CHAPTER   NINE

Verse 1: In the first year of Darius the son of Assuerus of the seed of the Medes, who reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.

Recorded in the first year of Darius the son of Assuerus, the Chaldean king, the year of AM 3467 or 537BC, i.e., sixteen years after the prophet received the last prophetic vision.

Verse 2: The first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, concerning which the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the prophet, that seventy years should be accomplished of the desolation of Jerusalem.

By reading the prophecy of Jeremias, Daniel understood that it took seventy years of human iniquities to reach the climax of evils, to ruin Jerusalem, the holy city of God, or the Church on earth. The prophet referred to one of the old prophecies dated 629 BC, about 100 years before his time in order to understand the future. It seems that this period of 70 years is applied to the twentieth century. It is taking roughly 70 years of human transgressions to desolate much the Catholic Church and to bring about the great Apostasy and Schism at the end of this century.

Verse 3: And I set my face to the Lord my God, to pray and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

The prophet pleaded for God's Mercy by fasting, humbled himself by wearing sackcloth and putting ashes on his body as the sign of repentence and reparation of sins.

Verse 4: and I prayed to the Lord my God, and I made my confession, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord God, great and terrible, who keepest the covenant, and mercy to them that love thee, and keep thy commandments.

The prophet reminded the Lord, God Almighty, of His Covenant with His faithful. He besought the Lord God for His Mercy upon the faithful who love Him and keep His Commandments.

Verse 5: We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and have revolted: and we have gone aside from thy commandments, and thy judgments.

The prophet confessed his own sins and the sin of his brethren who had done wicked deeds and had revolted against god by violating His Commandments and ignoring His Judgments.

Verse 6: We have not hearkened to thy servants the prophets, that have spoken in thy name to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

We have not heeded the prophetic messages, the messages conveyed to us by the prophets, visionaries, addressed to our temporal rulers, spiritual leaders, to previous generations, and to all people at the present time.

Verse 7: To thee, O Lord, justice: but to us confusion of face, as at this day to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, to them that are near, and to them that are far off in all the countries whither thou hast driven them, for their iniquities by which they have sinned against thee.

ByYour just Judgment, O Lord, You withdraw the understanding of the Truth from us, the wicked generation, who conduct our lives with a confused conscience ("confusion of face") or falsehood, who live near and far from Jerusalem, the Jews and Gentiles alike, peoples of all countries because we have sinned against You, our God.

Verse 8: O Lord, to us belonged the confusion of face, to our princes, and to our fathers that have sinned.

O Lord, we all deserve a confused blindness, including our priests or elite classes (princes), our forefathers as we have wandered far from You.

Verse 9: But to thee, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness, for we have departed from thee.

But have mercy and forgiveness on us who have departed from You, our God.

Verse 10: And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his law, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

We have not listened to theVoice of our God, have not lived according to His Gospel, have not walked in His way, which He set before us through the teachings of the Church.

Verse 11: And all Israel have transgressed thy law, and have turned away from hearing the voice, and the malediction, and the curse, which is written in the book of Moses the servant of God, is fallen upon us, because we have sinned against him.

Just like the Israelites of old, all Christians, Your chosen children, have transgressed Your Law, turned away from the Word of God, committed sinful acts. And now the curse of punishments which were written in Mosaic laws, in the Holy Scripture shall fall upon us because we have sinned against You.

Verse 12: And he hath confirmed his words which he spoke against us, and against our princes that judged us, that he would bring in upon us great evil, such as never was under all the heaven, according to that which hath been done in Jerusalem.

The Lord is slow in anger and in imposing Judgment upon us and upon our civil leaders and our priests who are supposed to "judge" or to shepherd us ("princes" here are the civil and spiritual elders in the prophet's time, like the scribes in the Lord's time, or the priests and civil authority of our time). The Lord shall bring upon us the great chastisements which shall be greater than any ever before, even greater than the total annihilation of Jerusalem.

Verse 13: As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: and we entreated not thy face, O Lord our God, that we might turn from our inquities, and think on thy truth.

