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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Prophecy</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12473a.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Says that in the strict sense, prophecy is the revelation of future events, but points out that in Scripture, prophecy may also be related to the gift of knowledge and sometimes is used to refer to divine inspiration concerning any secret"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="12473a.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/p.htm">P</a> > Prophecy</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Prophecy</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>As the term is used in <a href="../cathen/14621a.htm">mystical theology</a>, it applies both to the prophecies of canonical Scripture and to private prophecies. Understood in its strict sense, it means the foreknowledge of future events, though it may sometimes apply to past events of which there is no memory, and to present hidden things which cannot be known by the natural light of reason. <a href="../cathen/11567b.htm">St. Paul</a>, speaking of prophecy in <a href="../bible/1co014.htm">1 Corinthians 14</a>, does not confine its meaning to predictions of future events, but includes under it Divine inspirations concerning what is secret, whether future or not. As, however, the manifestation of hidden present mysteries or past events comes under revelation, we have here to understand by prophecy what is in its strict and proper sense, namely the revelation of future events. Prophecy consists in <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> and in the manifestation of what is known. The <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> must be <a href="../cathen/14336b.htm">supernatural</a> and infused by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> because it concerns things beyond the natural power of created intelligence; and the <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> must be manifested either by words or signs, because the gift of prophecy is given primarily for the good of others, and hence needs to be manifested. It is a Divine light by which <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> reveals things concerning the unknown future and by which these things are in some way represented to the mind of the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a>, whose <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duty</a> it is to manifest them to others.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <h2>Division</h2> <p>Writers on <a href="../cathen/14621a.htm">mystical theology</a> consider prophecies with reference to the illumination of the mind, to the objects revealed, and to the means by which the <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> is conveyed to the <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> <a href="../cathen/10321a.htm">mind</a>. By reason of the illumination of the mind prophecy may be either perfect or imperfect. It is called perfect when not only the thing revealed, but the revelation itself, is made known  that is, when the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> knows that it is <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> who speaks. The prophecy is imperfect when the recipient does not <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> clearly or sufficiently from whom the revelation proceeds, or whether it is the prophetic or individual spirit that speaks. This is called the prophetic <a href="../cathen/08050b.htm">instinct</a>, wherein it is possible that a man may be deceived, as it happened in the case of Nathan who said to <a href="../cathen/04642b.htm">David</a> when he was thinking of building the <a href="../cathen/14499a.htm">Temple of God</a>: "Go, do all that is in thy heart, because the Lord is with thee" (<a href="../bible/2sa007.htm#vrs3">2 Samuel 7:3</a>). But that very night the Lord commanded the Prophet to return to the king and say that the glory of the building of the temple was reserved, not for him, but for his son. <a href="../cathen/06780a.htm">St. Gregory</a>, as quoted by <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a>, explains that some holy <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophets</a>, through the frequent practice of prophesying, have of themselves predicted some things, <a href="../cathen/02408b.htm">believing</a> that therein they were influenced by the spirit of prophecy.</p> <p>By reason of the object there are three kinds of prophecy according to <a href="../cathen/14663b.htm">St. Thomas</a> (<a href="../summa/3174.htm#article1">Summa II-II:174:1</a>): prophecy of denunciation, of foreknowledge, and of <a href="../cathen/12378a.htm">predestination</a>.</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li>In the first kind <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> reveals future events according to the order of secondary causes, which may be hindered from taking effect by other causes which would require a <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miraculous</a> power to prevent, and these may or may not happen, though the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophets</a> do not express it but seem to speak absolutely. Isaias spoke thus when he said to Ezechias: "Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live" (<a href="../bible/isa038.htm#vrs1">Isaiah 38:1</a>). To this kind belongs the prophecy of promise, as that mentioned in 1 Kings, ii,30: "I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father should minister in my sight, forever", which was not fulfilled. It was a conditional promise made to Heli which was dependent upon other causes which prevented its fulfilment.</li><li>The second, that of foreknowledge, takes place when <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> reveals future events which depend upon created <a href="../cathen/06259a.htm">free will</a> and which he sees present from <a href="../cathen/05551b.htm">eternity</a>. They have reference to life and death, to <a href="../cathen/15546c.htm">wars</a> and dynasties, to the affairs of <a href="../cathen/14250c.htm">Church and State</a>, as well as to the affairs of individual life.