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Within a mere few hours after Benedict resigned, St. Peter's Basilica was struck.




From a pdf file about the symbolism of the dove with regard to the papacy:

Quote:“Son of the Dove”

In  “Lesson  IX”  of  the  Roman  Breviary ,  for  the  feast  of  Saints  Peter  and  Paul,  St.  Jerome comments about the connection between the dove, the  Holy Ghost, and the first Pope: “What flesh and blood could not reveal [to Peter] was revealed by the grace of the Holy Ghost.  Therefore  his  [Peter’s]  name  was  decided  by  his  confession  [to  Jesus  in  the  presence  of  the apostles: “Thou art the Christ; the Son of the Living God.”], because he received a revelation from  the  Holy  Ghost.    As  such,  he  [Peter]  is  called
His  son.    In  fact,  [Simon]  Bar-Jona [commonly understood to mean, Simon, son of James] in our language means Son of the Dove.” 

St.  Peter’s  successors  have  also  been  closely  associated  with  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Several  holy  pontiffs  have  been  memorialized  with  the  emblematic  dove  hovering  overhead.  Examples of this include the portrait of Blessed Po
pe Eugene III and the statue of Pope Benedict XIII, in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome.  This visual tradition is firmly rooted in the history of the popes and prelates destined to be elected as popes.

The file lists a number of examples of how doves have been witnessed to alight on the heads of Pontiffs throughout the years, including Popes St. Fabian, St. Gregory the Great, Gregory XVI, and Pius IX. For those who believe the "Siri hypothesis" -- that Cardinal Siri was actually elected in 1958, but was forced out so that John XXIII, the Pope beloved by the media and who brought on Vatican II, could take over -- there is a photograph of a dove landing on Siri's head as he was offering Mass in Genoa:


Contrast that with what happened to the doves released by Francis:




From USA Today:

Pope's doves of peace attacked by angry birds
Doug Stanglin , USA TODAY Published 11:40 a.m. ET Jan. 27, 2014 | Updated 12:19 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2014

In a final gesture at the Vatican's annual "Caravan of Peace," Pope Francis watched with a wide smile as two children at his side released a pair of white doves from the window of the Apostolic Palace as a sign of peace.

Unfortunately, [b]a sea gull and a large black crow had others ideas, sweeping down on the hapless doves as tens of thousands of people jammed into St. Peter's Square looked on Sunday.

One dove managed to break free from the sea gull, losing a few feathers in the brawl. The crow had a better grip on the other dove, pecking the bird repeatedly.

In the end, both doves got away, although the extent of their injuries wasn't immediately clear.

The boy looked upset at the bird's misfortune, prompting the pope to embrace him and pat his head. The young girl appeared to be laughing at the unexpected turn of events.

Vox Wrote:
I hope the girl was just nervous and that that's what prompted her laughter. To think otherwise is kind of scary...

Speaking at the window beforehand, Francis had appealed for peace in Ukraine, where anti-government protesters have died.

It wasn't the first time that peace got a rough ride at the annual event, however. The Independent reports. Last year, at the same event, a lone gull attacked two doves on a similar peace mission. The pair, however, quickly turned around and — perhaps fittingly — found refuge inside the Vatican.

Perhaps these are signs of tough time in the Church. We've got what you posted, plus others like the blood of St. Januarius not liquefying. We must pray for the conversion of the Pope, even Fr. Michael Rodriguez has said so.

I feel like a lot of people were talking about the something big is gonna happen in 2017 stuff at the end of 2016, but the talk sort of died down in the first two months of the year. The more I see things getting out of control in the Vatican these past couple of months, added with the political climate, the more I think we will see something go down. I have no idea what though.

I think that these signs are that we should pray for the Holy Father.
:pray: :pray: :pray:

In reference to the lightning strike, I wonder how many times it gets struck? I know I used to live across the street from St Peter's Cathedral in Kansas City, KS. Virtually everytime we had a good ol' Kansas thunderstorm, it would get struck. BTW, being that close to a lightning strike is scary the first couple of times it happens! After that, you sort of get used to it.

as for recent signs of what is happening, well we've had the conference this week  for one sign.
we have the lingering Dubia for another, and we've had the recent clergy demotions and shifts for a third sign.

Add to that the change in the atmosphere of the Vatican in the past months and the seemingly spontaneous
affirmation of the support of the pope by his  council and it would appear that there are more sea gulls and hawks in the curia than first imagined.
and  the bodies of the doves are beginning to fall