Saint Malachy, Prophecies about 112 popes until the end of the world, the last five Popes

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[Salvation]

Saint Malachy 
Prophecies about 112 popes until the end of the world.

Note: The Church does not lean on private revelation for doctrinal matters, but it does not oppose to the faithful obtaining benefit from them so long as they don't go against our faith.  

This analysis focuses on the last five Popes in the context of the prophecies of Saint Malachy.

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Saint Malachy was born in Amagh Ireland in 1094, he lived a religious life as a monk, then he was ordained priest and finally Bishop. He was canonized in 1199 by Pope Clement III. His biography was compiled by Saint Bernard, a contemporaneous saint.

He made a pilgrimage to Rome and during the end of the year 1139 and the beginning of 1140 had a series of visions about 112 Popes from Celestine III, elected Pontiff in 1130 until the last Pope who is described in his list as Peter Romanus.

After the last Roman Pontiff, Saint Malachy predicts the end of the world.

The Benedictine historian Arnold Wion was the first person to mention these prophecies in his book Lignum Vitae, published in 1559.

These prophecies are short, but they have demonstrated to be very accurate, even though in the time of their publication they caused much controversy as some claimed that they were falsified.

The book of prophecies of Saint Malachy was published originally in 1969 by Colin Smythe Ltd. in England, with the title "Prophecies of St. Malachy and St. Columbkille."

Tan Books published the book in the United States in 1973 with the title "Prophecies of Saint Malachy" its author is Peter Bander.

The foreword reads like this:

In publishing THE PROPHECIES OF SAINT MALACHY, Colin Smythe Limited have produced an instructive and entertaining book.

There is great deal of instant information in Peter Bander's nutshell biographical accounts of the popes who occupied the Roman See since the year 1143 to our present time - and indeed of the antipopes as well. The remarkable way in which the visions St Malachy is alleged to have had, are shown to apply to the succesive individual popes is most amusing. Is it not the case to repeat: "Se non e vero, e ben trovato"? (If it is not true, it is well rhymed)

Whatever one may think of the genuineness of the prophecies attributed to Saint Malachy, here is a fascinating study which provides the curious reader with much profit and pleasure.

Archbishop H.E. Cardinale
Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium and Luxemburg, until recently Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain.

It is curious to think that whenever there is a Conclave, the Cardinals read these prophecies of the saint, and even though they are not ecclesiastic authority they give an idea of what has happen and of what is to occur.

Prophecies of Saint Malachy

This study is an analysis based on private revelation and observations of what is taking place now. It is not to be taken as an official position of the Church. It is good to remind us of the words of the Lord: "stay awake."

The last five popes are mentioned with the following titles: 
Flos Florum
De medietate Lunae
De Labore Solis
Gloria Olivae
Petrus Romanus

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Flos Florum - Flower of flowers

Pope Paul VI 
Pontiff from 1963 to 1978. 

Giovanni Battista Montini. In his coat of arms there are three "fleurs de lis"

With great success he concluded Vatican Council II, he made rigorous reforms to the Roman Curia, he traveled the five continents and was called peregrine pope .  In 1965 he was well received and accepted at his address to the UN. Author of the encyclicals opulorum progressio (1967), Humanae vitae July 24, 1968. He died in August 6, 1978, feast of the Transfiguration.

De medietate Lunae - Of the half moon

Papa Juan Pablo I ' Abino Luciani
Pontiff for 33 days.

He was born on 17 of October 1912 in Forno di Canale, called now Canale de Agordo, he was baptized the same day by his midwife, for fear of his death, he was later baptized by a priest.

After a life dedicated to the Church as a priest, he was elected Pope during the second day of the Conclave in August 26, 1978. He died of cardiac attack in September 28 1978, thirty three days after the beginning of his papacy.

"De la media luna" Of the half moon is a very accurate description regarding his beginning and also his short pontificate. Even his name Abino Luciani means white light, it has been mentioned that the most important events of his life took place in dates of half moon.

De Labore Solis - From the toil of the sun - or - Of the eclipse of the sun.

Pope  John Paul II 
Pontiff from 1978 to 2005

This description fits John Paul II perfectly, since he emerged as a especial light for the Catholic Church, promoting the faith from all angles. The works of John Paul II were truly the work of God, the labor of the sun.

The second meaning of "De labore solis" is a solar eclipse, in which the sun seems to struggle in order to give its light. Perhaps the fact that John Paul II, was a very Marian Pope who had a special devotion to the Virgin Mary, the woman clothed with the sun that appears in the Apocalypse, suggests that the sun (Our Lord) has been temporarily eclipsed by the moon (Our Lady). 

