Italy Has Been Chastised. But by Whom?

As things now stand, worldwide the number of reported cases of the viral disease misdescribed as “the coronavirus” — there are many coronaviruses circulating in the world, including the one that causes the common cold — stands at 576,000, while the fatalities attributed to the disease stand at 26,000. That’s a fatality rate of 4.5%, but that is based on a tiny sample of the world’s population of 7 billion with a large selection bias in favor of those who are sick or very sick and have sought medical attention. In fact, among those hospitalized for the common flu, which tend to be the elderly, the death rate is 7-8% as shown here (total flu deaths / total flu hospitalizations).

Assuming quite reasonably that reported cases are only the tip of the iceberg of actual total cases in the world, it may well turn out that the death rate from this particular coronavirus is vanishingly small. And as President Trump’s adviser on the “pandemic,” Deborah Birx, told the press, the only hard and reliable datum on the lethality of the virus is the number of people who have actually died from its effects, a numerator that grows smaller and smaller in relation to the rapidly rising denominator of total cases. Hence Dr. Birx also reported that the death rate for COVID-19 in the United State will likely fall below 1% based on the number of people tested so far.

That said, northern Italy has obviously been devastated by the virus, which has ravaged its very elderly population, always highly susceptible to viral outbreaks as this definitive study shows. But the average age of those whose deaths are attributed to this particular virus is 80, and 99% of that cohort had co-morbidities typical of people who are reaching the end of their earthly lives in any case. Moreover, no less than Prof. Walter Ricciardi, an advisor to Italy’s minister of health, admitted that only about 12 percent of deaths attributed to the virus were directly caused by the virus:

Nevertheless, I find it curious that the hardest hit of the Italian towns in that region was none other than Bergamo, where at least a thousand and probably many more have died during the outbreak. It was none other than the Diocese of Bergamo (among others) that published on its website the following “Prayer to Pachamama,” whose hideous image was idolized during the proceedings of the absurd and scandalous Amazon Synod. Here is the prayer as it appeared on the Diocese of Bergamo’s website (translation by LifeSiteNews):

Pachamama of these places,
drink and eat as much as you like of these offerings,
so that this land may be fruitful.
Pachamama, good Mother
Be propitious! Be propitious!
Let the oxen walk well,
and let them not get tired.
Make the seed taste good,
that nothing bad happen to it,
that frost may not disrupt it,
that it produce good food.
We ask you:
give us everything.
Be propitious! Be propitious!
(Prayer to the Mother Earth of the Inca peoples)

Some have argued that the particularly high death toll from the virus in Italy is a sign of divine chastisement for the pagan idolatry on display in Bergamo and at the Vatican during the Synod, when the revolting idol was paraded into Saint Peter’s itself. I quite agree with one priest I know that Saint Peter’s Basilica ought to be reconsecrated to remedy an unprecedented sacrilege perpetrated with the approval of Pope Francis himself. Never has there been a spectacle like this in the basilica that stands at the very heart of the Church and is situated over the bones of Saint Peter.

But, in my view, what has happened with this virus in Italy and in the world at large is that God has permitted virtually the entire human race to undergo a self-chastisement born of mass panic, lack of trust in divine Providence, and, given the absence of faith, hope and charity in so many, a desperate fear of even the remote possibility of death. All of this has led to a massive failure of the virtue of prudence, as Jeff Mirus has so insightfully explained, resulting in irrational decisions by civil authorities: the lockdown of entire countries and bans on public gatherings, except to buy groceries, work in “essential businesses” and use mass transit, thereby defeating the very purpose of this ludicrous attempt at nationwide quarantines. These foolish decisions have caused immense damage to the temporal common good and unnecessary suffering on the natural level.

As bad as this outcome has been, however, it will be nothing compared to the divine chastisement that will emanate directly from God’s hand, of which Our Lady of Akita warns the world, in line with the Fatima prophecy of the annihilation of various nations:

That, and no mere viral outbreak, is what our rebellious world should fear. Nor will any vaccine offer protection. But here is what will, as Our Lady said at Akita:

The Rosary and the Consecration of Russia to Mary’s Immaculate Heart are the only remedies to avert death by the worst virus of all: the virus of apostasy from God and His Law, which has spread throughout the world and shows no signs of abating.

That’s a question that both Christian and Non-Christian have asked throughout history.

A fallen world.

Sin.

It’s a question which in itself explains why the Christian must always strive to follow Christ, admit when sinning, and seek always to defend those who cannot defend themselves.

Christ elected to carry the sins of all mankind when He was Innocent, through what was considered the most humiliating form of corporal punishment in the days in which He walked.

It’s one of those questions that when the Lord’s Children see the answer, it will be so obvious that we would probably just shake our heads if we were still walking upon the earth.

