Chapter XVI: THE MOST HOLY PROPHET MALACHIAS  

              1.  In the previous Chapter we affirmed the doctrine on the Divine Person of Malachias, truth of faith defined by His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII, namely, that the Mysterious Personage known as the Prophet Malachias is the Holy Ghost, who appeared in the Old Testament in human form.

              2.  We go on to present the arguments on which this Holy Council has based this true identification of the Person of the Most Ho-ly Prophet Malachias.

              3.  We begin by clarifying the problem which up to now the interpretation of verse 12 of Chapter XLIX of Ecclesias-ticus has presen-ted.  In that verse there is reference to twelve prophets whose bones lie buried.  In this way we can see why Baruch has, up to now, not been con-sidered as one of the Minor Prophets, but rather as an annex to Jeremias, due to the assis-tance which he, forgetful of self, lent his illustrious master, the Prophet of the Lamentations.

              4.  The commentators of Sacred Scriptures, unaware of the Divine Personality of Malachias, found no place among the twelve Minor Prophets in which to put Baruch, since Ecclesiasticus determined their num-ber (XLIX, 12).  However, an examination of the Book of Baruch shows that he is an authen-tic prophet with as much right to figure among the Minor Pro-phets as the others, - and, besides, he surpasses a good majority of them in the volume of his prophecies.

              5.  Once the Mystery of the Person of Malachias has come to light, He remains apart from the Minor Prophets, and the place He oc-cupied is given by this Holy Council to Baruch, since it belongs to him.  Thus the problem of the Twelve Minor Prophets is resolved.

              6.  We have also examined all the pertinent declarations of the Church, and have found nothing opposed to this doctrine on Mala-chias.  The Council of Trent names the Prophetic Books and defines no more than that they are books divinely revealed.

              7.  Having also rigorously and scrupulously examined, with detained reflection, the Sacred Texts, as well as the various lines of thought of the Doctors, we declare that, in the Sacred Books, there is no reference to the genealogy of Malachias.  And regarding the authors who have undertaken to treat the question, they present mere conjecture without foundation, like those who have wished to identify Malachias with Esdras or with an angel.

              8.  We wish to complete the arguments for this infallible doctrine with the proofs found in the book itself of Malachias, and also with the mystical prophetical revelations, particularly those received by the Holy Doctor Catherine  Emmerick, where the proofs for this defined truth are irrefutable.  We shall, at the same time, avoid the apparent obstacles that might inhibit one's comprehension of so elevated a doctrine.

              9.  We begin with the revelations of Saint Catherine Emme-rick.  The Holy Doctor desc-ribes in detail the characteristic traits of the Prophet Malachi-as when He was accom-plishing His prophetic mission on earth.  Here is how she presents Him: "I did not see him as an ordinary man.  He appeared a man like Melchisedech, but different from Him ...  He was very amiable, superhumanly patient and meek".  She adds, too, that Malachias had frequent contact with Jeremias, and, on various occasions gave him counsel and help.  Malachias took charge of the Sacrament of the Triple Benediction at the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, and later He left it in the keeping of the Essenes.  The Holy Doctor also saw the Prophet Malachias come to the town of Sopha, of the tribe of Zabulon.  He wore red garments and had a staff in His hand, and according to our in-terpretation He dwelt there a certain time.  On this historical event, passed down from father to son, some doctors base their opinion to put Sopha as Malachias' birthplace.  But the evidence to the contrary elimi-nates the conjecture.  It was quite the general opinion among the Jews to regard Malachias as an angel, since no one knew of his death.

              10.  Saint Catherine Emmerick gives us the il-luminating in-formation that, in the most important moments in the life of Christ, when the Holy Ghost appeared, she saw a heavenly figure with human appearance enveloped in and radiating light, which she considered to be the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Doctor does not say expressly that the luminous figure is Malachias except on one occasion, the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor where, after mentioning the appearance of Moses and Elias, one on either side of Christ, she speaks of a third apparition, affirming this to be Malachias, and describing his appearance in comparison with that of the other two: "The third apparition did not speak.  It was lighter and more incorporeal.  It was Malachias ...  Malachias was more impassible and more immaterial than the other two.  He had something superhum-an about Him, something angelical.  He was a Force, a mission under sensible form."  There is an overwhelming logic in that the manifestation of the glory of Christ, with the presence of the Eternal Father, should include a visi-ble manifest-ation also of the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, even though the Holy Gospel does not mention this.  We find no other rea-son to justify - in our judgement - the presence of Malachias when Christ, in the Transfiguration, was surrounded by Angels.  Besides, Saint Cathe-rine Emmerick affirms that, when the three figures departed, Moses and Elias took a path different from that of Malachias.  In Sacred Scripture the appearances of the Holy Ghost are under various forms.  In the Old Testament there is the appearance of the Most Holy Trinity to Abraham as three men.  In the New Testament the Holy Ghost appears under the form of a dove, as tongues of flames, ...  etc.  In the lives of certain mystics, there is  evidence of the appearance to them of the Most Holy Trinity in the form of three human figures, among whom, Saint Teresa of Avila.  His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII has defined that the Holy Ghost appeared at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in human form.

