The Judgement of Nations Series

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A series of short articles reviewing various approved Church mystics and prophecies. A reminder that:

When the Church approves private revelations, she declares only that there is nothing in them contrary faith or good morals, and that they may be read without danger or even with profit; no obligation is thereby imposed on the faithful to believe them. Speaking of such revelations as (e.g.) those of St. Hildegard (approved in part by Eugenius III), St. Bridget (by Boniface IX), and St. Catherine of Siena (by Gregory XI) Benedict XIV says: "It is not obligatory nor even possible to give them the assent of Catholic faith, but only of human faith, in conformity with the dictates of prudence, which presents them to us as probable and worthy of pius belief)" (De canon., III, liii, xxii, II).  [Taken from the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia]

The Judgment of Nations - I
The Latter Times & the Judgment of Nations

TIA / Margaret C. Galitzin [adapted]| May 13, 2021


Recently I came across a small book titled The Latter Times [Los Ultimos Tiempos] by a Spanish Doctor of Sacred Scripture, Fr. Benjamin Sanchez, born in 1905. (1) This short work, which examines public and private prophecies about the Latter Times, is quite interesting and significant for our days. This is particularly so because many Catholics, overwhelmed by the apostasy and sin of our days, are wrongly thinking that we are in the End Times that will immediately precede the Last Judgment.

Based on Scripture and prophecies that agree with it, Fr. Sanchez correctly situates our disastrous days in History. The results of his study confirm the prophecies of Fatima and Quito, as well as those of the great Marian prophet St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, which speak of a great chastisement to be followed by a long period of peace, the Reign of Christ through Mary [...].

Detail of the Last Judgment – Cathedral of Orvieto

In general, the Scriptures and private prophecies that Fr. Sanchez sets out warn us of a great chastisement that will come over all humanity – a Judgment of Nations – to be followed by a long period of peace and universal well-being. When he uses the expression Latter Times, he emphasizes that it does not refer to the end of the world created by God. In the great universal catastrophe that is coming, the world will not be completely annihilated.

Rather, the remnant of mankind that survives the chastisement will be changed and purified. With a zeal for the glory of Our Lord and Our Lady, they will build a better world. Many of the prophecies speak of a great leader, a man sent by God, a prophetic figure beloved by Our Lady, an Eliatic figure, who will lead this restoration.

In the era that will follow, Fr. Sanchez notes, “Christ will reign from one end of the world to the other, and all His enemies will fall at his feet (1 Cor 15:25) to render Him their vassalage. His Church will be gloriously triumphant throughout the earth. (2)

The End Times or Final Judgment, will take place only after that period of God’s triumph on earth. The great chastisement and purification of the world should not be confused with the Final Judgment, Fr. Sanchez emphasizes, for Scriptures tells us that not even the Angels of Heaven know the day or the time of the latter.

What is announced in Scripture and prophecies, which will be presented in this series of articles, is not the end of the world, but rather what he calls the Judgment of Nations that will take place during a Great Chastisement that will come upon a world that has lost the faith and grievously transgressed all the laws of God. It is a Chastisement that will take place in our times foretold by Scriptures and more clearly described in various approved prophecies.

Let us begin this series with a look at just several of the quotes from Scripture (3) that confirm a Chastisement or Judgment of Nations, to be followed by a time when a purified remnant will fear and glorify the Lord.


Scripture on a Great Chastisement & Purified Remnant

Isaiah prophesizes a Latter Times when the earth, profaned by its inhabitants, will be devastated and only a few of the faithful will remain:

Isaiah the Prophet, Congonhas do Campo, Brazil

“Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant, so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth.

“With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened. And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant.

“Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left.” (24:1-6)

The small number of survivors of this great chastisement is foretold in the imagery of the few olives that still cling to the tree after it has been shaken:

“It shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended.” (Is 14:13)

What is important to note is that some inhabitants, albeit few, will remain after the Great Chastisement, which is a definitive sign that it is not the end of the world.


The Judgment of Nations

The Day of the Lord announced in Sophonias will be the Judgment of the Nations, where each will receive just punishment and the remaining faithful will be led by a “chosen (pure) lip” so that all might serve and give glory to the Lord:

The destruction of Babylon, above, became the archetype of all divine chastisements

“The great day of the Lord is … near and exceeding swift … That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds … And I will distress men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as earth, and their bodies as dung. …

“For my judgment is to assemble the Gentiles, and to gather the Kingdoms: and to pour upon them my indignation, all my fierce anger: for with the fire of my jealousy shall all the earth be devoured. Because then I will restore to the people a chosen lip, that all may call upon the name of the Lord, and may serve Him with one shoulder.” (1: 14-17, 3: 8-9)


A Renewed World, Not the Latter Times

A Great Chastisement will come over the earth, Zacharias foresees, where only a third part will be left. These, however, will be tried and purified and will call on the name of the Lord:

“And there shall be in all the earth, saith the Lord, two parts in it shall be scattered and shall perish: but the third part shall be left therein.

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined: and I will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say: Thou art my people: and they shall say: The Lord is my God.” (13:8-9)

This should suffice to demonstrate that the universal Judgment of Nation, which will be something all will see and experience, is not the Final Judgment, which will be at the end of the world.

Continued



1. Rector of the Seminary of Zamora and Canon of the Cathedral of Zamora, he was a prolific writer on Scriptures, the Four Last things, Communism, and promoter of devotion to Our Lady and praying the Rosary.
2. Rev. Benjamín Martin Sánchez, The Last Times: Public and Private Prophecies, English Trans. by André Marie Bonzaález, TOP, 1st ed., Imprimatur: Bishop Eduardus Zamorensis, 1968, p. 9.
3. Other Scriptural references cited by Fr. Sanchez include the following: On the remnant who will convert after the chastisement: Is 6: 11-13, Is 66: Is 66: 15-16,19,21, 2 Pet 3:10-13); On the conversion of the remaining Jews in Latter Times: Osee 3:5, Mach2:7, Deut 4:30, Is 4:3, Soph 3:13; On the Judgment of Nation: Soph 1:8-9, 13.

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The Judgment of Nations - II
The Latter Times: The Conversion of the Jews & Anguished Days

TIA / Margaret C. Galitzin [adapted - emphasis in the original] | June 8, 2021


In the last article, I looked at some passages from the Old Testament that predict the Latter Times, before the End Times or end of the world that will close with the Final Judgment. This chastisement or Judgment of Nations will mark the beginning of the Latter Times. Then, a remnant of people will remain on the earth and will establish a period of peace when the Catholic Church will be triumphant.

Jeremiah the Prophet, by Aleijadinho, Brazil

Today, I continue with another corroborating text from the Old Testament. In Jeremiah (1) the Lord spoke through his prophet announcing: "The Lord shall roar from on high, and shall utter his voice from his holy habitation ... the shout shall be given out against all the inhabitants of the earth ... for the Lord enters into judgment with the nations: he enters into judgment with all flesh; the wicked I have delivered up to the sword, says the Lord.

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold evil shall go forth from nation to nation: and a great whirlwind shall go forth from the ends of the earth ... and they [the evil ones] shall not be lamented, and they shall not be gathered up, nor buried: they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth." (25:30-33)

The chastised will be many and shall "lie as dung upon the face of the earth." If the evil ones will lay unburied after a great punishment, this will not be, then, the End of the World. Because at the Final Judgment, when all men will resurrect and God will judge all mankind, each will go to his final ending place, Heaven or Hell.