As it was written in the Mosaic laws, all these evils are coming upon us. And we do not dare to look upon Your Holy Countenance, O Lord, while we are imploring Your Mercy to turn away from sins and to dwell upon Your Truth only.

Verse 14: And the Lord hath watched upon the evil, and hath brought it upon us: the Lord God is just in all his works which he hath done: for we have not hearkended to his voice.

Witnessing our evil actions, the Lord now bring evils upon us. The Lord God is just in His Judgments and in all His Works. We know that we are disobedient to His Commands.

Verse 15: And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought forth thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and hast made thee a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity.

And now to You O Lord, Who had brought Your chosen ones of old out of the land of Egyptian slavery, Who had His Name proclaimed among all peoples, we have sinned and we have committed numerous offenses.

Verse 16: O Lord, against all thy justice: let thy wrath an thy indignation be turned away, I beseech thee, from thy city Jerusalem, and from thy holy mountain. For by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and thy people are a reproach to all that are around about us.

O Lord, although Your Judgment is just, we implore You to turn Your Wrath and Indignation away from the Holy City. For our sins and the sins of our fathers, we are deserved to be the reproach to all nations around us.

Verse 17: Now therefore, O our God, hear the supplication of thy servant, and his prayers: and shew thy face upon thy sanctuary which is desolate, for thy own sake.

O Lord, now hear the supplication and prayers of your servant, restore Your Church on earth as it is now devastated, for Your own Glory.

Verse 18: Incline, O my God, thy ear, and hear, open thy eyes, and see our desolation and the city upon which thy name is called: for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before thy face, but for the multitude of thy tender mercies.

O my God, incline Your Ear and hear, open Your Eyes and see the desolation of lost souls and of the holy City of Rome upon which Your Name is adored. We are offering our prayers before You, not to justify ourselves, but to implore Your tender Mercy which is forever bountiful.

Verse 19: O Lord hear: O Lord, be appeased, hearken and do: delay not for thy own sake, O my God: because thy name is invocated upon thy city, and upon thy people.

O Lord, to glorify Your Name, to save Your Inheritance and Your Holy City, do not delay in answering our prayers.

Verse 20: Now while I was yet speaking, and praying, and confessing my sins, and the sins of my people of Israel, and presenting my supplications in the sight of my God, for the holy mountain of my God:

Now while I was conversing and praying to God, and confessing my sins and the sin of my brethren, and presenting my supplications to God.

Verse 21: As I was yet speaking in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen from the beginning, flying swiftly touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice.

The archangel Gabriel whom the prophet saw from the first apparition flied quickly toward him, touched him around the time for evening prayer.

Verse 22: And he instructed me, spoke to me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to teach thee and that thou mightest understand.

He said he came to teach Daniel the meaning of the visions.

Verse 23: From the beginning of thy prayers, the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to thee, because thou art a man of desires: therefore do thou mark the word, and understand the vision.

The archangel also said that the Lord heard Daniel's prayers and therefore commanded him to show the prophet the meanings as he had the sincere desires to serve the Lord. The archangel Gabriel then asked the prophet to write things down in order to understand the vision.

Verse 24: Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasitng justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the saint of saints may be anointed.

The fate of the human race and the city of God or the Church shall be summed up in "seventy weeks" or 70 x 7 = 490 years (Based on Verse 27, one week equals seven years). After this last period, transgression of men shall be stopped, sins and social vices shall end, and everlasting justice and peace shall reign on earth; and all vision and ancient prophecies shall be fulfilled; and the most blessed of all the faithful or "the saint of all saints" shall be honored. Where does this significant period of human history lie, the period which shall conclude with justice, peace, tranquility, and no more wars and evilness? Who is that most blessed human being among the faithful if it is not the Mother of God herself. At the end of this period, her name shall be glorified throughout the Church among all who love the Lord. The veneration reserved for the Virgin Mother Mary, the Mother of God and the mother of all mankind shall be abounded among her children. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception and Heavenly Assumption had been proclaimed in this century. The last dogma about her which shall illuminate he role in our salvation shall be proclaimed by the Church at the end of this last period.

Verse 25: Know thou therefore, and take notice: That from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty two weeks: and the street shall be built again, and the walls straitness of times.