              11.  Another important event in support of our doctrine on Malachias is also found in the revelations of Saint Catherine Emmerick, placed in the historical time of the prophetic mission of Malachias on Earth.  Here are the words of the Holy Doctor, who refers to the place of the Cenacle: "I saw the Prophet Malachias hidden under those same vaults.  There He Wrote His prophecies on the Most Holy Sacrament and the Sacri-fice of the New Covenant".

              12.  We turn now to examine and interpret the Book of Mala-chias, which is the golden clasp that closes the prophetic cycle of the Old Testament, in whose brilliant pages culminate all the promises given by God to the Chosen People.

              13.  Throughout His Book, Malachias presents His prophetic and doctrinal message in the manner of the other prophe-ts, that is, in regard to the form in which He transmits His prop-hecies.  Being the same Spirit who spoke by the Prophets, He displays the likeness of a man who receives God's orders.  Nevertheless, His words bear a particular seal, which the soul readily senses in the paternal love and gentle unction that flow mysterio-usly from His pen.  A moving example is found in the very first words He speaks to His people: "I have loved you, saith the Lord ... " (I, 2), words which do not appear in other Prophets as opening phrase, and which display the affectionate and direct intercourse bet-ween God and men, inviting them gently to reflect on and acknowledge their infidelities and failure to respond.  This does not mean that His words lack severe reproval and con-demnation of men's impiety.  For it is precisely Malachias who vividly describes the contamination and corrup-tion of the Priests-, of those who, abandoning the path of justice and sanctity, spend their lives in the practice of a whole series of aberrations with the conse-quent profanation of the true service of God.  Altogether simi-lar was the prophetic mission of Jesus Christ.

              14.  In the first Chapter of His Book, Malachias, after ma-nifesting His love, invites the Priests to reflect seriou-sly on their unworthy conduct and ingratitude to God, Who chose them and honoured them with the greatest dignity possible for men, the priesthood.  Malachias unburdens His paternal heart in plaintive and gentle reproaches, to let the unworthy priests understand what dishonour they show the Creator, what contempt for His Holy Name, confront-ing them with the malice of their action when they try to justify themselves as innocent and pretend ignorance of having behaved badly.  In verses 7 and 8 of the same Chapter, the Most Holy Prophet Malachias, in His usual manner, accuses them of having adulterated and profaned the true worship of God.  This He pre-sents in figures taken from the  forms of worship proper to the Old Tes-tament.  Though He speaks of the corruption of the Levitical Priests and the profanation of their worship, nevertheless the whole force of His prophetic words are directed particularly to the apostasy of these last times when the degradation of the priestly dignity and the profanation of the true worship of God have reached the depths of the abominable, an abyss of impiety.  Here is the Sacred Text: "You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say: Wherein have we polluted Thee? In that you say: The table of the Lord is despised.  If you offer a blind victim for sacrifice, is that not evil? Offer it to thy prince, if he will be pleased with it, or if he will accept thy face, saith the Lord of hosts" (I, 7-8).

              15.  In verse 10, Malachias closes prophetically the doors of the Old Testament, leaving the ancient sacrifices without force, since God will not now accept oblations or animal victims.  Which marks the transition to the offering and immola-tion of the Divine Victim, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who revaluates, in infinite degree, sacrifice in general.  He further accuses the Priests of adulterating levitical worship for not keeping intact the conditions required of a true sacrifice of the Old Testament, that is, the concomitance of the material element, the victim, with the internal act of offering to God.  That is what is meant by the words, "my will is not in you".  Let us see the Sacred Text: "Who is there among you that will shut the doors and will kindle on my altar gratis? My will is not in you, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will not receive a gift of your hand".

