evil One and to command the armies of God against the legions of Satan.

“And, in the darkest hour, the Savior shall return in all His glory; and in His divine judgment shall He strike down the Evil One and divide the believer from the nonbeliever; He shall separate the righteous from the heretic; the allegiant from the apostate. And the unfaithful will he cast from Him forever with the Evil One into the fires of eternal damnation.

“But you who are soldiers in the army of God so shall you be raised up. And you who are generals shall be exalted above all the hierarchy of heaven; you shall sit in jubilation at the Lord's right hand to rule the earth for one thousand years in the glory of eternal life.

“Thus I bring you hope for that yet to be. With the authority and power that has been vested in you, balance carefully the truth. Know that in the last days, good shall appear as evil and evil as good. But if the First Prophecy is to be, it shall be fulfilled before the turn of the millennium; and if the Second Prophecy is to be, it shall be fulfilled thereafter.

“Yet I caution you not to speak of these words to anyone. Such are the admonitions and the promises the Father makes to you, his anointed apostles, who are entrusted with His Word. Hear the truth and act accordingly, and that which is to be, shall be in your power to effect.”

As was revealed to me this 23rd Day of November, in the year of Our Lord 1929.

Respectful servant of God, Marie Lúcia de Jesus, R.S.D.

And there it was. The ultimate conundrum.

If this strange woman, Jeza, was as she said, a New Messiah, then the First Prophecy was being fulfilled. Mankind had failed God and fallen short of the Virgin's stipulations. Man would be denied, indefinitely, his promised reunion with Christ “until the twilight of time.” And this angry Jeza, God forbid, heralded a period of divine punishment and desolation.

On the other hand, if the Second Prophecy was the correct one, then Jeza
was
truly the Jezebel, the Antichrist, and she portended a violent struggle between good and evil. Armageddon. After which would come the Second Advent of Christ and the beginning of the long-awaited
One Thousand Year Glorious Rule.
The fulfillment of the scriptures.

So which was she, Messiah or Antichrist? Was it to be desolation or a thousand years of bliss? In his final reflection on the letter, the pontiff's choice had become no easier. There were certainly aspects of each prophecy that paralleled current developments, causing him to question any decision he might make.

Yet, Nicholas had to feel that each pope in possession of this portentous Last Revelation, including Nicholas himself, had done everything within his power to meet the Virgin's requirements and to earn the blessings of the Second Prophecy. The major work of Nicholas's papacy, his
Millennial Decree,
was consecrated entirely to this purpose. Surely he and his predecessors had succeeded in meeting the Virgin's stipulations, just as the Church had succeeded before in ushering in the fall of communism in Russia.

Needless to say, Nicholas hoped with all his soul that di Concerci was correct. And there were subtle indications in the Secret Letter that supported the prefect's arguments. The passage in the second paragraph of the Second Prophecy and its reference to a “snake,” for example, was highly reminiscent of the Book of Genesis and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. This would tend to cast Jeza as Eve, seducer of Adam and precipitator of the fall of man. And this was the only section of the letter that might be construed as gender-reflective. But this was not a new inspiration to Nicholas. He'd considered this point before.

At length, Nicholas returned to more conclusive passages, the same passages he'd always relied upon each time he referred to this difficult document for guidance. He went back to the two phrases that appeared to hold the key. The only lines, in his estimation, which offered the foundation for a decision.

Referring to the First Prophecy, last paragraph, first line:

“In the eleventh hour shall these things be accomplished as I have prophesied.”

And buried in the second to last paragraph of the letter:

“But if the First Prophecy is to be, it shall be fulfilled before the turn of the millennium; and if the Second Prophecy is to be, it shall be fulfilled thereafter.”

So, assuming “fulfilled,” as translated from the Portuguese, meant “concluded” or “satisfied,” then Jeza's appearance came past deadline. Under this interpretation, if Jeza were the New Messiah, her work should have been completed
before
the millennial transition. This was why Nicholas had been able to breathe a short-lived sigh of relief on New Year's Day, despite the millenarians in his courtyard, the cracks in his fresco and altar, and the disturbing happenings in the Holy Land. If this view were correct, Jeza
couldn't
be the “Anointed One.” She would have to be the Antichrist, meaning that the Second Prophecy was materializing and it was time to marshal the troops for the final holy war.

On the other hand, as Nicholas had painstakingly considered, “fulfilled”
could
be construed to mean “to put into effect,” or “to convert into reality.” Certainly, Jeza had come into being
before
the year 2000. She was “converted into reality” on Christmas Day, in the eleventh hour of the last year. Adhering to this definition of “fulfilled,” the
Desolation
was at hand, and Nicholas knew if he were to condemn Jeza, he would be guilty of denouncing the living messenger of God and opposing the will of the supreme being!

Then again, favoring the
One Thousand Year Glorious Reign
was the fact that the term “jubilation” happened to appear in the last line of the Second Prophecy. Was there a connection with John Paul II's call for a
“Jubilee
Year?” Had Nicholas detected a veiled clue, or was he merely being misled by a coincidence?

The ambiguity was maddening. Despite his intense prayers amongst the world's greatest wealth of religious icons, the pope had yet to glean even the slightest sign from any source to which he'd turned.

“Enough!” he cried out in anger. “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

If he had to make this dreadful decision alone and abandoned, then so be it. This was his conclusion:

While Jeza's physical arrival may have occurred prior to the millennial transition, unquestionably, the essence of the First Prophecy was
not
fulfilled beforehand. She did not even become active in her ministry until
after
the year 2000. What was more important, to accept her as the “Anointed One” was to turn fatalistic and despondent, to accept the Desolation, to deny hope and the future of the world. Of man.