Further on, the Prophet Jeremiah concludes specifically mentioning the epoch when these things will happen: "Behold the whirlwind of the Lord, his fury going forth, a violent storm, it shall rest upon the head of the wicked. The Lord will not turn away the wrath of his indignation, till he have executed and performed the thought of his heart: In the latter days you shall understand these things." (30:23-24) (2)

The time to "understand these things" is our times. The great chastisement mentioned by Jeremiah will be a Judgment of Nations; and in that Judgment, nations will disappear as Our Lady told the three shepherd children at Fatima. But it is not the end of the world. There must a time when the people who remain on this earth will give glory to Our Lord and Our Lady, building the Reign of Mary as predicted by the great 17th-century Prophet St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort.

I emphasize this point because I have read “authoritative” words by various otherwise informed traditionalist priests and writers warning that we are nearing the End Times with the coming of the Antichrist, etc. This is not true.

I agree that there can be a precursor of the Antichrist before the chastisement that will start the Latter Times. It is not only possible, but very probable. Who could question that the last seven Popes – who have fooled so many Catholics for more than a half century – have formed, as a whole, a type of precursor to the Antichrist who will fool so many of the faithful in the End Time?

But, since we have not faced the dreadful previous chastisement and not seen the period of peace when Christ will reign in the social and religious orders throughout the earth, we are not in the End Times. We are in the time that precedes the Latter Times when, at a certain moment the chalice of God’s wrath will be filled, and He will let His sword fall over the world. [...]

Those who are prepared for this moment will become the builders of the Reign of Mary.


Prophecies about the Conversion of the Jews

Fr. Sánchez cited a text of Luke to affirm that the conversion of the Jews will take place after the Great Chastisement and before the End of the World.

St. Luke wrote: "But woe to them that are with child, and give suck in those days; for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword; and shall be led away captives into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles; till the times of the nations be fulfilled." (21:23-24) (3)

The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in the year 70

The wrath of God that is to fall upon Israel, Fr. Sánchez noted, has three effects, and the first two have been fulfilled.

The first is the woeful death by the sword that took place in 70 AD when Jerusalem was besieged by the Roman armies under the command of Titus. Flavius Josephus told us that one million Jews died in the siege and 97,000 were taken captive and dispersed among the nations.

The second is that the Jews would become a people without a country, scattered into all nations. This continues to our days, for even though Israel was allowed to become a Jewish State in 1948, the peaceful possession of that land has never taken place because the Jews have been in constant warfare with the Palestinians and other Arab countries who claim the same territory. So, during these more than 70 years, Israel has been contested about its claim over that territory.

The third effect is the installation of their enemies in Jerusalem until "the fulfillment of the times of the nations." What does the expression "times of the nations" signify? Fr. Sánchez explained: "Without a doubt, the words of Jesus Christ refer to those of Prophet Ezekiel: "Howl ye, woe, woe to the day: For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near: a cloudy day, it shall be the time of the nations." (Eze 30:2-3)

"Surely, they signify the beginning of a new era which will be characterized by a lack of faith in the world or a parting, a falling away, of men from God. The Scriptural scholar Fillion comments this, too: 'It is the time in which God will propose to vent His wrath against the entre pagan world.'" (4)

That is, it is a time when God will chastise the nations for the Revolution that began with Humanism, the Renaissance and Protestant Revolt and will end after the Chastisement .

Another prophecy about the conversion of Israel is in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans (11): "For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery (lest you should be wise in your own conceits), that blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in. And so all Israel should be saved, as it is written ... " (5)

What the meaning of the phrase "until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in"? Fr. Sánchez deduced that the phrase is equivalent to "when Faith arrives at its plenitude," that is, when all those Gentiles whom God has determined to call "will form a faithful people consecrated to His name." (Acts 15:14) (6) This would be a time after the great Chastisement when all nations will return to the Faith and establish a New Christendom before the end of the world.


Times of Anguish

Before entering into the prophecies of Our Lady and Saints that speak of the Great Chastisement followed by a time of peace when the social Reign of Christ will again be established on earth, Fr. Sánchez goes to the New Testament. He presented, with little commentary, "some of the evangelical texts containing words of Jesus Christ which seemingly refer to the Latter Times." He does not include the texts which make a clear reference to the End of the World. (7)

A medieval tapestry showing St. John, the 7-headed Dragon and the Beast of the Sea

For the sake of brevity, I will simply list the headings and chapters of the texts he cites: Times of Anguish, Mt. 24, Mk 13, Lk 21; The Great Tribulation, Mt. 24:21-24, Mk 13: 19-22, Lk 21:25-26; Parable of the Fig Tree: Mt 24:32-35; Mk 13:28-31, Lk 21:29-33; Exhortations to Vigilance: Lk 17:26-30; 21:34-36, Lk 21:20-21, 2 Pet 3:10-12; Prophecies of the Apostles: 1 Thes 5:1-3, II Thes 2:1-12; 1 Tim 4: 1-2; II Tim 3:1-5; 4:2-42 Pet 2:1-2, 3:1-13; 1 Jn 2:18-23, 2 Jn 1:7, Jude 1:8, 12-21. (8)

Fr. Sanchez concluded saying that he could cite texts from the Apocalypse of St. John, but he deems it sufficient to say that this book presents a picture of the terrible catastrophes and struggles that are to move the world until the triumph of Christ and the definitive downfall of all His enemies.

He stated: "The apocalyptic beast, which is the reign of evil, will scatter his errors. They are the incarnation of the powers that fight against the kingdom of God, the incarnation of the Antichrist, the ’seven-headed dragon.’ (Apoc 12:3) This is the same Satan who desires to destroy the plans of God, and even though God will permit him to make war against His Saints and Christians and seemingly conquer them, there will come, without a doubt, the moment when Satan will be chained and an era of peace will take place. (Apoc 20:1-3)" (9)

Continued



1. Benjamín Martin Sánchez, The Last Times: Public and Private Prophecies, TOP, 1st ed., Imprimatur: Bishop Eduardus Zamorensis, 1968, p. 58. Unfortunately Fr. Sanchez does not provide a source for his quote. However, this prophecy is fully substantiated by the words written about the Latter Times in Hildegard von Bingen's famed work Scivias.
2. Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, trans. by Mother Columba Hart and Jane Bishop, NY: Paulist Press, 1990.
3. Ibid., pp. Ibid., pp. 493-494.
4. Ibid.. The Last Days and the Fall of the Antichrist, pp. 493-494.
5. Ibid., pp. pp. 494-495.
6. Ibid., pp. 495-496.

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The Judgment of Nations - III
Hildegard von Bingen’s Vision of the Latter Times

TIA / Margaret C. Galitzin [adapted - emphasis in the original] | June 19, 2021


After demonstrating that Holy Scriptures warns mankind of a Judgment of Nations, which will be a great chastisement that will fall upon all mankind, to be followed by a period of peace and restoration of the Holy Church, Fr. Benjamín Martin Sánchez cites the prophecies of various Saints and holy persons whose visions and apparitions confirm these warnings.