              16.  Verse 11 of Chapter I enshrines the most important and transcendental prophecy of Malachias, that which foretells the institu-tion and universal establishment by Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the perpetuation of the Sacrifice of Calvary.  This prophecy, up to now, has been fulfilled only in limited extent in respect to all places.  It will attain complete fulfillment in the Messianic Kingdom.  No prophet has presented this doctrine with such clarity and precision of

detail as has Malachias.  It is clearly seen that the Holy Ghost, who spoke by the prophets, that is, Malachias, has reserved to Himself the moment personally to reveal that great eternal event.  Here is the Sacred Text: "For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles:and In every place there is sacrifice and there is offered to my name a clean obla-tion.  For my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts".

              17.  In verse 12, Malachias refers to the sup-pression of the perpetual Sacrifice, that is, the Holy Mass, and the introduction of the `Novus Ordo', that abominable fruit of the apostasy of the Roman Church.  The `Novus Ordo' abhors all sacrif-ice whatever, and replaces it with a mere banquet blasphemous and idolatrous worship, whose purpose is to deny God the glorifica-tion and infinite reparation which He recei-ves in  the Sacrifice of the Mass, thus, through an abominable Lutheran supper, to offer sacrilegious worship to Satan.  This idolatrous worship finds expression in the whole mundane structure of the modern satanic liturgy, where there is no more altar of sacrifice but rather a table facing the people.  The Celebrant is no longer called a Priest, but rath-er the president of the assembly.  He faces the people like an actor, centres all the attention on himself, and occupies a throne in the place where previously stood the Blessed Sacrament.  In addition he degrades his ministry by allowing in the sacred enclosure of the presbytery lay people, who perform functions that pertain only to the Priest.  Here is verse 12: "And you have profaned it in that you say:the table of the Lord is defiled:that which is laid thereupon is vile, with the fire that devoureth it".  It is contempt of the sacred under pretext of a fal-se renovation adapted to the times.

              18.  We turn now to interpret verse 13, whose words are the following: "And you have said:Behold the fruit of our labour, and you make it vile, saith the Lord of hosts, and of the plunder you offered the lame and the sick, and these you offered:shall I perchance accept it at your hands, saith the Lord?" In the presence of this prophecy, and without the need of further reflec-tion, there appear the characteristic marks of the anti-mass, which is the `Novus Ordo'.  Whereas in the true Sacrifice of the Mass a pure Host is offered and immolated, which is the Body and Blood of Christ, in the anti-mass is offered the fruit of man's labour, resulting in a desecrated and degraded worship of God.  This last, is contained in the first part of verse 13.  In the verse we are examining there is a curious point that is very significant: "And of the plunder you offered the lame and sick, and these you offered".  We affirm that in this simple phrase is contained all the work of masonry culminating in the abolition of the perpetual Sacrifice and the introduction of the satanic mass, since that is the fruit of the appropriation and assimila-tion of heretical liturgies, in which Protestants and Jews participated and which calls down the Wrath of God, as can be seen in the last part of the verse.

              19.  We complete the above doctrine referring to verse 14, which expresses the Divine malediction for the deceit of the Hierarchy of the official Roman Church.  For, while they have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, they dare to offer the Lord a wretched worship that opens the door to every kind of abomination and which is the official pass to en-ter hell.  Here is the Sacred Text: "Cursed is the deceitful man that hath in his flock a healthy male, and making a vow immolates that which is feeble to the Lord:for I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the Gentiles".

              20.  In the second Chapter the Most Divine Prophet speaks directly of the Priesthood, presenting the doctrine of the good qualities required in a true minister of the Altar, given that he has been chosen by God and raised to his high dignity in order to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to  administer the Sacraments, and to be model of virtue, guardian of the faith and vessel of Wisdom.  This is contained in verses 6 and 7: "The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found on his lips:he walked with me in peace, and in justice, and turn-ed many away from iniquity.  For the lips of the Priest shall guard wis-dom, and they shall seek the law at his mouth;because he is the Angel of the Lord of hosts".  On the other hand he condemns the evil conduct of the priests and their corruption of doctrine, since by their preaching they have led the faithful away from the path of truth and have scandal-ized them, as is expressed in verse 8: "But you have led away and have caused many to violate the law:you have made void the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts".  In the same verse is contained, in figurative manner, the profanation of the Sacrifice of the Mass, which draws from the lips of Malachias the most severe pronouncements condemning those outrages and revealing His irresistible revulsion.  Take for example one of these declarations: "I will send poverty upon you, and will curse your blessings, yea I will curse them" (II, 2), "and I will scatter upon your face the ding of your solemnities, and it shall drag you away with it" (II, 3).  In verse 4 of the same Chap-ter, He foretells the command of Christ to His disciples to perpet-uate the Mass which He instituted at the Last Supper.  Malachias expresses it speaking figuratively of the Le-vitical sacrifices: "And you shall know that I have sent you this com-mandment, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts".

