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Discernment of Private Revelation

Claims of Private Revelation: True or False?
An Evaluation of the messages of Patricia Mundorf

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In my humble and pious opinion as a faithful Roman Catholic theologian, the messages and claimed private revelation to Patricia Mundorf are false and are not from Heaven. A list of reasons and examples follows.

  • The following is commentary on: “Mary's Book of Preparations for the End Times As given to Patricia Mundorf” (http://www.giftstor.org/momneeds.htm)

    Each chapter is very brief; there is not enough material for what would properly be called a book. Message 1 is a few brief comments about sins of the world.

  • Message 2 is called 'Chapter One'

    It claims to present signs before the Warning (i.e. the Warning of Garabandal), but the signs are very general and have been present in the world for many years, e.g. weather changes, natural disasters, economic problems, stock market problems, murder, wars, etc.

    Compare these words to those of true private revelation and you will find that Mary does not give messages referring to the stock market, nor does she give a long list of natural disasters and claim that these are signs. It is a common characteristic of false private revelation that the messages list a long series of very common events and then claim that these are signs. In this way, the deceptive messages can later claim a fulfillment of prophecy merely because a common natural disaster has again occurred.

  • Message 3 is called “Your Warning Is About To Start,”

    It asks people to prepare with food and supplies, as well as spiritual preparations, as if for an imminent disaster. “Pray... for the Masonry that has entered your churches, and the city of Peter....” The implication that evil influences have entered the Church is a common theme in false private revelation. Now this message or book was given years ago, yet the Warning and the claimed disasters have not occurred. In particular, the request to store food implies that the Warning would occur soon, for food can only be stored for so long. The chapter says “these awful events that are to befall on you” yet years have passed and no such thing has occurred.

  • Message 4 is about the Warning.

    This material appears to have been borrowed from the true apparitions of Garabandal. However, it is distorted and it adds the claim that, at the time of the Warning, an antipope will try to take power. This prediction is vague, but it suggests that the Antichrist, here called 'the false christ,' will take power also about the same time. This claim that the Antichrist is in the world, or that he will soon take power, is perhaps the most common claim in the false private revelations.

  • Message 5 is called 'Chapter Two' and it is about the Miracle.

    Again this material is borrowed from the apparitions of Garabandal, and also distorted. False private revelations often take content from other apparitions and messages, and present it as if it were their own.

  • Message 6 is called 'Chapter Three.'

    Again, the message of Garabandal is imitated and distorted. The Chastisement is mentioned. Then a number of false claims are made, including the claim that the faithful will have Safe Havens to hide in during the Chastisement, led there by 'the light.' This claim is made by other false private revelations; it is a modified version of the Protestant idea of the Rapture, whereby the best Christians are taken out of the world before a time of suffering. But, in this modified version, the best Christians are kept from suffering in special refuges in the world. No true private revelation contains such a claim. Also, Sacred Scripture clearly teaches that the faithful must suffer, just as Christ has suffered.

    The claim is made that there will be One World Government. “Your Governments are planning a One World Rule. The evil ones will rule at this place and in your times.” This claim is also associated with other false private revelations. But while it is true that the Antichrist will be ruler over nearly the whole world, this event is for the distant future and it does not unfold as this chapter describes. The chapter claims that the one world government is a plot by various governments, whereas Scripture teaches that the Antichrist obtains power by overthrowing three kings (Daniel 7:24ff). Again, many false private revelations make the false claim that the Antichrist is in the world today or that he will take power soon. Such is not the case. There are many events described by Scripture as occurring prior to the eventual brief reign of the Antichrist.

    False claims are also made about the Pope and the Antichrist:
    “Once this has happened your anti-christ will have your Pope murdered, and will take his place. The one world government is being ruled by this anti-christ, this man proclaiming to be Christ come to save you. Many will believe, as he is amongst you now, waiting for his time to come to power.

    “I tell you of this anti-pope, christ, He is in the chambers waiting to come to power. Your Pope , Petrus will take the seat of Peter only to be murdered by this anti-christ, and he will sit on the throne of Peter.”
    This prediction is not true. The Antichrist, when he does arrive in the distant future, will not become Pope; he will not want to have such a lowly position of service. Instead, he will want to be worshipped as if he were a god.
    “Enoch and Elijah will come down from the heavens to battle the anti-christ at the temple. This my children will be the start of your Tribulation times.”
    This statement is not true, even if applied to the distant future when the Antichrist will take power. The appearance of the two prophets of Revelation 11 takes place in the last half of the Antichrist's reign of nearly seven years. It is not the start of the tribulation, but the last days of it. Also, they do not battle the Antichrist; they preach the truth and they pray to God. Again, this message of Patricia Mundorf has borrowed from another source (in this case the Book of Revelation) and then distorted it.

  • Message 7 is called 'Chapter Four.'