St. Hildegard receiving her revelations from Heaven, while Friar Volmar watches

The first that we will look at is St. Hildegard von Bingen, (1098-1179). Fr. Sánchez quotes her describing the Latter Times:

"Then the fear of God has been entirely cast aside, when ferocious and cruel wars happen in an unprecedented manner, when a multitude of people are sacrificed in these wars and many cities are converted into mounds of ruins ... when society has been completely purified by these tribulations ... when they fully return to the practice of justice ... For consolation will follow desolation ... as the new Law succeeded the ancient Law." (1)

That is to say, she sees in the future a great chastisement of peoples, and then, a period of time when mankind will return to the practice of justice, which coincides with our understanding of the Reign of Mary.

In one of her famous works, Scivias (short for Scito vias Domini or "Know the Ways of the Lord"), St. Hildegard gives a more detailed account of this destruction to be followed by consolation. (2)

Abbess Hildegard began to write Scivias in 1142 when, at the age of 42, she was instructed by a Voice from Heaven to record the prophetic visions she had experienced since childhood. Her confessor and spiritual director, the monk Volmar, ordered her to obey the Voice, which he judged came from Heaven. She later received approval from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, as well as the endorsement of Pope Eugenius III at the Synod of Trier (1147-1148).

In Scivias she purveyed the course of History from the Creation to the Final Judgment, listing a succession of evils that must come to pass before the Judgment. In Vision 11, she speaks of the Latter Days when Christendom falls by means of "five ferocious epochs" after her time, followed by a great victory of the Holy Church led by an "innocent one." Only after this the Antichrist and the End of the World will come. (3)

Describing the vision, she names five beasts that symbolize future epochs of world history each animal suggesting the temperament of the era and its revolted rulers. Here is her description of the vision:

"Then I looked to the North [which symbolizes Evil], and behold! five beasts stood there. One was like a dog, fiery but not burning; another was like a yellow lion; another was like a pale horse; another like a black pig; and the last like a gray wolf. And they were facing the West [symbolizing Heaven]. And in the West, before those beasts, a hill with five peaks appeared; and from the mouth of each beast one rope stretched to one of the peaks of the hill. All the ropes were black except the one that came from the mouth of the wolf, which was partly black and partly white." (4)


The 'Five Ferocious Epochs of Temporal Rule'

These first of those "five ferocious epochs of temporal rule," as she calls them, is "like a dog, fiery but not burning, for that era will produce people with a biting temperament, who seem fiery in their own estimation but do not burn with the justice of God."

The second epoch is symbolized by the "yellow lion, for this era will endure martial people, who instigate many wars but do think of the righteousness of God in them; for these kingdoms will begin to weaken and tire, as the yellow color shows."

The Rupertberg Scivias-Codex completed in 1175

The third epoch is "the pale horse, for those times will produce people who drown themselves in sin ... and then these kingdoms will lose their ruddy strength and grow pale with the fear of ruin and their hearts will be broken."

The fourth epoch is "like a black pig, for this epoch will have leaders who blacken themselves with misery and wallow in the mud of impurity. They will infringe the divine law by fornication and other evils, and will plot to diverge from the holiness of God's commands."

Finally, the last epoch "is like the gray wolf. For those times will have people who plunder each other, robbing the powerful and the fortunate. And in these conflicts they will show themselves to be neither black nor white, but gray in their cunning. And they will divide and conquer the rulers of those realms. And then the time will come when many will be ensnared, and error of errors will rise from Hell to Heaven. And then the children of light will be pressed in the winepress of martyrdom, and they will not deny the Son of God but reject the son of perdition who tries to do his will with the Devil's arts." (5)


The Five Peaks & Five Ropes

The prophecy becomes more interesting. From the mouth of each of the first four beasts a black rope stretches to one of the mountain peak, which symbolizes the power of carnal desire. But from the mouth of the wolf, representing the last era, the rope is black and white. For in that time there will be many who are very evil, but also from that direction will come those "who are white with justice."

Five beasts representing five epochs

And those latter will "resist the son of perdition by ardent wonders," especially the "righteous doer of justice." St. Hildegard foresees an "innocent one" who "will be aroused like a burning coal against one who deceives in works." That prophetic leader will be "raised up in the sight of God as a bright spark and a clear light and a flaming torch. And so, bearing in himself the strongest and purest works, he puts them on like a strong breastplate and a sharp sword, and drives away vice and wins virtue." (6)

After this epoch that will end with the victory of the just led by innocent one, then will come a new period, when "the Church will shine in her justice until the time of Antichrist."


A Counter-Revolutionary Context

[...] the prophecies of St. Hildegard point to a victory over the Revolution led by a man with a prophetic mission. After the counter-revolutionary victory will commence a new period when the Church will be restored again to her former brilliance, the Reign of Mary foretold at Fatima and Quito.

[Personal opinion of the author:] It seems to me that the five beasts signaling epochs of History could represent the Four Revolutions that reach their peak in the fifth, the epoch of the Wolf. Could not the fiery dog that produces "people with a biting temperament who are fiery in their own eyes but do not burn with the justice of God" represent the Protestant Revolution of the 16th century. Certainly its wicked heresiarchs burned with self- righteousness but lacked justice before the eyes of God.

Shrine with the relics of St. Hildegard, Eibingen, Germany

The second epoch symbolized by the yellow lion is a time of war and revolutions that begin the waning of the kingdoms. This could signify the French Revolution that aimed to destroy monarchies and institute equality in government.

The third epoch of the pale horse, a time that "will produce people who drown themselves in sin" bring to mind the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse identified as Death riding a pale horse, followed by Hell (Rev 6:8). This could well be interpreted to represent the Third Revolution, Communism, which made nations "lose their strength and grow pale with the fear of ruin."

The black pig of the fourth epoch well describes Tribalism in the woods and in the cities. The Hippy Revolution of the 1960s was an important landmark of it. The hippy leaders "wallowed in the mud of impurity, infringing the divine law by fornication and other evils, plotting to diverge from the holiness of God's commands."

Finally, we reach the epoch of the grey wolf, where the cunning lies of the Fifth Revolution or the Occult leading to Satanism are deceiving so many people. But in this time, a force of good will rise up led by a "innocent one," a leader with a prophetic mission who will vanquish the evil in wondrous ways.

This, then, will be the beginning of the victory of Our Lady, when "the Church will shine in her justice until the time of Antichrist."

Thus we find that St. Hildegard's prophecies, which confirm Scriptures, also predict a Latter Times, after which the Church and society will shine brilliantly before the End of the World.

Continued


1. Benjamín Martin Sánchez, The Last Times: Public and Private Prophecies, TOP, 1st ed., Imprimatur: Bishop Eduardus Zamorensis, 1968, p. 14., p. 58. Unfortunately Fr. Sanchez does not provide a source for his quote. However, this prophecy is fully substantiated by the words written about the Latter Times in Hildegard von Bingen's famed work Scivias.
2. Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, trans. by Mother Columba Hart and Jane Bishop, NY: Paulist Press, 1990.
3. Ibid., The Last Days and the Fall of the Antichrist, pp. 493-494.
4. Ibid./li>
Ibid., pp. 494-495
Ibid, pp. 495-496

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The Judgment of Nations - IV
Ana Maria Taigi: a Great Chastisement & Three Days of Darkness

TIA / Margaret C. Galitzin  | September 18, 2021


As both the Old Testament and New Testament confirm, in the Latter Times there will be a great chastisement, so great it is called the Judgment of Nations. During these times of anguish, the enemies of Christ will be destroyed and many Jews will be converted. The world, led by a "righteous doer of justice, an innocent one" (Hildegard von Bingen), will lead the Church into a new period where she will shine in her justice until the time of the Antichrist.

