During the holy season of Advent we see in the liturgical traditions of the Roman Rite a powerful confirmation of the Biblical chronology of the world. In the words of the incorrupt Benedictine monk and expert on the sacred liturgy Dom Prosper Gueranger:
With what gratitude ought they not to assist at that divine Sacrifice, for which the world had been longing for four thousand years! God has granted them to be born after the fulfillment of that stupendous and merciful oblation, and would not put them in the generations of men, who died before they could partake of its reality and its riches! . . . Let them think of this in assisting at the holy Sacrifice.
In his reflections on the Feast of St. Barbara on December 4, the Servant of God explains that the four weeks of Advent are actually meant to be a liturgical re-living of the four thousand years from creation to the birth of Christ. He writes:
The new birth of our Redeemer takes place after four weeks, as the first Nativity happened after four thousand years, according to the Hebrew and Vulgate chronology.
As demonstrated in the article Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi on the Kolbe website, the prayers of the authentic liturgical traditions of the Church all bear witness to the literal historical truth of the first eleven chapters of the sacred history of Genesis. However, in this newsletter we will see that they also bear witness to an important eschatological reality—the fulfillment of the social reign of Christ Our King on the Earth, before the final Judgment and the end of the world.
The Feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 precisely to reaffirm that, in the words of the Gradual for the Feast:
He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. V. And all kings of the earth shall adore Him: all nations shall serve Him.
In God’s Providence, the Feast of Christ the King was originally placed—and in traditional parishes and religious communities remains—at the end of October, several weeks before the First Sunday of Advent. However, when the Novus Ordo was introduced, the Feast of Christ the King was moved to the last Sunday of the liturgical year.
What was the significance of this change?
“But Now My Kingdom Is Not From Hence”
I believe that an answer can be found by meditating on the Gospel for the Feast of Christ the King, which remains the same in the Traditional and the Novus Ordo readings for the feast. In the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 18, Jesus stands before Pilate and Pilate interrogates Him, saying, in the Latin Vulgate as faithfully translated in the Douai-Rheims :
Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of Me? Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy Own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered Thee up to me: what hast Thou done? Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My kingdom is not from hence.
The Novus Ordo celebration of the feast retains the same Gospel, but Our Lord’s response to Pilate changes from “now My kingdom is not from hence” to “as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” in the New American Bible translation. This tiny change—or should I say “mutation”?—profoundly alters the meaning of Our Lord’s reply. In the Latin Vulgate, faithfully translated in the Douai Rheims Bible, Our Lord uses the word “nunc” or “now” to indicate that “at that moment” His Kingdom was not from the earth, implying that in the future it will be realized, as prophesied by the Gradual verse, “All kings of the earth shall adore Him: all nations shall serve Him” from Psalm 71.
The original placement of the Feast of Christ the King a few weeks before Advent implies that some significant fulfillment of the feast will take place on earth before the Second Advent of Our Lord when He comes again to judge the living and the dead. By contrast, however, the transfer of the Feast to the last Sunday of the liturgical year in the Novus Ordo calendar implies that there will be no further fulfillment of the social reign of Christ Our King until the Final Judgment and the end of the world. This interpretation follows logically from the acceptance of theistic evolution by the architects of the Novus Ordo liturgy, since theistic evolution denies “the first perfection of the universe” in the beginning and does not anticipate any drastic divine intervention in the course of human history that could result in the restoration of the Church and of a Christian order in society. On the contrary, theistic evolutionism as promoted by Fr. Teilhard de Chardin and his many disciples among the hierarchy, envisions an evolutionary ascent to the omega point of human history rather than any kind of restoration. However, we know that “God does nothing without telling His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7), and in this newsletter we will see that we have sufficient testimony from saints who had the gift of prophecy to confirm that the traditional placement of the Feast of Christ the King was correct.