When it becomes to much for my mortal mind to grasp, I have to retreat to the Truth I know: In God’s time all will become clear.

Without the Blood of Jesus there is no way I could cling to that Truth. It helped me off the edge, if it could be said to be like that.... and I am so grateful for those who admitted to me when I would ask them that very question, that they could only look forward to the answer.

I would laugh and rage at the same time. And then, one day, I understood and accepted the Truth of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I’m a guilty as the next person when I put my foot in my mouth. And ashamed when my mouth runs instead of my brain or my faith. Who knows, what harm my actions/inaction has caused? On that day that I find out, I will be grateful for the demanding love of the Father and the sacrifice of the Son.

Sorry to blabber. Being inside my house with my beloved, I believe is starting to take it’s toll.

The vast majority of the verbage from the Hail Mary comes directly from Scripture. There is a part that refers to her title “Mother of God” which refers back to Jesus as God. The last part is asking her to pray for us, the same as any other Christian asks another to pray for them and as our Lord commands us to pray for one another. It is scriptural.

Praying the rosary is promoted within the Catholic Church as a means of strengthening one’s faith, resisting evil, growing spiritually, and generally benefiting society. While some of the prayer of the rosary is scriptural, the whole second half of the “Hail Mary” and portions of the “Hail, Holy Queen” are blatantly unbiblical. While the first part of the Hail Mary is almost a direct quotation from Luke 1:28, there is no scriptural basis for (1) praying to Mary, (2) addressing her as “holy,” or (3) calling her “our life” and “our hope.”

Praying the rosary involves giving attributes to Mary that the Bible never gives her. To call Mary “holy”—the Catholic Church teaches that Mary never sinned or had any taint of original sin—is not biblical. The Bible calls all believers “saints,” which can be interpreted as “holy ones,” but Scripture says that the righteousness believers have is the imputed righteousness from Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). In this life, no one is yet sanctified from sin in practice (1 John 1:9—2:1). Jesus is called our Savior repeatedly in Scripture because He saved us from our sin. In Luke 1:47, Mary calls God her “Savior.” Savior from what? A sinless person does not need a Savior. Sinners need a Savior. Mary acknowledged that God was her Savior. Therefore, Mary acknowledged that she was a sinner.

But praying the rosary has an even more basic problem, namely, that much of the prayer is directed to Mary, not to God. We are never told in the Bible whether anyone else in heaven can even hear us. God alone is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to address their prayers to God the Father. Every example of prayer in the Bible is addressed to God alone. There is never a single example of someone praying to any “saint” or angel or anyone else (besides prayers to false gods). Further, any time that a pious person prostrates himself (in a religious setting) to honor someone else besides God (chiefly to the apostles or angels), he is told to get up, to stop it (Acts 10:25–26; 14:13–16; Matthew 4:10; Revelation 19:10; 22:8–9). The Roman Catholic Church states that it worships God alone but “venerates” Mary and the saints. What is the difference? A person praying the rosary spends more time calling out to Mary than to God. For every one praise of God in the rosary, there are ten praises of Mary!

Praying the rosary also assigns a task to Mary that the Bible never assigns her. Jesus is our Redeemer (Galatians 3:13; 4:4–5; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:18–19; Revelation 5:9), our heavenly Advocate (1 John 2:1), and our one and only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). The “Hail, Holy Queen” portion of the rosary prayer calls Mary our “most gracious advocate.” This is a direct contradiction of the clear biblical teaching that only Jesus is our go-between.

Praying the rosary requires Catholics to call upon Mary as the “holy Queen.” The only time in Scripture that the title “Queen of Heaven” is found, the term is used in a negative way (Jeremiah 7:17–19; 44:16–27). The Bible never pictures Mary as a queen; rather, she calls herself “the Lord’s servant” (Luke 1:38). She is never given a crown or authority over heaven and earth. Likewise, is it appropriate, while praying the rosary, to call Mary our “life” and “hope”? Again, these are terms that are used of God alone in Scripture (John 1:1–14; Colossians 3:4; 1 Timothy 1:1; Ephesians 2:12; Titus 2:13).

The practice of saying the rosary runs contrary to Scripture in a number of ways. Only God can hear our prayers. Only God can answer our prayers. We have one intermediary (Jesus), and it is in His name we pray, not Mary’s.

https://www.gotquestions.org/praying-rosary.html

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What may not be realized about the Rosary are the total number of prayers dedicated TO Mary compared to the Father or the Son. If said correctly, there are 57 “Hail Marys”, which is a prayer TO Mary, plus one “Hail Holy Queen”, compared to six “Our Fathers”. The “Hail Mary” is a false prayer with a little bit of Scripture mixed in to make it appealing to the reciter. Scripture warns against vain repetition in prayer in Matthew 6:7.

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