From age 24 Ana Maria Taigi saw a mystical globe that showed her future events

This sequence of events is also foretold by Blessed Ana Maria Taigi (1769-1837), a housewife and mother of 7 children in Rome who was gifted with extraordinary visions and revelations about the Latter Times and the future chastisement.

From age 24, Ana Maria Taigi often had before her eyes a "mystical sun," a supernatural orb-shaped light that allowed her to see state of consciences, the revolutions and wars, the aims of secret societies, the rewards of the good and punishments of the bad. In it various times she saw the Latter Times, the great chastisement that would cleanse the earth and the Church, the destruction of the Revolution, and the “restorer” who would lead a victory more splendid than has ever been achieved before.

In his work The Latter Times, Fr. Martin Sanchéz notes that in her times Blessed Ana Maria was consulted by Kings, nobles, Bishops and even Popes. He lists several of the multitude of fulfilled prophecies made by Ana Maria Taigi to assure us of the confidence we can place in those regarding the Latter Times: (1)

• She predicted the abdication of Charles IV, King of Spain, the fall of Napoleon, the date of the liberation of Pope Pius VII, the assassination of the Father General of the Trinitarian Order (she was a member of its Third Order);
  
• She knew about the time and date of the death of Napoleon;
  
• She announced a terrible plague that would break forth in Rome as a chastisement from God on the day after her death;
  
• She foretold the death of the Czar Alexander I to a Russian general who visited her one day before the news came to Rome; she also said that his soul had been saved because he had died a Catholic and protected the Pope and the Church. In fact, shortly before he died in 1825, Alexander I converted to the Catholic Faith.
  

Czar Alexander I converted before he died, seen by Blessed Taigi in her orb

During the last 25 years of her life, Msgr. Raffaele Natali, a trusted priest and secretary of the Chambermaster of Pius VII, recorded her prophecies and ecstasies in more than 4,000 handwritten pages.

This document was carefully analyzed in the beatification process, which was introduced by Pope Pius IX in 1863.

In 1906, Pope Pius X declared the heroicity of her virtues, and on May 30, 1920, Pope Benedict XV placed Ven. Ana Maria Taigi among the Blessed. The Decree of her Beatification calls her "a marvel in the splendor of holiness." (2)


Predictions of a Great Chastisement

When Ana Maria Taigi spoke of the continuing disorder in the Church and society, she used the word Revolution. She warned that when iniquity would parade openly and the Revolution would triumph, there would be a great chastisement that would come unexpectedly and destroy the impious and the enemies of the Church.

A page from the handwritten manuscript of Msgr. Natali, who recorded the seer's revelations

In the testimony of Msgr. Natali in the beatification process, he relates the words of the Seer about the Latter Times:

"Things will be so convulsed that man would no longer be able to put things in order, but the omnipotent Arm of the Lord will remedy everything. She told me that the great scourge of the earth had been mitigated, but not that of Heaven, for it would be horrible, shocking and universal." Truly, the universal nature of the coming chastisement makes it a "Judgment of Nations."

That great Chastisement would occur long after the holy people of her epoch had been buried, he continued. "It will arrive unexpectedly and in it the wicked will be destroyed. I saw the earth enveloped in flames, many buildings crumbling, the earth and Heaven seemed to be in agony.

"Many millions of men will die by steel, some in wars, others in conflicts, and millions more by unforeseen death, and this throughout the whole world. As a result, entire nations will return to the unity of the Catholic Church, many Turks, Gentiles and Hebrews will be converted in a way that will surprise Catholics, who will be amazed by the fervor and observance they will show in their lives.

"In short, she told me that the Lord wanted to purge the world and His Church, and for that He had prepared a new crop of souls who, unknown, would appear to perform great works and surprising miracles. She told me that after the Lord had cleansed the earth with wars, revolutions and other calamities, Heaven would begin [its chastisement].

"For, at the end of this scourge, there would be a general convulsion of shocking meteorological phenomena with many deaths. The Servant of God told me several times that the Lord showed her in the mysterious sun the universal triumph of the renewed Church, by a manner so great and surprising that she could not describe it. ” (3)


Three Days of Darkness

Blessed Ana Maria Taigi also describes the “Three Days of Darkness” that she saw in her “mystical sun:”

"There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing will be able to be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which will claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of Religion. It will be impossible to use any man-made light during this darkness, except blessed candles.

"He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, praying the Holy Rosary and begging God for mercy. All the enemies of the Church, known and unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms."

She goes on to tell how the three days will end with a triumph of Heaven:

“After the three days of darkness, Saints Peter and Paul, having come down from Heaven, will preach throughout the world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and will settle upon the future Pontiff. ... There shall be innumerable conversions of heretics, who will return to the bosom of the Church; all will note the edifying conduct of their lives, as well as that of all other Catholics. Russia, England and China will come to the Church." (4)

For those who understand the extremity of evil we are witnessing today, it makes full sense that God should open the doors of the Reign of Mary in an unexpected and marvelous way, as Ana Maria Taigi predicts.


Continued


1. Benjamín Martin Sánchez, The Last Times: Public and Private Prophecies, TOP, 1st ed., Imprimatur: Bishop Eduardus Zamorensis, 1968, p. 14., pp 45-47.
2. Ibid., p. 45
3. Testimony of Msgr. Raffaele Natali, Beatification process (Proc. Ord. Fol. 695-696), apud Mgr. Carlo Salotti, La Beata Anna Maria Taigi secondo la storia e la critica, Rome: Libreria Editrice Religiosa, 1922, pp. 340-342.
4. Anna Maria Taigi, Private Prophecies, Rome, 1863; Fr. Sánchez, The Last Times, p. 47-48.

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The Judgment of Nations - V
Ana Maria Taigi: Triumph of the Church & the Restorer

TIA / Margaret C. Galitzin  | October 2, 2020


In the previous article, we saw that Blessed Ana Maria Taigi (1769-1837) predicted a great Chastisement in the Latter Times, which would end with a surprising victory of Heaven and the restoration of our Holy Church and Catholic Civilization.

Blessed Ana Maria Taigi with her children

She also foretold Three Days of Darkness that would descend on the world, in which the only light and safety for Catholics would be in the presence of a blessed candle. Since this is private prophecy, Catholics are not obliged by Faith to believe what Ana Maria Taigi saw in the “mystical sun” that was always before her eyes.

However, since the Seer's prophecies, handwritten during her lifetime by Msgr. Raffaele Natali, were judged praiseworthy and worthy of belief in her Beatification process, it seems unwise to hastily ignore them, particularly since the same warning of a descending darkness was made by other Church-approved Saints and mystics.

Let us not forget that Scriptures, also confirm a Judgment of Nations that will occur in the Latter Times, a sudden and tremendous chastisement followed by a long period of peace on the earth.

Also, the opening of the sixth seal in the Apocalypse foretells a sensible darkness when it says that, after a great earthquake, the sun became as black as sackcloth of hair. (Apoc 6: 12) For, if the sun is darkened over, there will be no light on the earth. Just as the Lord chastised the Egyptians with darkness, He can punish the more guilty modern world with an even greater universal darkness. (1)

For those Catholics who insist we are in the End Times, let them note that the terrible scene described here in the Apocalypse does not refer to the upheaval at the end of the world, because it is followed by a grand religious restoration at the opening of the sixth seal and the sound of the sixth trumpet.

