Catholic Prophecy [Why some Catholics anticipate the return of Monarchy]

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Sit down my readers, grab a cup of tea and I'll tell you a story about your future. Actually it's our future, and the future of our children, and their children. You'll want to pay close attention, because if you're under the age of fifty, you're likely to see these events transpire within your lifetime.

If you've been watching the news lately, you've probably noticed that it seems like the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Well, you're a very perceptive person, because it truly is. You see the bad news is that for the short term, things are only going to get worse, much worse. Oh sure, we'll probably have some brief respites when things settle down a bit, but they'll be followed by calamities even worse. I'm talking about the man-made kind actually, not the natural disasters, as we have always had those. I'm talking about such man-made disasters as economic crisis, civil unrest, wars and famine. You're probably wondering what went wrong? Why is the world so screwed up? What ever happened to the good ol' days?

Well, let me lay this out for you in very simple terms. The good ol' days ended a long time ago, long before any of us were born, and long before anyone alive today can remember. Would it surprise you to learn that our time was prophesied centuries ago with alarming accuracy? Here, let me give you an example...

After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognisable. When the time for the Advent of the Antichrist approaches, peoples minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonour and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will become unrecognisable. Peoples appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to there 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 or elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, bishops, and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right hand way from the left. At that time the morals and traditions of Christians and the Church will change. People will abandon modesty, and dissipation will reign. Falsehood and greed will attain great proportions, and woe to those who pile up treasures. Lust, adultery, homosexuality, secret deeds and murder will rule in society.

-- St. Nilus, 430 AD

I bet that got your attention! A man writing some 1,600 years ago accurately predicted our present age down to the half century. He states that this change in humanity will begin around the middle of the 20th century, and then he goes on to accurately describe the change in vivid detail. Sure enough, during the 1960s (about the middle of the 20th century) the whole Western World underwent the a change that has been called the "sexual revolution," which radically altered our lives, habits, fashions, and appearances. About the same time the crime rate skyrocketed, just as the early medieval prophet foretold so many centuries ago.

You'll notice in St. Nilus' prophecy a reference to Antichrist. Now I should point out here that Nilus did not say the Antichrist would come in the 20th century, nor in the 21st century. He specifically said "when the time for the advent of the Antichrist approaches." In other words, when it is getting close to that time, but not necessarily the actual time itself. That's important to remember, because our Evangelical Christian friends (God love 'em) actually believe the time of the Antichrist is here, and he'll make is presence known any day now. Of course a lot of them believe they're going to be "raptured" as well, in a supernatural event that will snatch them out of this world so they will not have to endure the temptations of Antichrist. Now, that's a pleasant thought, but totally unbiblical. The early Church Fathers, those Christians who lived closest to the Apostolic age, knew nothing of this "rapture" as it is commonly taught, that is allegedly supposed to spare modern day Evangelicals from the same kind of hardship endured by the early Christians under the Roman persecutions. It's no matter though, because in a very short time Evangelicalism will no longer exist. For that matter, neither will any Protestant denomination or sect. All of the pluralism we see in Christianity today will soon be extinct.

Now comes the journey. I hope you're comfortable, because I'm about to reveal something to you that very few Christians today know, but was once common knowledge back in the early days of the Church. It all centers around the time period leading up to the Antichrist, and in order to understand the Antichrist, we must first understand the centuries leading up to it, of which the 20th century marked the first. We are now in the second - the 21st century. What I don't know is how many centuries we have left to go. What I do know is the time is short, and there are not many centuries left, but the one we currently live in will by far be the most interesting, the most terrifying and the most wonderful. Are you sitting down?

And after these shall arise Antichrist and having by the signs and lying wonders of his magical deceit, beguiled the Jews as though he were the expected Christ, he shall afterwards characterize himself by all kinds of excesses of cruelty and lawlessness…and he shall perpetrate such things for 3 years and 6 months

"Antichrist will exceed in malice, perversity, lust, wickedness, impiety, and ruthlessness and barbarity all men that have ever disgraced human nature. Hence St. Paul emphatically calls him `the man of sin the son of perdition, the wicked one, whose birth and coming is through the operation of Satan, in all manner of seduction and iniquity.' (2 Thess., 2). Through his great power, deceit and malice he shall succeed in decoying or forcing to his worship two thirds of mankind; the remaining third part of men will continue true to the faith and worship of Jesus Christ most steadfastly. But in his satanic rage and fury, Antichrist will persecute these brave and devout Christians during three years and a half, and torture them with such an extremity of barbarity, with all the old and newly invented instruments of pain, as to exceed all past persecutors of the Church combined. He will oblige all his followers to bear impressed upon their foreheads or right hands the mark of the Beast and will starve to death all those who refuse to receive it."

