The visionaries at Garabandal have said that the Miracle will occur on the feast of a young martyr of the Eucharist, on a Thursday, about 8:30 in the evening (at Garabandal). The visionary Conchita has said that this event will occur between February and July, exclusive of those months, and between the 7th and 17th of the month. This narrows the possibilities to a Thursday in March, April, May, or June, from the 7th to the 17th.
The young martyr of the Eucharist who best fits this description is Blessed Imelda Lambertini. The Church has placed her feast on May 13th, which fits within the days and months indicated by Conchita. Formerly, I thought that the Miracle would occur on May 13th, since that is the day to which her feast is assigned. The events of Fatima began on May 13th. Pope John Paul II was saved from death by the Virgin Mary, on the occasion of an assassination attempt, on May 13th.
Conchita has said that, after Pope John XXIII, there would be only three more Popes before the events predicted at Garabandal would begin. After John XXIII, there was Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II. Therefore, I conclude that the events predicted at Garabandal will begin during the reign of Pope John Paul II's successor: Pope Benedict XVI. But Pope Benedict was born in 1927; in 2010, he will be 83 years old. His papacy is not expected to be nearly as long as that of Pope John Paul II. So these events must begin soon.
There is a blind man name Joey Lomangino, who has dedicated himself to spreading the messages of Garabandal to the world. The Virgin Mary revealed to Conchita that, on the day of the Miracle, Joey will be miraculously cured of his blindness. However, Joey was born about 1930 or 1931 (sources disagree on the year of his birth). In 2010, Joey will be about 80 years old. If the Miracle is to occur while he is still alive, then it must occur in the not too distant future.
May 13th coincides with a Thursday in 2010, then not again until 2021. But 2021 is too late a date for the Miracle. In that year, Pope Benedict will turn 94, and Joey will be about 91. It is unlikely that both Pope Benedict and Joey will still be alive in 2021. This would seem to leave only May 13th, 2010 as the date for the Miracle.
The most fitting day for the Warning is Good Friday. The Warning calls us to repent and be forgiven for our sins. On the first Good Friday, Jesus died for our sins. His suffering and death obtained the graces that we need to repent from our sins. One of the passages of Sacred Scripture which refer to the Warning, also refers to the Crucifixion (Zechariah 12). The most fitting day for the Consolation is Easter Sunday, when the Apostles and disciples were consoled over the death of our Lord by His Resurrection. However, in the year 2010 (this year), the Warning did not occur on Good Friday, and the Consolation did not occur on Easter Sunday (as I had predicted and expected).
Also, Conchita has said that the day of the Miracle will not coincide with a feast of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor with a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But May 13th is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, and also the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament. And in both 2010 and 2021, May 13th is the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord.
So for all of the above reasons, the date of May 13th is ruled out as the date of the Miracle. And yet Blessed Imelda is the best fit for the young martyr of the Eucharist. No other young martyr of the Eucharist has a feast day in the time frames indicated by Conchita.
The resolution to this dilemma is found in the fact that Blessed Imelda actually died on May 12th, on the day before the Feast of the Ascension in the year 1333. The Church has assigned her feast day to May 13th, but traditionally the feast day of a Saint or a Blessed is the day of his or her death. In the year 2011, May 12th falls on a Thursday. This coincidence does not recur until 2016, which in my view is too late a date for the Miracle (because by then we will be several years into the tribulation).
The Miracle occurs in the evening (about 8:30 p.m. Garabandal time), which on May 12th will be the vigil of the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, and of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament. So the Miracle does not occur on a Feast of our Lady, but it is fittingly placed on the vigil of the Feast of our Lady of Fatima (where a miraculous Permanent Sign will also occur), and on the vigil of the Feast of our Lady of the Eucharist. I believe that the Permanent Signs are in some way related to the Eucharist. Also, the Miracle will bring about many conversions, so that devotion to the Eucharist is greatly increased.
Therefore, I conclude the following dates for the Warning, the Consolation, and the Miracle:
The Warning, Good Friday, April 22, 2011
The Consolation, Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Miracle, Thursday, May 12th, 2011
Please continue to consider these and all the dates in my eschatology as speculation, not certitude.