This chastisement of the Latter Times, then, does not represent the Last Judgment at the end of the world, but, as notes Fr. Gaudentius Rossi in The Christian Trumpet [written in 1878], it will be "a kind of ante-judgment of the living," (2) the Judgment of Nations that precedes the Reign of Mary.


The Triumph of the Church & the Restorer

The purification made by God by these means will have a single objective: the restoration of the Catholic Church with all the honor due to her and the restoration of Christian Civilization.

From the notes taken by Msgr. Natali, we read what Our Lord told her: 'When the renewed Church takes shape, only few will remain, very few, and they will be extremely surprised and filled with fear seeing all that was done by God, how they should love God and what they have suffered for God. (...) It is not for you [Maria Taigi] to see this."

She also spoke of the Reign of Mary, when all the religions will convert to Catholicism. She said that, after the chastisement ends, amid great convulsions of nature and loss of life, a heavenly era will start, a triumph so great and astounding that she was left dumbfounded.

The following were words of Jesus Christ to Blessed Ana Maria, as she saw a man in the future who will play a key role in her Restoration:

"Do you see him? Observe. Contemplate him. Behold the apostolic soul, the man who fights for the vineyard, the one equal to those who fought so much for My glory. His efforts, his sweat, his works will be rewarded in Paradise with such a glory that no human mind can imagine. The love I have for this person is so great that it will only be known in Paradise. He is a truly zealous man. A man with no stain. He has no human ends, no self interest, and, since his earliest youth, the vice of flattery never touched him. " (3)

Here I note that this prophecy supports what St. Hildegarde saw, "the innocent one" who would direct the restoration of the Church and Christian Civilization.


Some Counsels for the ‘Definitive Day’

Blessed Ana Maria knew that she would never see this “definitive day” when God would triumph over all the enemies of the Church. On September 13, 1831, Our Lady herself, addressing those good ones who would be suffering in those terrible days, told the seer:

"Now is not the time for miracles, because the hour for the Church to return to her first state still has not arrived. My children, behold your Mother. I bless you, My Father blesses you, but you must be good, be good, be good. You should suffer with a good disposition until the Holy Spirit comes to set you afire with love and bring an end to this iniquitous world. They will have reached the end. They will have suffered almost everything. All the kingdoms, cities, peoples, castles, provinces will find themselves suffering, with problems, tribulation and torments until the definitive day. (4)

In 1865 her coffin was opened & the body was incorrupt; in 1920 it was reopened and no longer incorrupt. A wax covering preserves her resemblance

Once she asked God who would resist this terrible trial. He answered: "Those to whom I will grant the spirit of humility."

For this reason Ana Maria Taigi established in her own family the custom of praying after the Rosary (a terço), three Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory be's with the intention of asking for the mercy and infinite goodness of the Most Holy Trinity to mitigate the scourge that His justice has reserved for those calamitous times. She saw this chastisement numerous times in her “mystical sun.” (9)

Blessed Ana Maria counseled the faithful to procure blessed candles, which alone shall give light during the darkness; also, to remain in prayer, to recite the holy Rosary, and not to attempt to leave the light of the candle or look out for idle and vain curiosity.

[...]


Continued


1. Testimony of Mgr. Raffaele Natali, Beatification process (Proc. Ord. Fol. 695-696), apud Mgr. Carlo Salotti, La Beata Anna Maria Taigi secondo la storia e la critica, Rome: Libreria Editrice Religiosa, 1922, pp. 340-342
2. Gaudentius Rossi [alia Pellegrino], TThe Christian Trumpet: Previsions and Predictions about Impending General Calamities, The Universal Triumph of the Church, The Coming of Antichrist, The Last Judgment and The End of the World, Boston: Thos. B Noonand & Co.,.1873, pp. 61-67
3. Testimony of Mgr. Raffaele Natali, Beatification process, Vol. IX, apud ibid., p. 118; ;Vol. VII, p. 380;
4. Fr. Gabriel Bouffier S.J., La Vénérable Servante de Dieu Anna-Maria Taigi d'après les documents authentiques du procès de sa béatification, Paris: Ambroise Bray, 1865, pp. 251-252.

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The Judgment of Nations - VI
Ven. Elizabeth Mora Sees the Latter Times Tribulations

TIA / Margaret C. Galitzin | January 20, 2021


One of the seers of the tribulations of the “latter times” of the Church is Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora (1774-1825). In his work The Latter Times, Fr. Benjamín M. Sánchez shows that she also saw a terrible crisis in the Church and society, which God would punish with a tremendous chastisement of world proportions, what Scriptures calls a “Judgment of Nations.”

When the earth has been cleansed of evil, there will be a time of peace when the Church will triumph, a period that Prof. Plinio, echoing St. Louis de Montfort, calls The Reign of Mary.


Brief Biography

At age 22 Isabel Canori, born to a distinguished family in Rome, married Christobal Mora, a lawyer of good family but very bad character and irregular habits who caused her great suffering. Deserting his family and squandering its fortune, he left his wife and two daughters in destitution.

Elizabeth Canori Mora in her youth

One famous prophecy, presented in the documentation for her beatification, were her words on her deathbed: “Do you see how irascible and incredulous he is? Well, there will come a time when he will become a religious and a priest.” (1)

Five years after her death a repentant Christobal entered a Friary of the Franciscan Order, where he embarked on an exemplary life of penance. He eventually became a priest, just as his wife had predicted.

At age 28, Isabel Mora had her first mystical experience after miraculously recovering from a mysterious sickness. Shortly after she entered the Trinitarian Order as a tertiary. The Venerable Servant of God received the gifts of recollection, bilocation and prophecy and worked many miracles. (2)

Her visions included a series where Our Lord and Our Lady showed her the future troubles of the Church and the tremendous battles that the Church Militant would have to fight when the powers of darkness would dominate. She also saw a great triumph of the Church and its future restoration.

On instructions from her confessor, Ven. Elizabeth Canori Mora wrote in her own hand these revelations, which fill hundreds of notebook pages, all carefully preserved in the archives of the Trinitarian Fathers at San Carlino, Rome.

These writings were meticulously examined by an ecclesiastical commission when Pope Pius IX authorized Elizabeth Mora’s cause for canonization to proceed. The official judgment, issued November 5, 1900, stated that in her writings there was “nothing against faith and good customs, and no doctrinal innovation or deviation was found.”


Pertinent visions of Ven. Elizabeth Mora

On January 16, 1815, Angels showed Ven. Elizabeth many ecclesiastics “who, under the guise of doing good, persecute Jesus Crucified and His Holy Church … Like furious wolves they scheme to unthrone the head of the Church.”

Then she was allowed to see the terrible indignation these wolves aroused in God. “In supreme terror I saw blazing lightning bolts of Divine Justice fall about me. I saw buildings collapsing in ruins. Cities, entire regions and the whole world were in chaos. The only thing to be heard was countless weak voices imploring mercy. The number of dead was incalculable.”

What terrified her the most was God’s indignation. She saw Him alone on high, “extremely angry with those who were persecuting Him. In His omnipotent hands were bolts of lightning, His Face was resplendent with indignation, and His gaze alone was enough to incinerate the whole world. Neither Saints nor Angels surrounded Him, only His holy indignation which fell everywhere.”

