The Sign of the Son of Man

The Sign of the Son of Man

“”Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Mt 24

The miracle of water changed into wine happened by a woman, and even my meeting with Fr. Eamon Kelly, would not have happened without the intercession of a very dear friend.
In this time of Coronavirus, I received a visit to my hermitage from a  Jewish friend.

She told me about the apostolate of Fr. Eamon, an Irish religious of the Legionaries of Christ who lives in Magdala, where there are the splendid remains of a synagogue from the time of Jesus and where a centre dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and all women was founded.
Every morning Fr. Eamon transmits images of the sunrise, commenting on passages from Scripture and admiring the glory of God reflected in the beauty of nature surrounding the lake.
That is how the idea of meeting each other came about and one day Father Eamon came to visit me and we broadcasted from the hills above Capernaum.

Here the conversation on Facebook

you can also find the same video on the YouTube channel of Fr. Eamon

Here our talk continues on Instagram (the video is different from the previous one)

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CFQ5xByJ7RI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The conversation touched on various topics but at a certain point a beautiful cross drawn by the rising sun appeared on the waters of Lake Tiberias (see photo above), we were both amazed and saw in this a sign of the Lord’s closeness.

How could we not think of the Sign of the Son of Man of which Jesus speaks in the eschatological discourses preceding his coming. The Fathers of the Church agree that this sign of which Jesus speaks is the cross. The cross on the lake is an anticipation of the heavenly one. In truth, a great miracle has already happened in this sense and it is an enormous luminous cross which was seen on the Mount of Olives on 7 May 351 A.D., as witnessed by a detailed account of Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem, reported below. The liturgical feast of this apparition is part of the Byzantine liturgy with dedicated texts and the liturgical feast of the discovery (Invention) of the Holy Cross by St. Helen is celebrated on May 7 in honor of this ancient apparition of the Cross in the heavens of Jerusalem. The Lord abounds in giving signs to believe to those who are willing to welcome Him!!!After our apostolate we had a good cup of coffee with Fr Eamon and went to gather some mangoes left over after the harvest in the surrounding fields, happy and grateful to the Lord for our meeting and keeping in our hearts the wonder of what we have experienced.

About the ancient miracle:

The Cross appeared in the sky over Jerusalem on the morning of May 7, 351 during the reign of the emperor Constantius, the son of Constantine. The luminous Cross appeared over Jerusalem, stretching from Golgotha to the Mount of Olives, a distance of about five and a half miles. The Cross was more bright than the sun. Many people left their homes and workplaces to gather in the church and glorify Christ. The historian Sozomen says that this wondrous sign led to the conversion of multitudes of pagans and Jews to Christianity.

The apparition of the Cross remained over the city for a whole week.

St. Cyril wrote a letter known today as the Letter to the Emperor Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great, describing the miracle in vivid detail:

“On the nones [or 7th] of May, about the Terce hour [or nine in the morning], a vast luminous body, in the form of a Cross, appeared in the sky just over the holy Golgotha, reaching as far as the holy Mount of Olives, seen not only by one or two persons, but clearly and evidently by the whole city. This was not, as may be thought, a momentary transient phenomenon: for it continued several hours visible to our eyes, and brighter than the sun, the light of which would have eclipsed it, had not this been stronger. The whole city, struck with a reverential fear tempered with joy, ran immediately to the church, young and old, Christians and heathens, citizens and strangers, all with one voice giving praise to our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, the worker of miracles; finding by experience the truth of the Christian doctrine, to which Heaven bears witness.” (PG 33:116q)

Historians of the time, including Sozomen, Theophanes, Eutychius, John of Nice, Glycas, and others, quote St. Cyril concerning this marvel

more information about the miracle

https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009/05/cross-that-appeared-in-sky-over.html