Spiritual Food: Criteria of Discernment for Private Revelations

Criteria of Discernment for Private Revelations

A very fundamental virtue and base of discernment in this period of the great tribulation (Mt 24:21) and of the great apostasy (2Thess 2:3) is HUMILITY. The classic prophetic book, True Devotion To Mary, by St. Louis de Montfort, as well as the messages of Our Lady to Don Stefano Gobbi, tells us that those who have true humility will end up in the cohort of Mary, while those full of pride or false humility will end up in the cohort of Satan, even though they may believe they are better than others. This lack of true humility naturally leads people, along with their group that follows a particular leader or a favorite seer, to feel they are better and more intelligent and enlightened than those not in agreement with themselves or with the head of the group.

TYPICALLY, THOSE WITH LITTLE OR NO HUMILITY have deeply fallen into "the most profound difficulty of our time", RELATIVISM, (Pope Benedict XVI) and thus are not willing to listen to anyone not in agreement with themselves. Padre Pio said that for this period of great confusion, in this period of the great apostasy before the revelation of the Antichrist (2Thess 2:3), hold on to the documents of the Church and the writings of the saints; do not listen to anything else!

Saint Augustine tells us:

It was PRIDE that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues. The soul in which this virtue does not exist, there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance. There is something in humility that strangely exalts the heart. This is the very perfection of man, to find out about his own imperfections. You must be emptied of that which you are full that you may be filled with that which you are empty. The greater the building is to be, the deeper you dig the foundation. For once your foundation is set, the height to which you can build has been determined. You want a tower that will pierce the clouds, lay first the foundation of humility. Humility must accompany all of our actions. For as soon as we glory in our good works, they are of no further value for our advancement in virtue.

Prophetic private revelations are so important, especially in times of great confusion, that Satan seeks in every way to diminish their divulgation, influence and effect. In 1882, Christ revealed to the stigmatist, Marie Julie Jahenny of La Fraudais, France, that: "In the last days, a seemingly unlimited amount of FALSE REVELATIONS will arise from hell like a swarm of flies; a last attempt of Satan to choke and to destroy the efficacy of the TRUE REVELATIONS by false ones."

This indicates that these revelations are important enough for Satan to try to diminish their effectiveness in helping to alert souls of the very great dangers in this period of time when even “the elect will be deceived if possible” (Mt 24:24). But this also indicates that there are many false revelations and thus one must be wise and prudent especially in regards to recent private revelations in which the proper Church authorities have not made any pronouncement yet. The documents of the Church and the writings of the saints offer us a wealth of material for proper discernment.

St. John also tells us: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God: for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1Jn 4:1).

Many people, who are attached to a particular seer or private revelation, are not willing to talk to anyone who is not in agreement with themselves. In this period of great confusion and of the great apostasy, as well as a PROFOUND CRISIS at all levels – culturally, spiritually, economically - PEOPLE SEEK SECURITY AND CERTAINTY even though St. Francis of Assisi tells us in his prophecy that this lack of apparent security and certainty is a fundamental punishment from God after years of disobedience to the teachings of the Church.

THUS THERE IS A GREAT TEMPTATION TO SEEK SEERS WHO TELL US WHAT WE WANT TO HEAR. Also in this period of a great lack of general catechetical formation among Catholics, there is a strong tendency to put private revelation above the teachings and guidance of the Church in the Church documents for 2000 years. You might say that in the name of God or in the name of Mary (of a supposed private revelation) they end up rejecting God and the Teachings of the Church due to the lack of true humility. So many naively believe that since it is a private revelation, the messages are straight from heaven and thus infallible and thus above any and all authority on the face of the earth, which is what they want! In their lack of humility they so easily ignore the great capacity of Satan to deceive. PRIDE LEADS US TO BELIEVE THAT WE CANNOT BE DECEIVED even though Satan is far more intelligent than we are. Relativism leads us to rely on ourselves as the source of truth, reality and proper discernment, instead of relying on God and the documents of the Church for 2000 years. Of course they do not see that this blind prideful logic leads to the conclusion that all seers are from God, because all seers say their messages come from God!!! Who decides which seers are from God and those that are not? Regarding the necessity of humility and obedience we find a very striking and instructive example that when St. Teresa of Avila’s confessors told her "to reject them (her visions) every time by the sign of the cross and by derision”, Jesus later told St. Teresa of Avila “that I was not to distress myself, that I DID WELL TO OBEY; but that He would make them see the truth of the matter” (“Ch. IX: Obedience To Lawful Superiors”; http://priv-rev.blogspot.com/2008/04/pr-chapter-ix.html).

NOTES:

Find on the WEB, using the search engine duckduckgo, to find the various articles.

“The “Prophecy” of Saint Francis (Assisi)”

http://spir-food.blogspot.it/2013/11/prophecy-st-francis.html

“To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons”

https://our-lady-priests.blogspot.com/2015/10/our-lady-priests-prologue.html

“FALSE SECURITY - Maria Divine Mercy – MDM”

https://spir-food.blogspot.com/2019/11/false-security-maria-divine-mercy-mdm.html

“Discernment – True and False Seers, Apparitions (MDM – BOT)”

https://spir-food.blogspot.com/2020/06/discernment-true-and-false-seers.html

“MDM-BOT Is NOT Catholic – BEWARE!”

https://spir-food.blogspot.com/2021/10/mdm-bot-is-not-catholic-beware.html