Prophecies of Interest: St. John Bosco
Today brings us back to an old AI tradition (sort of) of having a Prophecy of Interest (please note this must be said with great fanfare and drama). Hooray!
In honor of the saint of the day, today's post is going to be about the prophecies of St. John Bosco, who is known for, among other things, having these dreams and founding the Salesian order.
There are two prophecies of John Bosco I would like to look at here. The first is much shorter, so we'll deal with that first. The second is more well known, so that shall come later.
In 1862, John Bosco made the following prediction:
There will be an Ecumenical Council in the next century, after which there will be chaos in the Church. Tranquility will not return until the Pope succeeds in anchoring the boat of Peter between the twin pillars of Eucharistic Devotion and Devotion to Our Lady. This will come about one year before the end of the century.
An interesting prophecy, as well as a problematic one. The first part of the prophecy, which references the "ecumenical council of the next century" is plainly a foreshadowing of the Second Vatican Council. Likewise, the latter part of the first sentence, that there will be chaos in the Church, is reasonably safe to affirm as true. One needs only think of the doctrinal, hierarchical and liturgical instabilities that followed Vatican II to see this as a valid prediction.
The problems here come in with the last sentence and the specific time frame that he gives for the Pope to return tranquility to the Church, so we'll deal with the middle part first.
Tranquility won't return until we have widespread devotion to the Eucharist and Our Lady in the Church- that's essentially what that middle part means. I do believe that we can safely identify those two elements as key components of the papacy of John Paul II. The presence of the "M" on his coat of arms- symbolizing his dedication to the Virgin- among other things is a tangible example of this. Then there is, of course, the famous image of John Paul holding aloft the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament in it. There are plenty of external symbols to demonstrate this point, I think, quite aside from the undoubtedly more substantive evidence we would have for it if we delved deeper into his pontificate.
In other words, so far so good. The problem here obviously arises with the very specific "one year before the end of the century." Can we truly point to that as a time when tranquility was restored in the Church? I'm not really sure we can. Indeed, I think an argument could be made that tranquility has not been restored (although I think that, at least, would be an uphill battle). Anywho, this is the less important of the two and I thought it interesting to note. Let's move on.
You might recognize this picture- it's a pictorial representation of the great dream of St. John Bosco. In it, we see the Church symbolized as a large ship- this is not an unknown metaphor to use for the Church (the "bark of Peter"), although you don't see it quite so much as others. The pope, in white, stands at the helm and the hierarchs of the Church behind him. You can see it is safely anchored to the twin pillars of the Eucharist and the Virgin, while many ships in the distance are being wrecked and rendered unto destruction.
And the dream is thus:
In the midst of this endless sea, two solid columns, a short distance apart, soar high into the sky. One is surmounted by a statue of the Immaculate Virgin, at whose feet a large inscription reads Auxilium Christianorum (Help of Christians). The other, far loftier and sturdier, supports a Host of proportionate size, and bears beneath is the inscription Salus credentium (Salvation of believers).
The flagship commander- the Roman Pontiff- standing at the helm, strains every muscle to steer his ship between the two columns, from whose summits hang many anchors and strong hooks linked to chains. The entire enemy fleet closes in to intercept and sink the flagship at all costs. The bombard it with everything they have: books and pamplets, incendiary bombs, firearms, cannons. The battle rages ever more furious. Beaked prows ram the flagship again and again, but to no avail, as unscathed and undaunted, it keeps on its course. At times, a formidable ram splinters a gaping hole in its hull, but immediately, a breeze from the two columns instantly seals the gash.
Meanwhile, enemy cannons blow up; firearms and beaks fall to pieces; ships crack up and sink to the bottom. In blind fury, the enemy takes to hand-t0-hand combat, cursing and blaspheming. Suddenly the Pope falls, seriously wounded. He is instantly helped up, but struck a second time, dies. A shout of victory rises from the enemy, and wild rejoicing sweeps their ships. But no sooner is the Pope dead than another takes his place. The captains of the auxiliary ships elected him so quickly that the news of the Pope's death coincides with that of his successor's election. The enemy's self-assurance wanes.
Breaking through all resistance, the new Pope steers his ship safely between the two columns; first, to the one surmounted by the Host, and then the other, topped by the statue of the Virgin. At this point, something unexpected happens. The enemy ships panic and disperse, colliding with and scuttling each other.
Some auxiliary ships, which had gallantly fought alongside their flagship, are the first to tie up at the two columns. Many others, which had fearfully kept far away from the fight, stand still, cautiously waiting until the wrecked enemy ships vanish under the waves. Then they too head for the two columns, tie up at the swinging hooks and ride safe and tranquil beside their flagship. A great calm now covers the sea.