“God Does Nothing Without Telling His Servants the Prophets”
Two of the outstanding saints of modern times who had the gift of prophecy were wives and mothers who lived in Rome in the tumultuous decades after the French Revolution. Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora (1774-1825) suffered terribly from the abuse and infidelity of her husband while doing her best to raise their children in holiness. Our Lord gave her a particular mission to pray and suffer on behalf of the papacy. Through her prayers, Canon Mastai, the future Blessed Pope Pius IX, was healed of epilepsy, so that he could fulfill his mission to become a successor of St. Peter and a great defender of the Faith against revolutionary errors. Through her prayers, Pope Paul IV was released from Purgatory after having been confined there for 15 years. According to her biographer:
Blessed Elizabeth Canori-Mora (1774-1825)
One of the celestial personages who most frequently favoured her with his visits was S. Peter, Prince of the Apostles. One day he ordered her to cause a church at Albano, dedicated to him, which had fallen into ruins, to be restored. He mentioned to her the person who would supply the money necessary for this purpose. She had, indeed, only to present herself to the person indicated, when she obtained all that she desired.
The following vision produced a great sensation in the Holy City. On the Feast of S. Peter, Elizabeth prayed the Apostle to succour the Church whose guardianship had been confided to him, and to pray for the sinners who dishonored her. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and the Apostle S. Peter descended, dressed in pontifical vestments, and surrounded by a numerous troop of angelic Spirits. With his pastoral staff he traced a large cross upon the ground : he touched its four extremities, and four mysterious trees, full of flowers and fruit, arose. Then he opened the doors of all the monasteries, both of men and women, and returned to heaven. The four mysterious trees were to serve as a place of refuge for all the faithful who had the happiness to preserve the sacred deposit of the Faith, during the cruel trial which Our Lord was about to send upon His Church.
At the same moment the heavens were covered with dark clouds, and such a violent wind was let loose, that both men and animals were filled with terror. In this horrible confusion, men devoured each other, the devils themselves mixed in the carnage to multiply the victims. But what was most remarkable, they could vent their homicidal rage only on the impious ; the good, sheltered under the four mysterious trees, were in safety, under the protection of the holy Apostles SS. Peter and Paul.
When the Divine Justice was appeased, by the effusion of so much blood and the destruction of the impious, the clouds which obscured the heavens were dispersed, and a mild ray of light announced to the earth the reconciliation of God with men. The Apostle S. Paul appeared full of power and strength; he took the devils, loaded them with chains, and led them to the feet of the Prince of the Apostles. S. Peter held sovereign power to judge them : he condemned them to be precipitated into the abyss, and the sentence was immediately executed.
In order to celebrate this glorious victory, the Angels mingled with the Faithful who had not failed during the trial, and conducted them to the feet of S. Peter, who received their homage and thanks, seated upon a majestic throne. He himself chose the new Pontiff who was destined to reorganise the Church. The Religious Orders were re-established, the Faithful were inflamed with new fervour, the Church recovered her primitive beauty, and the Sovereign Pontiff was recognised in every country of the world as the Vicar of Jesus Christ.
While the majority of the voting members of the college of cardinals now appear to be willing to go along with programs and policies that contradict the Deposit of Faith, God who “makes a way where there is no way” has told us plainly that He Himself will restore the Church on her rightful foundations. And He has confirmed that pledge through other holy men and women who had the gift of prophecy.
Blessed Anna Maria Taigi
Like her contemporary, Blessed Elisabeth Canori-Mora, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi was a faithful wife, mother and mystic. From the time of her conversion early in her marriage, she never failed to be a faithful “help-mate” to her husband, in spite of the fact that he had a violent temper and was often difficult to please. Even when Our Lord raised her up to the heights of mystical union and made her the confidante of saints and hierarchs of the Church, she always honored her husband as the king of their humble household. Cardinals, bishops and saints of the Church frequented Blessed Anna Maria’s humble apartment in Rome and attested to the authenticity of her gift of prophecy. She testified that:
God will ordain two punishments: one, in the form of wars, revolutions, and other evils, will originate on earth; the other will be sent from Heaven. There will come over all the earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing will be visible and the air will be laden with pestilence, which will claim principally but not exclusively, the enemies of religion . . . Only blessed candles can be lighted and will afford illumination . . . All the enemies of the Church, secret as well as known, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few, whom God will soon after convert. The air will be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms.
