ST. MALACHY'S PROPHECY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 260, 26 April 1878, Page 5

ST. MALACHY'S PROPHECY.

(From the Catlvolic Review.) This wonderful prophecy dates from the reign of Innocent 11., under whom St. Malachy came to assist at the second General Couucil of the Latcran, in the year 1139. It was during the month which he spent in Rome after the Council, that the spirit of God spoke to the spirit and heart of Malachy. It was then that he was made to sec the whole line of the Sovereign Pontiffs who should in succession sit upon the throne of Peter, even to that other Peter who shall be Roman by birth, and who shall see the city perish with the world. Reflecting upon all that he had seen in Rome, things glorious and consoling as well as sad and humiliating, St Malachy exclaimed, " How Ion"-, O Lord, wilt thou have mercy on Sion ? " And God answered him, " Even to the end of the world the Church shall be militant and victorious. . Even to the end of time it is necessary to perpetuate upon earth the sorrows of My passion and the mystery of My cross. And I shall be with you even to the consummation of ages." And then was unveiled to the sight of the Saint the whole line of the illustrious Captains which God would give to the tempest-tossed bark of St. Peter. ' St. Malachy having received his vision, wrote out an account of it, and placed it in the hands of Innocent 11. It remained hidden in the archives until the hour came for its discovery and publication. The discovery dates from the year 1590 ; its publication was reserved for our own age. Only the Latin text of the prophecy is the work of St. Malachy. Its application to successive Popes is the work of others, but the words of St. Malachy are sufficient in themselves. They present the Popes whom they designate in a personal sense, and also in a larger sense that belongs to their age. The personal sense indicates their country, their name, their arms, their title as cardinal, their condition at their birth, their profession or employment. The general sense makes allusion to the remarkable events of the reign of each Pope. . The Popes since Pius VI. were thus indicated : The Apostolic Pilgrim : Pius VI., from 1775 to 1799 ; he was compelled to make pilgrimages, dragged from prison to prison, to Siena, Florence, Bologna, Parma, Turin, Briancon and Valence, where he died. ' The Ravishing Eagle : Pius VII., from 1800 to 1823. Under his reign the Church was ravished by the French Eagle in the person of Napoleon 1. who persecuted the Pope, sometimes hypocritically, sometimes openly. The Dug and tlie Serpent : Leo XII., from 1823 to 1829. He displayed the vigilance of the dog and the wisdom of the serpent in resisting the attacks of the Revolution against God and the Church. The man zealous foi' Religion : Pius VIII., from 1829 to 1830*. His character could not be better described. From the Baths of Etruria : Gregory XVI., from 1831 to 1846 he belonged to a religious order whose mother-house is in Etruria on a site which formerly had the name of Baths, by reason oE the bathin<* establishments there. The Cross of the Cross : Pius IX, from 1846 to 1878. All the world knows the sufferings, the passion, and the long martyrdom of our late Holy Father, whom the Revolution kept crucified in the Vatican by the royal -house of Savoy, of which the escutcheon bears the cross— the well-known white cross of Savoy. And now what Pope was to succeed Pius IX., the " Cross of the Cross ? " It is startling, but true, that St. Malachy, 739 years ago, prophesied who it should be, and that the prophecy has been literally fulfilled. The next Pope should be one known as " The Light in the Heaven." And the readers of the Catholic Review, on glancing at the coat of arms of our new Pontiff published in its columns, will see there this " Light

iv the Heaven ! "' The star on the shield of the house of Peeci has been emblazoned there for centimes, but its full meaning has never been known until now.

.Nine Popes are yet to come : '• The Ardent Fire," "The Ravaged religion, "The Angelic Pastor,"' "The Pastor, and Pilot," "The Flower of Flowers," « The Half of the Moon," " The Work of the Sun," " The Wory ot the Olive.' 1 The last Pope shall boar the name of Peter ; iv his reign the city and world shall bo destroyed, and the Groat .Incite shall pome in glory.