The emergency situation in the Church makes it necessary for the faithful to find ways to live their Catholic faith without restrictions. Whoever has recognized that Pope Francis and those who support him – whether actively or tacitly tolerating him, without offering public resistance – serve a spirit hostile to God, will no longer be able to obey them. It is evident that the Pontiff wants to use the existing authority structure to impose his misleading agenda. Thus, he has already begun to push aside those who oppose him.
If we look at things from the perspective of truth, it is not the excluded who abandon the unity of the Church; but those who oppose divine guidance, even though they are the ones who have the external means of power and occupy high positions.
The true Church cannot ally itself with the spirit of lies and deception. Consequently, her faithful members will not cooperate with those who work to destroy the Church or seek to transform it into a different entity.
Thus, the Lord will lead his Church to the “spiritual desert”, where she will be able to remain faithful to the authentic faith and will resort to spiritual weapons to defend herself against the corruption of the Catholic Church.
This is, therefore, a serious emergency situation. In these circumstances, it is not a new community, much less a new branch of the Church that is formed. No, it is the Church of all times, it is the “little flock” that escapes the control of those who want to destroy it and retires to the desert to faithfully serve its Lord. It is the Church in the desert!
In the desert there are oases, where the faithful can gather to receive sound doctrine and the holy sacraments with dignity. This can happen in the so-called “Eucharistic houses”, as in the times of the Cristeros in Mexico; in hidden places, in churches and private chapels; In short, wherever the Lord wants to gather his people to feed them in his green pastures.
Those priests – and hopefully also bishops – who are aware of the scope of this tragic emergency situation and respond appropriately to it, will serve the faithful in secret and thus support the “little flock” with their ministry, until an ecclesiastical hierarchy of right faith is reestablished, which gets rid of all the errors and negative influences that gave rise to the anomalies.
The desert can also be present within the existing structure, where certain freedoms still remain for a time and one is not forced to cooperate and compromise with a hierarchy that has moved away from the Faith.
Only the Lord knows how long the faithful will have to persevere in this desert. But He will accompany them in a special way in the tribulation. Without a doubt, it will be a time of suffering, because persecutions by the State, supported by an unfaithful ecclesiastical government allied to it, will increase more and more under the influence of the anti-Christian spirit.
But it will also be a very fruitful time for the faithful, in which their faith will be purified and strengthened.
Due to the progressive apostasy of the current “official Church”, the “Church in the desert” has already emerged in various places around the world. Their common bond is fidelity to the Lord and his Gospel, as well as to the authentic Magisterium of the Church. Without any doubt, they are under the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The vision of chapter 12 of the Apocalypse may be a prefiguration of the path of the faithful Church in the desert:
“The dragon stood before the woman, who was about to give birth, to devour her son as soon as he was born. And she gave birth to a male child, the one who will rule all nations with an iron scepter. But her son was caught up to God and to his throne. Then the woman fled into the desert, where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be fed for one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Rev 12:4b-6).