If I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (Today’s First Mass reading; 1 Cor 13:2)
None of us at Countdown to the Kingdom could have predicted that this website would be launched at virtually the same time as when churches across the world would begin to close and people would be looking for direction. Nor did any of us predict the incredible letters and fruits we now receive daily from readers across the world telling us of how their entire families are being moved and even converted through the messages here. Nor did we foresee the nearly weekly controversies that would follow the work we do here.
But we did foresee that all of the above would draw persecution, mockery, and misunderstanding—for that’s what happens wherever the Word of God is proclaimed.
As Jesus said in today’s Gospel:
To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’
In the prophetic words posted daily here at Countdown, we hear the cry of the Blessed Mother from seers around the world who’ve never met each other, who speak different languages, who celebrate different rites… yet, saying the same thing: we have been warned, but we have not listened. Heaven has sung a dirge, but we did not weep.
For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
Or as one Catholic critic said recently, some of the prophecies here are nothing but ‘baptized astrology, End Times speculation sold as “prophecy,” and fear-based gnosticism.’ Yes, this is how some of the “intellects” in the Catholic media today view prophecy, a gift of the Holy Spirit affirmed in Scripture and Tradition. For without a childlike heart, it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus said—or to understand the things pertaining to it.
But not so with the humble of heart who are not intimidated by the indignant fear-mongering of those who would sooner stone the prophets than carefully discern them. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium [sense of the faithful] knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church. —n. 67
Yes, there are controversies; yes, there are bishops who disavow the prophecies published here; yes, clergy and seers and visionaries are all human and thus prone to mistakes and misunderstandings. Which is why St. Paul’s words are so crucial at this time when the Catholic Church is rapidly losing her freedoms:
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
We feel that this is the key mindset necessary in continuing to discern the alleged prophetic words that are being compiled here. That patient discernment is necessary; that mockery of the prophetic is out of place; that there be no jealousy toward seers who are gaining more attention than ourselves; that we are not rude and inflated in our own speculations and opinions on the times; that we do not rejoice when a seer may be censured; and when they are, that we do not brood over the injury caused and turn against our bishops. And that, above all, using the gift of discernment, the tools of Sacred Tradition, and reading the “signs of the times,” we rejoice in the truth of Our Lord’s and Lady’s words, even if they are difficult to hear.
For our part, we who work behind the scenes of this website continue to have daily discussions to carefully navigate the graces but also dangers that are present in the discernment of prophecy. There is a lot of theology, research, weighing of magisterial statements, etc. that goes into everything we do. We take our responsibility seriously. We back everything here with Scripture, Sacred Tradition, the Church Fathers, and the Magisterium and are ready to defend this work on those terms. Why? Because this is about souls—not about seers.
We realize that, just as in Christ’s time, there are those who will scoff and mock this work—who will dismiss these visionaries as “possessed”, “gluttons” and “drunkards”, so to speak. There’s nothing new under the sun: we stoned the prophets of old and we stone them now. Infected by the spirit of rationalism in our times, some have simply lost the capacity to hear the voice of God. They have eyes to look but cannot see; they have ears to hear, but will not listen. There is nothing the seers are saying today that is not already in the news headlines. Nonetheless, as Pope Francis said,
Those who have fallen into this worldliness look on from above and afar, they reject the prophecy of their brothers and sisters… —POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 97
But here also is a call to what St. Paul called “a still more excellent way” than prophecy: the way of love. Rather than falling into the trap of division that Satan is setting in our families, parishes, and communities, those of us who are heeding Heaven’s Messages need to be the face of mercy, the face of love: of patience, kindness, etc. Let us strive to keep unity, even if we disagree. Yes, the ability to peacefully disagree today has been all but lost on this generation with tragic consequences.
In the end, the truth will prevail—including the prophecies on this website that are authentic, whether they agree with our sensibilities and personal theories or not. For, as Jesus said in the Gospel today:
Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.
—Mark Mallett is a contributor to Countdown to the Kingdom and author of The Now Word.
See also from Mark Mallett:
Rationalism, and the Death of Mystery
Can You Ignore Private Revelation?
Alicja Lenczewska
Elizabeth Kindelmann
Through what became The Spiritual Diary, Jesus and Mary taught Elizabeth, and they continue to instruct the faithful in the divine art of suffering for the salvation of souls. Tasks are assigned for each day of the week, which involve prayer, fasting, and night vigils, with beautiful promises attached to them, laced with special graces for priests and the souls in purgatory. In their messages, Jesus and Mary say that The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the greatest grace given to mankind since the Incarnation. And in the not-so-distant future, her flame will engulf the entire world.
Father Stefano Gobbi
Why Gisella Cardia?
Thirdly, the messages have frequently been accompanied by visible phenomena, photographic evidence found in In Cammino con Maria, which cannot be the fruit of subjective imagination, notably the presence of the stigmata on Giselle’s body and and the appearance of crosses or religious texts in blood on Gisella’s arms. See the pictures taken from her apparition website 
Jennifer
Why Manuela Strack?
Why the Visionaries of Our Lady of Medjugorje?
Why Pedro Regis?
Why the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta?
of the saints. It wasn’t until she became a “Daughter of Mary” that the nightmares finally ceased at the age of eleven. In the following year, Jesus began to speak interiorly to her especially after receiving Holy Communion. When she was thirteen, He appeared to her in a vision that she witnessed from the balcony of her home. There, in the street below, she saw a crowd and armed soldiers leading three prisoners; she recognized Jesus as one of them. When He arrived beneath her balcony, He raised his head and cried out: “Soul, help Me!” Deeply moved, Luisa offered herself from that day on as a victim soul in expiation for the sins of mankind.
immobile, rigid-like state that appeared almost as if she were dead. It was only when a priest made the sign of the Cross over her body that Luisa regained her faculties. This remarkable mystical state persisted until her death in 1947—followed by a funeral that was no little affair. During that period in her life, she suffered no physical illness (until she succumbed to pneumonia at the end) and she never experienced bedsores, despite being confined to her little bed for sixty-four years.
Why Simona and Angela?
Valeria Copponi