My phone rang.
"Ana! Listen to me! I had a terrible vision!" my mother said, panic evident in her voice.
"What kind of vision, Mom?" I asked, both curious and alarmed.
"I was sitting in the living room last night when I looked out the window and saw a giant ball of fire falling toward the Earth. It was unbelievable! I've never seen anything like it."
Dona Dulce spoke so quickly she barely stopped to breathe.
"My goodness... What did it look like?"
"It was enormous—absolutely enormous—and smoke was pouring off it! I asked the Lord, 'What does this mean?' And He answered, 'Something terrible is going to happen on the Earth.'"
"What do you think it could be, Mom?"
"I don't know. It was a spiritual vision—a warning. Do you think we should start stocking up on food?"
"I don't think so. If that's necessary, the Lord will tell us. We just have to trust Him."
"If I tell other people, they'll think I've lost my mind," she said, her voice heavy with anguish.
"I know they will, Mom."
"Something very bad is going to happen. I know it. You'll see," she said with unwavering conviction.
That conversation stayed with me.
I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Months later, a deadly virus spread across the world, claiming millions of lives.
The pandemic confined people to their homes for months.
Fear gripped the planet.
Despair consumed countless hearts.
Darkness settled over people's minds.
Many lost their sanity.
Many lost everything they had.
My phone rang again.
"Ana, do you remember my vision... the ball of fire?"
"I do, Mom. I think that fireball represented the virus. The fireball fell, and the fire spread destruction everywhere. The virus appeared from an unknown place and, in much the same way, spread devastation across the world. That's how I understand it."
She listened silently.
"Lívia always says that everything first manifests itself in the spiritual world before appearing in the physical one. I think she's right," I said, recalling her words.
"We have to keep protecting ourselves—wear our masks, use alcohol sanitizer..." she said. "I asked the Lord, 'How long will we have to hide from this virus?' And He answered, 'The vaccine will come soon.'"
"That's good to hear," I said with a sigh of relief.
"The Lord is giving human beings the wisdom to develop the vaccine, and they don't even realize it. They believe that wisdom comes only from themselves. We must remain steadfast in the Lord, praying and asking for His protection until the vaccine arrives."
"I pray every night. Mom, I have to go now. I need to get back to work."
"Now? It's ten o'clock at night!"
"I've had so much work... I couldn't finish it earlier."
I worked almost nonstop, moving between home and the office.
The only times I left the house were to buy medicine and other essentials.
By the end, I was completely exhausted.
The days and nights had begun to blur together.
Weeks passed.
The vaccine arrived, and the number of deaths gradually began to fall.
The vaccine came like water extinguishing a fire.
The prophecies had come to pass.
Many people believe the virus was God's punishment.
But can God truly be blamed for what humanity does to its own planet?