https://apnews.com/article/afghanis...m=featuredcard&utm_campaign=rightrailstory_02 — June 22, 2022: In Afghanistan, more than 1,100 people die in magnitude 6.1 earthquake. — Aug. 14, 2021: In Haiti, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake kills more than 2,200 people. — Sept. 28, 2018: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake hits Indonesia, triggering a tsunami and killing more than 4,300 people. — April 25, 2015: In Nepal, more than 8,800 people are killed by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake. — March 11, 2011: A magnitude 9.0 quake off the northeast coast of Japan triggers a tsunami, killing nearly 20,000 people. — Jan. 12, 2010: In Haiti, over 100,000 people are killed by a magnitude 7.0 quake. Government estimates put the number at a staggering 316,000 dead. — May 12, 2008: A magnitude 7.9 quake strikes eastern Sichuan in China, resulting in over 87,500 deaths. — May 27, 2006: More than 5,700 people die when a magnitude 6.3 quake hits the island of Java, Indonesia. — Oct. 8, 2005: A magnitude 7.6 earthquake kills over 80,000 people in Pakistan’s Kashmir region. — March 28, 2005: A magnitude 8.6 quake in northern Sumatra in Indonesia kills about 1,300 people. — Dec. 26, 2004: A magnitude 9.1 quake in Indonesia triggers an Indian Ocean tsunami, killing about 230,000 people in a dozen countries. — Dec. 26, 2003: A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits southeastern Iran, resulting in more than 20,000 deaths. — May 21, 2003: More than 2,200 people are killed in a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Algeria. — Jan. 26, 2001: A magnitude 7.6 quake strikes Gujarat in India, killing as many as 20,000 people. — Aug. 17, 1999: A magnitude 7.6 earthquake hits Izmit, Turkey, killing about 18,000 people. — May 30, 1998: Over 4,000 people are killed after a 6.6 magnitude temblor hits Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province. I forgot about the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti which killed , some say over 300,000 people. Haiti is by many accounts the World Capital of Satanism and has been of course effected by a huge range of disasters so that now it is in a state of total collapse. If you had a map of everywhere in Asia were Christians are persecuted by Islam and superimposed a map of recent Earthquakes you would find the locations almost identical. Turkey of course lies on lands all of which were stolen from Christians.
One of the events that caused many Europeans to turn Atheist was the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 . It killed 50,00 people . It was the fact more than anything that is was the Feast of All Saints and the Cathedral was packed with people at Mass, Everyone inside was killed at once when it collapsed. Many people at the time could not see how there could be a God when such a thing happened, for if there were a God how could permit such a thing? It reminds me of something Jesus said when there was a simliar disaster in Jerusalem when the Tower of Siloan collapsed. Luke 13:4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?
Istanbul used to be Constantinople. Stolen., as you said. My ancestors on my father's side were Greeks living in Turkey and were driven out. They ended up on the Greek island of Mytilene, otherwise known as Lesvos. From family lore, I learned that my great grandfather and his two brothers had to hide in trees before they left for safety.
I suppose then you must have heard of the Blood Moon and the Great Marian Public Apparition of the Theotokos at the Fall of Constantinople when the Turks took over?
However numerous, including many modern Orthodox mystics and saints have said that the Turks will be driven out and Constantinople and the stolen CHristian lands will be one day restored. https://greekreporter.com/2015/11/2...paisios-prophecies-on-russia-turkey-conflict/ Some Greeks Turn to Elder Paisios' Prophecies on Russia-Turkey Conflict The tension that was created after the shooting down of a Russian jet fighter by Turkish warplanes has led several Greeks to refer to Elder Paisios‘ prophecies about war between Russia and Turkey. The ascetic monk Paisios, who became Saint Paisios by the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church in January, was known for his prophecies and predictions. One of them was that Istanbul, once the capital of the Byzantine Empire Constantinople, will become Greek again. Specifically, Paisios wrote: “Events will start that will culminate with us taking back Constantinople. Constantinople will be given to us. There will be war between Russia and Turkey. In the beginning the Turks will believe they are winning, but this will lead to their destruction. The Russians, eventually, will win and take over Constantinople. After that it will be ours. They will be forced to give it to us.” The text reads further, “(The Turks) will be destroyed. They will be eradicated because they are a nation that was built without God’s blessing. One third of the Turks will go back to where they came from, the depths of Turkey. One third will be saved because they will become Christians, and the other third will be killed in this war.” This is based on the Saint Kosmas prophecy. Saint Paisios reposed on July 12, 1994. One of the things he wrote was, “I wanted nothing else but God to keep me alive for a few more years so I could see my country expand. And it will expand…” “Turkey will be dissected. This will