The vision lasted only an instant. According to Ven. Elizabeth, “had it continued for another moment I surely would have died.”


End of Mercy, beginning of Justice

On Christmas 1816, Blessed Elizabeth saw Our Lady, who appeared extremely sad and sorrowful. When she asked her why, Our Lady answered: “Behold, my daughter, contemplate such great impiety.”

Blessed Elizabeth then saw apostates “brazenly trying to rip the Divine Infant from her arms. In face of this outrage, the Mother of God ceased to ask mercy for the world, but instead called for justice from the Eternal Father. Clothed in His inexorable Justice and filled with indignation, He turned His gaze toward the world.

“At that moment all nature entered into convulsions ... This will be something so deplorable and atrocious that it will reduce the world to the very depths of desolation.” (4)


The World in Revolution & Chaos

On the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, June 29, 1820, she saw St. Peter descending from Heaven robed in papal vestments and surrounded by a legion of Angels. With his crosier he traced a great cross over the face of the Earth, separating it into four quadrants. In each of these, he then brought forth a verdant tree sprouting with life, also in the shape of a cross and resplendent with light. All the good laity and religious fled for refuge from the terrible chastisement under these trees.

'The number of dead will be countless, cities and provinces destroyed' (Pictures from Eschatus by B. Pennington illustrating texts of Nostradamus)

She wrote: “O woe! Woe to those unobservant religious who despise their Holy Rules. Alas! They will all perish in the terrible chastisement ... as will all who deliver themselves to debauchery and follow the false maxims of the deplorable philosophy of those times!”

Then St. Peter returned to Heaven, and she saw the firmament become a dark blue color, which caused terror just to see it. A caliginous wind blew impetuously everywhere. A vehement howling filled the air, like the frightening roar of a fierce lion. Its horrible echo resounded over the whole Earth.

“Terror and fear overtook all men and animals. The entire world was in convulsion and everywhere people mercilessly slaughtered one another. In the time of this bloody fight, the vengeful hand of God will weigh upon these unfortunate souls. In His omnipotence He will chastise the proud for their temerity and shameless insolence. God will use the powers of darkness to exterminate these sectarian, iniquitous and criminal men who plotted to eradicate the Catholic Church, our Holy Mother, to her deepest roots and throw her to the ground. ...

“God will laugh at them in their malice, and with a wave of His omnipotent right hand He will punish the wicked. The powers of darkness will be allowed to leave Hell, and these great legions of devils will invade the whole world. They will wreak great destruction, thus executing the orders of Divine Justice, to which these evil spirits are also subject. They will be able to do neither more nor less than what God permits to men and their goods, families, unfortunate towns, cities, houses and palace or any other thing that exists on Earth. ...

“God will allow wicked men to be cruelly chastised by fierce demons because they voluntarily submitted to the power of the devil and conspired with him to cause damage to the Holy Catholic Church.” (5)

The Servant of God saw all those monsters in horrible forms spurt forth from infernal caverns and infest the Earth to do harm and damage everywhere. They devastated all the places where God had been outraged, desecrated, treated sacrilegiously and where idolatry was practice. Not a trace of them was left.


Victory & Restoration

This same vision of chastisement ended with a promise of victory and triumph for the Church, which would be recognized universally by all the people. This offers a great hope for us, who live in these times of convulsion and revolution everywhere.

After those frightening scenes, Ven. Elizabeth saw St. Peter return on a majestic papal throne. He was accompanied by St. Paul who went through the world shackling the devils and bringing them before St. Peter, who cast them back into the dark caverns from whence they had come. She wrote: “Then a beautiful splendor came over the earth, to announce the reconciliation of God with mankind.”

The small flock of faithful Catholics who had taken refuge under the trees will be led before the throne of St. Peter, who will himself “choose a new Pope. The whole Church will be reordered according to the true dictates of the Holy Gospel. The religious orders will be reestablished; Christians homes will be imbued with religion.

“So great will be the fervor and zeal for the glory of God that everything will be ordered in function of love of God and neighbor. The triumph, glory and honor of the Catholic Church will thus be established. She will be acclaimed by all, venerated by all, and esteemed by all. All will resolve to follow Her, recognizing the Vicar of Christ as the Supreme Pontiff.”


The Church & Society Reformed

A year later, in 1821, Our Lord reaffirmed this triumph: “I will reform My people and My Church. I will send zealous priests to preach My Faith. I will form a new apostolate and send the Holy Spirit to renew the world. I will reform the religious orders by means of new holy and learned reformers. All will have the spirit of My predilect son Ignatius of Loyola. I will provide My Church with a new shepherd, learned, holy and full of My Spirit. With holy zeal he will reform My flock.” (7)

She was told many other things about this restoration, that whole nations would convert, recognizing the Catholic Church as the only true Religion.

When Leo XII was elected Pope, Elizabeth thought that the new era of the Church might begin then. But Our Lord showed her that not only the helmsman but the crew of the ship of the Church would have to be renewed. The reformation of the Church and restoration of all things would not take place, He said, until the whole world and of all the people were suffering revolutions and a profound disorder. (8)


Continued


1. Fr. Benjamín M. Sánchez, The Latter Times, Imprimatur Msgr. Eduardus Zamorensis, 1968, p. 48.
2. Maria Elisabetta Mora C.G., Life of the Ven. Elizabeth Canori Mora, Londn: R. Washbourne, 1878, F pp. xii-xiii, pp. 58-67, pp. 129-143.
3. La mia vita nel Cuore della Trinita - Diario della Beata Elisabetta Canori Mora, sposa and Mother, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1996, pp. 257-258, in Catolicismo (Brazil) May 2002
4. Ibid, pp. 411-412, in ibid.
5. Ibid, pp. 489-493, in ibid.
6. Ibid, pp. 489-493, in ibid.
7. Ibid, pp. 524-526, in ibid.
8. Fr. Sanchez, The Latter Times, p. 50

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The Judgment of Nations - VII
Ven. Bartholomew Holzhauser: An Age of Tribulation & Heresy

TIA / Margaret C. Galitzin | January 17, 2022


As readers of this series know, we are looking at Scriptures and approved prophecies that present a certain time line that proposes we are in the Latter Times, which will be followed by a time of conversion and peace. Only after that will come the End Times and the Final Judgment.

The three points, which are confirmed by the prophecies of Ven. Bartholomew Holzhauzer, are essentially these:

• God will send a severe chastisement to punish the sins of the Revolution against the Church and Catholic Civilization;
  
• There will be a restoration led by a great Leader and a holy Pope, who will usher in a long period of peace when all mankind will give glory to God through Our Lady, a time we call the Reign of Mary;
  
• Only after this period will come the final decadence, which will be the dissolution of the Reign of Mary and the Final Judgment.
  

Model Priest & Prophet

Ven. Bartholomew Holzhauser is an important, although not well-known, prophet for our times. He was born in 1613, the son of a shoemaker near Augsburg in Germany. Gifted with intelligence and zeal, he was ordained in 1639 in the Diocese of Salzburg where he founded the Bartholomites (United Brethren), a religious Institute to correct the already lax customs and lukewarm faith of the secular clergy of those times.