    It contains a jumble of predictions stated in previous chapters, as well as this false claim: “The anti-christ will be killed.” This sentence contradicts the teaching of Sacred Scripture which states that the beast (i.e. the Antichrist) and the false prophet will be thrown alive into the fires of Hell (Rev 19:20).

  • Message 8 is called 'Chapter Five' and is about the Three Days of Darkness.

    Again, this idea is borrowed from true private revelation and then distorted. The message claims that people should gather wood and light fires to keep warm during the three days of darkness. But true private revelations say that there will be no light from fire, but only from blessed candles.

    The message also falsely claims that if two men are caught in the field during these three days of darkness that one will be taken and the other left. This is not true. “For if a farmer, or a shepherd, or a worker in a field of labor were suddenly overcome, he endured an inescapable necessity.” (Wisdom 17:16, CPDV). In truth, anyone caught outside during the three days of darkness will be killed, good and bad. Many true private revelations have taught about the three days of darkness, and they say the opposite of what these messages say.

    The message also makes this false claim: “My Son, Jesus will reign on earth for 1000 years, I will tell you of your new earth in the next part.” This claim is false for a number of reasons. First, the three days of darkness is not associated with the imminent return of Christ. Second, Jesus does not reign bodily, in person, on earth for 1000 years (this is the heresy called millenarianism). Thirdly, the three days of darkness does not bring about the new earth spoken of in the Book of Revelation (Rev 21:1); that event occurs after the general resurrection, in the very distant future.

  • Message 9 is called 'Conclusion' and describes the supposed situation after the three days of darkness.
    “Your weather will be the same world wide, but at different times. All will have the four seasons. Cold will not get below freezing, and heat will not go above 80 degrees. Your rains will come as God sees the need. The snow will come also, but you will never have floods blizzards, nor deep snow again.”
    This description is self-contradictory; it does not get below freezing, but there is snow. Also, the idea that God will miraculously change the weather so that every part of the world has four seasons does not accord with any of the true private revelations on the subject of the three days of darkness. Why would God perform such a continuous miracle, just to affect the weather? This claim does not agree with the miracles described in Scripture and in true private revelation.

  • False Prediction: President and the Pope
    Message of January 4, 2001: “My Dear Children of the World, I your Mother of the World, the Mother of God, come to beg of you to pray for an extension of a time period of a few minutes in the official swearing in of your president of the United States of America. I have shown my daughter, Patricia Mundorf, of certain events occurring if prayers do no mitigate this. Your president will be shot, and My Pope John Paul ll will be murdered on that date.

    I beg all of you to act n this request as best as you can. Call on your officials and ask for a delay. Let the Vatican be on notice that a man from the Islamic tribe is making ready to assassinate the Pope. Pray, Pray, PRAY !!!”
    No such assassination, nor any attempt, occurred on that date against either man. Now someone might claim that this event was averted by prayer, but the Virgin Mary dwells in Heaven, beyond Time and Place, with God who is Eternal. And God knows the whole future with absolute certainty. So neither God, nor Mary, would give such a sensational message, knowing that no such thing would happen. Also, it is absurd to claim that a delay of a few minutes would prevent such an event.

    The claim that a delay of only a few minutes would avert the event is a clever ploy. Such events as a swearing in of a President are always subject to such brief delays. It is like predicting that the government will be inefficient, or that a politician will lie. This is not the kind of prediction that comes from Heaven.
    Patricia adds in her own words: “Well on Tuesday morning, the 2 nd of Jan. 2001 The Blessed Mother showed me a vision, in the vision, our Pope John Paul ll is shot by a long big gun, with something on the end that's fat. Mother also showed me our president Bush being gunned down.”
    Yet no such event occurred.

  • False prediction of nuclear, chemical, and bacteriological weapons use in 2001
    “If this war is not mitigated, then in this your year of 2001, this war will contain nuclear, bacteria, and chemical warfare, causing many countries to completely disappear.” (Jan. 6, 2001)
    This event did not occur. The claim that it was averted by prayer is not convincing because God knows the whole future with absolute certainty. He would not send the Virgin Mary to make false predictions.

  • Worldly language and topics
    “I foretold you of your interest rates falling, and your stock markets falling over this past year” (Jan. 6, 2001)

    “Today, I also will speak of your end of times as you know them, I have told you of many signs that would be given, I am sure you have seen many of these signs, although many refuse to listen. Storms, Wars, rumors of wars, your stock market, I warned you that when your Dow got below 10,000 and your Nasdaq below 2,000 and stayed there for a few days, you would know your times is upon you.” (March 17, 2001)
    The Virgin Mary does not make stock market predictions, nor do messages from Heaven concern themselves with worldly and profane things. Do you really think that the Blessed Virgin Mary would give a supernatural apparition in order to predict the Dow Jones Average and the NASDAQ? False private revelations often contain such worldly language.