John Paul II was a great humanist and peacemaker, a traveler Pope, proclaimer of the gospel in more than 130 countries throughout the world, author of many apostolic letters, encyclicals and books. Canonizer of more saints in his pontificate than any other Pope in all history. During his last years as Pope he concluded his pontificate proclaiming the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary and the Eucharist.

Year 1997. God the Son
Year 1998. God the Holy Spirit
Year 1999. God the Father
Year 2000 
24 December 1999 - 6 January 2001Great Jubilee. 

Year 2002-2003. Year of the Holy Rosary, institution of the Luminous mysteries.16 October 2002 - 31 October 2003
Year 2005. The Holy Eucharist. 17 October 2004 - 29 October 2005

Gloria Olivae - The Glory of the olive

Benedict XVI 
Joseph Ratzinger
Starts Pontificate in April 2005

He chose his name in honor of Saint Benedict, author of the very strict rule of the Benedictines.

His motto is "Co-worker of the Truth."

He has been known even before becoming Pope as a conservative man, ready to defend the Catholic principles that represent the truth of the teachings of Christ.

Our new Pontiff is covered under the sign of the olive according to the prophecies of St. Malachy

The branches of the olive were symbols of peace and victory for Noah after the flood. Throughout history, we know that olive branches have made crowns for kings and athletes as symbols of power and glory. The olive tree thrives in silent areas, such as the garden of olives where Jesus suffered his agony before being arrested by the soldiers.

Olive oil has anointed kings, saints, popes and in a especial way all Christians.

The leaves and the oil of the olive tree have medicinal properties, derived from the oleic acid which is an anti cancer component. The good kitchen cannot exist without olive oil. The best paints have olive oil base, to give them luster and to increase their durability.

The olive is a symbol of peace, abundance, glory and purification.

The Church has been through a period of light, and now is the the time to celebrate and pick up the fruits of the previous pontificate of John Paul. It is quite possible that they will bring many conversions and an increase in the faith especially from the young people.

With the purifying properties of the olive, our new Pontiff comes to challenge error.  He presents himself exposing the truth of our faith with a special courage, he is prepared to heal the cancer of heresy, the infection of apostasy and to promote the health of our Catholic faith.

According to the prophecies of Saint Malachy, Pope Benedict XVI is the Pope before the last one, named "Gloria Olivae" which means the glory of the olive, it is to be a time of glory and rejoicing for the true Church.   

Due to the straightforwardness of our new Pontiff, great opposition is expected, but the Spirit of God is with him and we are in good hands.

Petrus Romanus - Peter Roman

The apostle Peter was the first Pope of the Church, elected directly by our Lord Jesus Christ:

You are Peter, the rock. On this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loose in Heaven. (Matthew 16:18-19)

Peter, the same as Christ, drank of the same chalice of suffering when he died as a martyr.

The body of Christ, the Church represents our Lord Jesus Christ.

The last two pontiffs will have to face the fury of the enemy who will make a violent persecution to Christianity. Faithful as Peter, the last Pontiff will take care of his flock in the midst of the attacks of the enemy. 

2 Thessalonians 3-4 speaks of the apostasy of the last times before the second coming of Christ, when evil will be defying everything that is sacred. The man of iniquity, or the anti-Christ will take his seat in the temple of God. 

This does not necessarily means the embodiment of the devil but if could mean the evil that is being accepted broadly when human beings who are temples of the spirit of God are being desecrated by their own wickedness. 

Just as the Lord lived, taught us, gave us spiritual food and saved us by his death on the cross, the Church being the mystical body of Christ has a similar task. Therefore the church is to be persecuted, insulted and finally crucified, in preparation for the coming of the Lord.

But just as the Lord rose after his death, the Church will also be resurrected for the Glory of God.

No one knows the day nor the hour, but the Lord tells us to be ready.

The prophecies of Saint Malachy end like this:

In the persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock among many tribulations after which the seven hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.

[Glenmerle]

Show where Christ established many churches with diverse beliefs.

Show where Christ established the Roman Catholic Church (you may also want to discuss the concept of Christ's first church with apostolic Protestant groups and the Eastern Orthodox Church). Christ established his church, full of human beings who would differ -- some honestly, some not -- on certain matters.

But I reject the premise implicit in your post. The Catholic Church is not a church that has existed, unchanged, since Peter's time. That's nonsense. In fact, the RCC became so thoroughly corrupt at certain times in its history that people of good faith had to leave it.

The Church is where Christ is, and in some times and some places that has not been the RCC.

[redgolum]

In John’s day, it was Rome. The early Church was going through some rather rough times then, and had little love for the pagan Roman state.