Due to revolutionary influence already in the Hierarchy, the Order did not endure. But what has surfaced and found renewed interest in recent years are the remarkable prophecies of this holy man, who was described by reliable theogians as a man without guile, incapable of fabrications. Those same theologians declared his prophecies contain nothing contrary to Scripture and ecclesiastical tradition. (1)

Ven. Fr. Bartholomew Holzhauser

He correctly identified the Protestant Revolution as the end of one Era and the start of the first Revolution. Further he predicted with the French Revolution and other revolutions of the 19th century that sought to topple the monarchies and implant the Masonic principles of Equality, Liberty, Fraternity.

“During this period," he correctly foretold, "many men will abuse the freedom of conscience conceded to them. It is of such men that Jude the Apostle spoke when he said: 'These men blaspheme whatever they do not understand; and they corrupt whatever they know naturally as irrational animals do… They feast together without restraint, feeding themselves, grumbling murmurers, walking according to their lusts; their mouth speaketh proud things, they admire people for the sake of gain; they bring about division, sensual men, having not the spirit.'" (2)

He also showed the error of the Enlightenment and false science that would soon dominate society: “They will ridicule Christian simplicity; they will call it folly and nonsense, but they will have the highest regard for advanced knowledge, and for the skill by which the axioms of the law, the precepts of morality, the Holy Canons and religious dogmas are clouded by senseless questions and elaborate arguments. As a result, no principle at all, however holy, authentic, ancient, and certain it may be, will remain free of censure, criticism, false interpretation, modification and delimitation by man.” (3)

The seven candlesticks in the Apocalypse signify the Seven Ages of the Church History

But it is his great work, the Commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John, that concerns us here. "I was like a child, whose hand was led, while I wrote," he later commented about the time when he was writing. The sublime work – which theologians of the time declared far beyond the natural talents of the German priest – was only printed in 1784, 134 years after his death. (4)

He interpreted the book of the Apocalypse as follows: The seven stars and the seven candlesticks seen by St. John signify seven periods of the History of the Church, from her foundation to her consummation at the Final Judgment. To these periods correspond the seven churches of Asia Minor, the seven days of Creation, the seven ages after Christ and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.

A central feature of this apocalyptic commentary concern the Strong Ruler and the Holy Pope who would arise at the end of the revolutionary Fifth Period to usher in the Sixth Period, a time of peace when all nations will be united in the Catholic Faith.


The Fifth Age

Ven. Bartholomew Holzhauser names the Seven Ages of the Church in this way: The First Church Age is the Apostolic Age which begins with Our Lord Jesus Christ and lasts until the first persecutions. The Second is the Era of Persecution with the martyrs, which lasted from Nero to Constantine the Great; the Third Age is the Era of Illumination from Constantine to Charlemagne.

The Fourth Era, the Period of Peace, is the glorious Middle Ages, when the Church and society gave rich fruit beginning with Charlemagne up to the heresy of Luther.

And so we reach the Fifth Age, which concerns us. It is the Time of Tribulation, which he identifies as beginning with Protestantism. We are in this Era now, although it would seem its end is rapidly approaching.

“This,” says Holzhauser, “is a state of trouble, desolation, humiliation, and poverty for the Church. We may with just reason call it a state of purification, in which the Lord Jesus Christ has sifted His wheat, and will sift it again by wars, seditions, famines, epidemics and other scourges, by the tribulation and the poverty which He will suffer to weigh on the Latin Church, by means of heretics and bad Christians, who will take from her the greater part of her bishoprics and countless monasteries, especially the wealthier ones.

"She is oppressed even by Catholic Princes, and despoiled by means of taxes, imposts, and other extortions. ... The Church is become poor and miserable, because she hath been calumniated by heretics, because her ministers are despised by bad Christians, who render her neither honor nor respect. By all these means God will sift His wheat; He will cast the chaff away to be burnt and will gather the wheat into His barns.

"This fifth state of the Church is the state of tribulation, the state of apostasy, full of miseries of every kind. Few will be spared by the sword, by famine and by pestilence. We shall see kingdom rise against kingdom; empires will be divided in themselves, and brought to desolation; principalities and monarchies will be overturned, and almost the whole world will sink into poverty. The greatest desolation will reign over the earth.

"All this has in part been already accomplished (1656 AD); a part remains yet to be accomplished. These things will come to pass by the very just judgment of God, because of the accumulated mass of our iniquities, whereof our fathers and ourselves have filled up the measure, at the moment when the mercy of Almighty God awaited our doing penance." (5)

Ven. Holzhauser likes this fifth period of tribulation to the fifth day of Creation, on which the earth brought forth birds, fishes and beasts of the field, Why? Because the men of this period will "give themselves up to license, sink to the level of the brute and wallow in lust.

"In this lamentable state of the Church divine and human laws are without force, and made of light account. The doctrines and precepts of the Church are despised; ecclesiastical discipline is not observed by the priests, nor political order maintained by the people. Every one, like the beasts of the field, believes what he pleases, and does what he wills.“ (6)


Infiltration inside the Church

It is interesting to see that Ven. Holzhauser predicts an infiltration of the enemy into the Holy Church, something he could have never imagined could happen in the 1600s, but which did, actually, take place during the 19th century and did triumph in the 20th century at Vatican Council II.

These times – our times – would be "evil times," he predicted, "a century full of dangers and calamities. Heresy is everywhere, and the followers of heresy are in power almost everywhere. Bishops, Prelates and priests say that they are doing their duty, that they are vigilant ... all are seeking excuses.

"God will permit this great evil against His Church. Heretics and tyrants will come suddenly and unexpectedly. They will break into the Church while Bishops, Prelates and priests are asleep. They will enter Italy and lay waste Rome. They will burn the churches and destroy everything." (7)

What will happen at the end of this Age of Affliction? God will make a Judgment of Nations, a great chastisement, where a good portion of the people will die.

But this great chastisement will not signify the End of the World; rather it will signal the end of the Fifth Era and the beginning of better time. For from this age of misery and perturbation – in which Ven Holzhauser had placed himself and his generation in the 17th century – will come the complete and glorious triumph of Christ's Church on earth.

We will look at this Sixth Age in the next article.

Continued



1.Joao Machado, Prophecies and Visions of Ven. Fr. Bartholomew Holzhauser, Kindle Edition 2016, p. 26.
2. We Are Warned: The Prophecies of Marie-Julie Jahenny, p. 543.
3. Ibid., p. 535.
4. J. Machado, Prophecies and Visions, p. 28.
5. Ibid., pp. 49-51
6. Ibid., p. 51.
7. We Are Warned, p. 535

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The Judgment of Nations - IX
Ven. Holzhauser: The Destiny of England in the Reign of Mary

TIA / Margaret C. Galitzin | November 4, 2022


"After desolation has reached its peak in England, peace will be restored and England will return to the Catholic Faith with greater fervor than ever before."

This is the famous prophecy of the German Ven. Bartholomew Holzhauser (1613-1658) about England, the country he loved and longed to evangelize. He never would do so, as he died young. But his thoughts and words returned often to her longed-for conversion.

Our Lady of Walsingham, a special patroness of England

In a series of visions collected into a manuscript in 1646, he wrote that he saw that England would fall into extreme misery, that a King would be slain, but afterwards the Kingdom of England would return to the Roman Catholic Faith, and the English people would achieve more for the Church than during their first conversion to Christianity.


