UPDATE ON NILUS PROPHECY SOURCE SEARCH:
I'm willing to share the email addy of the source of this email with reasonable and interested folks.
From: [Bro B A]
To: Quix
Subject: Re: INQUIRY RE ST NILUS PROPHECY
This was a very interesting question, so I took some time to research it.
First, many of the web sites -- and I looked at a lot of them -- confuse the author of this prophecy. Some attribute it to St. Nilus of Ancyra (also called Nilus the Ascetic, 5th century) or Nilus of Sinai (died ca. 430, associated with St. John Chrysostom; see the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia entry:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11079b.htm ). That is clearly incorrect, and anachronistic. In those days, no one numbered the centuries as a way of dating, not even in making prophecies.
Many other sites, correctly I believe, attribute it to Neilos the Myrrhstreamer of Mt. Athos. In Greek, that is Neilos Myrrhoblytos. From here on I will use the Greek spelling, Neilos.
One form of this prophecy citing the name of Neilos Myrroblytos and occurring in many web sites begins like this, with a title and giving the date of the prophecy or his death date (?) as 1651:
The Prophecy of St. Nilus the Myrthstreamer (1651 A.D.)
"After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognizable. When the time of the advent of the antichrist approaches, people's minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonour and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will grow unrecognizable.
I have not been able to figure out where the date, 1651 comes from.
I have found one apparently independent web source (by independent, I mean it doesn't just copy what all the other web sites have), and this source is, I believe accurate. This source gives what appears to be an exact (literal) translation, which has been "interpreted" in the other translations. This translation appears as follows, including the prefatory sentence that gives a date of 1817. (I will comment on the date 1817 below):
These Prophecies were made postumously, in 1817 A.D. to a nearly illiterate Athonite monk, Theophanes, using the dates of the Calendar from Creation, from which there has been much confusion!
After the 4 quarters of a century from now (i.e.1917), for three quarters of a century, (1992) the people of that time will become unrecognizable. When the time of the advent of the antichrist approaches, people's minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonor and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will grow unrecognizable. People's appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to their shamelessness in dress and style of hair. These people will be cruel and will be like wild animals because of the temptations of the antichrist. There will be no respect for parents and elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, bishops, and priests will become vile men, completely failing to distinguish the right-hand way from the left.
--from the Burning Bush Monastery website:
http://www2.netdoor.com/~frelia/articles.html (index page with link to this text of the prophecy:
http://www2.netdoor.com/~frelia/prophecies.html You can see how the "smooth" translations like that I quoted first are derived from the original text that is apparently represented literally in this translation.
Finally -- I looked up Neilos Myrrhoblytos in Spyridon Lambros' catalog of the manuscripts in the monasteries of Mount Athos to see what works of this author are attested there. I found only one work, the following one, in two codices: cod. Xenophontos 713 (copied in 1858) and cod. Panteleeimon 280 (copied in 1856. Both codices were copied by the same monk, Jakob, a well known copyist of this era on the Holy Mountain.
The title as given by Lambros. essentially the same in both codices, is as follows (this translation is based on reading the titles in both codices):
A most spiritually edifying Book of our holy (hosios) and inspired father Neilos Myrrhoblytos concerning the things which, revealed by the will of God and the forethought of our all holy mistress Mother of God -- ephor, guardian and president of the Holy Mountain -- among various schemas of monks [i.e., monks of various ranks?], were narrated to the monk Theophanes, renamed Aichmalotos, [the name means, "prisoner"] concerning the decline of the (Holy) Mountain which occurred in 1821 so that they [the monks of Mt. Athos] might be found in repentance,,, copied at the expense and patronage of the most holy and learned lord Evgenios Hieromonk, by the hand of the monk Jakob in [date: 1858 (cod. Xenophontos 713) or 1856 (cod. Panteleeimon 280)].
From the that title in the catalog description, I cannot tell for sure if this prophecy occurs in this book, but it seems probable. In any case, it gives an approximate time and context for the origin of the prophecy. 1821 was just prior to the Greek war of independance, when most of the monks of Mount Athos left to fight against the Turks, and the Holy Mountain was left seriously depopulated. At that time the quality of the spiritual life on Mount Athos declined markedly.
This information corresponds closely to the information provided in the website of the Burning Bush Monastery. I hope this is helpful in answering your question. I am going to post it on the Friends of Mount Athos website as soon as I complete a little more research. (I have a microfilm of cod. Panteleeimon 280, and I want to read it to see if I can find this prophecy in it. But I am pressed for time at the moment, because it is the end of the semester here at Bates College, and I have a lot of student papers to read and grade!
I will let you know what I find in the microfilm.
[Bro B A]
The Friends of Mount Athos
Greetings, Bro B,
Am keenly interested in finding confirmation in any quality form that the prophecy of St Nilus commonly available on the net is, in fact, from the period years 380-403 approx. Have been trying for many weeks to track such down to little avail.
Perhaps you can help me.
Have just found your website and am fascinated with your projects. I hope I can return for a more leisurely review before too long.
God's best to you and yours,
A P.S. FROM BRO B.A. re St Nilus prophecy: From: Bob Allison To: DAHUDZE@advantas.net Subject: p.s. on Neilos Prophecy p.s. When I said that Neilos Myrrhoblytos was the correct attribution, what that means is that one of the fathers who narrated oral traditions of Neilos teachings and so on to the monk Theophanes named in the title had apparently had a vision of Neilos Myrrhoblytos in which Neilos revealed this prophecy. The actual date of the prophecy would be just prior to the 1822 Greek war of independence. B A