Treatise On The Resurrection
Question. 73 - OF THE SIGNS THAT WILL PRECEDE THE JUDGMENT (THREE ARTICLES)
We must next consider the signs that will precede the judgment: and
under this head there are three points of inquiry:
(1) Whether any signs will precede the Lord's coming to judgment?
(2) Whether in very truth the sun and moon will be darkened?
(3) Whether the powers of the heavens will be moved when the Lord shall
come?
Art. 1 - Whether any signs will precede the Lord's coming to judgment?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Lord's coming to judgment will not
be preceded by any signs. Because it is written (1 Thess. 5:3): "When
they shall say: Peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come
upon them." Now there would be no peace and security if men were
terrified by previous signs. Therefore signs will not precede that
coming
Objection 2: Further, signs are ordained for the manifestation of
something. But His coming is to be hidden; wherefore it is written (1
Thess. 5:2): "The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night." Therefore signs ought not to precede it.
Objection 3: Further, the time of His first coming was foreknown by the
prophets, which does not apply to His second coming. Now no such signs
preceded the first coming of Christ. Therefore neither will they
precede the second.
On the contrary, It is written (Lk. 21:25): "There shall be signs in
the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars," etc.
Further, Jerome [*St. Peter Damian, Opuscul. xlix; he quotes St. Jerome, but the reference is not known.] mentions fifteen signs preceding the judgment. He says that on the "first" day all the seas will rise fifteen cubits above the mountains; in the "second" day all the waters will be plunged into the depths, so that scarcely will they be visible; on the "third" day they will be restored to their previous condition; on the "fourth" day all the great fishes and other things that move in the waters will gather together and, raising their heads above the sea, roar at one another contentiously; on the "fifth" day, all the birds of the air will gather together in the fields, wailing to one another, with neither bite nor sup; on the "sixth" day rivers of fire will arise towards the firmament rushing together from the west to the east; on the "seventh" day all the stars, both planets and fixed stars, will throw out fiery tails like comets; on the "eighth" day there will be a great earthquake, and all animals will be laid low; on the "ninth" day all the plants will be bedewed as it were with blood; on the "tenth" day all stones, little and great, will be divided into four parts dashing against one another; on the "eleventh" day all hills and mountains and buildings will be reduced to dust; on the "twelfth" day all animals will come from forest and mountain to the fields, roaring and tasting of nothing; on the "thirteenth" day all graves from east to west will open to allow the bodies to rise again; on the "fourteenth" day all men will leave their abode, neither understanding nor speaking, but rushing hither and thither like madmen; on the "fifteenth" day all will die and will rise again with those who died long before.