As I watch the economic mess in Europe unfold like a slow motion video of that diver who back flopped at the Olympics, I sometimes ponder a strange question.
Is this the time they were talking about?
“Is this the time…”
What time? The time when Europe leads the world into the conflagration. A time of crisis the likes of which has never been seen before. Boy, after all we have seen before, that should make one shudder.
“They were talking about?”
What they? Catholic prophets. Yes, we do have those believe it or not. We just don’t like to talk about lest someone think that we are like those wild-eyed folks, bless their hearts, with the “in case of rapture this car will be unmanned” bumper stickers.
No, we are not like them but we do have prophets (Yes, even the future telling kind.) And while there is no shortage of “catholic” quacks and charlatans out there, there are dozens and dozens of quotes from Approved Catholic sources, saints, sages, Fathers and Doctors of the Church who have gone out of their way to let us know what may befall mankind before the end of the world.
Now, while no Catholic MUST believe in any of it and any Catholic is free to REJECT all of it, that doesn’t mean I can’t discuss it. [If you are not keen on discussing it, read no further and kindly refrain from commenting. Gracias.]
So what do these saints, sages, Fathers and Doctors tell us? The basic scenario goes something like this: (Nutshell version)
Sometime near the end of the world, but before the rise of Antichrist, the world and the Church will be in a terrible state. Faith is greatly diminished and…
August 10, 2012 at 8:47 pm
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August 10, 2012 at 9:00 pm
You know something, Pat? You haven't mentioned the Book of Revelation as one of the "approved" Catholic prophecy sources. I wonder why, hmmm?
Besides, St. Nilus is partially quoting and paraphrasing St. Paul, so I don't think he's being original, here.
Finally, the idea that "Christian pastors, bishops, and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right hand way from the left…" well, we've seen this in the Church, haven't we? Not just in the refusal to confront clerical sex-abuse but in the hierarchy's and papacy's centuries-old preoccupation with power, wealth, political influence, secular prestige and intellectual fashion (let alone sexual perversion, see St. Peter Damian and "The Book of Gomorrah") at the expense of truth and fidelity.
I realize that last statement will shock and anger some of you. So what? Do you seriously think that "being Catholic" is enough? Or, for that matter, "being Protestant" or "being Eastern Orthodox"? The time is coming — indeed, it is here — of the great winnowing, when those whom God truly has called will follow Him, and the impostors will fall away.
Given the current state of institutionalized Christianity, let alone much of its history, the impostors started falling away centuries ago.
August 11, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Here's a couple of prophecies surrounding the Great King:
From a Capuchin Friar:
"A scion of the Carolingian race, by all extint, will come to Rome and behold and admire the piety and clemency of this Pontiff, who will crown him, and declare him to be the legitimate Emperor of the Romans. He shall destroy the Ottoman (Arab) Empire and all heresies. With the assistance of God and of the Pope, he will cooperate in the reformation of abuses, he will assume the direction of temporal governments; he will assign a decent pension to the Pope and also the bishops and clergy. And they will live in peace which shall last till the end of Time."
Carolingian would refer to the descendants of Charlamagne.
Here's another one.
"A man disliked by France will be placed on the throne; a man of the House of Orleans will be made king. It is only after this event that the counter-revelution will begin."
The term "counter-revolutionary" was used here in 1760 long before the term officially came into use. This can be understood as referring to an end to the persecutions being carried out by the French Socialists, Free Masons, and Communists.
Ven. Holzhauser:
"The fifth period of the Church, which began circa 1520, will end with the arrival of the Holy Pope and of the powerful Monarch who is called "Help from God" because he will restore everything [in Christ].