VEN. SISTER DOMENICA OF
PARADISE (1473-1553) was born in Florence in 1473. Her father was a farm worker in Pian di
Ripoli and worked on the lands belonging to the Convent of Saint
Bridget of Paradiso. Domenica embraced the religious life and at a
very young age she entered into that convent taking the name of
Domenica of Paradiso, or 'Paradise'.
Reports
of her sanctity spread beyond the limits of Florence. Her profound
spirituality however did not impede her from daily activity for the
upkeep of the convent. A great mystic, she had frequent visions of
her Guardian Angel who cured her from a terrible illness that caused
her profuse bleeding from both her nose and her mouth. On more than
one occasion, her Angel saved her from the attacks of the devil who
would throw her into the embers of the fireplace. Her Angel would
lovingly tend to the wounds that the fire caused her and the
following night he would bring her Holy Communion. One day the
Archangel Gabriel in person brought her the Eucharist in the presence
of her confessor, to convince him of the veracity of these miraculous
Holy Communions brought by her Guardian Angel. The day before her
death, the neighbours heard angelic chants rise up above the top of
the monastery. A few years later, her body was found to be
incorrupt, and her hands and feet still bore the marks of the
stigmata. It has been certified that her body has remained
incorrupt for all these centuries, and on the occasion of grave
events, has moved itself repeatedly inside the casket and one of her
hands turned white. Venerated, for centuries she continues to work
miracles. Her cause for canonisation is still open.
Apparently, she also made
prophecies. The following prophecy from the year
1517 attributed to Ven. Sister Domenica was published in Italian,
which I have attempted to translate with some explanations and
observations. Sister Domenica's revelations mostly features
prophecies of the punishments Tuscany endured due to its leaders and
rulers, and also the sufferings Sister Domenica's order would endure,
which according to the pamphlet have come to pass. However, there is
also a prophecy regarding the future, which is of interest to us in
our own times.
This
prophecy of the future along with the others was taken from a
pamphlet printed in 1846, and reprinted in “The Future Destinies of
States and Nations” (Turin, 1864)
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Sister
Domenica of Paradise, having been taken up in a rapture (i.e. an
ecstasy) on another day, after Holy Communion, Jesus Christ began to
speak to her in this way:
"My bride, pray and weep for My faithful,
there will come a time when My faith, declining, will be missed in
many and few (faithful) will remain, when souls fall into the hands
of My enemy for the scarcity and lack of the word God, (i.e. when
the Word of God will not be taught or preached, the word 'lack' also
means it may not be preached properly as it should) and when the
temples of the Christians will resemble caverns than churches, then
the night of blindness will reign, and the day and the sun of
cognisance will be extinguished, and amid so much darkness few
will know those who can exercise virtue, and employ themselves in the
worship of My faith; indeed, the knowledge of God in Christians will
be so lost that those few faithful in whom the savor of My love will
be preserved will be forced to separate from friends, and from
relatives and from their own homes, and to retreat to remote and
hidden places in order to be faithful to My service, since they will
not find men who speak the truth, and approve the good, nor (will
they find) religious who, by inviting to virtue,
confirm the peoples in the faith. Everyone will respect human
respect, and under this mantle the devil will deceive many, and he
will still have some who among the nations will be believed to be
spiritual, and so will open the door to murmurs, scandals, and to derisions, and My chosen will suffer strange persecutions, and
who will be in doubt, and they will live perplexed by which of many
sects they must bear; and I will allow these troubles to humiliate
them. (i.e. to gain the virtue of humility).
But you, My little girl, groan about these future times and keep
these My words silent (secret), because this is not the time to tell
them; first the seed is spread in the field, and after many months it
gathers; now My secrets are sown within you, and in the future I will
send those who will reap the fruits of the seed; but the harvest will
be hidden for many years in My barn; when the time is right I will
give it out for food for My chosen ones; where there is the danger,
the merit is acquired there. (i.e. merit is acquired when we courageously live the Faith despite the danger that could happen to us on earth, God will give the prophecies we need them to sustain us). Don't you know how I defend My loves?