              21.  There could not be absent from His prophe-cies the doctrine of the spiritual espousal of the ministerial Priest with the Chur-ch.  It is found in verses 14 and 15 of the second chapter. "And you have said:For what cause? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, whom thou hast despised:yet she is thy part-ner, and the woman thou didst espous-e.  Did not He who is One make her, and is she not a particle of His spirit? And what doth that One seek, but a progeny of God? Watch over your spirit then, and despise not the wife of thy youth".  In the words of these verses the Holy Ghost speaks implicitly of His very special espousal with the Priestly Soul in indis-soluble union.  At the same time He reveals explicitly the espousal of the Soul of the Priest with the Most Holy Soul of Mary, signified by the word `the woman'.  The Priest, precisely, on being espoused to Mary, is espoused to the Church.  And in virtue of Espousal with Mary, is espoused with Christ.  And being espoused with Christ, Head of the Mystical Body, he is espoused with the Soul of the Church, which, is the Holy Ghost, and with the whole Mystical Body of Christ.  Therefore the ministe-rial Priest owes everything to his Spouse, the Church, since mystically he is one flesh and blood with her, which in unfathomable manner sur-passes the bond of the Sacrament of matrimony.  If the latter is an indissoluble and most sacred bond of union, what must be the sublimity of the union between the Priest and the Church!  Here we have the absolute need for sacred priestly celibacy, precious token of fidelity of the sacred spouse to the Divine Spouse, for, if that perpetual vow  is broken, the Priest be-comes an adulter-er, sacrilegious, by breaking the faith he owes to his Divine and Mo-st Holy Spouse, through a repugnant concubinage with a daughter of prostitu-tion.  His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII defines magisterial-ly the essence of the ministerial Priesthood as the participation of the Priest's Soul in the Divine Souls of Christ and Mary, in virtue of Mys-tical Espousal with the Most Divine Soul of Christ through Espousal with the Divine Soul of Mary,

              22.  We shall now overcome the sole remaining difficulty for the Divinity of Malachias, that found in Chapter II, verse I of His Book.  The Sacred Text according to the Vulgate speaks thus: "Is not One the Father of all of us? Hath not one God created us? Why then doth eve-ry one of us despise his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers?" In view of what this text seems to say, the difficulty arises from the words in the first person plural, so that the Most Holy Prophet appears to be merely one more of flesh and blood.  We find the solution of the problem in the Greek of the Septua-gint, in which the verse is expressed in the second person plural, which we quote in the following: "Hath not one God created you ? Is not He the Father of all of you ? Why then does each one despise his brother, violating the covenant of your fathers?" Besides the favorable conclusion reached by compari-ng this verse in both translations of Sacred Scripture, we also affirm the inaccuracy of the Latin text.  Here we keep in view the whole context of the Book of Mala-chias, which maintains the second person plural.  For that reason, verse 10, which offers the difficulty now solved, is, in that Latin transla-tion, strangely inconsistent and interrupts the uniformity of expression, admira-bly sustained by the pen of Malachias throughout the very luminous pages of His Book.