    Also, the phrase 'rumors of wars' is from Matthew 24, where Jesus talks about the future. But Jesus did not say 'rumors of stock market declines' or the like. Mary and Jesus do not talk that way.
    “I have told you before to BEWARE of the Reds. They are standing in wait, for conflicts to occur so they may strike at other powers. You will see powerful countries forming an allegiance to strike at the larger powerful countries, Beware, United States of the Red Countries.” (April 21, 2001)
    Again, Mary does not speak in such a worldly manner, nor does she speak as if the future were unknown to her or uncertain. This type of message merely plays on popular fears of wars and of other nations.
    Patricia Mundorf's words: “on Tuesday, the Blessed Mother showed me a vision, One which had to be given to the Secret Service. In this vision, the Blessed Mother showed me things I can not discuss at the present time as it is too vital to our government .”
    The Secret Service protects the President, so perhaps they were interested in seeing message like the one in January of 2001 that predicted, falsely, an assassination attempt. But if a message were of 'vital' importance to our government and it were taken seriously, the Secret Service would not be the ones to handle it. They are interested in protecting the President, not in governing.
    “My Dear Children, the United States has been having air strikes against Iraq, this due to Iraq firing on the United States planes, But understand these new strikes are aimed to cripple their defense system, along with their operating systems.”
    Here is yet another message of worldly and profane language. The true private revelations do not contain phrases like 'air strikes' and 'cripple their defense system,' and 'operating systems.' This message is merely a tabloid-like commentary on news reports.

  • Commentary on the Weather
    “My children of the world, you have seen many storms and much destruction of your material possessions and suffered much loss of life. In the United States, I had told you, this last summer season of yours, that you suffered, much loss of material possessions, but not much loss of life, and that you would begin to experience loss of life, due to the sins of man. I spoke to you of the east coast storms. As you noticed this past week there was an earthquake. Much loss of material possessions, but no loss of life.” (March 3, 2001)
    Notice that this message only comments on these events after they happen. This is the case with other false private revelations, such as those to John Leary. After the event, there is a supernatural message commenting on the event, but it is not predicted specifically beforehand. Now why would God give a message only after the fact, making a few obvious comments? In true private revelation, there is no commentary on weather, and events are predicted in advance, not after the fact.

  • Lack of knowledge about the future
    “Pray and Sacrifice much for these smaller countries who are in conflicts and many larger countries are backing them. These small conflicts all over the world may lead to a Third World War.” (March 17, 2001)
    False private revelations tend to describe the future as something very uncertain. Yet God knows the whole future with absolute certainty. So how could a supernatural message from Heaven be so uncertain about an event as significant as a world war? It is clear from the messages overall that the author of these messages has no idea what will happen in the future.
    “I have told you that this month could see war of the soil of the United States. I begged you to pray for a mitigation of this event.

    “The red countries I speak of consist of, Russia, China, Cuba and North Korea. Many of these countries have been making ready for war against the United States.”
    Again, a false prediction is made and the claim is that prayer averted it. Again I have to point out that Mary would not make such a prediction because, by being with God in Heaven, she knows the future with certainty. Also, she would not speak in such a worldly manner, to say 'the red countries.' The claim that many of these countries have been preparing for war is absurd; there are only four nations in that list, so how many is many. Plus there is no indication of war with any of these nations. Again, this message plays on popular fears.

    Many of these messages make vague mention of future disasters. They list every possible disaster, especially wars and natural disasters. Then if any one of these occurs, as does happen from time to time, it is claimed as a fulfilled prophecy. In reality, it is merely a guess that was bound to happen sooner or later.

  • Commentary on September 11th, 2001 attack on the world trade centers

    Message of September 15, 2001: “My Dear Children, today, as I Your Mother of the World come to you, I come with a Happy Heart over how all of the world is joining together to become a United Nation to capture the terrorists. Pray, Pray, Pray always.
    “I have told you many times that your country of the United States is now going to have much death if you did not repent of your sins. This past Tuesday of your week gave you a sample of what will come if you do not repent. Do you not think that God could have stopped these terrorists? I beg of you to continue to pray as one nation but also united with all other nations against the terrorists. I have told my daughter of many events to occur that can not be told you, only to your government, so these people may be caught. Pray, Pray, Pray!!!”
    Now if the Virgin Mary was going to give a supernatural apparition and message about the attack of 9/11, don't you think that she would give the message in advance? The claim is even made that a prior vague remark about deaths occurring if people do not repent was somehow a prediction of 9/11. As is common in false private revelation, the specific message occurs only after the event. Clearly the author of this message does not know the future and so could only make specific comments after the fact.

    Conclusion

    There are many more messages, but they are filled with the same kind of vague predictions, and tabloid-style commentary on news events, and sensationalist fear-mongering. They steal ideas from true private revelations and then distort them and add in falsehoods. These messages closely resemble the other false private revelations, but they are nothing like the true private revelations.

    This should be sufficient to show that the messages and claimed apparitions to Patricia Mundorf are false, and are not true private revelation from Heaven.



    by Ronald L. Conte Jr.
    January 31, 2006


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