Da Vinci code: Doomsday in 4006

Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci predicted that the world would end in 4006, a Vatican researcher has claimed.

According to Sabrina Sforza Galitzia, da Vinci foresaw the end of the world in a "universal flood" which would begin on March 21, 4006 and end on November 1, 4006.

Leonardo da Vinci predicted that the world would end in 4006

"He believed that this would mark a new start for humanity," she said.

The Vatican researcher came to the conclusion by deciphering the clues which are available in da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ mural - the lunette above his painting of Jesus Christ with his disciples before crucifixion.

“There is a da Vinci code - it is just not the one made popular by Dan Brown,” said Galitzia, who studied da Vinci manuscripts as a researcher at California University in Los Angeles and now works in the Vatican archives.

Last year, the Vatican published her study ‘The Last Supper of Leonardo in the Vatican’, in which she examined a tapestry of the Last Supper made for King Louis XIII of France, based on da Vinci’s design for his famous mural.

Galitzia said she was working on a sequel which would explain da Vinci’s hidden “code”, involving signs of the zodiac and his use of the 24 letters of the Latin alphabet to represent the 24 hours of the day.

Da Vinci had seen the story of humanity as leading to "the sum of all things, the final reckoning" described in the Book of Revelations but also by ancient writers such as Plato and Aristotle, the Times quoted Galitzia as saying.

He had been a scientist and man of faith who had lived in "difficult times" and had hidden his messages "so as not to be attacked", she said. Da Vinci began working on the Last Supper in 1495 and finished it in 1498.

It was restored between 1978 and 1999 after it had badly deteriorated. - PTI

Nostradamus Predictions

Is the End of the World for December 2012?

This topic is making a buzz on internet right now: is december 2012 the date of the apocalypse? Are we already doomed and will a giant comet strike planet earth?

Many predictions from all over the world and ages tend to agree on one point: the world should change within the next few years. Some believe it will be a dramatic event and they call it doomsday. Some prefer to believe in an era change, with planet earthsurviving.

I'm making this lense to explore the passionnating subject of 2012's predictions. From Mayas to Nostradamus and from mythology to science, I will try to be as complete as possible to make sure you won't miss anything about the "2012 apocalypse".

The Prophecy of the Mayan Calendar

First, we need to say a few words about the people that lived in Central America until the Spanish conquests. Apart from Aztecs, the mayan civilization represents an important period of the Mexican history. Located in the Yucatan province, Mayas had powerful shamans who were studying the cycles of the universe. They believed an accurate observation of the stars and planets would allow them to predict the future. Actually, they did! Long before these events happened, Mayan shamans foresaw Christopher Colombus' arrival and the end of their civilization.

Another prediction made by the shamans directly concerns us, today. They believed that an important event would happen in 2012, precisely on December 21st.

This prediction would have no importance if it wasn't confirmed by science. Thanks to technology and complex calculations made by advanced computers, astronomers confirm what Mayan shamans felt, giving credit to their prediction.

We know today that on 21 December 2012, planet Earth and the Sun will be exactly aligned with the center of the galaxy, the Milky Way. Scientists are not sure, yet they think this could cause magnetic turbulences. Concretely, this possibly means the happening of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and such. Actually, that's exactly what Mayan shamans prophesied.

LINUNDUS says …

The end of the world is the time when we leave this earthly world for eternal life to come … either in HELL or in Heaven. We are the architects of our own eternal life. So, let us design our earthly lives to suit where we go after the end of the world.

You might be interested to read more of this topic at REVELATION REVEALED.

For we walk by faith, not by sight

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.

He is required to sit on a log the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises.

Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm.

The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold.

It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the log next to him.

He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone.

Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.

When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

If you liked this story, pass it on.

If not, you took off your blindfold before dawn.

Moral of the story:

Just because you can't see God,

Doesn't mean He is not there.

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."

Evils of Divorce

Yesterday (4^th October) was the 27^th Sunday of Year B, and the Gospel reading is according to Mk 10: 2-16. Jesus is speaking about divorce. The celebrant at Stella Maris Church, Rev. Fr. Tony Majiwat reminded the congregation that ‘what God has united, man must not divide’. He also spoke about the evils of divorce that, among others, destroys a family which leads to the sufferings of children through no fault of theirs.

In the western countries with soaring single mother pregnancies, with the sense that youth crime and dysfunction amongst young people is out of control, the UN survey says that our children are the least happy in the world. Despite this our government applies sticking plasters to the symptoms, rather than dealing with the cause, the health of the family.

It is the family that is sick in those countries (including ours), until we address that, our social problems will continue.