This one shall seize the power of the Roman Empire and shall falsely style himself Christ. By the name Christ he shall deceive the Jews who are expecting the anointed and he shall seduce the Gentiles by his magical illusions.

-- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 386 AD

Now as these writings get closer in proximity to the time of the Apostles, we can safely assume that what we are reading is not so much a mystical prediction of private revelation, as it is a faithful passing on of oral tradition from the Apostles themselves. A lot is said about the Antichrist by the early Church Fathers, and from this we learn a lot about him. We learn that he will deceive the Jews. From other contemporary writings we learn that he will be a Jew himself, born in the Middle East somewhere in present-day Iraq, and will come to power in the area we now call Israel. As a Jew he will deceive the Jewish people into believing he is the Messiah, and two-thirds of the world will follow him. We do not know how long his actual reign in Jerusalem will be, but it is suspected that he will reign for a fairly long time (perhaps decades), but it is the last 3 1/2 years of his reign that is most interesting. This is when he seizes control of the "Roman Empire." It is during this time he unleashes the most ferocious persecution of Christians the world has ever known, rivaling that of all the Roman emperors in ages past, and the Communists and Muslims to today. Let us understand something here. Many evil men have reigned over various territories in the past, and it is likely that many more evil men are to come, but just being "evil" is not what makes one the Antichrist. The word "Antichrist" is a biblical term. It has religious underpinnings and outside of religion it means nothing. The word "Antichrist" is the Greek rendering of a 1st century Jewish concept of the Anti-Messiah! The Anti-Messiah is a false Messiah, and to be sure, the Jews have seen many anti-messiahs in their history. However, this one foretold in Christian Scripture and Tradition is a special case. It is an Anti-Messiah (false Messiah) that is so convincing that he not only dupes almost all the Jews, but two-thirds of the world's population as well. Christian Scripture and Tradition tell us he doesn't act alone, but he is aided by none other than the devil himself. All of this is extremely important to remember, because if we are to properly understand the Antichrist, we must do so strictly in Jewish terms.

Now it is the last portion of St. Cyril's record that is of particular interest to us. He states the "this one" meaning Antichrist "shall seize the power of the Roman Empire." Now that is interesting since the Roman Empire ceased to exist some 1,500 years ago in the West and some 550 years ago in the East. Our Evangelical brethren, once again hot on the trail of a supposed present-day Antichrist, have pointed out the reunification of Europe under the European Union, and assume this must be the return of ancient Rome. Once again that's a quaint idea but in order to truly have an empire you must first have an emperor - a single monarch who's rule is absolute. Nothing like that exists today. St. Cyril tells us the Antichrist "shall seize the power of the Roman Empire," implying that he just takes it, as if it is not rightfully his to begin with. How then? How does a man steal some nonexistent thing, from somebody who clearly does not exist? The answer is simple. The emperor and empire still have yet to come...

The Great Gaulish Monarch, who shall subject all the East, shall come around the end of the world. These things, then, coming to pass, beloved, and the one week being divided into two parts, and the abomination of desolation being manifested then, and the two prophets and forerunners of the Lord having finished their course, and the whole world finally approaching the consummation, what remains but' the coming of our Lord and Saviour from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? who shall bring the conflagration and just judgment upon all who have refused to believe on Him

"Christ arose from among the Hebrews, and he (Antichrist) will spring from among the Jews. Christ showed His flesh as a Temple, and raised it up on the third day; and he, too, will raise up again the Temple of stone in Jerusalem.

-- St. Hippolytus, 236 AD

You'll notice we're going further back in time now. This writing comes to us from the early third century, while Christians were still being thrown to lions under the Roman persecutions. St. Hippolytus' grandfather would have been old enough to remember the Apostle John. The teachings of the apostles about these things still would have been fresh in Church memory. The context is in reference to the Antichrist, and indeed these early Church fathers did preoccupy themselves with the Antichrist in many of their writings. Once again we learn a few new traits of this man of sin. It is however, the first sentence that is of most interest to us now. "The Great Gaulish Monarch, who shall subject all the East, shall come around the end of the world." Notice the vague reference to time. He shall come "around the end of the world." It's not at the end of the world, or even immediately before the end of the world, but "around" that time. So it is sometime in the centuries prior to the end of the world, and likewise the coming of Antichrist. According to St. Nilus' prophecy above about the end times beginning around the later half of the 20th century, that would put the coming of this "Great Gaulish Monarch" sometime in our immediate proximity. In case you're wondering, "Gaul" was what the ancient Romans called a certain portion of Western Europe. Today we call it France. In the centuries to follow, more Christians gave testimony to this tradition presumably coming from the Apostolic era...

