CHAPTER ONE From Genesis to the Triumph
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed. She shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
Gen. 3:15
It's always a surprise where the Virgin Mary appears. Whether it be distant mountaintops or hidden grottos, the first question people wonder aloud is always "Why here?" For Christina Gallagher and the people of County Mayo, it was no different those first winter days of 1988.
County Mayo is in the beautiful windswept countryside in the western part of Ireland known for the Atlantic rains that storm inland across Connemara where the Twelve Pins Mountains shoulder one another toward the sea. Yes, it's a wet place. But on clear days, there is a breathtaking view of the summit of Croagh Padraig in the distant western horizon, where for forty days in the year 435, Saint Patrick fasted, prayed, and beseeched Heaven to convert the faithful of beautiful Erin to an "Isle of Saints."
But although Our Lady Queen of Peace would come to make many visits to Christina in County Mayo, it was in Dublin that Our Lady first appeared to her. Indeed, the Virgin Mary's first apparition was totally unexpected.
While visiting a grotto in County Sligo, Ireland, in the fall of 1985, she had unexpectedly witnessed with her eyes the Head of Jesus crowned with thorns. Unknown to her, it was this apparition that would actually begin the series of miraculous events in her life, events she could not have imagined.
Besides encounters with the Virgin Mary and apparitions of Christ, the simple Irish homemaker was soon being shown extraordinary, mystical, and heavenly sights. From awesome glimpses of the Face of the Eternal Father in Heaven to terrorizing experiences with the Prince of Darkness in her own home, her breath-taking accounts are numbing. Within a short time, a considerable number of messages for the Church and the world were conveyed to Christina. She was to be, God indicated, a "fearless witness" to a misguided and "sinful generation."
Yet as incredible as all of this was, we must remember Christina Gallagher's spiritual experiences are designed primarily as incisive reminders of God's will for His people. They uphold for us the truth of our faith and the glorious eternal life with God that awaits believers. Indeed, they embody the message of the Gospel, the same message of hope, love, and peace Jesus spelled out to the world almost two thousand years ago.
Likewise, her apparitions and revelations are strikingly similar to past accounts of such great Catholic mystics as Theresa Neumann, Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich, Saint Bridget of Sweden, and the Venerable Mary of Agreda. More than that, the revelations given to Christina Gallagher reveal powerful images of the hidden world of God's Kingdom, the world of the spirit. Riveting in description, some of her mystical experiences are more powerful than we are capable of absorbing. They deliberately convey the serious responsibility one has for the salvation of the soul.
"It's our soul that is at risk, and mankind doesn't want to listen," Christina repeats over and over.
By this emphasis on the soul, Christina confirms her desire to remove obsessive concerns with earthly chastisements. These are concerns which distract many listeners from the core of the Virgin Mary's message. These concerns with impending earthly uncertainty, Our Lady insists, are not as important as the salvation of the soul. The Virgin Mary has come to bring souls back to God, not just to warn of a coming tribulation. As the Blessed Mother confirmed to Christina the destiny of those who fail to convert, "They will never rise from the death of the soul."
But as implausible as it seems, this serious message, Christina admits, is not getting through. People go their merry way. Everyday, the world staggers forward like a wounded animal, in the power of darkness, greed, and sensuality, renouncing God's invitation. It refuses completely, or chooses to hear little of what God has to say. Instead, many reply, "We will not serve."
So, like the children at Fatima, Christina now confronts people with exactly what she has seen -- some of which is not very pleasant. When humanity ignores the protection of the soul, says Christina, an irreversible fate is sealed. Failure to protect one's soul, she says, will inevitably lead them to Hell.
Today, few believe that Hell, the world of the damned, exists. Considered to be an imaginary world, the secular media only refers to it when it's extremely hot or cold outside or when describing the chances of a snowball's survival there. People damn one another, not realizing that by their very own actions, they are at risk of this inescapable death sentence.
Yet talk of its existence and horror awakens some people. Like mystics over the centuries, Christina's vivid account of Hell gives fresh testimony to its reality and its eternal inhabitants. She has seen their sealed fate, their endless agony. She has watched the unrepentant as they swim in fire, an unquenchable fire that disfigures and torments its captives.