Whew! Quite the dream. Mine are never that detailed.
Anyway, I think what we're dealing with here is less a prophecy in the traditional sense (i.e. one that says this specific thing will happen at this specific time) and more a prophecy which is a kind of commentary on the Church and her mission.
There are elements, to be sure, of a traditional prophecy. For example, the Pope is struck, then struck a second time and dies. What does this mean? The first thing that comes to mind, for me, is John Paul II- attempted assassination, he lives, finally is overtaken by his failing health and dies. The problem with that analysis, of course, is the next part about the rapidity of his successor's election. Taken in a strictly literal sense, JPII's death and Benedict XVI's election did not coincide. Granted, Benedict's election was fairly rapid, but there was still plenty of time between them.
Can this dream still be valid? I think so. If we are dealing with the Church as a ship sailing along through the waters of Time, the death and election of a new pope is essentially going to be simultaneous. And, indeed, in medieval times oftentimes outlying lands of Christendom weren't aware of the election of a new pope until they got a messenger saying that the old pope was dead and hey, this was the new one.
But, prophecies can't be about the past, because that's history and you can't prophecy about something that's already happened. So, we have two options here: either the prophecy refers to a specific time in the future which we are unaware of, or it is more allegorical. I prefer the latter.
We can read plenty of meaning into this dream; it is rich in symbolism. The Church is the main ship, of course, and her enemies are the smaller ships that attack her. They use all their available weapons- they try to argue (books and pamphlets) and, when they realize that won't work, they resort to force (persecution). But nothing ever works. This is a fair analogy for the Church in all periods of history- people try to argue, but ultimately, they simply can't. They either pick up their ball and bat and go home or they resort to force.
At times, we have a "formidable ram" which deals the Church a serious wound. This seems pretty reasonable. There are plenty of times throughout history when the Church was hit pretty severely, but it never crumbled, never failed. In the 20th century we can look back at the chaos that ensued after Vatican II (see above prophecy!), but the healing wind that comes to repair the ship can be said to have functioned in our own time as well. More generally, however, what we see is that fidelity to Christ and His Mother heal the ills of the Church, something which is, again, true for all the ages of the Church.
The final parts of the dream would also seem to indicate an eschatological reading- that is, one oriented towards the end times. The ship/Church comes to rest as it anchors between the two pillars, something that will not, presumably, happen until the end of time. Indeed, Christ's/the Church's enemies are eliminated when this happens- the ships (of modernity, of subjectivism, of Nazism, communism, etc, whatever you want to label them) destruct, they sink. Notice that the Church here is not fighting back against these enemies with the same weapons- in fact, we get no indication that the ship is fighting back at all. All we see, instead, is the divine power intervening to heal the ship whenever it needs help.
What does this mean? That we are not to combat the forces of evil in the world? Certainly not. Instead, I think we can see this as a sign of our utter dependence on God. If it wasn't for Him and His Divine Providence and His Grace, the ship/Church wouldn't have a chance. The Church is, after all, composed of humans and susceptible, as such, to injury. God, however, is always standing by, ready and waiting to patch things up, repair them and continue to see the Church safely into port.
Finally, we see the little ships. I like the little ships, personally. Some of them zoom ahead of the main ship and tie up to the pillars before it does. These, perhaps, are the other Rites in communion with Rome. Just conjecture, really, but they do "fight gallantly" alongside their flagship, i.e. Rome, so it seems reasonable that these are the churches which, though loyal, are still somewhat different, just like the Eastern Rites. The other little ships are ones that were afraid to enter the battle, but finally tie up to the columns once the hard work is done. Perhaps we can see these to be our Protestant and Orthodox brethren. Seperated and in some cases quite distant from us, unwilling to fight the battles that the Church does, but ultimately churches that acknowledge the Truth that the flagship wields and anchor next to it.
In the end, we get a very positive picture of the Church. Although she may be wounded, she sails along and, thanks to the protection of the Almighty, is brought safely to harbor. And, ultimately, all the little ships anchor next to it, once they come to accept the truths about the Virgin and the Eucharist (which are, arguably, two of the biggest sticking points Protestants have with the Church).
Can we see this dream as an eschatological prophecy, one that points to a specific moment in time? Perhaps, although we will not be confirmed in this view until such events actually come to pass. It is more instructive, instead, to see the dream as an allegory, a teaching about the Church and how it functions and, above all, as an inspiration to hope and trust in the Lord.
~
Tomorrow: more Sartorial Splendor.
