Announcements:

• Spanish and Hungarian translations of The Crown of History are now complete. I’m now working on typesetting/formatting/etc., and I will soon publish them. Also: Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, Croatian, and Turkish translations of Thy Will be Done are now in the works. Stay tuned!
• Divine Will Orthodoxy: In the few years since I last addressed this issue, but especially lately, I’ve again noticed some problematic interpretations of Luisa’s writings seeping back into discourse on these sublime, authentic, orthodox revelations. This must be addressed. If, therefore, you’re among those now being blessed by Jesus’ revelations to Luisa – and especially if you are frequenting the writings/talks of people promoting these revelations – then please heed this post, and kindly consider sharing it with those who may have been exposed to the problematic interpretations: https://dsdoconnor.com/divine-will-orthodoxy/ . It is imperative that we not allow the bad interpretations of the Divine Will revelations to spread unchecked.
• And, some lengthier announcements/prophetic thoughts are at the bottom of this post

Have Holy Weeks in years past sailed right on by, leaving you only with the feeling that you did not do enough to appropriate the graces that God readily pours out in these holiest of days? Or are you simply hoping to ensure that this year’s Holy Week is particularly powerful? Either way, I have one recommendation:

The Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Or, here, and here,  are pages I found where you can order them. I don’t have these particular copies though, so I cannot speak to their quality.)

In these extraordinary private revelations, Jesus tells the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta about all the details of His Passion – from the moment He departed from His Mother before the Last Supper, up to His being laid in the tomb after His death on the Cross. But these pages do not merely convey a history lesson. Rather, by asking God for the Gift of Living in the Divine Will, and proceeding to read these Hours prayerfully, we mystically enter into the Passion along with Christ and console His Sacred Heart, satiating His thirst on the Cross. What then transpires is so powerful that, Jesus tells Luisa, a soul can be saved for each word we read of the Hours. He moreover promises that protection from the Chastisements can be afforded to those places where these Hours are prayed. 

So, what should you do this Holy Week?

In addition to whatever else you have planned (which hopefully includes fasting, prayer, a good Confession, and participating in the Holy Week Liturgies): open the Hours and read. It is that simple. Don’t fret about the “right” way to “do them.” Just do them.

Many people inexplicably feel great aversion to beginning this conquest. Some invisible force battles against them so much as picking up this book (or printing out or opening up the PDF!) and even reading a few words. I assure you that this is nothing other than the devil doing his best to prevent you from reading the Hours, for he knows how destructive they are to his diabolical plans. Implore God’s grace, and command yourself to simply do it anyway. 

It would be wonderful if you can manage to read the entire Hours this Holy Week, but nevertheless remember: a little is infinitely better than nothing. This, incidentally, is one of the keys to the spiritual life in general: never allowing our concerns about what we feel we won’t be able to accomplish prevent us from doing the small, easy, simple thing before us right now that we certainly can accomplish. God can multiply even a miniscule effort to bear enormous fruit. But what are we left with when we attempt to multiply even the largest conceivable number by zero? We are, of course, still left with nothing. 

Note: The “Reflections and Practices” often included after each of the 24 Hours was written by St. Hannibal himself. They are amazing and I strongly encourage reading them! Some other editions of the Hours also include, at the end of each Hour, relevant passages from Luisa’s Volumes. These, too, are very good to read. But, strictly speaking, the Hours themselves do not include either of these; so if you are pressed for time, you can simply read just the content of the Hours.

***

Two posts ago, I explained why nuclear war would not and will not be the humanity-ending or civilization-ending event depicted within popular dystopian fiction, for example, “The Road” (this movie doesn’t explicitly name nuclear war as the apocalypse depicted, but it’s implicit and that’s how most people regard it), or perhaps the “Mad Max” movies (though I haven’t seen them.) Because of that explanation, I received one of the more amusing accusations I’ve yet secured – even more amusing, indeed, than when I was denounced as a freemason because of how I held my fingers when I counted to three on my hand in this video! This time, I was accused of being a government operative tasked with causing nuclear war by downplaying its severity. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint those who were hoping for some Malachi-Martin-esque intrigue, but I really am just a lowly adjunct philosophy professor [Another reminder, as I recently noticed some sites mistaken on this: I’m in my fifth year of working on my PhD, but I don’t have it yet – so I am not yet “Dr. O’Connor”]. But as I made clear in that very post, nuclear war would indeed be utterly apocalyptic and destructive to a degree without precedent in history since the Flood itself, or perhaps the Black Death. But truth trumps everything, and the notion that nuclear war would essentially (or even actually) end humanity are nothing but so-called “noble” lies; lies which, as with all lies, must be refuted. As the Chastisements that must come begin to enter into new stages, you must never let your hope waver. The Glorious Era of Peace is absolutely guaranteed, by Divine Decree, to follow these Chastisements. And that promise from Our Lord will be fulfilled so long as God is God. 

So be hopeful, but be more hesitant with worldly optimism. It may be that relatively little of the latter will be called for in the coming days, even if some developments seem to indicate positive trends. 

Pope Francis’ March 25th Consecration was undoubtedly a wonderful thing and I am sure it will bear good fruit. But I don’t think it was, well, “wonderful enough.” There wasn’t a requirement for all Bishops to participate, and there was the dilution of consecrating Russia by consecrating “ourselves, the church, and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.” Alas, at least Russia was named, and all Bishops were encouraged to participate, so I see no reason to regard it as “invalid.” (Though we are, of course, not talking about a literal Sacrament here.) Most importantly, let us, dear faithful, ensure we do our part: the First Saturday Devotion (and not only five of them; let us do so perpetually). Is what has transpired enough to avert World War 3? That will depend upon the Faithful. But my guess? No, it won’t. I hope I’m wrong, but I still think WW3 is coming. If this message to Gisella Cardia is authentic (forgive the repetition, but yet again I should say: I encourage discerning Gisella and taking her messages seriously, but not presuming validity – personally, I haven’t undertaken the discernment process I’d need to before feeling convicted in her authenticity), then WW3 is coming, notwithstanding the Consecration. The Medjugorje message given on the very day of the March 25th consecration was beautiful – there, Our Lady reminded us that she is listening to our prayers for peace – but there was no indication therein that anything had been averted by the events of that day. What is more, the Signs of the Times in this regard are only accelerating. Putin is only becoming even more violent, and Finland – which shares a 1,300km border with Russia – just signaled its intent to join NATO. (Recall that Putin’s desire to keep NATO away from Russia’s borders was a – if not the – primary reason he invaded Ukraine.) Meanwhile, NATO is undertaking its own massive eastern-flank troop buildup. If, dear critic, I’m just a “doom and gloom fearmongerer” for saying I think these things likely portend WW3, what do you suppose they portend? In any event, as my readers know well, I say none of this to instill fear; you who trust in God have nothing to fear. I say it only to instill a sense of urgency in engaging in The Mission, and to inspire you to spend less time distracted by naïve worldly daydreams about the future.