A Frankish King will one day rule over the entire Roman Empire."

-- St. Augustine, 5th Century

He shall reign over the entire ancient Roman Empire."

-- Remy, 5th Century

Okay, so we now know that the early Christians believed there would one day come a French king who would rule over the entire Roman Empire, and that this will happen toward the end of the world, or more specifically in the centuries leading up to the time of Antichrist and the end of the world. We currently live in an age of Republics right now. Western monarchies are effectively neutered these days - little more than national figureheads. There is no Roman Empire to speak of, because there is no Roman emperor. Right now Europe is united as a loose confederacy of republics. There is no central figurehead, and there is not likely to be under the constitutional system now set up. So how can this happen? Another 4th century saint gives us a clue...

A time will come when the enemies of Christ will boast: "We have subjected the earth and all its inhabitants, and the Christians cannot escape our hands." Then a Roman Emperor will arise in great fury against them... Drawing his sword, he will fall upon the foes of Christianity and crush them. Then peace will reign on earth, and priests will be relieved of all their anxieties.

In the latter days of the world, Christians will become ungrateful for the great favours they will receive through the coming of the great Monarch, by reason of the long period of peace and prosperity on earth which they will enjoy under his reign. Many man will then begin to doubt if the Christian faith is the only really sanctifying faith and will think perhaps the Jews are right because they are awaiting the Messiah.

--St. Methodius of Olympus, 311 AD

Okay, so now we have a chronology. First a great time of trial for Christians comes. Then the Great French Monarch comes to save the day, putting down the enemies of Christianity. In turn however, because of the great peace he delivers that lasts a very long time, people will start to take it for granted. As a result there will be a great apostasy, eventually leading two-thirds of the world's population away from Christ, and resulting in the rise of Antichrist.

So now we have the big picture. The reason why the Antichrist will eventually be able to steal the power of the Roman Empire is because the Roman Empire is coming back. This time not as a Pagan system, but as the medieval Holy Roman Empire restored! Only after a long period of such rule will the Antichrist come and attempt to steal it away.

As we look around us, we can see that the fall of democratic republicanism in our time is inevitable now. The Socialist-Islamic (IslamoSocialist) alliance in Europe has successfully exploited the weakness of our democratic system, and the problem will only get worse in the years (or decades) ahead. That coupled with the moral decline and economic decline of the western world, signals the end of the American and European republics.

(Zenit.org) - On an official visit to Italy this week, the Libyan chief of state caused a few ripples by stating that Europe should convert to Islam. The general public was perhaps more shocked, however, by his request for a few billion dollars to stop African immigration.

However, a missionary priest did call for taking seriously Muammar al-Qadhafi's statements on religion, saying a European conversion to Islam just might happen if the continent continues denying its Christian roots.

Father Piero Gheddo of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and founder of the missionary news agency AsiaNews, said that far from being "folklore," al-Qadhafi's summons could become a reality in a few decades....

read full story here

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(CBN) Friday in Paris. A hidden camera shows streets blocked by huge crowds of Muslim worshippers and enforced by a private security force.

This is all illegal in France: the public worship, the blocked streets, and the private security. But the police have been ordered not to intervene.

It shows that even though some in the French government want to get tough with Muslims and ban the burqa, other parts of the French government continue to give Islam a privileged status.

An ordinary French citizen who has been watching the Islamization of Paris decided that the world needed to see what was happening to his city. He used a hidden camera to start posting videos on YouTube. His life has been threatened and so he uses the alias of "Maxime Lepante."

read full story here

The only counter to this IslamoSocialist infiltration is a healthy and robust Christianity - particularly CATHOLIC Christianity - as it is the only form of Christianity that abhors artificial birth control and has successfully repelled Islam in the past (in the crusades!). What these ancient prophecies tell us is another crusade is coming. It will be the last and final crusade - the mother of all crusades - that will deliver a death blow to the whole IslamoSocialist regime in Europe and the IslamoShariah system in the Middle East.

