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A Terrible Warning
by JOHN M. HAFFERT

A fter eight years of investiga-

tions the message of Our
Lady of Akita was approved by the
"As for the content of themes-
sages received, it is no way contrary
to Catholic doctrine or to good
send in the course of each day ...
whatever suffering ... and to offer it
up in reparation for so many sins
bishop of the diocese after consulta- morals. When one thinks of the ac- committed throughout the world at
tion with the Holy See in a pastoral tual state of the world, the warning this time.
letter issued by the Bishop of Nii- seems to correspond to it in many Our Lady begged especially for
gata, April 22, 1984. points." prayers for bishops, priests, and
The message given by Our Lady religious, and for reparation be-
His Excellency explained that he
at Akita, Japan on October 13, 1973 fore the Blessed Sacrament. Our
had taken eight years to give this
(actual anniversary of the final Lady said:
judgment because of the importance
vision of Fatima) is as follows:
and the responsibility in question. "I have prevented the coming of
Our Lady's Message calamities by offering to the Father,
Confirmed together with all the victim souls
"IF men do not repent and amend ''The Congregation of the Doc- who console Him, the sufferings en-
their lives, the Father is going to in- trine for the Faith has given me di- dured by the Son on the Cross, by
flict a terrible chastisement on all of
rectives in this sense,'' the Bishop His blood and by His very loving
mankind. It will be a chastisement said, ' 'that only the bishop of the soul. Prayer, penance, and cou-
more serious than the Deluge, such diocese in question has the power to rageous sacrifices can appease the
as no one has ever yet seen. A fire recognize an event of this kind." anger of the Father."
will fall from the heavens and will
annihilate a great part of hu-
manity . ... The only arms which
will remain to you then will be the
Rosary and the Sign which the Son
has left.
"Pray the Rosary every day for
the Pope, the Bishop, the priests.
The action of the Devil will infiltrate
even into the Church . . .. There will
be many in the Church who will ac-
cept compromises. The demon will
press many priests and consecrated
souls to leave the service of the
Lord. He will rage especially against
souls consecrated to God . The
thought of the loss of human souls
makes me sad. Already the cup
overflows . .. . ' '
"Cannot Deny . . . "
In his pastoral letter approving
the events of Akita as supernatural,
the Bishop of Niigata said: "After
the inquiries conducted up to the The events of Akita have been To the little religious community
present day, one cannot deny the confirmed by definite miracles, two where Our Lady gave the messages,
supernatural character of a series of of which are cited by the Bishop in She asked that it ''live in poverty,
unexplainable events relative to the his pastoral letter. While the warn- sanctify itself and pray in reparation
statue of the Virgin honored at ing given by Our Lady at Akita is for the ingratitude and the outrages
Akita (Diocese of Niigata). Con- terrible, the message, as the Bishop of so many men."
sequently I authorize that all of the points out, is basically a repetition
diocese entrusted to me venerate of the Message of Fatima. Our Lady "Proof"
the Holy Mother of Akita." stressed the importance of praying In his pastoral letter, Bishop Ito
Concerning the messages, His Ex- the Rosary, and above all of accept- said that it would have been diffi-
cellency said: ing from God whatever He may cult to believe in a message from

6 · SOUL MAGAZINE, JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1987

-~ - -1
 Our Lady that is so terrible, unless
there was overwhelming proof that
it was indeed from Her.
But he points out that the terrible
chastisement of which Our Lady
speaks is on the condition: "If men
do not repent and do not better
themselves .... '' The Bishop added
it is a serious warning, while at the
same time one perceives in it the
maternal love of Our Lady. Her
statue at Akita allegedly shed tears
one hundred and one times. In Her
message warning the world of the
annihilation of a great part of hu-
manity, She said:
"The thought of the loss of
numerous souls makes me sad. "
Could Happen!
I Certainly one of the most fright-
I ening aspects of nuclear war is that
the death of millions would be
II complete and sudden, perhaps with-
out even a moment to reflect.
Based on the opinion of nuclear
physicist Dr. J. Rand McNally, Jr.,
upon whose real life experience is
based the Blue Army's movie A
State of Emergency!, the explosion
of even one or two of today's "su-
per bombs" could cause a chain re-
action, which is indeed what Our
Lady seems to describe when She
SOUL MAGAZINE, JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1987
speaks of "a fire will fall from the
sky and will annihilate a great part
of humanity."
The "great sign" which was given
to the world in 1938, which Our
Lady said would be the warning of
things to come, appeared to be
exactly that:
A fire which suddenly came from
the sky and spread over the world
from the Arctic deep into North
Africa, and from Asia to America,
giving the appearance to all who
experienced it that "the world was
on fire," that it was "the end of the
world." (See The New York Times,
January 30, 1938)
Kennedy's Words True
It is this which makes the motion
picture A State of Emergency! so
important and so relevant at the
present moment.
Few may have heard the words Above: Statue of Our Lady of Akita,
which wept over 100 times. After an
which Our Lady spoke at Akita and eight year investigation, the Bishop of
elsewhere in the world. But few can Niigata deemed the events of Akita to
ignore with increasing realization be authentically supernatural.
the terrible truth of the words of the
late President Kennedy:
"Each child born today is born entire nations will be annihilated"
into a state of emergency. " ... but "if my requests are heard,
Also, few can ignore the words of Russia will be converted and an
Our Lady of Fatima that if men do era of peace will be granted to
not stop offending God ''Several mankind."
7