              23.  In Chapter III, the Most Holy Prophet Malac-hias resu-mes in few brief pages all the mystery of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, which culminates in the Messianic Kingdom.  In verse 1, Malachias, who is the Holy Ghost, is mysteriously sig-nified by the Angel precursor of the great events of the Church.  We give the text in the following: "Behold, I send my Angel and He shall prepare the way before my face.  And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the Angel of the Testament whom you desire shall come to His temple.  Behold He cometh, saith the Lord of hosts".  If we ascend in spirit to the life of the Blessed Trinit-y, we have to admit, necessarily, that the love of God, which is the Holy Ghost, is the impellent of all God's works "ad extra", first manifested in the marvellous Work of Creation, where the Spirit of God overshadowed the waters giving life to all.  If we examine the whole content, histori-cal, doctrinal and prophetic, of the Old Testament, we have to admit that it was the Holy Ghost who filled God's People with inspira-tions, taught them and spoke to them through the prophets.  It is the Holy Ghost who closes, prophetically, the Old Testament, it is He who opens the door of the New Testament, effecting through His grace the Incarnation of the Word in the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary.  The verse also contains the doctrine on Saint John the  Baptist, the Angel Precursor of the first Co-ming of Christ, as instrument of the Holy Ghost.  We reaffirm this doct-rine with the following Gospel words referring to Saint John the Bap-tist: "And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb" (Luke I, 15).  Therefore it was the same Divine Spirit who acted and spoke through the Baptist.  The phrase "the Angel of the testament whom you desire", signifies the Coming of the Messias, who is "the desired of the eternal hills".  The life of Christ on earth was the fullness of the action of the Holy Ghost, being, as God, consubstantial with Him, and, as Man, Christ possessed the greate-st fullness of grace, acting always in harmony with divine inspira-tion.  The phrase, "the Lord whom you seek", refers to the Second Coming of Christ, the culmination of the fullness of the action of the Holy Ghost on Earth, where the Angel precursora is the Most Holy Virgin Mary, always full, through the Holy Ghost, of all vir-tue and grace in imponderable degree.  As Mary, Mother and Hea-rt of Cre-ation, was the cooing of the Holy Ghost hovering over the waters, so is Mary, Mother and Heart of the Second Coming of Christ, also the cooing of the Spirit Who renews the face of the Earth.

              24.  We continue our interpretation of Chapter III, which vividly presents the historic moment of the first general apostasy.  As in His first Coming, Christ finds it necessary to seek new apostles to consoli-date His Church, howbeit, now He does it through Mary.  Now our apostles are the Hierarchs of the Palmarian Church, whose Head is Pope Gregory XVII, and who are the Marian Apostles of the Last Times.  Mala-chias in certain verses of this Chapter, gives as a glimpse of the hero-ic and glorious action of these new apostles, who are in complete oppo-sition to a corrupt and idolatrous world.  Because, outside of the Palmarian Church, there prevails the greatest spiritual darkness known to his-tory.  Malachias, Soul and Fortitude of the Church, foretells the abundance of grace that will be poured out over the Palmarian apostles.  These He will gather beneath His snow-white wings for them to obtain the virtue of perseverance, once they have been tried and purified through their co-operation with grace.

              25.  It is the moment to present the doctrine of confirma-tion in grace of the Palmarian Apostles, contained in the pages of the text of Malachias.  This Holy Council affirms and defines that the Hierarchy of the Palmarian Church, those who remain faithful in this arduous period of the Church's existence in the desert, will receive, in a flood of Divine Mercy, the precious gift of confirmation in grace.  We affirm and define that this will take place before the conquest of the Great Palmarian Empire, since such an extraordinary infusion of strength will be necessary so as not to fail in that hazardous and laborious mission.  The privilege of confirmation in grace will also be extended to a number of religious and faithful of the Palmarian Church to whom the Most Holy Virgin Mary judges opportune to grant such a gratuitous privilege, for the greater glory of God and the good of the Church.  With what we have said, we do not pretend to limit the action of God, - an  impossible sup-position, - since He can confirm in grace whomsoever He choose and whensoever he please.

              26.  Through this most singular and par-ticular gift of con-firmation in grace, the Church will be ex-alted and specially enriched, since the Virgin Mary, Universal Mediatrix, will open and widen the flood-gates of the infinite store of grace, in a torrential outpouring never before known.  This will benefit the whole Church in superabundant manner, and many of her members will attain to unheard of grades of sanctity.  Many of them will be able to surpass in holiness even those confirmed in grace, since this special gift does not imply the power to acquire grades of holiness which cannot be surpassed.  Confirmation in grace is for the good of the Church, and not an exclusive right of the recipient.

              27.  It is admirable how the Divine Spirit has reserved for Himself personally to preach the confirmation in grace of the Palmarian Apostles.  That extraordinary grace will be the work of the Divine Mary, Mother of the Church and Immaculate Dove, since Our Lord Jesus Christ has commended, especially in these critical moments, the salvation and survival of the Church to His Most Holy Mother.  And She embraces it all and with wisdom arranges Christ's greatest triumph.

              28.  Verse 12 of Chapter III, referring to the Palmarian Apostles confirmed in grace, honours them with the title `Blessed', which means that they are guaranteed their eternal salvation, since nothing will be able to separate them from the grace of God, now that their souls are marked with the seal of impeccability, which is an extrinsic, that is a moral immpeccability, and consists in the special privi-lege, granted by God, that keeps them actually from falling into sin.  That is the meaning of the words of the same verse: "For you shall be a precious land", which is to say that, through confirmation in grace, they will enjoy, in anticipation, though partial-ly, the Messianic Kingdom.  At the present moment the Palmarian Apostles have not yet obtained this singular privilege, and only God knows the exact moment.  For that reason, cherishing the hope, they must, day by day, be exercised patiently in the fight against the enemies of the soul so to merit such an unusual grace.  Only he who perseveres will obtain it.