‘If the King refuses, he will be smitten’

In the Fourth Vision in that manuscript, Ven. Holzhauser speaks of the apostate British Isles. He describes the scene: As he stood by the Danube in 1635, offering prayers for the whole earth, his gaze turned to Britain:

“My heart poured itself out in many lamentations before God, saying, ‘How long will the adversary hold in bondage this Kingdom, which swims with the blood of martyrs, spilled by that accursed woman Jezebel [Queen Elizabeth I], as she wished to reign in the Church of God?’ And I heard at the same time that the lawful sacrifice would intermitted for 120 years.“

He saw the multitudes of people thronged together, the land inwardly shaken by armies, as if by an earthquake. The multitude became divided, and he beheld the King (Charles I) standing in the midst. He continued:

Charles I gives his farewell address before execution, below.

“And then it was told to me, ‘All rests with the King, and King was, as it were, sold.’

“And towards the west the Heavens were opened, and the land trembled as with an earthquake, and the nations were shaken, and terror came over the whole Kingdom; and it was told me: ‘On the King depended the salvation of the people!’

“And it seemed to me as if he refused; and I heard: ‘If the King refuses, then will he be smitten.’ And the Heavens again opened towards the West; and large fiery ball came down, flew obliquely, and smote the King.” (1)

He was speaking of the Stuart King Charles I of England and Scotland. The King was staunchly Anglican, anti-Puritan and somewhat open to the Catholics (his French wife Henrietta Maria was Roman Catholic. Instead of embracing the Catholic Faith, he raised anger and division on all sides with secret agreements and concessions, which resulted in the English Civil War (1642-1651) between the Puritan Parliamentarians and the King’s Royalists.

After a long row of defeats of the King’s forces, Charles I in disguise fled to Scotland in 1647. But the Scots, reneging on an earlier agreement with the King, came to new terms with the victorious English Parliament and handed over Charles I to its commissioners.

This was the beginning of the end for Charles I, who would soon be put on trial for treason as “the grand author of our troubles” and cause of bloodshed. On January 20, 1649, he was charged with high treason before a specially constituted high court in Westminster Hall and found guilty.

On January 30, 1649, the Stuart King was publicly beheaded on a scaffold outside the banqueting House on Whitehall, declaring himself a staunch Anglican to the end.

This important prophecy of Ven. Holzhauser was thus fulfilled in his lifetime. The King, making appeasements and concessions to multiple parties, divided the people and could not find solid support in any quarter. He refused to take the side of the Catholics; in short, he refused Heaven's inviation.

In the end, he was “sold” by the Scots, and suffered execution at the block. Shortly afterwards, the Mass was forbidden by the Penal Law to be said in the Kingdom and were only repealed more than a century later with the Catholic Relief Act of 1791.

The fulfillment of this prophecy gives credence to his others regarding England, particularly the famous prediction regarding a future return of the country back to the Catholic Faith.


The Rest of the Vision

After this time of turmoil, Ven. Holzhauser saw a time in the future of peace for England, with the whole land illuminated: “And lo! I saw a ship sailing on the sea, and arrive in port, and righteous and holy men, who were in the ship, landed and they began to preach the Gospel in those countries. They prospered in their undertaking; and that land returned to peace and the sanctification.” (2)

His German biographer noted that, after this vision, Holzhauser’s thoughts were continuously turned toward the conversion of England: “No resolution was so fixedly implanted in him as to go to England and there, utterly regardless of any risk he might run for his life, make a beginning towards a restoration of the Catholic Faith. He awaited only the Elector’s permission to prosecute this voyage.” (3)

He never received that permission. Induced by close friends to delay his missionary effort to the Isle until after this priestly Institute was more firmly consolidated, he dedicated himself to its needs. It was growing and prospering when he died in Bingen on May 20, 1958 at age 44.

As we have seen, Ven. Holzhauser predicted for the Church a long period of peace and triumph which is to precede the Antichrist and the Last Times. In these Latter Times, the Revolution would be smashed by a great Monarch-Leader and the unity of the Faith achieved under a Holy Pope.

This would be the time, then, of England’s happy conversion. In the time of peace, she would once again be illuminated by the Faith and win by her deeds great glory for God, greater even than in times past.


Other prophecies of England

Anna Maria Taigi also predicted a time of peace after the three Days of Darkness of the Great Chastisement, as described [above]. In these happy days, she predicted, Religion shall extend its empire through the world under “one Shepherd.” England will be converted, as well as Russia and China, and all the faithful will be filled with joy at this overwhelming triumph of the Church. (4)

On his deathbed, Edward the Confessor saw the fall of England & a triumph in the faraway future

As far back as the 11th century there have been predictions of a great fall and a greater return to the Faith for England. On his deathbed, the 11th century Saxon King St. Edward the Confessor was visited in a vision by two holy monk of Normandy whom had known in his youth. They denounced the grievous corruptions of the Church and the State, and warned him that God had laid a curse upon the Realm.

The King begged in vain for this sentence to be averted, and finally asked how long the curse should last. They answered with these mysterious words: “In that day when a green tree shall be cut away from the midst of its trunk, when it shall be carried away for the space of three furlongs from its root, when without the help of man it shall join itself again to its trunk and shall again put forth leaves and bear fruit in its season then first shall be the time when the woes of England shall come to an end.”

The severance of the green tree from its trunk signifies the separation of the English Church from the root of the Catholic Church, the Roman See. This tree was to be separated from its life-giving root the distance of “three furlongs.”

These three furlongs could well signify the three centuries before England would again be reunited to the Catholic Church, which can be interpreted as the reestablishment of the Catholic Hierarchy in England by Pope Pius IX in 1850.

St. Paul of the Cross, the Passionist founder, prayed 50 years for England’s conversion

The British Kingdom has yet to reach the season where its woes come to an end with the Protestant sect wiped out. The flowers of virtue and fruits of sanctity it will bring forth seem reserved to the future, perhaps even near future of peace and unity that will fall upon the world in a marvelous way after the Great Chastisement. This period is what St. Louis de Montfort calls the Reign of Mary.

The Cure of Ars also spoke once about England in a prophetic tone. On May 14, 1854, Bishop Ullathorne called on Fr. John Vianney and asked him to pray for England. The Bishop of Birmingham relates that the man of God said with an accent of extraordinary conviction: "Monseigneur, I believe that the Church in England will be restored to its splendor."

This was also predicted by St. Dominic Savio, who related his vision of the conversion of England to Dom Bosco and exhorted him to tell the Pope what he had seen and heard. Dom Bosco did as he asked, as you can read here.

Although there are many others, I will end this article with St. Paul of the Cross, who famously devoted himself to 50 years of prayer for the return of “Mary’s Dower.”

The founder of the Passionist Order told his spiritual sons: “ England is always before my eyes, and if ever again it becomes Catholic, the benefit to the Church will be immeasurable.” (5)

1. Joao Machado, Prophecies and Visions of Ven. Fr. Bartholomew Holzhauser, Kindle Edition, pp 40-41.
2. Ibid., p. 42.
3. Ibid., pp. 30-31.
4. Herbert Thurston, SJ, The war & the prophets; notes on certain popular predictions current in this latter age, London: Burns & Gates, Ltd., 1915, p. 6.
5. Excerpted from Christ Our Life, by Sisters of Notre Dame of Chardon, Ohio, see here.