(CNS) -- Many children raised by cohabitating, separated, divorced or remarried parents are deprived of fixed points of reference and can suffer from inner conflict and confusion, Pope Benedict XVI told Brazilian bishops.

The traditional family based on a man and woman united in an indissoluble marriage is under attack in today's world, he said.

"There are forces and voices in present society that seem committed to demolishing the natural homestead of human life," the pope said during a meeting Sept. 25 with bishops from the northeastern area of Brazil.

Families in secularized cultures, especially where divorce is legal, seem deeply immersed in uncertainty, he said.

More and more couples build their unions on the fragility and impermanence of cohabitation, which is merely based on an "individual's feeling or subjectivity," he said.

He said as divorces increase and cohabitation is on the rise, the children in these situations are "deprived of their parents' support and become victims of malaise and abandonment, thus spreading social disorder."

Children need concrete fixed points of reference such as having one set of parents who will always be united as a family, the pope said.

He said divorce is sabotaging the traditional sense of an extended family by creating too many "parents," such as stepmothers and stepfathers.

In fact, the majority of children today "who feel like they are orphans are not children without parents, but children who have too many parents," he said.

This situation of a child caught between the different expectations and mixed messages of too many stepparents "cannot help but create inner conflicts and confusion" within the child, he said.

The church must reach out to families and help them base their union on a solid Christian foundation and help them resist becoming "deceived and seduced by certain relativistic lifestyles promoted by films, television and other media outlets," he said.

Pope Benedict also warned the bishops of the "irregular and dangerous situation" of divorced and remarried Catholics. Only the first marriage exists, he said, "there is no husband and wife in a second marriage," rather they are a man and woman living in adultery.

Remarried couples must resolve their situation by seeking the help of a priest who can help all the people involved, he added.

The bishops were meeting with Pope Benedict and Vatican officials for their "ad limina" visits, required of heads of dioceses to brief the pope on the situation in their home territories.

October: Month Of The Rosary

Stella Maris Church, Tg. Aru has declared that the whole month of October is the month of the Rosary. Rosary prayers will be held on Weekdays i.e. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5.30pm, except on Wednesdays when the Rosary recitation starts earlier at 5.00pm as the Divine Mercy Prayers starts at 5.30pm – all preceding the Mass at 6.00pm.

A Plenary Indulgence may be granted by those reciting five decades of the Rosary in church, as a family at home, or in general whenever several persons have gathered together for a good purpose, and in other circumstances a Partial Indulgence (Enchiridion of Indulgences, 1999 edition, concession 17).

This was announced by Rev. Fr. Fundes who celebrated last Sunday Mass (27^th Sept) at Stella Maris Church. As the subject matter was a lengthy topic to explain, Rev. Fr. Fundes challenged the congregation to check it out from the internet the religious meaning of Plenary Indulgence and its purpose.

For ease of my readers, I reproduce hereunder the “A Primer on Indulgences”:

The punishment already inflicted by the majority on such a one is enough; you should now relent and support him so that he may not be crushed by too great a weight of sorrow. 2 Cor. 2:6-7

Indulgences rank among the most poorly understood blessings of the Catholic Church. An indulgence is not permission from the Church to indulge in sin. It is not being indulgent with sinners. It is not the pardon of sin nor the remission of guilt. Now according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC):

An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. [CCC 1471]

A few points will be emphasized

First an indulgence is not the forgiveness of sins but only applies to the effects of past, forgiven sins. An indulgence is not a Sacrament but must rely on the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) - the Sacrament through which sins are forgiven by God. Forgiveness of sin and remission of punishment are different.

Secondly sin can have two consequences: eternal (everlasting) punishment and temporal (temporary) punishment. Very serious sin, i.e. mortal sin (1 John 5:16), "kills" our friendship with God and deprives us of eternal life. This loss is eternal punishment. It is not punishment from a vengeful God but the consequence of rejecting God - the Source of life. Not all sin is mortal (1 John 5:17), but all sin, even venial sin (less serious sin), needs correction. This correction is temporal punishment. It is demanded by God to correct the bad effects of our sin, e.g. restoring stolen goods. Spiritually it is the cleansing of our soul from earthly attachments due to our sin.

READ MORE HERE

Light a Candle ... on the Internet?

How's this for a high tech church?:

A Catholic church is allowing worshippers to light candles in memory of their loved ones over the internet as it seeks to reach out to a broader community.

READ HERE and HERE

Real Life Miracle Healing /Visit to Heaven

David and Mabel Chang

David’s miracle healing when he was warded at the Changi General Hospital (CGH) and was later transferred at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) where he was in coma for three days from Monday 16^th to Wednesday 18^th June 2008.

