In trying times like ours, one can’t help but wonder where and when we will see divine intervention to help us dispel the growing darkness in the world.

Now, in Nigeria, it appears that just such a thing may have happened:

Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme, head of the Diocese of Maiduguri in Nigeria’s Borno State, was in a chapel praying before the Blessed Sacrament last December when, he says, something extraordinary happened: Jesus Christ appeared holding a sword, which He offered to the prelate.

According to Bishop Dashe, the moment he took the sword from Jesus’ hands, it transformed into Rosary beads. He then heard Christ repeat three times, “Boko Haram is gone.”

The bishop recalls, “I didn’t need any prophet to give me the explanation. It was clear that with the Rosary we would be able to expel Boko Haram.”

Boko Haram is the Islamic group that’s been massacring Christian civilians in Nigeria and beyond for several years.

It originally was tied to Al Quaeda, but now formally pledges allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Bishop Doeme says he’s seen the size of his diocese cut in half since Boko Haram started ramping up its violent activity in 2009. Most fled for safer grounds.

“Despite all this,” the Nigerian prelate says, “we do not give up our public witness to our faith.” He affirms, “I wear my episcopal robes publicly, because on the day I agreed to be bishop I knew I was signing my death sentence.”

This is incredible courage. Courage that could transform the Church — and perhaps the world — if more of us (especially our shepherds) had it.

It also shows us, once again that the Holy Rosary of Our Blessed Mother is truly a weapon against evil and sin. Our Lady of Akita warned of great danger to the human race if we did not repent when she appeared in Japan in 1973:

“As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.”

[…]

“Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved.”

Whether you believe that Bishop Doeme’s vision was authentic or not, the message rings true: pray the Rosary. Trust in our Lady and her Son. And always, when forced to fight evil, remember that it can only truly be done with God’s power, not our own.