~
Saint John Bosco, pray for us.
Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.
In honor of the saint of the day, today's post is going to be about the prophecies of St. John Bosco, who is known for, among other things, having these dreams and founding the Salesian order.
There are two prophecies of John Bosco I would like to look at here. The first is much shorter, so we'll deal with that first. The second is more well known, so that shall come later.
In 1862, John Bosco made the following prediction:
There will be an Ecumenical Council in the next century, after which there will be chaos in the Church. Tranquility will not return until the Pope succeeds in anchoring the boat of Peter between the twin pillars of Eucharistic Devotion and Devotion to Our Lady. This will come about one year before the end of the century.
An interesting prophecy, as well as a problematic one. The first part of the prophecy, which references the "ecumenical council of the next century" is plainly a foreshadowing of the Second Vatican Council. Likewise, the latter part of the first sentence, that there will be chaos in the Church, is reasonably safe to affirm as true. One needs only think of the doctrinal, hierarchical and liturgical instabilities that followed Vatican II to see this as a valid prediction.
The problems here come in with the last sentence and the specific time frame that he gives for the Pope to return tranquility to the Church, so we'll deal with the middle part first.
Tranquility won't return until we have widespread devotion to the Eucharist and Our Lady in the Church- that's essentially what that middle part means. I do believe that we can safely identify those two elements as key components of the papacy of John Paul II. The presence of the "M" on his coat of arms- symbolizing his dedication to the Virgin- among other things is a tangible example of this. Then there is, of course, the famous image of John Paul holding aloft the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament in it. There are plenty of external symbols to demonstrate this point, I think, quite aside from the undoubtedly more substantive evidence we would have for it if we delved deeper into his pontificate.
In other words, so far so good. The problem here obviously arises with the very specific "one year before the end of the century." Can we truly point to that as a time when tranquility was restored in the Church? I'm not really sure we can. Indeed, I think an argument could be made that tranquility has not been restored (although I think that, at least, would be an uphill battle). Anywho, this is the less important of the two and I thought it interesting to note. Let's move on.
You might recognize this picture- it's a pictorial representation of the great dream of St. John Bosco. In it, we see the Church symbolized as a large ship- this is not an unknown metaphor to use for the Church (the "bark of Peter"), although you don't see it quite so much as others. The pope, in white, stands at the helm and the hierarchs of the Church behind him. You can see it is safely anchored to the twin pillars of the Eucharist and the Virgin, while many ships in the distance are being wrecked and rendered unto destruction.
And the dream is thus:
In the midst of this endless sea, two solid columns, a short distance apart, soar high into the sky. One is surmounted by a statue of the Immaculate Virgin, at whose feet a large inscription reads Auxilium Christianorum (Help of Christians). The other, far loftier and sturdier, supports a Host of proportionate size, and bears beneath is the inscription Salus credentium (Salvation of believers).
The flagship commander- the Roman Pontiff- standing at the helm, strains every muscle to steer his ship between the two columns, from whose summits hang many anchors and strong hooks linked to chains. The entire enemy fleet closes in to intercept and sink the flagship at all costs. The bombard it with everything they have: books and pamplets, incendiary bombs, firearms, cannons. The battle rages ever more furious. Beaked prows ram the flagship again and again, but to no avail, as unscathed and undaunted, it keeps on its course. At times, a formidable ram splinters a gaping hole in its hull, but immediately, a breeze from the two columns instantly seals the gash.
Meanwhile, enemy cannons blow up; firearms and beaks fall to pieces; ships crack up and sink to the bottom. In blind fury, the enemy takes to hand-t0-hand combat, cursing and blaspheming. Suddenly the Pope falls, seriously wounded. He is instantly helped up, but struck a second time, dies. A shout of victory rises from the enemy, and wild rejoicing sweeps their ships. But no sooner is the Pope dead than another takes his place. The captains of the auxiliary ships elected him so quickly that the news of the Pope's death coincides with that of his successor's election. The enemy's self-assurance wanes.
Breaking through all resistance, the new Pope steers his ship safely between the two columns; first, to the one surmounted by the Host, and then the other, topped by the statue of the Virgin. At this point, something unexpected happens. The enemy ships panic and disperse, colliding with and scuttling each other.
Some auxiliary ships, which had gallantly fought alongside their flagship, are the first to tie up at the two columns. Many others, which had fearfully kept far away from the fight, stand still, cautiously waiting until the wrecked enemy ships vanish under the waves. Then they too head for the two columns, tie up at the swinging hooks and ride safe and tranquil beside their flagship. A great calm now covers the sea.