Caroline Phua interviewed both David Chang and his wife Mabel after his miraculous recovery from liver problems – a near death experience!

Pastoral (caution) note: David and Mabel Chang are faithful deaf members of the Deaf Faith Fellowship, a ministry of World Revival Prayer Fellowship. Experiences like what David had are not equal in authority to the Bible, and like prophecies, are not to be despised, but to be discerned. Take (only) what is good.

With the courtesy of World Revival Prayer Fellowship, the article is reproduced hereunder:-

Mabel, Sunday 15^th June 2008

My husband, David & I went for breakfast before our church service. David began feeling unwell so we decided that he should go home to rest while I went on to church. That day, I had a bad headache so I went home for a nap after church. David was not in and messaged that he was in Changi General Hospital (CGH). At 7pm, David returned from the hospital. However, he still felt very uncomfortable so we hurried back to the hospital where the doctor decided to ward David for further observation.

Mabel, Monday 16^th June 2008

I went to CGH the next morning to find David shaking in a fit. He said he could not see and then suddenly he lost consciousness. The doctors attending to him decided to transfer David to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) where they had more experience in dealing with liver problems similar to that which they had diagnosed David to suffer from.

David, Monday 16^th June 2008

I was at CGH when I must have passed out. One moment I was in hospital, the next, everything around me became a blur. Then I suddenly became detached from my body. A bright, big doorway was before me and I walked through. On the other side of the entrance, an angel met and led me to be judged by God. He explained about the Book of Life, saying that those who backslide and denied Him would be condemned to the Hell. Those who accepted Jesus as their Saviour, are faithful, and fear God, reading the Bible and worshiping Him will go to Heaven. Their names are found in the Book of Life and will be accepted and welcomed by God himself, into Heaven. Then I met Jesus! I could not see His face as it was dazzlingly and shining but I knew it was Him.

Mabel, Monday 16^th June 2008

David was at SGH’s ICU (Intensive Care Unit). He was in a coma and in a critical condition. Many tubes were plugged into him. The breathing support machine sucked air into his body and in the background, the heart-monitoring machine beeped, ticking the time he had left on earth. Doctors explained that his liver had failed and toxin had spread to all of his body. They told us to prepare for the worse. David, according to the doctor, was brain-dead. My whole family, mother-in-law and relatives all were weeping. Many people prayed earnestly for David.

David, Nil date

Heaven is amazingly beautiful. It is bright and shining, singing and worship music filled the atmosphere. Angels are everywhere. So are many happy people who had accepted Jesus. There is no need to have any food and there is no sickness. Our spirits feed on the word of God. The words “Holy, holy, holy” seemed to resound in my head. The angel beside me told me that Hell is drastically different. It is a heavy, dark and burdened place. None can see through the blinding darkness of hell.

Mabel, Tuesday 17^th June 2008

David was in a coma and did not wake up. His condition did not improve but became increasingly worse.

David, Nil date

I met four people/groups of people face to face in Heaven. I could see their faces only:

1) Bro. Lai – a deaf brother from Deaf Faith Fellowship

2) Former Senior Pastor P. Johnny from World Revival Prayer Fellowship

3) My father and sister

4) My relatives.

Brother Lai told me more about Heaven. He said Heaven is a beautiful place. In the back, I could see a cross. Those who accept Jesus would be at Heaven. Hell is terribly different from Heaven. It is a place of suffering where backsliders and those who deny Jesus who are judged, are sent. Brother Lai explained that God would clean our unclean and sinful hearts, leaving cleansed hearts in us if we confess. It is simple to confess our sins to God as He forgives us easily and readily.

Brother Lai asked for a favour from me. Could I tell Caroline Phua-Wong that he is happy in Heaven? He said that Caroline used to visit, care for and clean him for a very long time when he was sick in a nursing home.

I realized amazingly that we talked without using sign language! In Heaven, we do not need the sign language for we could all talk like normal people. Brother Lai looked younger and very different from when he was alive.

Former Senior Pastor P. Johnny looked wonderful. He was happy and very much younger in Heaven. His face was filled with glory and shone. I was again aware that I could talk to him normally.

Mabel, Wednesday 18^th June 2008

David was still in a coma. Doctors approached us about possibility of removing him from the breathing support machine. There was no improvement in his condition and he was beyond the doctors’ abilities to save. It would be useless for David to have a liver transplant, as there was absolutely no hope for recovery. Doctors explained as kindly as possible the expensive cost of keeping David alive on the breathing support machine. It would be a pointless financial burden for us. About 5pm that day, doctors again suggested that the family consider removal of the life support systems from David. I stopped them. I wanted my children and relatives to have a chance to be with David while he was still alive even though he was in a coma.

