Publisher's Synopsis
Let us consider an excerpt: On the the signs of Last Judgment Matthew 24 Q. How shall the last day come? A. It shall surprise all the world. For it shall catch, as in a net, all who dwell on the surface of the earth. Q. Shall men have no warning, then, or the coming or that day? A. Yes; they shall be warned by many preceding signs. But, as it was in the time of the deluge, when men neglected the warnings of Noah, so shall it be in those latter days, when men shall likewise neglect the warnings which God shall give them by those signs. St. Matt. Xxiv 37 Q. What shall those signs be, A. lst. There shall be wars, famines, plagues, and earthquakes, in divers places. 2d. The Gospel shall be preached throughout the earth. 3d. There shall arise false Christs and false prophets who shall work great prodigies and do marvellous things; so as even to deceive the elect, if that were possible. 4th. Faith shall be enfeebled, and the charity of many shall have grown cold. 5th. Enoch and Elias shall come to preach penance, and their preaching shall convert the Jews. Enoch, taken up in the year of the world 987; and Elias, in 3108. 6th. Then shall Antichrist appear, and his reign shall be three years and a half. Q. Are these all the signs which shall precede the last judgment? A. No; there shall be others still. Q. What shall they be? A. 1st. The sun shall be darkened. 2d. The moon shall withhold her light. 3d. The stars shall fall from heaven. 4th. The powers of heaven shall be moved. 5th. The sea shall make a terrific noise, by the roaring of its waves. 6th. All things shall be consumed by fire. Q. What shall become of men at the sigh of these things? A. They shall wither away with fear, in expectation of what is to come upon them. Q. What does Our Lord say on this subject? A. 1st. Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of man. 2d. Take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life. 3d. But, for you, said he to his apostles, when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift your heads; because your redemption is at hand.
