Chastisements in Scripture

1.    Is the concept of chastisement Biblical?

Though the first part of this post may seem remedial for people who read the Bible, I believe that it is necessary to provide examples of chastisements in the Bible (If you are among these people, I ask that you bear with me to the end of the post). I am providing some examples of chastisements below, though this is not intended to be an exhaustive list. If you think of some more, please feel free to cite them in the comments section below.

Genesis 3:16-19 (chastisement for the original sin of Adam and Eve)

To the woman he said: I will intensify your toil in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. To the man he said: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, you shall not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you! In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life.

Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field.

By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Genesis 19:17, 26 (chastisement for disobedience)

As soon as they had brought them outside, they said: “Flee for your life! Do not look back or stop anywhere on the Plain. Flee to the hills at once, or you will be swept away. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Genesis 38:9-10 (chastisement for the sin of contraception)

Onan, however, knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground, to avoid giving offspring to his brother. What he did greatly offended the LORD, and the LORD took his life too.

Leviticus 10:1-2 (chastisement for disobedience/sacrilege)

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers and, putting incense on the fire they had set in them, they offered before the LORD unauthorized fire, such as he had not commanded. Fire therefore came forth from the LORD’s presence and consumed them, so that they died in the LORD’s presence.

Numbers 20: 8-12 (chastisement for disobedience/lack of faith)

Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and in their presence command the rock to yield its waters. Thereby you will bring forth water from the rock for them, and supply the community and their livestock with water. …Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff, and water came out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron: Because you did not have confidence in me, to acknowledge my holiness before the Israelites, therefore you shall not lead this assembly into the land I have given them.

2 Samuel 6:6-7 (chastisement for disobedience)

As they reached the threshing floor of Nodan, Uzzah stretched out his hand to the ark of God and steadied it, for the oxen were tipping it. Then the LORD became angry with Uzzah; God struck him on that spot, and he died there in God’s presence.

2 Chronicles 26: 18-20 (chastisement for sacrilege)

They stood up to King Uzziah, saying to him: “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD... Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted treacherously and no longer have a part in the glory that comes from the LORD God.” Uzziah, who was holding a censer for burning the incense, became angry. But at the very moment he showed his anger to the priests, while they were looking at him in the house of the LORD beside the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead. Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests examined him, and when they saw that his forehead was leprous, they rushed him out. He let himself be expelled, for the LORD had afflicted him.

You probably notice that the above citations are from the Old Testament and you might be thinking that the God of the Old Testament was more cruel and vengeful, while the God of the New Testament is more loving and forgiving. I used to believe that myself (before I actually sat down read the Bible). The following verse from the New Testament may surprise those people.

Acts of the Apostles 5:1-5 (chastisement for lying)

A man named Ananias, however, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. He retained for himself, with his wife’s knowledge, some of the purchase price, took the remainder, and put it at the feet of the apostles. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you lied to the Holy Spirit and retained part of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain yours? And when it was sold, was it not still under your control? Why did you contrive this deed? You have lied not to human beings, but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came upon all who heard of it.

Perhaps citing all of the above is overkill, but I wanted to lay the groundwork that private revelation concerning divine chastisement is not incompatible with scripture.

2.        Are any of the chastisements closely associated with the Three Days of Darkness?

There are three chastisements that are more directly related to the Three Days of Darkness. They are: The deluge; the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; and the plagues of Egypt.

All of the chastisements (other than the one concerning original sin) that are cited above “targeted” a relatively small number of people. In contrast, the deluge and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah “targeted a large population due to sin and depravity.

Genesis 6:5-7

When the LORD saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil, the LORD regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the LORD said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created.

The Early Church Fathers said that the ark of Noah, which weathered the storm of the deluge, was a pre-figurement of the Holy Catholic Church. They said that just as the ark was built to save Noah, his family, and thus future generations. In the same way Jesus Christ established the Church to protect and assist Him in saving mankind.

The seers of Three Days of Darkness said, in effect, that holding fast to the Traditions of the Holy Catholic Church is an “ark” for the faithful to survive the Three Days of Darkness. Those who are obedient to the Church, say the rosary, use holy water, and light blessed candles will be able to weather the expected storm of the chastisement.

…While we are on the subject of symbolism in relation to Noah, I’d like to give “props” to my daughter, who recently observed that the rainbow, the sign of the covenant between God and Noah and his descendents, was the perfect sign because it spanned between the heavens and earth. Though others may have thought of this, I have never heard this observation before.

…Like the deluge, the chastisement of Sodom of Gomorrah was directed toward a large population. The sin of the two cities of the plains was sodomy/homosexuality (The noun sodomy is based on the name of the city of Sodom). Believers in the Three Days of Darkness are likely to point out that the acceptance of sodomy is more prevalent today than at any time in history. It is even more prevelant than the time of the chastisement of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is noted that all sins of the flesh seem to be more the norm than the exception. As Our Lady said to the seers of Fatima, more souls go to hell due to sins of the flesh than for any other sin.

In effect, believers in the Three Days of Darkness would feel that we are due for a judgment of Biblical proportions.  