“My God!” The pontiff dropped from his chair to his knees. Trembling, he leaned over the letter, rereading a passage upon which the first beam of dawn light had now fallen through his window:

“Whichever shall be fulfilled is by your doing, as the decision is still within your province to effect.”

God help him, the letter meant exactly what it said! He, Pope Nicholas VI, supreme representative of Christ on Earth—he alone was to decide! It was
his
faith that was being tested here!

”… And whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)

The pope moaned and crossed himself repeatedly. At last, with the first light of day, he'd been given his sign. Large, pent-up tears streamed down his cheeks as his whole body shuddered and heaved with the relief of his understanding. So, without realizing it, he had held the answer to this quandary all along. Whichever prophecy was to be fulfilled, the decision was
his.

He thanked his Lord, rose unsteadily to his feet and, with fumbling hands, secured the Holy Letters in his vault. Taking a few more moments to compose himself, he headed straightaway to the Palace of the Sanctum Officium where the Congregation anxiously awaited his announcement.

91

WNN regional headquarters, Cairo, Egypt 4:30
P.M
., Tuesday, March 28, 2000

A
nother wild goose chase?” Bollinger assumed, as Feldman and Hunter entered the meeting room to join the bureau chief and staff for a discussion in progress.

“Yeah,” a disappointed Feldman responded. “Jeza was long gone when we got there, but we took some footage of seventy-two people she allegedly cured.” The two men had just returned from a new Jeza sighting, only her second public appearance since the memorable Vatican episode. Jeza had been spotted first at an area orphanage yesterday morning, and then earlier today at a Cairo hospital where she was said to have healed an entire wing of AIDS patients.

The most interesting aspect, disturbing from Feldman's perspective, was that both times the Messiah happened to be in the company of a certain Cardinal Alphonse Litti. It would appear as though Feldman had been displaced as Jeza's preferred liaison. He decided she must have found his garish display of affection simply too forward. He mentally kicked himself.

“Still no word from Litti?” Feldman wondered.

“No,” Bollinger answered. “The cardinal hasn't been back to his hotel room since Sunday morning.”

Feldman shook his head gloomily.

“And now, gentlemen”—Bollinger changed the subject to a more positive one—”let me bring you two up to speed on the latest turn of events: while you and Hunter were out, WNN Europe notified us that the pope is going to make an important announcement Monday night, April 3, at nine o'clock their time. The Vatican is inviting all the world media to St. Peter's Basilica again to cover the message live, and they're granting WNN prime, front-row space. Additionally, they're also allowing us an exclusive live interview with their Cardinal Prefect di Concerci immediately following the address. Another WNN exclusive!”

“Rather accommodating of them, wouldn't you say?” Feldman observed, suspiciously.

“They're just ensuring themselves the biggest possible TV audience for their message,” Cissy declared. “We're simply the network with the widest reach.”

“What's the address about?” Feldman wanted to know.

“A concession speech,” Hunter quipped.

“More likely a counterattack,” Bollinger opined. “Jeza tore ‘em up so bad last week that half the world's Catholic parishes are in open revolt.”

“We don't know the specifics of the address,” Sullivan clarified, “other than it concerns the Jeza situation, naturally.”

“The Vatican says it's going to be a major papal announcement,” Bollinger added, “an
ex capita
decree, whatever that is.”

“You mean
ex cathedra,”
Erin Cross corrected him, suppressing a smile. “And that is a major papal announcement.”

“Right,” Sullivan laughed. “Erin, as our expert on religious affairs, perhaps you wouldn't mind enlightening Jon and Breck a little on the subject?”

“Of course,” she agreed pleasantly.
“Ex cathedra
is Latin for ‘from the chair.’ It's a unique designation given to the most sacred pronouncements of the Catholic Church.
Ex cathedra,
which can only be invoked by the pope, is extremely rare, employed solely for issues of faith and morals. When the pope speaks
ex cathedra,
he's speaking from his papal throne, with complete infallibility.”

“Infallibility?” Hunter arched his eyebrows.

“Yes,” Erin elaborated. “A pronouncement from the throne of Saint Peter in an
ex cathedra
capacity carries divine authority. The pope's decision has the same binding effect on the faithful as if Christ Himself were speaking. All Catholics are required, on faith alone, to fully accept and follow the ruling, whatever it might be.”

“You mean,” Hunter questioned, screwing up his broad face in disbelief, “if the pope says that, uh,” and he searched around for an example, finally seizing upon Robert Filson, literally, by the lapel, “if the pope decides that Filson here is God, then all the billion-odd Catholics in the world have to bow down to him?”

Everyone got a laugh out of this except for Filson, who was visibly miffed.

“Well,” Erin explained, “the pope's not going to make an
ex cathedra
ruling on something as theologically spurious as that.” Hunter released Filson, who unruffled his suit coat and glowered haplessly at the much larger videographer. Hunter paid no notice and Erin continued.
“Ex cathedra
is only invoked for serious religious purposes. In fact, I don't think there's even been an
ex cathedra
decree in my lifetime.”

“Excellent, Erin,” Sullivan commended her. “Everyone, this is precisely the sort of background material I want refined into a feature story to preface Monday night's program. Jon, you and Erin will be on loan to WNN Europe working as co-hosts for the program. You'll fly back Monday morning.”

“What about Breck?” Feldman questioned.

“Sorry, Breck.” Sullivan turned to the clearly disappointed cameraman. “WNN Europe will be using their local crews since it's a simple set production.” Hunter accepted this with a shrug of his big shoulders.

“Okay.” Sullivan got down to business. “Let's collect our thinking and see what approaches we want to take in the coverage. Jon, how'd you feel about letting Erin handle the ex
cathedra
history and you take the wrap-up interview with the cardinal?”