be to our benefit as a nation. This way our villages will be liberated, our enslaved homelands. Constantinople will be liberated, will become Greek again. Hagia Sophia will open again,” the text reads. “Turkey will be dissected in 3 or 4 parts. The countdown has begun. We will take the lands that belong to us, the Armenians will take theirs and the Kurds their own. The Kurdish issue is at the works,” the text continues. Paisios wrote further: “As long as there is faith and hope in God, a lot of people will rejoice. All that will happen in these years. The time has come.” Saint Paisios the Athonite was born Arsenios Eznepidis in July 1924, in Farasa Cappadocia. His father was called Prodromos and his mother Evlampia. He had eight siblings. On August 7, 1924, a week before the Greeks of Farasa returned to the homeland, he was baptized by the parish priest, Arsenios, whom the Orthodox Church recognized as a saint. Arsenios insisted and gave him his name “to leave a monk in his place,” as he said. Five weeks after the boy’s christening, on September 14, 1924, the Eznepidis family, along with other refugees, arrived at Piraeus and then went to Corfu, where they stayed for eighteen months. The family then moved to Igoumenitsa and then to Konitsa where Arsenios finished elementary school and got his diploma with “excellent conduct.” Ever since he was a child, he was writing down the miracles of Saint Arsenios. He had an inclination towards monasticism and wanted to become a monk. Arsenios went to Mount Athos to become a monk in 1949, right after his discharge from the army. He stayed for one night at the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Karyes and then slept in the hermitage of Saint Panteleimon, in the cell of the Virgin Mary, where he met father Cyril, abbot of the monastery, and followed him faithfully. After spending time in various retreats of Mount Athos and Sinai, he moved to Koutloumousio monastery until he became seriously ill and passed away in the summer of 1994. He was buried in the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti, Thessaloniki. Since then, every year on July 11 to July 12, the anniversary of his death, there is a vigil in the Sanctuary Retreat, with thousands of believers attending. Elder Paisios wrote four books, published by the Holy Monastery Saint John the Theologian: Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian (1991), Elder Hadji-Georgis the Athonite, 1809-1886 (1986), Athonite Fathers and Athonite Matters (1993) and Letters (1994). Elder Paisios became known for a number of controversial political statements and prophecies. These include the prediction that a war with Turkey will lead to a restoration of a Greater Greece that includes Albania, Macedonia and Byzantium (Istanbul), and the mass conversion of Turks from Islam to Orthodox Christianity. Many Greeks compare Paisios to Nostradamus.
May eternal rest be granted for the souls of the dead. The day the earthquake struck, February 6, is also the feast of Saint Dorothy, martyr who lived in the same region as where the earthquake struck. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_of_Caesarea
Prayers! Mary conceived without sin, pray for them with the loving purity of your Immaculate Heart! To a similar type event, on a much smaller scale, Jesus provided the following wisdom. Maybe we should ask: "If I or my loved ones were caught in that tragedy and died, where would we end up?" In other words, if I have been procrastinating on speaking to the one whom the Holy Spirit has placed on my heart, procrastinate no longer! "Repent and believe the Gospel!" Luke 13:There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? 3 I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo′am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
I'm a little startled. I 've been busy with other things and just looked at this coming weekend's Gospel so as to prepare my homily. Given my reference to Luke 13 above I was a little unnerved to see a direct reference to hell: Matthew 5:27 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into Gehenna.
It's just so tragic and devastating, those poor people. I wonder if Syrian victims are included in the figures above? Christiane Amanpour reported that several villages in northern Syria were wiped off the map and Eva Bartlett is reporting issues getting aid into Syria because of sanctions and we know who imposed those. I don't see any western countries helping Syria - why are we not helping them? Or is everything going to Ukraine? God help the victims and have Mercy on us.
"Buildings that are now standing will not be standing. Supports that are there for my people now will not be there. I want you to be prepared, my people, to know only me and to cleave to me and to have me in a way deeper than ever before. I will lead you into the desert...I will strip you of everything that you are depending on now, so you depend just on me." RM 1975 Prayers for the dead; prayers for the grieving; prayers for those left behind and suffering; prayers for all those of good will doing their best to help their sisters and brothers. Imho, we may all be facing some such catastrophe in the near future. The dream quoted above, to me, is a great sign of hope! For all!!! Our help is in the name of the Lord ~~ Matthew 6:25 ~ Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat: and the body more than the raiment? 6:26 Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?
