The prophecies of St. Malachy

St. Malachy was an Irish bishop, famous for his prophecies of the succession of Roman Catholic popes from his day until the end of time. He was born in Armagh, Ireland, in 1094, and died at Clairvaux, France, in 1148.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, his friend and biographer, describes Malachy as coming from a noble family. He was ordained a priest by St. Cellach in 1119, and consecrated a bishop of Connor in 1124. He restored ecclesiastical discipline, which had become lax within the Church, and replaced the Celtic liturgy with the Roman. With the help of St. Bernard, he established the Cistercian Order of monks and nuns in Ireland.

St. Malachy was a healer and a miracle-worker. He was reported to have the gifts of levitation, clairvoyance and prophecy. He was canonized by Pope Clement III in 1199. His feast day is celebrated on November third.

While in Rome in 1139, Malachy received a vision showing him the popes from that time until the end of the world. He wrote a manuscript containing poetic descriptions of each pontiff in Latin, and presented it to Pope Innocent II. The manuscript was buried in the papal archives until 1590, when it was rediscovered by a Benedictine monk, Dom Arnold de Wyon. The authenticity and correctness of the prophecies have been debated ever since. However, the passage of time seems to have proved doubters wrong, for the descriptions have been amazingly accurate.

The prophecies cover 112 Popes, but in the interest of brevity, I'll discuss only the last five and the current Pope. The reader may judge for himself.

* Pius XII: (1939-1958) Pastor Angelicus (angelic shepherd). This pope was very mystical and is believed to have received visions. His wrote many encyclicals which add much to the understanding of Catholic beliefs.

John XXIII: ( 1958-1963) Pastor et Nauta (Pastor and Mariner). John was a much beloved pastor to the world and Patriarch of Venice, home of the gondolas, a marine city.

* Paul VI: (1963-1978) Flos Florum ( Flower of flowers). Paul's coat-of-arms depicts three fleurs-de-lis (iris blossoms).

* John Paul I (1978): De medietate lunae ( Of the half moon). Albino Luciani (white light), born in the diocese of Belluno, (beautiful moon), was elected Pope on August 26, 1978. He served for about a month, from half a moon to the next half. He died soon after an eclipse of the moon.

* John Paul II ( 1978-2005) De labore solis (from the labor of the sun). Karol Wojtyla was the most traveled pope in history. He circled the globe several times. On the morning of his birth, May 18th., 1920, there was a near total eclipse of the sun over Europe. Like the sun, he came from the east, (Poland). On the day of his funeral, April 8th., 2005, there was a solar eclipse visible in the Americas.

*Benedict XVI ( 2005-) Gloria olivae ( The Glory of the Olive) The Benedictine Order traditionally said that this pope would come from their order, since a branch of their Order is called the Olivetans. Jesus gave his apocalyptic prophecy about the end of time from the Mount of Olives. St. Benedict is said to have prophesied that a member of his Order would be Pope and would triumphantly lead the Church in its fight against evil.

The next prophesy (#112) states: In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus, (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. The End.

Some people believe that the final pope will be the devil incarnate, the anti-christ, but Malachy didn't seem to foresee that.

According to the prophecies, the present pope, Benedict XVI, is the second to the end. On the other hand, it has been argued that nowhere is it stated that there will not be several or many popes between this pope and the final one.

That's true, but the list has been accurate thus far and it's reasonable to assume that if it is indeed a copy of the original manuscript of St. Malachy, it will not deviate now, just before the final prophecy. Perhaps before bed tonight, it would be a good idea to say a prayer for the good health and extremely long life of Benedict XVI.