After the three days of darkness, St. Peter and St. Paul, having come down from heaven, will preach in the whole world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and will settle upon the cardinal, the future Pontiff. Then Christianity will spread throughout the world. He is the Holy Pontiff, chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth.
[During this period] France shall fall into a frightful anarchy. The French shall have a desperate civil war in the course of which old men themselves will take up arms. The political parties, having exhausted their blood and their rage without being able to arrive at any satisfactory understanding, shall at the last extremity agree by common consent to have recourse to the Holy See. Then the Pope shall send to France a special legate . . . In consequence of the information received, His Holiness himself shall nominate a most Christian king for the government of France . . . Whole nations will come back to the Church, and the face of the earth will be renewed. Russia, England, and China will come into the Church.
Incorrupt Remains of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi
“The Council Will Define the True Sense of Scripture”
Another theme that runs through the prophecies of authentic mystics of the Church is the prediction of a future, final Ecumenical Council that will complete the work of Vatican I. Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser was a holy priest of the seventeenth century, founder of an Institute for the formation of priests approved by Pope Innocent XI in 1680. Holzhauser accurately predicted the execution of Charles I of England and the persecution of the Catholic Church in England for 120 years. (Prohibition of Mass under penalty of death lasted from 1658 until 1778.) The documents for his cause of canonization attribute miracles of healing to him. In one of his works, Venerable Holzhauser divided the history of the Church into seven periods and situated the seventeenth century Church in the fifth of these periods. He wrote:
During the fifth period, we saw only calamities and devastation; oppression of Catholics by tyrants and heretics; execution of Kings, and conspiracies to set up republics . . . Are we not to fear, during this period, that the Mohammedans will come again, working out their sinister schemes against the Latin Church? . . . During this period men will abuse the freedom of conscience conceded to them . . . there will be laxity in divine and human precepts. Discipline will suffer. The holy canons will be completely disregarded, and the clergy will not respect the laws of the Church. Everyone will be carried away and led to believe and to do what he fancies, according to the manner of the flesh . . . But, by the hand of God Almighty, there occurs so wondrous a change during the sixth period that no one can humanly visualize it.
The sixth period of the Church will begin with the powerful Monarch and the holy Pontiff . . . and it will last until the revelation of Antichrist. In this period, God will console His Holy Church for the affliction and great tribulation she has endured during the fifth period. All nations will become Catholic. Vocations will be abundant as never before, and all men will seek only the Kingdom of God and His justice. Men will live in peace, and this will be granted because people will make their peace with God. They will live under the protection of the Great Monarch and his successors.
All nations will come to worship God in the true Catholic and Roman faith. There will be many Saints and Doctors on earth. Peace will reign over the whole earth because God will bind Satan for a number of years until the days of the Son of Perdition. No one will be able to pervert the Word of God since, during the sixth period, there will be an Ecumenical Council which will be the greatest of all councils. By the grace of God, by the power of the Great Monarch, by the authority of the Holy Pontiff, and by the union of all the most devout princes, atheism and every heresy will be banished from the earth. The Council will define the true sense of Holy Scripture, and this will be believed and accepted by everyone.
I recently communicated with a learned and holy traditional theologian who insisted that the Church will never make a definitive ruling on six-day creation or on geocentrism. However, readers of this newsletter know that it was confusion over the meaning of Scripture on these two topics that paved the way for the modernist revolution. It is hard to imagine any other definition of the sense of Holy Scripture that would be more restorative than the vindication of the traditional reading of the sacred history of Genesis. In any case, we have nothing to fear. God has spoken through His servants the prophets, and, most of all, through Our Lady of Fatima, the Queen of the Prophets. So, let us live our consecration to Jesus through Mary in every moment, so that we can hasten the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the social reign of Christ Our King throughout the world!
Yours in Christ through the Holy Theotokos in union with St. Joseph,
Hugh Owen
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