              29.  Confirmation in grace of the Palmarian Apostl-es is, as has been said, the seal of impeccability, the special grace not to sin, either mortally or venially.  Nevertheless, God will permit in the souls of those confirmed in grace, certain defects and imperfections, which, while not entering in the concept of moral impeccability, will serve to keep men from venerating unduly the Palmarian Apostles, in the sense of idoliz-ing them, for only to God is adoration due, according to the words: "Only One is good, and He is God" (Matt. XIX, 17).  Besides, confirmation in grace does not exclude the `fomes peccat-i', precisely in order for the Palmarian Apostl-es confirmed in grace to gain merit by exercising virtue heroically.  Because,  although the powers of hell can no longer make them fall, neverth-eless they will keep pursuing them day and night by divine permis-sion.  In that way the Apostles confirmed in grace will have to sustain against them a fierce and constant war through prayer and great penance.  Verse 16 also refers to the confirmation in -grace.  We pause to consider the phrase, "and a book of remem-brance was written before him", which we shall put in relationship with verses 4 and 5 of Chapter III of the Apocalypse of Saint John, where he says: "But thou hast a few persons in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments:and they shall walk with me in white garments, because they are worthy (v.  4).  He that shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of Life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his Angels" (v.  5).  We interpret that verse 4, in speaking of the Church at Sardis, indicates the Roman Church of the general apostasy, whose last true Pope was Saint Paul VI.  With the election of his succes-sor, Pope Gregory XVII, commences the period of the Church of Philadelphia, which is the Palmarian Church.  Verse 4, speaks of certain persons in Sardis who have not defiled their garments.  These are the Pal-marian Apostles, chosen by the Most Holy Virgin and ta-ken uncor-rupted out of the apostate Church.  In the same verse is seen the confirmation in grace of those apostles, indi-cated in these words: "And they shall walk with me in white garments, because they are worthy".  Verse 5 refers to all the other members of the Palmarian Church, who, not enjoying the privilege of confirmation in grace, will, none the less, if they persevere to the end receive their white garments in the Messia-nic Kingdom or in Heaven.  The phrase, "and I will not blot out his name out of the book of Life", applies to all the members of the Church who have attained to their final perseverance.  Which, in relation to the Apostles confirmed in grace, is understood starting from the moment of that confirmation.  Reflecting on this doctrine, we affirm that the mem-bers of the true Church are written in the book of Life at the moment they receive Sanctifying Grace in their Baptism, - and that their name is blotted out from that book if they commit mortal sin, to be re-inserted if they recover Grace.  The Palmarian Apostles who receive the privilege of confirmation in grace will never then be blotted out of the book of Life from the moment of reception of that most special gift.  And that is also the meaning of verse 17 of Chapter III of Malachias, of which we transcribe these substan-tial words: "In the day that I have to work they shall be for me a special possession".

              30.  We shall conclude by examining and interpret-ing Chap-ter IV, the final one, of Malachias, placing particular attention on verses 5 and 6, which say: "Behold I will send you Elias the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (v.  5).  And he shall convert the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers:lest I come and strike the earth with anathema" (v.  6).  In the light of our interpretation, we affirm the true mean-ing of these verses, which ought not to be underst-ood in the literal sense of all the words.  It is defined doctrine that Elias,  accompanied by Henoch and others, will come to preach penance during the Reign of Anti-christ, which is the meaning of verse 5.  With their preaching they will lend the Church great assistance, since Elias will collaborate efficaci-ously in the conversion of the Jewish people.  That conversion will be attained, and Henoch will collaborate in the conver-sion of many gentiles.  We give now the correct interpretation of the final wo-rds of verse 6: "Lest I come and strike the earth with anathema".  It is to be understood that the preaching of Elias and Henoch will be under the authority of Pope Gregory XVII, to whom they will lend their assistance, and that, thanks to the Church, God will not strike the earth with anathema, a virtue that cannot exclusively be attributed to the preaching of Elias, but rather to the action of the Church in all her Mystical Body, since sole-ly to attribute that virtue to the preaching of Elias and Henoch would be to imply that the Pope, and consequently the Church, would not have re-mained in existence in that time.

  principal page