</li><li>The third kind, the prophecy of <a href="../cathen/12378a.htm">predestination</a>, takes place when <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> reveals what He alone will do, and what he sees present in <a href="../cathen/05551b.htm">eternity</a> and in His absolute <a href="../cathen/04670a.htm">decree</a>. This includes not only the secret of <a href="../cathen/12378a.htm">predestination</a> to grace and to glory, but also those things which <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> has absolutely decreed to do by His own supreme power, and which will infallibly come to pass.</li></ul></div> <p>The objects of prophecy may also be viewed in respect to <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a>:</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li>when an event may be beyond the possible natural <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> of the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a>, but may be within the range of <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> and known to others who witness the occurrence, as, for instance, the result of the battle of <a href="../cathen/09181b.htm">Lepanto</a> revealed to <a href="../cathen/12130a.htm">St. Pius V</a>;</li><li>when the object surpasses the <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> of all men, not that it is unknowable but that the <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> <a href="../cathen/10321a.htm">mind</a> cannot naturally receive the <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a>, such as the mystery of the <a href="../cathen/15047a.htm">Holy Trinity</a>, or the mystery of <a href="../cathen/12378a.htm">predestination</a>;</li><li>when the things that are beyond the power of the <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> <a href="../cathen/10321a.htm">mind</a> to <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> are not in themselves knowable because their <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truth</a> is not yet determined, such as future contingent things which depend upon <a href="../cathen/06259a.htm">free will</a>. This is regarded as the most perfect object of prophecy, because it is the most general and embraces all events that are in themselves unknowable. </li></ul></div> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p><a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> can enlighten the <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> <a href="../cathen/10321a.htm">mind</a> in any way he pleases. He often makes use of <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angelic</a> ministry in prophetic communications, or He Himself may speak to the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> and illuminate his mind. Again the <a href="../cathen/14336b.htm">supernatural</a> light of prophecy may be conveyed to the <a href="../cathen/08066a.htm">intellect</a> or through the senses or the <a href="../cathen/07672a.htm">imagination</a>. Prophecy may take place even when the senses are suspended in <a href="../cathen/05277a.htm">ecstasy</a>, but this in mystical terminology is called rapture. <a href="../cathen/14663b.htm">St. Thomas</a> teaches that there is no suspension of the sense activities when anything is presented to the mind of the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> through impressions of the senses, nor is it <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> when the mind is immediately enlightened that activity of the senses should be suspended; but it is <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> that this should be the case when the manifestation is made by <a href="../cathen/07672a.htm">imaginative</a> forms, at least at the moment of the vision or of the hearing of the revelation, because the mind is then abstracted from external things in order to fix itself entirely on the object manifested to the <a href="../cathen/07672a.htm">imagination</a>. In such a case a perfect judgment cannot be formed of the prophetic vision during the transport of the <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a>, because then the senses which are <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> for a right understanding of things cannot act, and it is only when a man comes to himself and awakens from the <a href="../cathen/05277a.htm">ecstasy</a> that he can properly <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> and discern the nature of his vision.</p> <h2>Recipient of prophecy</h2> <p>The gift of prophecy is an extraordinary grace bestowed by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>. It has never been confined to any particular tribe, <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a>, or class of <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a>. There is no distinct faculty in <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> <a href="../cathen/10715a.htm">nature</a> by which any normal or abnormal <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">person</a> can prophesy, neither is any special preparation required beforehand for the reception of this gift. Hence <a href="../cathen/04378a.htm">Cornely</a> remarks: "Modern authors speak inaccurately of 'schools of <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophets'</a>, an expression never found in the Scriptures or the Fathers" (Comp. Introduct. in N.T., n. 463). Neither was there ever any external rite by which the office of <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> was inaugurated; its exercise was always extraordinary and depended on the immediate call of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>. The prophetic light, according to <a href="../cathen/14663b.htm">St. Thomas</a>, is in the <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a> of the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> not as a permanent form or habit, but after the manner of a passion or passing impression (<a href="../summa/3171.htm#article2"><em>Summa Theologiæ</em> II-II.171.2</a>). Hence the ancient <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophets</a> by their <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">prayers</a> petitioned for this Divine light (<a href="../bible/1ki008.htm#vrs6">1 Kings 8:6</a>; <a href="../bible/jer032.htm#vrs16">Jeremiah 32:16</a>; <a href="../bible/jer023.htm#vrs2">23:2 sq.