The period of 490 years is divided into two distinct periods of 62 weeks or 62 x 7 = 434 years and 7 weeks or 7 x 7 = 49 years. In both of these periods, the Gospel or the Word of God shall be evangelized ("the going forth of the word"), the Church shall be rebuilt ("to build up Jerusalem again"), and then the Coming of the Lord shall happen ("unto Christ the prince"). That exact sequence shall occur twice in both periods, the first one will be much longer than the latter as it is getting closer to the End, both Divine Mercy and Chastisement shall occur in much quicker paces. Besides the spiritual inheritance, the physical dwellings representing here as "street" and "walls" are also being rebuilt due to the destruction of calamities and wars given to us on the Day of Wrath or after the Coming of the Just Lord. The terms "straitness of times" indicated that the calamities inflicted upon mankind shall happen more than once as men shall continue to live in sins. As Babylon mystifies the evil world full of corruptions of the flesh, Jerusalem is the mystical metaphor which stands for the Church or the holy City of God which is consisted of all His chosen children. The term "Christ the prince" recognizes the Lord Jesus as the High Priest of God. This 434 years started right after the conclusion of the glorious Council of Trent (1564) and shall end at the end of this twentieth century. The Council of Trent was convened for this very purpose, to rebuilt the Church which was devastated from within by its own corruption of human elements, priestly abuses, and from without by the errors of the Reformation. During this period, we indeed have witnessed Christianity being propagated to the ends of the world, we had seen the rebuilding of countries after the wars, but we have not yet seen the Coming of the Lord. The Lord shall not come until the End of the world and definitely shall not come back twice, once for each rebuilding periods. The Coming of the Lord most often means the Day of the Lord, or the Wrathful Day of the Lord, the day on which God imposes His Just Judments upon His people. This Coming of the Lord had been mentioned numerous times in all prophetic books of the Old Testament.

Thus after 434 years of rebuilding, the Church were devastated again with apostasy, blasphemy, and corruption of flesh. A period of Great Chastisements shall come upon us in the forms of wars and natural disasters of unprecedent scales. Then another period of peace for rebuilding shall be granted but this time will be much shorter as it only lasts for "seven weeks" and "one week" or the total of 56 years. And finally, the antichrist shall come after this last period of "seven weeks plus one week" of rebuilding.

Verse 26: And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain: and the people that shall deny him shall not be his. And a people with their leader that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation.

After "62 weeks" or 434 years of rebuilding the Church, at the end of the twentieth century, our Lord is being crucified again by blasphemous defiance of men and by the great apostasy and lack of love within large numbers of clergy and Christians. All who refuse to live according to the teachings of our Lord shall not belong to His Heavenly Kingdom. After this Great Denial of mankind toward their Creator, after the Great Apostasy within the Church, the Eastern or Muslim and Russian invaders shall come with their brutal armies to destroy the Holy City of Rome or the Lord's Sanctuary. At the end of this war campaign, what remains shall be only a heap of ruins, just as the destruction of Jerusalem of old. And afterwards, the "appointed desolation " or the antichrist shall come .

Verse 27: And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of the desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end.

After the Great Chastisements, the Lord shall establish His covenant with many including the former heretics, schismatics, and unbelievers who are chosen, in "one week" or seven years. In these years, the Gospel of Christ shall be propagated anew to the four corners of the earth. There shall be one God, one church, and one religion on earth. Christianity shall be prosper again during this period of glorious peace. The Holy Pontiff prophecied by St. Malachy as "Glory of Olives" probably shall lead the Church during these seven years in which the Eternal Truth embedded in the Church's dogma and tradition shall be upheld in great reverence. These seven years plus 49 years of the second rebuilding shall constitute a period of relative peace for the total of 56 years.
               The apocalyptic period shall be climaxed with the reign of the antichrist, the "abomination of desolation", who shall proclaim himself god, shall set himself up in the Lord's Sanctuary, and shall abolish the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass for "half of the week" or three and one half years. This abomination of desolation shall continue even to the period of consummation and to the End of the world with Satan himself who shall be incarnated to persecute the faithful, tempt mankind, and terrorize the world for another three and half years.

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