Does that mean that Rome the literal city is meant today? I don’t know. It is possible (and IMO likely) that it means a similar all encompassing pagan empire that will rise in the last days.

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

The Protestant “system” is the apostate one, not the Catholic Church. I was brought up Presbyterian, so I know every Protestant argument, and not one of them holds weight against Scripture and the teachings of the Early Church Fathers (which anyone can access).

Do you mean like the early church fathers refutations of Rome's misinterpretation of Matthew 16:18 to denote Petrine primacy?

Eusebius of Caesarea says:

‘And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bear, at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of thy nostrils’ (Ps. 18.14)...By ‘the foundations of the world,’ we shall understand the strength of God’s wisdom, by which, first, the order of the universe was established, and then, the world itself was founded—a world which will not be shaken. Yet you will not in any way err from the scope of the truth if you suppose that ‘the world’ is actually the Church of God, and that its ‘foundation’ is in the first place, that unspeakably solid rock on which it is founded, as Scripture says: ‘Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’; and elsewhere: ‘The rock, moreover, was Christ.’ For, as the Apostle indicates with these words: ‘No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.’ Then, too, after the Savior himself, you may rightly judge the foundations of the Church to be the words of the prophets and apostles, in accordance with the statement of the Apostle: ‘Built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.’ These foundations of the world have been laid bare because the enemies of God, who once darkened the eyes of our mind, lest we gaze upon divine things, have been routed and put to flight—scattered by the arrows sent from God and put to flight by the rebuke of the Lord and by the blast from his nostrils. As a result, having been saved from these enemies and having received the use of our eyes, we have seen the channels of the sea and have looked upon the foundations of the world. This has happened in our lifetime in many parts of the world---Commentary on the Psalms, M.P.G., Vol. 23, Col. 173, 176.

Likewise Augustine says:

And I tell you...‘You are Peter, Rocky, and on this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of the underworld will not conquer her. To you shall I give the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall also be loosed in heaven’ (Mt 16:15-19). In Peter, Rocky, we see our attention drawn to the rock. Now the apostle Paul says about the former people, ‘They drank from the spiritual rock that was following them; but the rock was Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4). So this disciple is called Rocky from the rock, like Christian from Christ...Why have I wanted to make this little introduction? In order to suggest to you that in Peter the Church is to be recognized. Christ, you see, built his Church not on a man but on Peter’s confession. What is Peter’s confession? ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ There’s the rock for you, there’s the foundation, there’s where the Church has been built, which the gates of the underworld cannot conquer---John Rotelle, Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine (New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993), Sermons, Vol. 6, Sermon 229P.1, p. 327.

There is no excuse for ignorance.

I agree, the early church fathers held the same interpretation of Matthew 16:18 as Protestants, in opposition to the later Roman interpretation which infers a Petrine primacy that is confided to the bishops of Rome where it does not exist.

[irishtenor]

Um, Revelation 2-3?

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

That’s impossible. Peter the Roman is code for Jesus Himself - the last Pope (when He comes to judge the world).

Do you have some evidence for that?

Every RC writer on this so called "prophecy" says that "Peter the Roman" is the Anti-Christ.

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

As noted here, words like "heresy" and "blasphemy" are legitimate in theological debate. The Religion Forum is not ecumenical - open threads are for debate.

Do I understand that correctly to mean that within the course of providing opposition to Roman Catholicism with documented facts, that it is legitimate and not against the rules to use the terms: heretical, apostate, damnable, antichrist or reprobate?

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

Examples of the “faith of the Apostles” include the “Epistle to the Corinthians,” written by Clement of Rome about the same time as the Gospel of St. John. He is the Clement mentioned by St. Paul in Philippians 4:3 as his “fellow-laborer.” Also the epistles of Ignatius, composed as he was going to his martyrdom which occurred December 20, 107 AD, the writings of Justin Martyr written around 150 AD, and the work “Against Heresies” written by Irenaeus of Lyons between 175-185 AD. Irenaeus was taught by Polycarp, who was personally taught by St. John the Apostle.

None of which support many of the dogmas of Roman Catholicism which developed well after the 6th century.

Your post shows that you have no knowledge of the Early Church and the “faith of the Apostles.”

I do, as I firmly suspect "topcat" does as well, which is why he made the comment that Rome began deviating from the "faith of the Apostles" and ultimately strayed so far as to have ceased being a true church during the medieval period as the Reformers rightly charged.

You might want to investigate.

I have, and do, finding the religion of Roman Catholicism to be far removed from the Apostolic faith taught by Christ, the Apostles and the early Church.