Before this can happen however, all of the Catholic prophecies and the teachings of the most ancient Church Fathers agree there must first be a crisis - a Chastisement of God - that will cause the present system of things to crumble. The Chastisement marks the last epic of human history, starting with a calamity that changes the world, resulting in the longest period of peace the world has ever known. It will be the last reign of Christian kings, with a Great Monarch ruling over a revived Holy Roman Empire, from Iberia to Siberia, that will far surpass everything that has previously existed. This will last for an unspecified amount of time. Catholic prophecies seem to indicate at least a couple centuries is likely. During the latter part of that time period the world will fall back into it's depraved state, and it is at that time the Antichrist will arise, steal the power of the revived Holy Roman Empire for himself and use it in an attempt to destroy the Church. He will nearly succeed before he is killed and sometime after that Jesus Christ will return to raise the dead and judge the nations. We are now living in the time just before the Chastisement.

There are many books written on the coming Chastisement and the following Tribulation of Antichrist, but none offer such a well researched, exhaustive and orderly presentation of APPROVED Catholic prophecy than this book by Desmond Birch. If you read anything about End Times eschatology, than this is a book that belongs in your library. There are many other books out there, but in the opinion of The Catholic Knight, this one is the BEST!

Step 1

Realize that God created us to have a personal relationship with him, and this relationship was designed to last forever, throughout all eternity. The following are Scripture references from the Holy Bible...

See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. - 1st John 3:1
For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope. - Jeremiah 29:11
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. - John 3:16

Step 2

Understand that our relationship with God is broken by sin. Sin is when we turn away from God both in the things we have done and the things we have left undone. It is manifested in our failure to trust God and obey the instructions he has given us. The root of our lack of trust and obedience is our own self will. Inwardly, we seek to "play god" ourselves, defining what we think is right for us based on our own limited understanding and pride. Sin breaks our relationship with God, and separates us from him. Sin also has a consequence...

All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death - Romans 6:23
These will pay the penalty of eternal ruin, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. - 2 Thessalonians 1:9

None of us are immune from this. Sin is a hereditary trait passed down through the entire human race. We are powerless to overcome it ourselves through our own mortal abilities. We need help.

The illustration shows that God is holy and man is sinful with a great chasm between them. The arrows represent man's continious efforts to reach God unsuccessfully, always resulting in failure.

Step 3

Discover the truth that Jesus Christ was sent by God to save us from our sins and restore our divinely intended relationship with God.

But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. - John 3:16-18
Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once. - 1st Corinthians 15:3-6

This illustration demonstrates that God in his love and compassion has bridged the divide between God and man through the life and death of his Son Jesus Christ.

Step 4

Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then and only then, can you know God personally and experience his love to the fullest.

But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. - John 1:12

We must receive Christ through faith...

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

We must receive Christ by personal invitation...

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, (then) I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. - Revelation 3:20

Receiving Christ involves turning away from self will and to God by trusting Christ to come into your life and forgive your sins, making you what He wants us to be. Just to give intellectual acknowledgment of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death is not enough. Nor is it enough to simply have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of our will. It is a decision, a choice, much like a marriage commitment, in which you choose to trust Christ and follow him, no matter what the personal cost or difficulty. Once this happens, a change will slowly occur in your life. It may not happen overnight, but if you stick to your commitment, you can expect to see the following transformation over time...

Beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ is very much like exchanging marriage vows. You make a commitment to him by saying "Yes" or "I do". Jesus wants you to know him today, even if you have been far from him in the past. Take a look as the following prayer...

Lord Jesus,

I want to know you personally.

I admit that I have broken my relationship with you through my sins.

Thank you for dying for my sins so that our relationship can be restored.

I open the door of my heart and acknowledge you as my Saviour and Lord.

Direct my life and help me become the person you want me to be.

Amen.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If so, pray it right now and commit to beginning your everlasting relationship with Jesus Christ.

Step 5

Seal your relationship with Christ. Just as weddings must be witnessed and sealed by religious and secular authorities, so to your relationship with Christ must be witnessed and sealed by the authorities in the Church that Christ himself has established for our benefit. This begins with a new start in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and he will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1st John 1:9
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. - James 5:16
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them." - John 20:21-23

The fruits of the Sacrament are peace, hope, joy, and a stronger relationship with Jesus. Find a parish nearby and make an appointment for confession with a priest. Such an appointment can easily be made with a phone call. Even if you're not Catholic, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is open to you. Do not hesitate to receive this gift Jesus Christ has offered you. Do it as an act of faith and trust. This is how you "seal the deal" - so to speak.

Step 6

Live your relationship with God and his Christ. Your life has begun anew, and so now is the time to enjoy the benefits of this new life...

Talk to God every day through prayer;
Be baptized, if you are not already;
Read your Bible every day beginning with the New Testament;
Become involved in a local parish;
Share your faith with others;
Celebrate the Sacrament of Eucharist every Sunday and go to Confession on a regular basis.
Be faithful to him and know that regardless of any stumbling on your way he will always be there loving you.

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