Adding to this nightmare, Christina has been shown sights of individuals headed for this fate. But this was necessary for a reason. It is through her voluntary suffering for these souls that God wishes to save them. This is perhaps how God has come to use Christina the most. As a victim soul, she suffers the wounds of Jesus Christ in her body. Bravely, she offers this physical, emotional, and mental anguish for the salvation of many who would otherwise be lost for eternity.
Once, on her way to give a talk in the south of Ireland, the Virgin Mary showed her thousands of people who, according to Our Lady, "had lost all love for God in their hearts." In a second sight, she saw thousands who were well on their way to Hell. It was not a pretty sight. As the Blessed Mother wept, she besought Christina to offer her life and death for these souls. Christina complied, whereupon the Blessed Mother led Christina in a prayer of self-offering of mind, will, heart, soul, and body to God. Later Jesus told her these souls would be saved. Thus, it is in this way as a victim soul in union with the suffering of Christ that Christina has come to find the most meaning in her mission.
But her mystical experiences don't end there. God's plan through Christina continues to unfold. Although the Virgin Mary's apparitions to Christina began in 1988, apparitions, mystical experiences, and heavenly messages continue with no end indicated. It is a generous outpouring of revelations, revelations that deal with urgent conversion of heart and events to come. In His plan, God has revealed to Christina a variety of the supernatural. From vivid scenes out of the Old and New Testaments to symbolic apparitions of the coming era of peace, she has seen a lot. In the past two years alone, more and more of the most celebrated saints and departed faithful servants of the Catholic Faith, have appeared to her. Moses the Lawgiver, Elijah the Prophet, Saint John the Evangelist, Blessed Michael the Archangel, Padre Pio, Saint Philomena, The Little Flower, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Anthony, Saint Joseph, Bishop Sheen, and Sister Faustina are among those she now intimately refers to as "her friends," friends that now enjoy the beatific vision.
These friends appear to play a role in a baffling, yet integrated plan of private revelation God wishes to give the world through Christina Gallagher. By their mere presence these chosen ones subtly bring the events and teachings of the past back to life while concurring with God's plan for the fulfillment of the future. As messengers and advisers they give us a dimension to God's plan that is important and vital.
By means of the saints, God demonstrates through Christina that the Church, Triumphant in Heaven, is wholeheartedly involved in the fulfillment of the times. As the Queen of Peace revealed to her, "The Martyrs of Ireland are constantly interceding before God, with a holy restlessness."
Yet all this intercession holds great purpose. For a war now rages -- an awesome invisible war of the principalities -- and all Heaven shudders at what is to come while the earth remains unmoved. Christina has already learned, in part, what the future holds.
From these experiences, Christina gives us a sweeping picture of our times. It is no less a picture of the end times -- a picture the Virgin Mary presented many times before and continues to present now. And while it is the Virgin Mary who brings us this news, it actually is the completion of a design which included the Blessed Mother from the beginning.
Indeed, visionaries throughout the world point to the Virgin Mary as the woman in the Book of Genesis (Gen. 3:15) who crushes the head of the serpent. It's been her role from the beginning. Confirmed at Lourdes as having no mark on her from Satan, the Mother of All now comes as Mother of Jesus, Queen of Peace, through the power of the Holy Spirit to warn the world of its destiny.
Yes, the victory is hers. The Blessed Mother is the New Eve. And now the time has arrived for the world to know.
Ever true to the vast review of His work through Christina, God once more confirmed this fact by a powerful sight that accompanied an important message. She received this apparition and message along with a monumental announcement, while she was in the Philippines.
During her first night in the Philippines, the young Irish mystic was awakened at 3:00 A.M. Immediately she knew she was to pray. Engrossed in prayer, the Lord showed her an awesome sight of the sky transformed and illuminated by a spectacular bright red light. Out of the red sky, in great splendor and beauty, appeared the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady was standing on a globe, deep in prayer, with hands joined.
Suddenly, Christina noticed a large black snake raise its head daringly toward the Virgin Mary's foot. Although she didn't acknowledge the serpent directly, the Blessed Mother, like the woman in the Book of Ge...