[Campion]

I agree, the early church fathers held the same interpretation of Matthew 16:18 as Protestants

You have two whole examples. I have a book here on my lap ("Jesus, Peter, and the Keys", by Butler, Dahlgren, and Hess) with 64 pages of counterexamples between pages 215 and 279.

It will take me time just to cherry-pick some good ones to post.

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

You have two whole examples. I have a book here on my lap ("Jesus, Peter, and the Keys"...

I'm familiar with the misrepresentations in that book.

Post them when you want and I'll respond to demonstrate how the authors take the citations they present out of context, and totally misrepresent, especially the term they point out so much, being "the chair of Peter".

[Glenmerle]

I'm very interested in what you posted in #123. Can you recommend a good (modern-day) book or two on the subject?

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

Then maybe we can have a discussion on Rome's new definition of "tradition" from the Vincentian Principle, quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est, that Rome cited at the Council of Trent to it's new version of "viva voce", or whatever Rome says it is.

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

I can't recommend a particular book at the moment, but give me some time and I'll dig some up.

Also, there are a lot of RC sites on the net that deal with the topic of "Peter the Roman".

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

You have two whole examples.

Those two were just for starters, there are many, many more.

So much for "tradition" being the "unanimous consent of the fathers", that Rome cited at Trent, huh?

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

If memory serves me well, JPII put a lot of stock in the Malachy prophecy, and held that "Peter the Roman" would be the Antichrist who would lead the Roman church into apostasy.

Of course there are the Old Catholics, SSPXers, Sedevacantists and others who say the Roman church led by the Vatican has been apostate since the Vatican I Council.

[irishtenor]

***I don’t go around posting that the church of Calvinism is worthless and hellbound.***

Maybe you don’t, but many of your friends do.

[irishtenor]

***I don’t go around posting that the church of Calvinism is worthless and hellbound.***

Maybe you don’t, but many of your friends do.

[Campion]

So much for "tradition" being the "unanimous consent of the fathers", that Rome cited at Trent, huh?

All Trent said was that something which was unanimously attested by the fathers required assent. They didn't specify which "somethings" they had in mind.

[Missey_Lucy_Goosey]

Wrong.

[Campion]

Patrick Madrid disagrees with you. I think he's probably a more cogent authority on Catholic doctrine than you are.

The phrase "unanimous consent of the Fathers" had a specific application as used at the Council of Trent (Fourth Session), and reiterated at the First Vatican Council (Dogmatic Decrees of the Vatican Council, chap. 2). The Council Fathers specifically applied the phrase to the interpretation of Scripture. Biblical and theological confusion was rampant in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther stated, "There are almost as many sects and beliefs as there are heads; this one will not admit baptism; that one rejects the Sacrament of the altar; another places another world between the present one and the day of judgment; some teach that Jesus Christ is not God. There is not an individual, however clownish he may be, who does not claim to be inspired by the Holy Ghost, and who does not put forth as prophecies his ravings and dreams."

The Council Fathers at Trent (1554-63) affirmed the ancient custom that the proper understanding of Scripture was that which was held by the Fathers of the Church. In this way, they hoped to bring order out of the rising chaos. Opposition to the Church's teaching is exemplified by William Webster (The Church of Rome at the Bar of History [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1995]), who misrepresents the Council Fathers by redefining and misapplying "unanimous consent." First in redefining, he implies that unanimous consent means 100% affirmation by each Father. This is a false understanding of the phrase and even in American law, unanimous consent "does not always mean that every one present voted for the proposition, but it may, and generally does, mean, when a [verbal] vote is taken, that no one voted in the negative" (Black's Law Dictionary).

Second, Webster misapplies the term, not to the interpretation of Scripture, as the Council Fathers intended, but to tradition. His assertions are patently untrue, but using a skewed definition and application of "unanimous consent," he uses selective patristic passages as proof-texts for his analysis of the Fathers.

As an example, individual Fathers may explain the "Rock" in Matthew 16 as Jesus, Peter, Peter's confession or Peter's faith. Even the Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the "Rock" of Matthew 16 as Peter in one place (CCC 552) and his faith in another (CCC 424). Matthew 16 can be applied in many ways to refute false teachings and to instruct the faithful without emphasizing the literal, historical interpretation of Peter as the Rock upon which the Church has been built. Webster and others emphasize various patristic applications as "proof" of non-unanimous consent.

[Glenmerle]

Of course there are the Old Catholics, SSPXers, Sedevacantists and others who say the Roman church led by the Vatican has been apostate since the Vatican I Council.

I've seen that opinion expressed numerous times in this very forum.