</a>; <a href="../bible/jer042.htm#vrs4">42:4 sq.</a>), and they were liable to <a href="../cathen/05525a.htm">error</a> if they gave an answer before invoking <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> (<a href="../bible/2sa007.htm#vrs2">2 Samuel 7:2-3</a>).</p> <p>Writing on the recipients of prophecy, <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a> (Heroic Virtue, III, 144, 150) says: "The recipients of prophecy may be <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a>, <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">devils</a>, men, <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a>, children, <a href="../cathen/11388a.htm">heathens</a>, or <a href="../cathen/06422a.htm">gentiles</a>; nor is it <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> that a man should be gifted with any particular disposition in order to receive the light of prophecy provided his <a href="../cathen/08066a.htm">intellect</a> and senses be adapted for making manifest the things which <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> reveals to him. Though moral <a href="../cathen/06636b.htm">goodness</a> is most profitable to a <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a>, yet it is not <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> in order to obtain the gift of prophecy." He also tells us that the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angels</a> by their own natural penetration cannot <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> future events which are undermined and contingent or uncertain, neither can they <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">know</a> the secrets of the heart of another, whether man or <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a>. When therefore <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> reveals to an <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> as the medium through which the future is made known to man, the <a href="../cathen/01476d.htm">angel</a> also becomes a <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a>. As to the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">Devil</a>, the same author tells us that he cannot of his own natural <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> foretell future events which are the proper objects of prophecy, yet <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> may make use of him for this purpose. Thus we read in the Gospel of St. Luke that when the <a href="../cathen/04764a.htm">Devil</a> saw <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a> he fell down before Him and, crying out with a loud voice, said: "What have I to do with thee, <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Jesus</a>, <a href="../cathen/14142b.htm">Son of the most high God</a>?" (<a href="../bible/luk008.htm#vrs28">Luke 8:28</a>). There are instances of <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> and children prophesying in <a href="../bible">Holy Scripture</a>. Mary, the sister of Moses, is called a <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophetess</a>; Anna, the mother of Samuel, prophesied; Elizabeth, the mother of <a href="../cathen/08486b.htm">John the Baptist</a>, by a <a href="../cathen/13001a.htm">Divine revelation</a> recognized and confessed Mary as the <a href="../cathen/15464b.htm">Mother of God</a>. Samuel and Daniel as boys prophesied; <a href="../cathen/02214b.htm">Balaam</a>, a <a href="../cathen/06422a.htm">Gentile</a>, foretold the advent of the <a href="../cathen/10212c.htm">Messias</a> and the devastation of <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyria</a> and Palestine. <a href="../cathen/14663b.htm">St. Thomas</a>, in order to prove that the <a href="../cathen/11388a.htm">heathens</a> were capable of prophecy, refers to the instance of the <a href="../cathen/13770a.htm">Sybils</a>, who make clear mention of the mysteries of the Trinity, of the Incarnation of the Word, of the Life, Passion, and <a href="../cathen/12789a.htm">Resurrection</a> of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>. It is <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> that the Sybilline poems now extant became in course of <a href="../cathen/14726a.htm">time</a> interpolated; but, as <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a> remarks, this does not hinder much of them, especially what the early Fathers referred to, from being genuine and in no wise <a href="../cathen/01601a.htm">apocryphal</a>.</p> <p>That the gift of private prophecy exists in the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> is clear from Scripture and the acts of <a href="../cathen/02364b.htm">canonization</a> of the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> in every age. To the question, what credence is to be given to these private prophecies, <a href="../cathen/03145c.htm">Cardinal Cajetan</a> answers, as stated by <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a>: "Human actions are of two kinds, one of which relates to public <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duties</a>, and especially to <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> affairs, such as preaching, celebrating <a href="../cathen/10006a.htm">Mass</a>, pronouncing judicial decisions, and the like; with respect to these the question is settled in the canon law, where it is said that no credence is to be publicly given to him who says he has privately received a mission from <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, unless he confirms it by a <a href="../cathen/10338a.htm">miracle</a> or a special testimony of <a href="../bible">Holy Scripture</a>. The other class of human actions consists of those of private <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a>, and speaking of these, he distinguishes between a <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> who enjoins or advises them, according to the universal <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, and a <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> who does the same without reference to those <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a>. In the first case every man may abound in his own sense whether or not to direct his actions according to the will of the <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a>; in the second case a <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophet</a> is not to be listened to" (Heroic Virtue, III, 192).