I have now revised my dates for these events a few times. My earlier predicted dates for these events were wrong. I present these dates to the reader as my current understanding, as a speculation, not a certainty. The field of eschatology is generally speculative. God knows the future with absolute certitude because He is all-knowing, and because He is beyond Time and unbounded by Time. But our knowledge of the future in this life is limited and uncertain. My work in eschatology cannot determine dates with absolute certitude. However, these proposed dates and the order of events are not entirely uncertain. There is a basis for these proposed dates, even while the dates remain speculative and fallible.
Some of my fellow Catholics have suggested that it is impossible to correctly determine in advance the dates of any future events. I do not agree. At Garabandal, the Virgin Mary deliberately chose to give enough information so that the date of the Miracle could be discovered in advance, by drawing conclusions based on faith and reason. At La Salette, the Virgin Mary gave a number of dates of future events; but the proper understanding of these dates requires study and interpretation. In Sacred Scripture, the order of future events is described, and the length of some of those events is revealed. In my opinion, Sacred Scripture also reveals sufficient information about the future for the faithful to determine the dates of some future events, not by faith alone, but by faith and reason, by study and interpretation, and by the use of information in addition to Divine Revelation. These dates are not dogma or doctrine. Neither are they guesses. They are conclusions drawn from the interpretation of numerous sources. This approach to eschatology is fallible, but not fruitless. I respectfully disagree with my brothers and sisters in Christ who believe that the dates of future events cannot be discovered at all, and that any such attempt is futile. Jesus said that we cannot know the day and hour of His Return, but this does not imply that we cannot know any future dates, times, or events (Mt 24:36).
This revised set of dates places the Warning over a year from the present time (as I write this article on April 9th, 2010). The following is my expectations for the events between now and then.
The visionaries of Garabandal have predicted that there would be a general falling away from belief in Garabandal before the Miracle occurs. I suggest that this general disbelief will take place over the next 12 months. The main reason for this falling away will perhaps be a decision by the temporal authority of the Church that both Garabandal and Medjugorje are not worthy of belief.
Medjugorje is one of the most popular and widely-accepted private revelations in the history of the Church. Many millions of the faithful from all over the world, from every diocese and almost every parish, have visited Medjugorje. These pilgrimages have taken place over the course of several decades now. Many Bishops, priests, and religious have visited Medjugorje, and believe the Virgin Mary has appeared there.
But the influence of Medjugorje over the faithful has also caused some fear and apprehension among some members of the faithful. Some are uncomfortable with the theological and eschatological content of some of the messages, or with the influence that these messages have in the Church. The Bishop of Mostar, who presently has authority over the parish of Medjugorje, has repeatedly stated that he does not believe this claimed private revelation is true. Some persons say that the visionaries and priests of Medjugorje are being disobedient to the Bishop by continuing to promote this private revelation, and they conclude that this disobedience proves that the claimed private revelation is false.
Medjugorje and Garabandal are closely associated. Each has a set of secrets about the future. Each predicts that a miraculous Permanent Sign will be placed on earth (at Garabandal and at Medjugorje). This event is called the Miracle of Garabandal, and the third secret of Medjugorje. The faithful who believe in Garabandal usually also believe in Medjugorje. And both of these claimed private revelations have no current approval from the local Bishops or from the Holy See.
A commission has recently been appointed by the Holy See to consider the claimed private revelation at Medjugorje. I think that this commission will decide against Medjugorje, resulting in a general falling away of belief in both Medjugorje and Garabandal among many of the faithful. This event will then fulfill the prediction of the visionaries of Garabandal of a falling away in belief before the Miracle occurs. Once the Miracle of Garabandal and the third secret of Medjugorje occur, the miraculous Permanent Signs at those locations will confirm that these claimed private revelations are true. Then the temporal authority of the Church will reverse its decision on these claimed private revelations.
This reversal of decision is possible because decisions of the Church on temporal matters are fallible. The Magisterium of the Church teaches either infallibly (with no possibility of error) or non-infallibly (with limited possibility of error). But the Church has two types of authority (see Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam), the spiritual teaching authority, also called the Magisterium, and the temporal authority. The temporal authority does not teach, but rather makes judgments of the prudential order. The temporal authority is fallible because it does not teach from Divine Revelation, but rather judges the things and events of temporal life. So any decision of the temporal authority of the Church on whether or not a claimed private revelation is true would be fallible and reversible, regardless of whether the decision is made by a local Bishop, or a commission, or a group of Bishops, or the Holy See, or the Pope. (However, the same cannot be said if a claimed private revelation teaches heresy. The Magisterium does have the authority to teach that an idea is heresy, and to require the faithful to reject any heresy.)
