The Lost Book of Nostradamus

I watched an interesting History Channel program, titled "The Lost Book of Nostradamus", last night. Here is the teaser for the program, as advertised at history.com (The History Channel's official Web site):

"In 1994, Italian journalist Enza Massa was at the Italian National Library in Rome when she stumbled upon an unusual find. It was a manuscript dating to 1629, titled: Nostradamus Vatinicia Code. Michel de Notredame, the author's name, was on the inside in indelible ink. The book contains cryptic and bizarre images along with over eighty watercolor paintings by the master visionary himself. Follow the investigative trail of how the manuscript was found in the archives and exactly how it got there. New insight is given into the life of Nostradamus and his relationship with Pope Urban VIII, who knew about this manuscript and in whose possession it was for many years."




I caught the program about halfway through but was immediately sucked in. I love stories of prophecy, as I think most who are interested in the Medjugorje apparitions do. I think we like knowing what our fate as a human race will be, and seeing more of the power of God. To me, I think there will be some vindication in End Times events, showing unbelievers or casual Catholics that there is a God and it WAS important to live a good life and not go through the world uncaring and acting selfishly. But that's an aside.... :)

The program got into how this "lost book", allegedly authored by Nostradamus, went into detail about the End Times, specifically mentioning the apocalypse will occur when the planets are aligned with the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, scheduled to happen on that famous date in 2012. The Mayans also predicted the world would end in 2012, giving the date more significance.

The jury on the authenticity of the book is still out, but it's intriguing, nonetheless. There certainly will be this celestial event. What it means is uncertain. We should probably assume nothing, but who knows? And, after all, we know from the Medjugorje visionaries themselves that they have received at least some secrets about the end of the world, and that there will be something supernatural that will occur when the apparitions come to a close.

But I'd like to stress one thing, and that's this: Don't stress.

If you watch the video in my last posting, you'll see Mirjana, one of the visionaries, talking a little about what the Virgin Mary hopes to achieve through Her apparitions and how She wants us to respond. And one of the key things Mirjana says is that the Virgin Mary does not want us to be concerned with secrets or the end of time. She wants us to live holy lives, and to serve God. And when we do that, we don't have a whole lot to worry about. We will be taken care of.

The thing with these programs about Nostradamus or End Times prophecy is they're intended to get your blood pressure up. It's like watching a horror movie. You're scared but you kind of like being scared.

I think the most appropriate mindset after watching shows like this is to take it as information. Sure, it's intriguing. But use it as a motivator to live an even holier life than you have previously. Look at it as an opportunity to incrementally improve your life before it IS too late. Don't worry about when it will happen, because all you'll do is spend your life in fear. Make progress and spread peace and love and we'll all be a lot better off!