Whew! Quite the dream. Mine are never that detailed.
Anyway, I think what we're dealing with here is less a prophecy in the traditional sense (i.e. one that says this specific thing will happen at this specific time) and more a prophecy which is a kind of commentary on the Church and her mission.
There are elements, to be sure, of a traditional prophecy. For example, the Pope is struck, then struck a second time and dies. What does this mean? The first thing that comes to mind, for me, is John Paul II- attempted assassination, he lives, finally is overtaken by his failing health and dies. The problem with that analysis, of course, is the next part about the rapidity of his successor's election. Taken in a strictly literal sense, JPII's death and Benedict XVI's election did not coincide. Granted, Benedict's election was fairly rapid, but there was still plenty of time between them.
Can this dream still be valid? I think so. If we are dealing with the Church as a ship sailing along through the waters of Time, the death and election of a new pope is essentially going to be simultaneous. And, indeed, in medieval times oftentimes outlying lands of Christendom weren't aware of the election of a new pope until they got a messenger saying that the old pope was dead and hey, this was the new one.
But, prophecies can't be about the past, because that's history and you can't prophecy about something that's already happened. So, we have two options here: either the prophecy refers to a specific time in the future which we are unaware of, or it is more allegorical. I prefer the latter.
We can read plenty of meaning into this dream; it is rich in symbolism. The Church is the main ship, of course, and her enemies are the smaller ships that attack her. They use all their available weapons- they try to argue (books and pamphlets) and, when they realize that won't work, they resort to force (persecution). But nothing ever works. This is a fair analogy for the Church in all periods of history- people try to argue, but ultimately, they simply can't. They either pick up their ball and bat and go home or they resort to force.
At times, we have a "formidable ram" which deals the Church a serious wound. This seems pretty reasonable. There are plenty of times throughout history when the Church was hit pretty severely, but it never crumbled, never failed. In the 20th century we can look back at the chaos that ensued after Vatican II (see above prophecy!), but the healing wind that comes to repair the ship can be said to have functioned in our own time as well. More generally, however, what we see is that fidelity to Christ and His Mother heal the ills of the Church, something which is, again, true for all the ages of the Church.
The final parts of the dream would also seem to indicate an eschatological reading- that is, one oriented towards the end times. The ship/Church comes to rest as it anchors between the two pillars, something that will not, presumably, happen until the end of time. Indeed, Christ's/the Church's enemies are eliminated when this happens- the ships (of modernity, of subjectivism, of Nazism, communism, etc, whatever you want to label them) destruct, they sink. Notice that the Church here is not fighting back against these enemies with the same weapons- in fact, we get no indication that the ship is fighting back at all. All we see, instead, is the divine power intervening to heal the ship whenever it needs help.
What does this mean? That we are not to combat the forces of evil in the world? Certainly not. Instead, I think we can see this as a sign of our utter dependence on God. If it wasn't for Him and His Divine Providence and His Grace, the ship/Church wouldn't have a chance. The Church is, after all, composed of humans and susceptible, as such, to injury. God, however, is always standing by, ready and waiting to patch things up, repair them and continue to see the Church safely into port.
Finally, we see the little ships. I like the little ships, personally. Some of them zoom ahead of the main ship and tie up to the pillars before it does. These, perhaps, are the other Rites in communion with Rome. Just conjecture, really, but they do "fight gallantly" alongside their flagship, i.e. Rome, so it seems reasonable that these are the churches which, though loyal, are still somewhat different, just like the Eastern Rites. The other little ships are ones that were afraid to enter the battle, but finally tie up to the columns once the hard work is done. Perhaps we can see these to be our Protestant and Orthodox brethren. Seperated and in some cases quite distant from us, unwilling to fight the battles that the Church does, but ultimately churches that acknowledge the Truth that the flagship wields and anchor next to it.
In the end, we get a very positive picture of the Church. Although she may be wounded, she sails along and, thanks to the protection of the Almighty, is brought safely to harbor. And, ultimately, all the little ships anchor next to it, once they come to accept the truths about the Virgin and the Eucharist (which are, arguably, two of the biggest sticking points Protestants have with the Church).
Can we see this dream as an eschatological prophecy, one that points to a specific moment in time? Perhaps, although we will not be confirmed in this view until such events actually come to pass. It is more instructive, instead, to see the dream as an allegory, a teaching about the Church and how it functions and, above all, as an inspiration to hope and trust in the Lord.
~
Tomorrow: more Sartorial Splendor.
~
Saint John Bosco, pray for us.
Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.
posted by Jason | Wednesday, February 01, 2006
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