Furthermore, I expect that my writings about the future will be subject to increased criticism and rejection after the temporal authority of the Church decides against Medjugorje and Garabandal. My previous errors on the dates of the Warning and Miracle, and on the dates for the start of the tribulation, will be weighed all too heavily against my work in eschatology. I expect that some Bishops, and perhaps also the Holy See, will decide against my work in eschatology, or attempt to silence me on that subject. My work in other areas of theology might also be affected in some way, to some extent. Some persons have already attempted to use my mistakes in eschatology to discredit my entire body of work in theology. (However, I intend to continue to write eschatology and theology, and to continue my work with Sacred Scripture, even if this expected opposition to my work occurs.)
This revised set of dates necessitates a few other changes to my predicted dates for events in the first part of the tribulation. Generally, the various events at the start of the tribulation must be moved up a year, from 2010 to 2011. Other subsequent dates remain unaffected.
The upheaval among the Arab/Muslim nations of the Middle East and northern Africa occurs as a result of a sinful reaction to the Warning and the Miracle. Therefore, this upheaval occurs in 2011, beginning after the Warning, and intensifying after the Miracle. The extremists of that region of the world will fight against the moderates, and within a few months the extremists will take control of all the nations in that region (except Israel).
I believe that World War 3 will begin with a nuclear bomb explosion in New York City. This event occurs some time after the extremists take control of the Arab/Muslim nations of the Middle East and northern Africa, and so it probably occurs in mid to late 2011 (not 2010 as I had formerly said). This allows for one additional year for Iran to develop and build a nuclear bomb. Recent news reports have indicated that Iran is close to its apparent goal of building a nuclear weapon.
The other events that follow have the same dates as I have said previously. World War 3 begins with the attack on New York City in 2011, and ends about 2018 or 2019. I am still predicting that, in response to the Warning, Pope Benedict XVI will suggest building three places of worship in Jerusalem: one for Christianity, one for Judaism, one for Islam (cf. Mk 9:4). The death of Pope Benedict XVI occurs sometime after the Miracle, in the year 2011 (not in 2010).
The election of his successor, who I believe will be Cardinal Arinze (as Pope Pius XIII), occurs in 2011. His reign will be short; he will die a martyr in late 2012 or early 2013. The great apostasy begins during his reign. He will require Catholics to believe and practice the Catholic Faith in order to receive the Eucharist. As a result, many Catholics will leave the Church. After his reign, the next election for Pope cannot occur in Rome, because the city will have been captured during the war. Then there will be two elections: one elects the true Pope, and another elects the most prominent antipope in the history of the Church. There will be much confusion among the faithful at this time.
In the apparitions to Pedro Régis of Brazil, Our Lady of Anguera gave the following message: "The Church of My Jesus will carry a heavy cross. The day will come when there will be two thrones, but only on one will be the true successor of Peter. It will be a time of great spiritual confusion for the Church." (December 23, 2008. Message 3098). This message predicts the same event that I have been describing in my eschatology for a number of years now. The prominence of the antipope who is elected at that time is due to the great apostasy, an event predicted by Sacred Scripture to occur during the tribulation (2 Thess 2:3). I am still predicting that a nuclear missile strike on Rome and Vatican City will occur during World War 3, in July of 2013. This attack will kill these two leaders: the true Pope and the most prominent antipope in history (Zechariah 13:7). After this event, the election of the next Pope will not be in dispute.
The rest of the events of the first part of the tribulation also keep to the same dates as before. But, again, I am emphasizing that my work in eschatology is speculative and fallible. Determining the start of the tribulation is one of the most difficult tasks in eschatology. Once the tribulation begins, I believe that the timing and order of subsequent events will become clearer and will be more firmly established.
by Ronald L. Conte Jr.
written and published on April 9th, 2010
May God give you grace and peace during the difficult years ahead.
