The highest chair in the world will soon be vacant. It is not a position created by man or sustained by natural powers. This office has endured for centuries and will be present even when I return in glory. It is sustained by my promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against my Church. The papacy, like other institutions, has seen high points and low moments. Yet, this boat of Peter has navigated the tides and has never been shipwrecked. Now, this chair of Peter has been brought to this special moment by a pope who obeyed my inner word that he should hand over the keys of the kingdom to another.

What a solemn and unique moment in modern history. A living pope surrenders his powers so another pope can gain them. A living pope removes himself from the chair of Peter so another could take his place. Only I could have brought this about as my Holy Spirit stirred so forcibly in the heart of Benedict. He would have served as long as I wanted him to.

Understand the greatness of this act. Even more, understand the uniqueness of what I have done. See it as a sign that I have only begun to act. Would I bring about this highly unusual resignation and then allow the conclave to proceed in its usual manner. Why have I done this? What am I doing? All the cardinals must see this. They must not approach the conclave as they previously thought. Let them be ready for my special stirrings in their hearts and for my special actions within the conclave itself.

The cardinals cannot pull a curtain so that no one sees what they are doing. All the eyes of heaven will be upon them. All the eyes of earth will see someday what has taken place in these extraordinary meetings. The events will be recounted down through the ages. I know there is secrecy but secrecy does not pertain to heavenly actions and divine interventions. These must not be kept secret.

In the beginning of the conclave (and even before it begins) there will be divine signs. The cardinals will speak of “coincidences”. There will be so many of these that any cardinal with great faith will realize how much I am guiding this process. These signs will greatly influence the thinking of many. More important, the cardinals’ level of faith in direct divine interventions will grow strong and firm. This is the first stage – hearts that are ready to believe because they have seen.

As the cardinals gather more intensely in the days before the conclave, this will provide me with a greater opportunity. I will work in the hearts of my special cardinals by an illumination. They will begin to see, not a certain candidate, but a vision of the purpose of this conclave. This will shatter all their false reasoning’s and will purge them. They will be cleansed in my heart and made ready to act on by behalf in the conclave itself.

I will speak here only of the initial days of the conclave. There will be great confusion. Cardinals from all over the world, with totally different thought will gather, many for the first time. The opening days will be in the human spirit. This is quite natural. Let this human spirit be quickly spent, like morning clouds that pass away with the heat of the sun.