</p> <p>It is also important that those who have to teach and direct others should have rules for their guidance to enable them to distinguish <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> from <a href="../cathen/05781a.htm">false</a> <a href="../cathen/12477a.htm">prophets</a>. A summary of those prescribed by <a href="../cathen/14580a.htm">theologians</a> for our guidance may be useful to show practically how the <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">doctrine</a> is to be applied to devout <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a> in order to save them from <a href="../cathen/05525a.htm">errors</a> or diabolical delusions:</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li>the recipient of the gift of prophecy should, as a rule, be good and virtuous, for all <a href="../cathen/14621a.htm">mystical</a> writers agree that for the most part this gift is granted by <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> to <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holy</a> <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a>. The disposition or temperament of the <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">person</a> should also be considered, as well as the state of health and of the brain;</li><li>the prophecy must be conformable to <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truth</a> and <a href="../cathen/12748a.htm">piety</a>, because if it propose anything against <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a> or <a href="../cathen/10559a.htm">morals</a> it cannot proceed from the Spirit of Truth;</li><li>the prediction should concern things outside the reach of all natural <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a>, and have for its object future contingent things or those things which <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> alone knows;</li><li>it should also concern something of a grave and important nature, that is something for the good of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> or the good of <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a>. This and the preceding rule will help to distinguish <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> prophecies from the puerile, senseless, and useless predictions of <a href="../cathen/05048b.htm">fortune-tellers</a>, crystal-gazers, <a href="../cathen/14229a.htm">spiritualists</a>, and charlatans. These may tell things beyond <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> and yet within the scope of the natural <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> of <a href="../cathen/04710a.htm">demons</a>, but not those things that are strictly speaking the objects of prophecy;</li><li>prophecies or revelations which make known the <a href="../cathen/14004b.htm">sins</a> of others, or which announce the <a href="../cathen/12378a.htm">predestination</a> or reprobation of <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a> are to be suspected. Three special secrets of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> have always to be deeply respected as they are very rarely revealed, namely: the state of <a href="../cathen/04268a.htm">conscience</a> in this life, the state of <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a> after death unless <a href="../cathen/02364b.htm">canonized</a> by the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, and the mystery of <a href="../cathen/12378a.htm">predestination</a>. The secret of <a href="../cathen/12378a.htm">predestination</a> has been revealed only in exceptional cases, but that of reprobation has never been revealed, because so long as the <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">soul</a> is in this life, its <a href="../cathen/13407a.htm">salvation</a> is possible. The day of General Judgment is also a secret which has never been revealed;</li><li>we have afterwards to ascertain whether the prophecy has been fulfilled in the way foretold. There are some limitations to this rule: (1) if the prophecy was not absolute, but containing threats only, and tempered by conditions expressed or understood, as exemplified in the prophecy of Jonas to the Ninivites, and that of Isaias to King Ezechias; (2) it may sometimes happen that the prophecy is <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">true</a> and from <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and the human interpretation of it is <a href="../cathen/05781a.htm">false</a>, as men may interpret it otherwise than <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> intended.</li> </ul></div> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>It is by these limitations we have to explain the prophecy of <a href="../cathen/02498d.htm">St. Bernard</a> regarding the success of the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm#section2">Second Crusade</a>, and that of St. Vincent Ferrer regarding the near approach of the General Judgment in his day.