Genesis 19:24-25 (chastisement for the sin of sodomy)

And the LORD rained down sulfur upon Sodom and Gomorrah, fire from the LORD out of heaven. He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain, together with the inhabitants of the cities and the produce of the soil.

Lastly, proponents of Three Days of Darkness often point to the ninth plague of Egypt as a prefigurement of the Three Days of Darkness.

Exodus 10:21-23

Then the LORD said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that over the land of Egypt there may be such darkness that one can feel it. So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was dense darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. People could not see one another, nor could they get up from where they were, for three days. But all the Israelites had light where they lived.

I have attempted to establish that many Biblical events provide evidence that God may punish his own people when they sin.

Prophesies of Three Days of Darkness therefore have a Biblical “feel.” They are not necessarily in conflict with scripture (though I will review this more in future posts).

However, this Biblical “feel” is a sword that can cut both ways in regard to credibility.

As noted in a previous post, I am attempting to provide a straightforward analysis. In fairness I should acknowledge that skeptics could also suggest that the visions are inappropriately accepted by believers only because they have a Biblical feel.

For example, the Book of Mormon has a Biblical “feel.” Many would suggest that the Biblical feel aided its acceptance to its believers. Though I am certainly not an expert on the Book of Mormon, I have read that when it quotes the Old Testament, it uses the King James Version. In doing so, it repeats that the same Hebrew to English translation errors as does the King James Version. Therefore, in attempting to create a genuine Biblical feel for the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith actually exposed it as being false.

I certainly won’t impugn the great Saints who have prophesized Three Days of Darkness. Though many people besides Saints have predicted Three Days of Darkness, I don’t believe that true Saints would intentionally manufacture false visions. However, it is possible that they could have misinterpreted dreams or visions as having Divine origins. Also, even when a great Saint has a vision or an opinion, it is not necessarily infallible. Even the greatest Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, was in error on some subjects (such as the Immaculate Conception).

As I continue to research the topic, I will attempt to determine the accuracy of the entire bodies of the Saints’ prophesies. This will shed light on the expected accuracy of their predictions concerning Three Days of Darkness.

What are the Three Days of Darkness?

Wikipedia describes Three Days of Darkness as a “theory” that “God will chastise the world with darkness at the end of time. The earth will be enveloped by darkness lasting three days and three nights, the only light source that can be seen being blessed candles. Various Catholic visionaries agree that the faithful should stay within their homes during this period as most of the earth's inhabitants shall die.”

This is a concise summary of Three Days of Darkness based on what I have read so far, though some visions suggest that the phenomenon would not immediately precede the end of time.

The article reports, “Many Catholic seers and mystics such as Saints Hildegard of Bingen, Gaspar del Bufalo, Padre Pio (see controversy below), and Blesseds Anna Maria Taigi, Elisabeth Canori Mora, Elena Aiello, Mariam Baouardi (Mary of Jesus Crucified), Rosa-Colomba Asdente, Palma d'Oria, Pere Lamy, Marie Martel, and Marie Julie Jahenny, have prophesied the Three Days of Darkness.”

The article oddly mentions (not just once, but twice) that the concept is not endorsed by the Holy See. This seems to suggest (perhaps unintentionally) that the Magisterium has condemned the belief. However, this is not the case. The Church rarely, if ever, endorses any prophetic private revelation. A case can be made that the Church has never fully endorsed any prophetic private revelation (including Fatima). It is noted that other types of private revelation have been endorsed.”

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “The Church allows freedom in accepting or rejecting particular or private prophecies according to the evidence for or against them. We should be slow to admit and slow to reject them, and in either case treat them with respect when they come to us from trustworthy sources, and are in accordance with Catholic doctrine and the rules of Catholic morality. The real test of these predictions is their fulfillment.”

The Wikipedia article rightly notes that the concept of Three Days of Darkness is controversial. However, the article seems to suggest that the controversy is due in part because “Adherents of the Three Days of Darkness are usually traditionalist Catholics or sedevacantists.” This statement seems odd. It is likely that the many Saints who had prophetic visions did not consider themselves as being traditionalists or sedevacantists. They likely considered themselves as only being faithful Catholics. The Wikipedia article (perhaps unintentionally) seems to disparage the belief by associating it with what the mainstream would consider as fringe groups. As a matter of fact, the belief in the Three Days of Darkness is held by many people who are neither traditionalists nor sedevacantists. Proponents (and even modern day alleged visionaries) of Three Days of Darkness even include New Agers, modernist Catholics, and non-Catholics. I will be providing examples in the weeks and months ahead.

About this Blog

I’ve seen a few videos about Three Days of Darkness on YouTube. I wanted to do some research on the topic on the Internet. I found numerous websites that deal with the phenomenon. However, I was unable to identify any that have investigated the phenomenon in a comprehensive and scholarly manner.

I’m therefore going to compile information and share it here with others. I’ll try to sort the possible from the unlikely.

While I will attempt to be objective, I should disclose my bias. I am an orthodox Catholic. I am going into this with great curiosity, but no real convictions concerning the Three Days of Darkness.