Often forgotten in revisiting the Crucifixion is that darkness. This was a sign of His deity.
“Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour,” says Matthew 27:45.
Three hours of strange, startling obscurity.
At an apparition site in Kibeho in Rwanda (which has been approved by local ecclesial authorities), a taste of a similar preternatural or supernatural darkness occurred in the 1980s. In addition to striking sun miracles — which were observed by thousands — witnesses said there were instances during which the sky turned half bright and half dark during apparitions.
Sometimes, it was total darkness.
On November 30, 1982, Agnes Kamagaju, one of the seven main seers at Kibeho, claimed to have a message from Jesus warning they should not seek “too much after signs” because the sign He gave might be something unnerving.
Immediately after, the stars and moon suddenly blinked out, over this impoverished African village, putting thousands who’d attended the apparition in utter darkness and groping for torches.
“Agnes begged Jesus in tears to return the moon, and Jesus was not happy,” says author Immaculée Ilibagiza, who served as interpreter for Agnes during our trip there and wrote a compelling book, Our Lady of Kibeho (highly recommended) .
“The stars all disappeared at 8 p.m., and Jesus told the people to light up their earthly lamps, but those who were there said that they left around 11:30 p.m. still wondering if they could get back and find the way out; it was thick dark until next morning.”
These matters are extremely difficult to believe, let alone comprehend. As stated, the sky and solar phenomena were witnessed by thousands.
Darkness is and always has been seen as a sign. Some believe there may have been a total eclipse during the time of Jonah.
In our own day, the United States and Canada are abuzz with an eclipse that will occur on April 8—this year, the date on which the Annunication will be celebrated—and will cut a 100-mile-wide swath of “dark totality” from Texas through the Midwest to the northeast, peaking at Niagara Falls, where the solar orb will be blotted out by the moon not just for a fleeting moment, as at most locales, but for four minutes. This is causing many to read signs in the event, for in that path are at least two towns named “Nineveh,” and half a dozen other in the path of partial darkness.
Nineveh, of course, was the city Jonah warned of a coming event and was referenced by Jesus Himself in Matthew 12: 38-41: “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.'”
Or there are Luke 23:44 and Matthew 27:57:
“And a darkness came over the whole land, and the earth quaked; and the veil of the Temple was torn in two.”
[resources: Immaculee’s excellent book, Our Lady of Kibeho, highly recommended]:
