(LifeSiteNews) –– Bishop Joseph Strickland, emeritus bishop of Tyler, Texas, will offer a Mass on Monday, April 8, in reparation for reportedly increased satanic activity during the upcoming solar eclipse.
The Mass, which will be broadcast live on LifeSiteNews at the start of the eclipse, will be in honor of the Annunciation of the Birth of Christ to Mary, which the Church ordinarily celebrates on March 25, but this year transferred to April 8 due to the liturgical observance of Holy Week and the Eater Octave.
Mainstream media outlets have reported that some are planning “Wiccan” and witchcraft-related rituals for the coming eclipse – practices the Catholic Church correctly identifies as satanic and demonic.
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To counter any such activity, Bishop Strickland will offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, asking God’s blessing on the world, redeemed through the Incarnation of Christ. The Mass will be viewable live on LifeSiteNews.
One million or more Americans are expected to travel to see the full solar eclipse, during which the shadow of the moon will briefly cause parts of North America to be completely dark. The state of Indiana, parts of Texas, and the Canadian Niagara Falls region have all declared states of “emergency,” citing concerns about crowd size and travelers.
Some Catholics have related the upcoming eclipse with the widely witnessed miracle of the sun at Fatima and the eclipse recorded in Scripture at Christ’s death, taking occasion to call on fellow Catholics to fulfill the requests of Our Lady of Fatima to make reparation for the sins of the world and to pray the rosary for the conversion of sinners.
Catholic podcaster Dr. Taylor Marshall devoted a recent segment of his show to the eclipse, explaining that the book of Revelation (also called the book of Apocalypse), which is about the end of the world, describes celestial events such as the sun losing its light.
Marshall said of the eclipse, “I don’t think anything bad is going to happen during the solar eclipse, but I would encourage you, as you read Scripture, as you meditate upon God’s word, realize that the darkness of our culture and the cosmic darkness that shall come toward the end of the reign of the antichrist is a sign of rebellion against the logos, the word of God who is Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Christ. So turn to Christ who is the son of justice, the son of righteousness.”
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Editor’s note: This article was updated on April 8 at 11:12 a.m. ET.