From the Book of Daniel    93 

leaders of the Church. His attacks on the faithful are really an attack on 

Christ, who is, above all others who might be called leaders in the Church, 

the One Leader of the Church. The Antichrist glorifies himself, even as if he 

were greater than Christ. 

    The continual sacrifice is the Eucharist and the Mass, which are allowed 

to be taken away from the Church (in most places). Antichrist overthrows, 

destroys, or desecrates most sanctuaries, including the seat of the Church (in 

Jerusalem), and churches, convents, and holy places around the world. The 

continual  sacrifice  will be given over to Antichrist because of the sins of 

Christians and of the world. The Antichrist harms the Church and greatly 

offends God by promoting and supporting a false version of the Eucharist, 

and by preventing the true Holy Mass and the true Holy Eucharist; this sin 

against the Eucharist and the Mass is the transgression that makes desolate. 

 and truth will be struck down to the ground....  (Dan 8:12). 

The First Half of the Antichrist's Reign 

      `And he will return to his land with many resources. And his heart will 

be against the holy testament, and he will act, and he will return to his own 

land.'   (Dan 11:28). 

    The two kings, the king of the Meridian (Africa) and the king of the East 

(China), fail to defeat the Antichrist with deception and are themselves 

defeated by him. Then the Antichrist returns to his land, the kingdom of the 

North, with many resources and increased power, because he now controls 

four kingdoms: North, South, Meridian, and East. 

    Now (in  A.D.2431) he sets his heart against Christianity. He has always 

hated the Christian faith, but he was previously too occupied with amassing 

power to spend much time or effort against the Church. The Antichrist is 

now able to act against Christianity because he controls the four most 

powerful of the ten kingdoms of the world. In order to gain even more 

power and, at the same time, to act against the Church, the Antichrist forces 

the other six kingdoms, and the four kingdoms he directly controls, to make 

a covenant with him:  But he will confirm a covenant with many for one 

week of years.... (Dan 9:27). This covenant is religious in nature. It requires 

the ten kingdoms to abandon the beliefs of religion and the worship of God 

(including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.) in order to believe what the 

Antichrist teaches and to follow and worship only him.  When Antichrist 

attains power over almost the whole world, this marks the beginning of the 

nearly seven years of the Church's great suffering.