</p> <h2>Chief particular prophecies</h2> <p>The last prophetic work which the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> acknowledges as Divinely inspired is the <a href="../cathen/01594b.htm">Apocalypse</a>. The prophetic spirit did not disappear with the Apostolic times, but the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> has not pronounced any work prophetic since then, though she has <a href="../cathen/02364b.htm">canonized</a> numberless <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> who were more or less endowed with the gift of prophecy. The <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> allows freedom in accepting or rejecting particular or private prophecies according to the evidence for or against them. We should be slow to admit and slow to reject them, and in either case treat them with respect when they come to us from trustworthy sources, and are in accordance with <a href="../cathen/05075b.htm">Catholic doctrine</a> and the rules of <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> morality. The real test of these predictions is their fulfilment; they may be only <a href="../cathen/12748a.htm">pious</a> anticipations of the ways of Providence, and they may sometimes be fulfilled in part and in part contradicted by events. The minatory prophecies which announce calamities, being for the most part conditional, may or may not be fulfilled. Many private prophecies have been verified by subsequent events, some have not; others have given rise to a good deal of discussion as to their genuineness. Most of the private prophecies of the <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> and servants of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> were concerned with <a href="../cathen/07762a.htm">individuals</a>, their death, recovery from illness, or vocations. Some foretold things which would affect the fate of nations, as <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a>, <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a>, and <a href="../cathen/08098b.htm">Ireland</a>. A great number have reference to <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> and to the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papacy</a>; and finally we have many such prophecies relating to the end of the world and the approach of the Day of Judgment.</p> <p>The more noteworthy of the prophecies bearing upon "latter times" seem to have one common end, to announce great calamities impending over <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">mankind</a>, the triumph of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, and the renovation of the world. All the seers agree in two leading features as outlined by E.H. Thompson in his "Life of Anna Maria Taigi" (ch. 18): "First they all point to some terrible convulsion, to a revolution springing from most deep-rooted impiety, consisting in a formal opposition to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> and His <a href="../cathen/15073a.htm">truth</a>, and resulting in the most formidable <a href="../cathen/11703a.htm">persecution</a> to which the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> has ever been subject. Secondly, they all promise for the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> a victory more splendid than she has ever achieved here below. We may add another point in which there is a remarkable agreement in the catena of modern prophecies, and that is the peculiar connection between the fortunes of <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a> and those of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> and the <a href="../cathen/07424b.htm">Holy See</a>, and also the large part which that country has still to play in the <a href="../cathen/07365a.htm">history of the Church</a> and of the world, and will continue to play to the end of time."</p> <p>Some prophetic spirits were prolific in the forecasts of the future. The biographer of <a href="../cathen/12018b.htm">St. Philip Neri</a> states that if all the prophecies attributed to this saint were narrated, they alone would fill entire volumes. It is sufficient to give the following as examples of private prophecies.</p> <h3 id="A">Prophecy of St. Edward the Confessor</h3> <p><a href="../cathen/04698c.htm">Ambrose Lisle Philipps</a> in a letter to the Earl of <a href="../cathen/13759c.htm">Shrewsbury</a> <a href="../cathen/04636c.htm">dated</a> 28 October, 1850, in giving a sketch of English <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> history, relates the following vision or prophecy made by <a href="../cathen/05322a.htm">St. Edward</a>: "During the month of January, 1066, the holy King of <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> <a href="../cathen/05322a.htm">St. Edward the Confessor</a> was confined to his bed by his last illness in his royal Westminster Palace. <a href="../cathen/01172b.htm">St. Ælred</a>, Abbott of Rievaulx, in Yorkshire, relates that a short time before his <a href="../cathen/07131b.htm">happy</a> death, this holy king was wrapt in <a href="../cathen/05277a.htm">ecstasy</a>, when two <a href="../cathen/12748a.htm">pious</a> <a href="../cathen/02443a.htm">Benedictine</a> <a href="../cathen/10487b.htm">monks</a> of Normandy, whom he had known in his youth, during his exile in that country, appeared to him, and revealed to him what was to happen to <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> in future centuries, and the cause of the terrible punishment. They said: 'The extreme corruption and wickedness of the English nation has provoked the just <a href="../cathen/01489a.htm">anger</a> of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>. When malice shall have reached the fullness of its measure, <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> will, in His wrath, send to the English people wicked spirits, who will punish and afflict them with great severity, by separating the green tree from its parent stem the length of three furlongs. But at last this same tree, through the compassionate mercy of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>, and without any national (governmental) assistance, shall return to its original root, reflourish and bear abundant fruit.' After having heard these prophetic words, the saintly <a href="../cathen/05322a.htm">King Edward</a> opened his eyes, returned to his senses, and the vision vanished. He immediately related all he had seen and heard to his virgin spouse, Edgitha, to Stigand, <a href="../cathen/01691a.htm">Archbishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/03299b.htm">Canterbury</a>, and to Harold, his successor to the throne, who were in his chamber <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">praying</a> around his bed." (See "Vita beati Edwardi regis et confessoris", from <a href="../cathen/09614b.htm">manuscript</a> Selden 55 in Bodleian Library, <a href="../cathen/11365c.htm">Oxford</a>.)