Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/541

 PROPHECY

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PROPHECY

persons, and speaking of these, he distinguishes be- tween a prophet who enjoins or adWses them, accord- ing to the universal laws of the Church, and a prophet who does the same without reference to those laws. 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 prophet ; in the second case the prophet is not to be listened to" (Heroic Virtue, III, 192).

It is also important that those who have to teach and direct others should have rules for their guidance to enalsle them to distinguish true from false prophets. A summary of those prescribed by theologians for our guidance may be useful to show practically how the doctrine is to be appUed to devout souls in order to save them from errors or diabolical delusions: (1) the recipient of the gift of prophecy should, as a rule, be good and virtuous, for all mistical writers agree that for the most part this gift is granted by God to holy persons. The disposition or temperament of the person should also be considered, as well as the state of health and of the brain; (2) the prophecy must be conformable to Christian truth and piety, because if it propose anjihing against faith or morals it cannot proceed from the Spirit of Truth; (3) the prediction should concern things outside the reach of all natural knowledge, and have for its object future contingent things or those things which God onlj- knows; (4) it should also concern something of a grave and im- portant nature, that is something for the good of the Church or the good of souls. This and the preceding rule vnll help to distinguish true prophecies from the puerile, senseless, and useless predictions of fortune- tellers, crystal-gazers, spiritualists, and charlatans. These may tell things beyond human knowledge and yet ^Nithin the scope of the natural knowledge of demons, but not those things that are strict!}- speaking the objects of prophecy; (5) prophecies or revelations which make known the sins of others, or which an- nounce the predestination or reprobation of souls are to be suspected. Three special secrets of God have always to be deeply respected as they are very rarely revealed, namely: the state of conscience in this hfe, the state of souls after death unless canonized by the Church, and the mystery of predestination. The secret of predestination has been revealed only in exceptional cases, but that of reprobation has never been revealed, because so long as the soul is in this life, its salvation is possible. The day of General Judg- ment is also a secret which has never been revealed; (6) we have afterwards to ascertain whether the proph- ecy has been fulfilled in the way foretold. There are some limitations to this rule: (a) if the prophecy was not absolute, but containing threats only, and tempered by conditions expressed or understood, as ex- emphfied in the prophecy of Jonas to the Xinivites, and that of Isaias to King Ezechias; (b) it may sometimes happen that the prophecy is true and from God, and the human interpretation of it false, as men may inter- pret it otherwise than God intended. It is by these limitations we have to explain the prophecy of St. Bernard regarding the success of the Second Crusade, and that of St. Vincent Ferrer regarding the near approach of the General Judgment in his day.

Chief P.\rticul.\r Prophecies. — The last pro- phetic work which the Church acknowledges as Di- vinely inspired is the Apocalyp.se. The prophetic spirit did not disappear with the Apostohc times, but the Church has not pronounced any work prophetic since then, though she has canonized numberless saints who were more or less endowed with the gift of prophecy. The Church 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 Cathohc doctrine and the rules of Christian morality.

The real test of these predictions is their fulfilment; they may be only pious 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 sub- sequent events, some have not; others have given rise to a good deal of discussion as to their genuine- ness. Most of the private prophecies of the saints and servants of God were concerned with individuals, their death, recovery from illness, or v-ocations. Some foretold things which would affect the fate of nations, as France, England, and Ireland. A great number have reference to popes and to the papacy; and finally we have many such prophecies relating to the end of the world and the approach of the Day of Judgment.

The more noteworthy of the prophecies bearing upon "latter times" seem to have one common end, to an- nounce great calamities impending over mankind, the triumph of the Church, 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. x^-iii): "First they all point to some terrible con\Tilsion, to a revolution springing from most deep-rooted impiety, consisting in a formal opposition to God and His truth, and resulting in the most formidable persecution to which the Church has ever been subject. Secondly, they all promise for the Church a victory more splendid and complete than she has ever achieved here below. We may add another point in which there is a remarkable agree- ment in the catena of modern prophecies, and that is the peculiar connection between the fortunes of France and those of the Church and the Holy See, and also the large part which that coimtry has still to play in the historj- of the Church and of the world, and will continue to play to the end of time."

Some prophetic spirits were prolific in the forecasts of the future. The biographer of St. Philip Neri states that if all the prophecies attributed to this saint were narrated, they alone would fill entire vol- umes. It is sufficient to give the following as exam- ples of private prophecies.

(1) Prophecy of St. Edward the Confessor. — Ambrose Lisle Philipps in a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbiiry dated 28 October, 1850, in gi%'ing a sketch of English Catholic history, relates the following vision or proph- ecy made by St. Edward: "During the month of Januar>', 1066, the holy King of England St. Edward the Confessor was confined to his bed by his last ill- ness in his royal ^^'cstIninster Palace. St. Jillred, Abbott of Recraux, in Yorkshire, relates that a short time before his happy death, this holy King was wrapt in ecstasy, when two pious Benedictine monks of Normandy, whom he had known in his youth, during his exile in that country, appeared to him, and re- vealed to hira what was to happen in England 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 anger of God. When mahce shall have reached the fulness of its measure, God will, in His WTath, send to the Eng- lish 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 God, and without any national (govern- mental) assistance, shall return to its original root, reflouri.sh and bear abundant fruit.' After ha^•ing heard these prophetic words, the saintly King Edward opened his eves, returned to his sen.ses, and the vision vanished. He immediately related all he had seen and heard to his \-irgin spouse, Edgitha. to Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, and to Harold, his succes- sor to the throne, who were in his chamber prajdng around his bed." (See "Vita beati Edwardi regis et