The Church Militant, the Godless, the 144,000, and the Mark of the Beast
The Church, as Supreme Witness to the truth, has been attacked so long doctrinally, many centuries since pagan Rome, but the harm was never total; every heresy had some light, and the doctrinal harm came right back on the one harming to the same nature and degree, "and if any man harm them, in this manner, he must be harmed."
But in the 20th century, there is no light in atheism or relativism, or hedonism or materailism. They are utterly dark, and so the two wtinesses, the Church, have been murdered in the apostasy of the last 100 years or so. This seems to be culminating in our current crisis: when all is said is done, the Church will be completely dead to the world, and viritually no one will listen to her.
But when the Minor Chastisement comes, the two wintesses will stand upon their feet, and as the incomprehensible horrors of the dress rehearsal for the end of the world expose all errors against us, the world will be begin to fear the Church again, as in, "and great fear came upon them who saw them."
And in the glorious repentance of the world and the reunion of Chrisitans, the Two Wtinesses of the Oral and Written Words of God, the supreme wellspring witness of the Church, will be vindicated, and Our Lady will reign for a great age of peace.
see also:
The Two Witnesses and Christian Disunity: A Central Question of the Apocalyptic Mystery