(I.e those whom He loves and who love Him.) But oh, how wicked the
world is! I otherwise give graces to creatures, and I present a hand
full of gems, and for fear of suffering each one rejects it and
despises it, (i.e. they reject penance and therefore reject His gifts
and virtues choose the ways of the world so as not to suffer the
Cross), but the time will come, believe Me, that I will topple hearts
with My spirit, that men will admire My courtesy, (i.e. as in merciful kindness)
they will live with holiness, they will always tremble at Me and My
things, (i.e. live in a holy fear of Him) they will converse with the
angels.
Rejoice,
O My spouse, because then the infidels will turn to the faith, and
there will be no one who doubts or vacillates, because the miracles
that will follow for every part of the Church will clearly show how
true and credible are the mysteries of My faith; (i.e sounds like the
Age of Peace when the Church will be renewed) but before this time I
will get rid of the evil roots, and will take from the world a great
multitude of men, because this will be necessary to do, and they will
long for it and will again ask for My servants. (i.e. this sounds
like the chastisements revealed in other prophecies that will come to
depopulate the earth. Our Lord says here mankind will beg for the
evil ones to be taken away and for God to send His true servants.)
There will come a time when the priests will mutually threaten each
other, and they will follow each other with so much impetuosity of
malice, which will seem to want to destroy My Church. (i.e. this points to a schism and division in the Catholic Church.)
Weep and
pray for the chosen half, who will be in suspense and doubtful at
what point they must approach, and I will allow them doubt so that
they will have the merit of their travails; but in the end the storm
will cease, and they will know clearly who they should join.
Then the
priests, having put down the errors, left their vices and despised the
(worldly) pomps, the riches and the honours, they will be satisfied
with poverty and humility, and they will tremble greatly for the
remembrance of the past scourges, and especially for the most bitter
ones, with which I will have chastised the clergy.
Meanwhile
I will not omit the remedies of My grace, and I will call everyone to
health, (i.e. spiritual health) with courtesy and then with beatings.
(I.e. This sounds like the revelations given to St. Faustina and
Marie-Julie Jahenny: He will grant a period of Mercy first, then a
time of Justice with the chastisements.)
(Back to the Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff Prophecy Timeline, click here).
(Back to the Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff Prophecy Timeline, click here).
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Some
observations: the prophecy that churches will look more like caverns
than churches shows that Heaven pays attention to the symbolism of architecture. We have been in the times of chastisement foretold to Sister Domenica since modern
designs have taken over, especially since the 1960s onward when
some truly atrocious buildings were built. Here are a few infamous examples.
Caverns
are big 'empty' halls or spaces. Notice the new Trinity Church of Fatima.
Caverns are
also underground, naturally, but notice it is all the rage to build churches underground
in pilgrim destinations these days, the Church of St. Pius X in Lourdes is underground and looks like a cavern:
Above: entrance to the underground church at Lourdes:
Below: one of the new underground chapels at Fatima - the Perpetual Adoration chapel:
Below is another 'beauty' that has gained some notoriety on the Internet as the 'Church of Minas Morgul' - it is not underground, but it certainly looks like a cavern from Hell. One expects Lord Sauron of the Evil Eye, some Ring Wraiths and a few gnarly orcs from 'Lord of the Rings' to attend the services. This church is actually called after St. Francis de Sales and was built in the 1960s in Muskegon, Michigan, USA.
And,
caverns slope down as they go underground. It was always traditional
for churches to have the altar set a few step above the people or even
higher so people may gaze up to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross
during the Consecration and Elevation, but nowadays, churches are
being constructed to where the seating is sloping downwards towards the altars - since you have to descend into a cavern, churches now have people 'descending' towards the altars.
A side view of the Trinity Church in Fatima - notice the downward slope towards the altar.
Below is the modern basilica of Knock Ireland with a downward sloping seating arrangement:
Also, these new big open space 'cavern' churches no longer follow a traditional cross pattern.
These a just a few examples. Google 'Ugly modern Catholic Churches' and you will find many more.
