Have you heard of “The Warning” (aka “The Illumination of Consciences”)?

I’d heard of this supposed future event off and on through the years and it seemed like a great idea — that at a certain point in time, God would let everyone on Earth see the state of their soul for the purpose of straightening up, flying right and saving their souls. YouTuber Fr. Mark Goring, CC, even says he would gladly welcome it as a help for examining his conscience! (Isn’t it true that we’re often blind to our faults despite our good will?)

I never investigated the second-hand information I would receive from religious friends whose discernment I trusted. But of late, the chatter on the interwebs and elsewhere about The Warning is that … it is nigh. This, and a book called The Warning: Testimonies and Prophecies of the Illumination of Conscience by Christine Watkins, encouraged me to research further. (I am not necessarily recommending this book, I’m just recounting that it was part of my deep dive.)

Where did the notion of The Warning come from? From many saints and mystics, including: Bl. Anna Maria Taigi, St. Faustina, St. Edmund Campion, St. Pius IX, Fr. Stefano Gobbi (founder of the Marian Movement of Priests), the visionaries at the alleged Garabandal Marian apparitions, as well as the approved Marian apparitions in Betania, Venezuela. There are also current-day Catholics (my research didn’t include non-Catholic prophecies) all over the world who claim to be receiving messages from the Lord Jesus, Our Lady, God the Father and St. Michael regarding The Warning and other events unfolding and/or right around the corner. (Hint: They’re not all catastrophic. Think: the triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart!)

Personally, I’ve never been big on “private revelations” (anything outside Divine Revelation, the deposit of faith which all Catholics must believe), but neither have I been uninterested or turned my back on them. I actually revel in the multitude of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s worldwide apparitions and devotions through the centuries.

At times, she just needed to deliver a message to a small village, sometimes her image miraculously appeared and took up residence among the people, and more recently her messages and prophecies have been dire warnings for everyone, asking that her messages be disseminated.

Besides predicting sorrowful future events that can be mitigated or avoided by prayer and sacrifice, Mary’s main mission as a Prophetess sent by her Son, the Lover of Mankind, is to preach the Gospel anew: repentance, union with God, charity to our neighbour, living in a state of grace, following God’s commands and ways, living for Heaven, conversion of heart and of life, praying and working for the salvation of souls.

Perhaps we want to dismiss celestial visits and messages because they often seem to be “negative” or even frightening, but the Bible tells us not to despise prophecy and that God always lets His prophets know what He’s doing — otherwise, the vast majority of people, even those already striving for holiness, might misunderstand what’s happening around them. While He was on Earth, Jesus urged us to “read the signs of the times,” and St. Paul tells us to “test the spirits,” meaning to engage with what appears to be a valid intervention from Heaven (and, of course, the Church always helps us by carefully examining all such claims).

The Warning really captured my attention of late because of the undeniable signs — especially of what Second Thessalonians calls a “Great Deception” — that I’m witnessing all around our world today. As I said, I never paid much heed before, but now I can’t ignore the “unprecedented” times we’re living in. Well-respected Catholic evangelists like Mark Mallett are sounding the warning bell that we just might be living in the Book of Revelation right now! Check also the Catechism of the Catholic Church #670-679.

Above all, these prophecies are telling us not to fear in these crazy, evil times when — to quote Fr. Goring — the world has gone bonkers! Satan must ask permission for every single thing he does, and Our Lord owns the endgame. Trust in God’s providence no matter what happens. We stand on God’s sure promises that He will be faithful in the midst of tribulation.

As the saying goes: “In the end, everything will be OK. If it’s not OK, it’s not the end.”

(Sr. Helena, fsp, is a Daughter of St. Paul. She holds a Masters in Media Literacy Education and studied screenwriting at UCLA. www.HellBurns.com  Twitter: @srhelenaburns)