David, Nil date

I met my father, sister and relatives who were Christians – they looked younger and happy too. They encouraged me to walk the straight path of Jesus, be faithful to God and not to backslide. God spoke to me. He said we look old on earth but we will look young when we are in Heaven! He even showed me how young my wife, Mabel, would look when she is in Heaven one day. I was astonished.

Mabel, Wednesday 18^th June 2008

Our children, relatives, friends and pastors came to pray for David. The decision to remove the life support systems from David twisted like a strangling cord round my heart. I cried continuously, frightened to make the life and death decision for David. My daughter, Christine, Senior Pastor Kenny Chee and Pastor Barnabas Phua discussed funeral arrangements for David by both her church and WRPF in preparation for his passing on. Kenny, Barnabas and a few members of WRPF gathered inside David’s ICU room to pray for the trust to let God to take over the situation. Tubes from David’s mouth were smeared with blood – he had lost a lot of blood. It was time for me to make the final decision on the removal of all life support systems from him. My daughter, Christine, and son, Jeremy, agreed to let their father go and I consented. At around 11pm, doctors removed the oxygen mask. They expected David to pass on within 48 hours. My children and I stayed by his side praying and crying for him all night.

David, Nil date

While I was in Heaven, I could see my body in the hospital bed. My wife, son, daughter, mother, siblings and relatives, my daughter’s church pastor and her church friends, WRPF church Pastors Kenny Chee, Barnabas Phua and church friends were all praying for me. Jesus told me to go back to my family and take care of my liver. He asked me to control my hot temper and anger. He said the Bible is the truth. I must read it to keep close to Him. He gave me a last reminder about the Book of Life before sending me back. I said goodbye to Him and the angel led me to a small door. I walked to open it. The next thing I knew, I had woken up. I am still alive.

Mabel, Thursday 19^th June 2008

When the morning came, three doctors checked on David and found his eyes opened! His breathing was completely normal. The doctors were extremely puzzled and asked me how David woke up alive and well. This was something they never expected. Christine and I immediately told them that our God healed him. It was unbelievable to the doctors. A complete check was made on David and they pronounced him well. He was transferred to ICA for more observation. Drips and the feeding tube were again attached to him. David could recognize all of us; his family, relatives and friends. When many came and saw him, thanksgiving and praises to God overflowed. I am very grateful to God for bringing David back to us safely.

David, Thursday 19^th June 2008

I am thankful to God for those 3 days of coma and the unbelievable and enriching experience of Heaven.

Mabel, Friday 20^th June to Saturday 5^th July 2008

Daily, David showed physical improvement. Doctors monitored his liver and high blood pressure condition. He was finally discharged on 5^th July 2008, after 2½ weeks in hospital. When David shared his experience of heaven with us, we were amazed. Caroline Phua-Wong was shaken to hear Brother Lai’s words for her. Her visits to him had been done in utmost secrecy and no one could have known about it. We give glory and praise to our real and Almighty God. We would like to thank all their prayers for him and all of us. Hallelujah!

(Interviewed and written by Caroline Phua, edited by Aileen Wee)

Contributed by Dennis Lee.

St. Juan Diego's tilma: "completely outside" science

MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2009

In the middle of marking two feasts of the Blessed Mother -- the Assumption and the Queenship of Mary -- Zenit has published a report on one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Virgin: Juan Diego's tilma.

Take a look:

A physicist who has spent years researching the tilma bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is affirming that there is no scientific explanation for the phenomenon.

Adolfo Orozco stated this in a presentation given at an International Marian Congress that took place Aug. 6-8 in Phoenix.

The congress, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the Phoenix Diocese and the Institute of Guadalupan Studies, was dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Orozco gave a presentation on the image of the Virgin imprinted on St. Juan Diego's tilma, stating that it is "completely outside" any scientific explanation.

He explained that due to the humid, salty environment around the basilica where the tilma is kept in Mexico City, the cloak material should have decomposed years ago.

In fact, the researcher noted, this is what happened to a painted copy of the image that was made in 1789, on a material similar to the original tilma.

Although the copy was preserved behind glass, like the original, it had to be discarded eight years later because it was falling apart and the painting was fading, the physicist reported.

The original image, however, which was imprinted on the cloak when the Blessed Virgin appeared to the saint, remains intact after 478 years.

Orozco told his audience that this phenomenon is heightened by the fact that it should have been destroyed twice, once when nitric acid was accidentally spilled on a section of the cloth, and another time when a bomb exploded close to it.

He affirmed that there is no natural explanation for how the image has survived undamaged through time and potentially destructive events such as these.

You can find more at the Zenit link. H/T Googling God.