</p> <p>The interpretation given to this prophecy is remarkable when applied to the events which have happened. The spirits mentioned in it were the <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> innovators who pretended, in the sixteenth century, to reform the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> in <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a>. The severance of the green tree from its trunk signifies the separation of the English Church from the root of the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, from the <a href="../cathen/07424b.htm">Roman See</a>. This tree, however, was to be separated from its life-giving root the distance of "three furlongs". These three furlongs are understood to signify three centuries, at the end of which <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> would again be reunited to the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, and bring forth flowers of virtue and fruits of <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">sanctity</a>. The prophecy was quoted by <a href="../cathen/04698c.htm">Ambrose Lisle Philipps</a> on the occasion of the <a href="../cathen/16037d.htm">reestablishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England</a> by <a href="../cathen/12134b.htm">Pope Pius IX</a> in 1850.</p> <h3 id="malachy">Prophecies of St. Malachy</h3> <p><em>Concerning Ireland</em></p> <p>This prophecy, which is distinct from the prophecies attributed to <a href="../cathen/09565a.htm">St. Malachy</a> concerning the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a>, is to the effect that his beloved native isle would undergo at the hands of <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> oppression, <a href="../cathen/11703a.htm">persecution</a>, and calamities of every kind, during a week of centuries; but that she would preserve her fidelity to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> and to His <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> amidst all her trials. At the end of seven centuries she would be delivered from her oppressors (or oppressions), who in their turn would be subjected to dreadful chastisements, and <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/08098b.htm">Ireland</a> would be instrumental in bringing back the British nation to that Divine Faith which <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> had, during three hundred years, so rudely endeavoured to wrest from her. This prophecy is said to have been copied by the learned <a href="../cathen/09479b.htm">Dom Mabillon</a> from an ancient <a href="../cathen/09614b.htm">manuscript</a> preserved at <a href="../cathen/03798c.htm">Clairvaux</a>, and transmitted by him to the <a href="../cathen/09736b.htm">martyred</a> successor of <a href="../cathen/12169b.htm">Oliver Plunkett</a>.</p> <p><em>Concerning the Popes</em></p> <p>The most famous and best known prophecies about the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> are those attributed to <a href="../cathen/09565a.htm">St. Malachy</a>. In 1139 he went to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> to give an account of the affairs of his <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">diocese</a> to the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>, <a href="../cathen/08012a.htm">Innocent II</a>, who promised him two <a href="../cathen/11427a.htm">palliums</a> for the <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitan</a> Sees of Armagh and <a href="../cathen/03401a.htm">Cashel</a>. While at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, he received (according to the Abbé Cucherat) the strange vision of the future wherein was unfolded before his mind the long list of illustrious pontiffs who were to rule the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> until the end of time. The same author tells us that <a href="../cathen/09565a.htm">St. Malachy</a> gave his <a href="../cathen/09614b.htm">manuscript</a> to <a href="../cathen/08012a.htm">Innocent II</a> to console him in the midst of his tribulations, and that the document remained unknown in the Roman Archives until its discovery in 1590 (Cucherat, "Proph. de la succession des papes", ch. xv). They were first published by Arnold de Wyon, and ever since there has been much discussion as to whether they are genuine predictions of <a href="../cathen/09565a.htm">St. Malachy</a> or forgeries. The silence of 400 years on the part of so many learned authors who had written about the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a>, and the silence of <a href="../cathen/02498d.htm">St. Bernard</a> especially, who wrote the "Life of St. Malachy", is a strong argument against their authenticity, but it is not conclusive if we adopt Cucherat's theory that they were hidden in the Archives during those 400 years.</p> <p>These short prophetical announcements, in number 112, indicate some noticeable trait of all future <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> from <a href="../cathen/03478a.htm">Celestine II</a>, who was elected in the year 1143, until the end of the world. They are enunciated under mystical titles. Those who have undertaken to interpret and explain these symbolical prophecies have succeeded in discovering some trait, allusion, point, or similitude in their application to the individual <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a>, either as to their country, their name, their <a href="../cathen/07243a.htm">coat of arms</a> or insignia, their birth-place, their talent or learning, the title of their <a href="../cathen/03333b.htm">cardinalate</a>, the dignities which they held etc. For example, the prophecy concerning <a href="../cathen/15218b.htm">Urban VIII</a> is <em>Lilium et Rosa</em> (the lily and the rose); he was a native of Florence and on the arms of Florence figured a <em>fleur-de-lis</em>; he had three bees emblazoned on his escutcheon, and the bees gather honey from the lilies and roses. Again, the name accords often with some remarkable and rare circumstance in the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope's</a> career; thus <em>Peregrinus apostolicus</em> (pilgrim <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>), which designates <a href="../cathen/12131a.htm">Pius VI</a>, appears to be verified by his journey when <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> into <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>, by his long career as <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>, and by his expatriation from <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> at the end of his pontificate. Those who have lived and followed the course of events in an intelligent manner during the pontificates of <a href="../cathen/12134b.htm">Pius IX</a>, <a href="../cathen/09169a.htm">Leo XIII</a>, and <a href="../cathen/12137a.htm">Pius X</a> cannot fail to be impressed with the titles given to each by the prophecies of <a href="../cathen/09565a.htm">St. Malachy</a> and their wonderful appropriateness: <em>Crux de Cruce</em> (Cross from a Cross) <a href="../cathen/12134b.htm">Pius IX</a>; <em>Lumen in caelo</em> (Light in the Sky) <a href="../cathen/09169a.htm">Leo XIII</a>; <em>Ignis ardens</em> (Burning Fire) <a href="../cathen/12137a.htm">Pius X</a>. There is something more than coincidence in the designations given to these three <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> so many hundred years before their time. We need not have recourse either to the <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a> names, armorial bearings or <a href="../cathen/03333b.htm">cardinalatial</a> titles, to see the fitness of their designations as given in the prophecies. The afflictions and crosses of <a href="../cathen/12134b.htm">Pius IX</a> were more than fell to the lot of his predecessors; and the more aggravating of these crosses were brought on by the House of <a href="../cathen/13492a.htm">Savoy</a> whose emblem was a cross. <a href="../cathen/09169a.htm">Leo XIII</a> was a veritable luminary of the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papacy</a>. The present <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> is truly a burning fire of <a href="../cathen/15753a.htm">zeal</a> for the restoration of all things to <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>.</p> <p>The last of these prophecies concerns the end of the world and is as follows: "In the final <a href="../cathen/11703a.htm">persecution</a> of the <a href="../cathen/07424b.htm">Holy Roman Church</a> there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">dreadful Judge</a> will judge the people. The End." It has been noticed concerning <em>Petrus Romanus</em>, who according to <a href="../cathen/09565a.htm">St. Malachy's</a> list is to be the last <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>, that the prophecy does not say that no <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> will intervene between him and his predecessor designated <em>Gloria olivæ</em>. It merely says that he is to be the last, so that we may suppose as many <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> as we please before "Peter the Roman". <a href="../cathen/04377a.htm">Cornelius a Lapide</a> refers to this prophecy in his commentary "On the Gospel of St. John" (C. xvi) and "On the Apocalypse" (cc. xvii-xx), and he endeavours to calculate according to it the remaining years of time.</p> <h3 id="C">Prophecy of St. Paul of the Cross</h3> <p>During more than fifty years <a href="../cathen/11590a.htm">St. Paul of the Cross</a> was accustomed to <a href="../cathen/12345b.htm">pray</a> for the return of <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> to the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">Faith</a>, and on several occasions had visions and revelations about its re-conversion. In spirit he saw the <a href="../cathen/11521d.htm">Passionists</a> established in <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> and labouring there for the conversion and sanctification of <a href="../cathen/14153a.htm">souls</a>. It is well known that several leaders of the <a href="../cathen/11370a.htm">Oxford Movement</a>, including <a href="../cathen/10794a.htm">Cardinal Newman</a>, and thousands of converts have been received into the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> in <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> by the <a href="../cathen/11521d.htm">Passionist</a> missionaries.</p> <p>There are many other private prophecies concerning the remote and proximate signs which will precede the General Judgment and concerning <a href="../cathen/01559a.htm">Antichrist</a>, such as those attributed to <a href="../cathen/07351a.htm">St. Hildegarde</a>, <a href="../cathen/02782a.htm">St. Bridget of Sweden</a>, <a href="../cathen/14430b.htm">Blessed Anna Maria Taigi</a> (the "three days' darkness"), the <a href="../cathen/08326c.htm">Curé d'Ars</a>, and many others. These do not enlighten us any more than do the Scriptural prophecies as to the day and the hour of that judgment, which still remains a Divine secret.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Devine, A.</span> <span id="apayear">(1911).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Prophecy.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12473a.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Devine, Arthur.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Prophecy."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 12.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1911.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12473a.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Marie Jutras.</span> <span id="dedication"></span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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